Director's commentary for THE BAND

Today, I edited together the Director's commentary that I recorded last week. It's very strange listening back to ones voice and I find that I constantly stumble over words and use the wrong ones. Some sections I want to redo but due to time restraints I have to use what is there, which is disturbing as I think of people who don't know me will listen to this jumble of words and think I don't make sense.

I'm so tired that I can't express how I feel very well....my language escapes me...and thinking back there are other stories I have forgotten to tell about the journey of making the film...like the masturbating auditioner (sic) who was quite happy to let us film him jerking off, but afterwards had second thoughts about being in the film and only wanted to if he could wear a mask! Or the horrible nasty emails I received from someone pretending to be from Family First (a right winged christian political group)...so many stories...its hard to remember them all when you are standing alone in a recording studio! Oh well.

Behind the Scenes of "The Band"

I feel like I've been push a big barrow of mud and rocks up a hill! Not really, I've just been wading through the 20 odd hours of footage that was shot by Megan Spencer to be used for "Behind the scenes." Its strange to look at the footage now that nearly 3 years have past since we shot "The Band" and brings a new perspective to the shoot. Here are some things I didn't know:

Butch Midway aka Princess was working 8 hrs at his other job before he would come on set, hence he did most of the shoot sleep deprived! What a trooper, I don't know how he did it, but thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Aer and Mike were driven crazy by having a film crew in their house for a week...okay I had some inkling of this.....thank you for putting up with it all.

How many people enjoyed working on the film and found the set very relaxed.

That lots of the clothes used in the film to dress Mia were mine and I never got them back! Obviously not that important to me, if I've only just noticed that now!

There were so many talented people involved in the film. Thank you all once again, it would have been nothing without all of you, every single one of you!

While it was hard to go through the footage and cut it down, so many "gems" of moments didn't make it, it restored my faith in how good the shoot was. There were several events that occurred after the shoot that jaded my perception of the experience so its nice to have faith restored once more and hopefully the 33mins will provide people with insight and entertainment into the journey that was the making of "The Band".

Making it HANDMADE part 4 and "The Band"

Monday was a marathon day. I returned to teaching, then after a 3 hour class headed off to see Pip Lincolne from "Meet me at Mikes". I asked her kindly if I could re-shoot her interview as she was very sick when I originally did so. She actually admitted she couldn't really remember anything about the interview, and while her answers were good, she looked unwell.

Afterwards we drank cups of tea and extensively chatted before heading off to a Brown Owls gathering. I have to admit it is a truly strange sensation pointing a camera at people you don't know and shooting footage. I always feel like I should do an official "Hi I'm Anna and I'm making a film about..." I did introduce myself but then moved around the room shooting. About half way through people started asking me questions and then the flood gates opened!

There was lots on interesting discussion about craft and female inheritance, why people sell their craft and can you actually make a living from doing so. Home baked treats filled the kitchen as people skill shared, talk about their their days and the inspirations. I wanted to put down my camera and whip out my knitting and join them. The funniest question I got asked was "Do I make craft?". I find this very strange but I guess people look at me and don't think I fit the idea of one who crafts, this was something Pip and I had discussed that afternoon, the perception of who crafts. A very interesting night, but a long one....I didn't make it home til 11pm and considering I left home at 7am, it was a very long day/night!

Today, I will finish shooting the various websites people talk about and use. Thrilling I know!!

However, I am looking forward to Thursday night as I'm off to shoot an evening of mischief with the Melbourne Revolutionary Craft Circle.

Now, I have over 13 hrs worth of footage and my hard drive is looking very full, so after this weekend I will commence post production. Firstly, I'm going to edit a teaser together, so I'll post it on youtube for all to see and I would love feedback.

On another note, its official I am off to the Berlin Porn Film Festival in October! I've raised the airfare by writing articles for various magazines men's magazines! Very exciting and it looks like quite a few ex-pat Australians will be slipping across from London to be at the screening! I've never been to Berlin so it will be great to have a few days to explore the city, unfortunately I will only be there for about 6 days and I'm hoping I can do some publicity for "The Band" and its upcoming DVD release.......more on this later!

"making it HANDMADE" part 3

Its been a packed few days of shooting.

Sunday, I meet up with Casey of Craft Cartel and Trashbag Rehad to do some "Cunt Fling ups". As Casey busily added public hair to the last few vaginas, a friend of Casey's, Tash and myself made cloth roses to represent the flower that the clitoris is!

Casey had told me she had organised a few people to come along and help throw the "cunts" over power lines but I wasn't expecting the 15 people who turned up! There is something very powerful about a group of people walking along the street together!

Flinging the cunts proved to be more challenging than what I thought and when each person finally achieved it was greeted with jubilation! An uplifting and empowering time for craft and vaginas everywhere!

Monday night, I went off and shot some footage of "Died Pretty", a trashbag rehab gathering to beautify swine flu masks. Some amazing creations and the final parade was hilariously MCed by Erin Tasmania, who made me laugh so much I had difficulty holding my camera still! I had to fight for space with a lovely woman, Claire from SBS's show "Insight" and when I arrived Casey was engaged in an interview for ABC 774...what a media whore!! hee hee

As a contrast, next Monday I'm off to shoot "Brown Owls" with Pip Lincolne as they learn and share the art of embroidery. I might even drag out mine and do some stitching myself as I am in need of some manual creativity as shooting so much has left me little time to craft!

"making it HANDMADE" part 2

Yesterday, I headed out in the gale force winds to interview Pip Lincolne. I meet Pip years ago when her shop "Meet me at Mike's" was still in Richmond, but since then she has become such a whirlawind in the indie craft scene, been extensively featured in the press and has such a huge "fan club" world wide I wasn't quite sure who I was going to be meeting this time! Was this another person driven by money, cashing in on the resurgence of craft???

The answer is definately no! I now understand why Pip has such a huge following ( over 2000 visitors to her blog daily). Here is a woman who is passionate about craft and creating, but who isn't precious about her "art" and is happy to share her skills and knowledge to encourage everyone to have a go at crafting even if they make mistakes or produce "crap"craft. Its so refreshing to hear this and is something I think is wonderful about the indie craft movement that its about creating and not being put off by what I call the craft nazis ( those who insist on perfect technique) and letting your creativity roam free!

Today I'll be shooting footage of craft websites!! Thrilling I hear you yell! No not really but needs to be done for storytelling purposes!

Tomorrow I'm off to interview outspoken and fiesty crafter and designer Peta Pledger, which should be lots of fun and stir the pot up!!!