Principal photography has just concluded on the feature film production, 'Muscle Car'. Written and directed by Dwayne Labbé and produced by Aaran Creece, Muscle Car is aiming (of course!) for the lofty heights of becoming a cult classic, and owes much to the Ozploitation films of the 70s and 80s.
Starring Jacinta Stapleton (Stephen King's Nightmares & Dreamscapes, Stingers) Tai Scrivener (The Crop, The Plex) and newcomer Blackwood Hume, this exciting retro-thriller about a car, blood, voodoo and an ox's heart is due for completion later in 2010.
The gruelling twelve-day shoot schedule over a sixteen-day period wouldn’t have been possible without the professional work ethic of both cast and crew. The film owes much to the support we received from companies such as Lemac Australia -- in particular John Bowring, Sue Greenshields and Lynn Simpson.
The film was shot entirely on a P2 2100E high-definition camera by Melbourne based DOP Darrell Martin. Darrell brought 25 years of television and feature film experience to the production. Without his expertise and ability to work fast using the P2, the production could not have been completed. We maintained high-quality images and, more importantly, story integrity.
Devris Hasan, an AFTRS graduate and experienced DOP in his own right, assisted Darrell magnificently. Russell O’Brien, our head of sound, became the king of atmos as he fought to provide us with quality audio in noisy locations for the entire shoot.
'Muscle Car' wouldn't live up to its title without the assistance of George and John Kaye, who provided us with an amazing prop -- a 1969 red Dodge Phoenix. This car felt like driving an ocean liner but was a joy. Jacinta always enjoyed getting off set and out on location to put the car through its paces.
Many thanks go to the dedicated crew that made 'Muscle Car' possible, including Cassandra Scott-Finn who designed all the costumes and Cyd Joice, Standby Costume. Elizabeth Hagan ran our make-up department; Jodee Lenaine-Smith was our awesome DA and Tremaine Egan our AD. We also had great assistance from James Phillips and Alex Charge during some of our bigger days in the dungeon studio and on location.
We are happy to have survived the shoot in one piece and are ready to tackle the next phase of our production. As a title sequence is being created the editing process has begun -- we are in the capable hands of Wayne Dickson at Spectrum Post in Manly for the next few months. There is a long and exciting road ahead with all the challenges that come with indie filmmaking.
Top left: Director Dwayne Labbé, DOP Darrell Martin, Executive Producer Aaran Creece and Head of Sound, Russell O'Brien, discuss the day ahead.
Centre left: Grip truck in action following Jacinta Stapleton as she drives the car down Burroway Road, Homebush.
Bottom left: Jacinta Stapleton behind the wheel of the Dodge Phoenix.
Images taken by Devris Hasan