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Dubbo Photo News December 30, 2021-January 5, 2022
Dubbo creatives launch latest short film
A screenshot from the locally made short film “5 Days”. PHOTO: STUDIO 138
By TIJANA BIRDJAN LOCAL film-making is alive and well, with the official launch of the short film “5 days” held on December 16. An accompanying music video also premiered on the day at Western Plains Cultural Centre’s Black Box Theatre. In August, Dubbo filmmaker Erifili Davis had a draft for a dystopian short film inspired by the novella “I am Legend” set in a post-apocalyptic horror, and influenced by the modern development of zombies and vampires. What started as a project to keep busy during the 2021 lockdown has resulted in an exclusive Dubbo creative collaborative piece. Originally written for two male and two female actors, Ms Davis decided to rewrite the screenplay for an all-female cast. “Dubbo has an amazing creative community and it’s easy to tap into other creatives as well,” Ms Davis said. “I’ve worked with all the actors on previous projects.” Young actors Milla Ross, Kalina Davis, Georgie Saunders and Kirra Hampson all had various experience locally, both on screen and
in theatre, and were excited to be a part of the project. “We all worked together on a mood board, collaborated on the script and dialogue, and together evolved the look and feel of the film,” Ms Davis said. “Thanks to Kalina, we were also able to get on board amazing local makeup artist Tayla Nicole Brown to do the special effects makeup. Local musician and Whisperhead frontman, Nolan Furnell, composed the song “Paranoia” to accompany the short film and which led to the featured music video. Ms Davis had previously worked with him on her short film “Seeing”, which had received a number of awards and nominations, including for Mr Furnell’s soundtrack. “We were just going to use scenes from the film along with some band footage from the music video,” Mr Furnell said. “From there (the music video) ended up as its own stand-alone project.” Mr Furnell also provided the opportunity for the actors to perform vocals on the song, which was something Milla Ross, Kali-
na Davis and Georgie Saunders could not refuse. The group initially rehearsed via Google Meet, but as soon as lockdown was over in October, they recorded the song and had filmed both the short film and music video by the end of that month. “The project was very collaborative, and everyone worked really well together,” Ms Davis said. “The premier was a celebration of both the cast and crew and how hard everyone worked during the time.” Ms Davis and cinematographer Marcello Davis made the decision to shoot the film and music video on an iPhone 8-plus with the potential of submitting it both a mobile phone film festival and a horror film festival. “There were some limitations, but the key strength is that it is freeing not having a lot of gear and having the ability to move quickly,” Ms Davis said. Ms Davis said the film took two days to film and 20 hours to edit with the help of a visual effect artist. The 12-minute film was mainly shot at Studio 138 and the music
video was shot at the historic Rabaul Store building at the RAAF base in Dubbo. “We are so grateful to John Grey and the Maas Properties team who made that possible,” said Ms Davis. “John in particular was so accommodating, giving up his Sunday to let us in.” The dystopian horror film features a group of young women living in a world overrun by monsters, who must put aside their differences and work together for the hope of survival. “The cast and crew were really excited to see the final product and hopefully it inspires them to do their own projects on day,” Ms Davis said. “I really hope to encourage emerging creatives to try new things and I’m sure we’ll see a flurry of projects from them in the near future. “They’re able to learn from one another and take their experiences into their next projects.” Ms Davis has been a Dubbo resident since 2005 and supports the Dubbo creative community by providing opportunities and growth for emerging artists.
Dubbo mum gets life-changing $2.9m Lotto win
A DUBBO mum received an extra special Christmas surprise this month – a whopping $2.9 million Saturday Lotto win. After purchasing a division one entry in draw 4217 from News at the Mall at Orana Mall Marketplace, the lucky Lotto winner was pleasantly surprised last week to learn she had one of two winning entries. After the December 18 draw, it was revealed that each winning ticket was worth $2,942,875.50. The lucky Lotto winner is planning to use her winnings for a brand new pool for her children and to help set them up for the future. When she received the news from an official from The Lott, she burst into cheers and tears. “I just popped into the newsagency today to get some last-minute Christmas presents and while I was out, I thought I’d check my tickets,” she said. “I’m feeling shell shocked. Honestly, I am trying to take this in. I just want to scream and cry because I’m so happy. “The last few years have been terrible. They’ve been draining in so many ways. This prize changes absolutely everything for me,” the winner, who preferred to remain anonymous, said.
IT’S A RECORD! Rodrigo Romero Saldivar from Mexico is passionate about football (soccer) and everything related to it. He holds the Guinness World Records title for the world’s largest collection of footballs with a total of 1230. Rodrigo started his collection in 2006 after returning from the World Cup in Germany. He was able to attend as he was studying in Spain as an exchange student. Rodrigo strategically planned his study abroad period in order to be in Europe during the World Cup!
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