Nightfall - The Movie

Way back in 2004, I entered the Australian version of the Project Greenlight competition. Modelled on the US cable TV show devised by Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, the series applies the Pop Idol principle to movie scriptwriting. The winning script would be produced for cinematic release, directed by the winning scriptwriter, and with a $1 million budget.

My vampire script, ‘Nightfall’, achieved a top twenty placing before elimination. I can still remember the devastation I felt on receiving the call informing me I wasn’t going through to the Top Ten. But, considering that there was a full field of 1200 entries, and that elimination up to that point had been through a complex peer-review process followed by an experienced industry panel, this was enough to encourage me to develop the script further.

That first competition was won by Morgan O'Neill and his fantastic script which was filmed and released as 'Solo' to great reviews.

And so, when Project Greenlight Australia series 2 was launched in 2005, I was ready with an even stronger version of the script. Draft 7 in fact. This is more or less the version currently available on my website.

"Lights, Camera, Action!"

This time, there wasn’t a top twenty ranking between the top fifty elimination round and the final ten. Also, the producers had decided that all fifty would be required to produce a three minute video depicting a scene from their script, thereby demonstrating their chops as a director.

Sadly, again I missed out on a top ten placing, and the final prize went to Kenn and Simon McRae and their script 'The View From Greenhaven Drive'.

This time I was less surprised. I wasn’t happy with my video entry. Unlike some of the other contestants, it had been years since I’d picked up a video camera. In fact, quite a few of the top fifty contestants came from video production backgrounds, with the equipment, resources and experience to produce incredibly professional looking pieces. I was competing against people who regularly submitted films to Tropfest or were already working as cameramen or production staff within the film or television industries. Although I had studied film and television at university way back in the 1980s, I had never edited video on a digital suite and was resorting to using Microsoft MovieMaker on my home PC to cut the video. I know - shoot me now.

I chose what I thought would be a simple, yet dramatic scene; a scene that would catch the judges’ interest without overstretching my limited ability. One with mood and emotion and the opportunity for some cool angles. I found a wonderful derelict house – all smashed windows, mouldy carpet and walls covered in graffiti – to serve as the location. Through friends, I was able to secure the help of two actors - Matt Butcher and Nicole Verhoeven - to bring my characters to life. In my day job as manager of an employment agency, I came across an out-of-work sound engineer, Jonathan Hunter, who offered to help with the audio requirements and brought along his own mikes. A local film student, Zayaan Jappe, offered her services as AD. Finally, my Mum stumped up some cash to hire a decent camera, saving me from resorting to my sister’s handycam.

Disaster Movie

Of course, what I planned as a simple shoot turned into a logistical nightmare. Creating night inside the squat was as simple as blocking out all light from the windows. But then we had major issues creating a realistic lighting scenario. With no professional studio lighting, we were using camping lanterns and torches – the sort of lights you would find in an urban squat, to cast all the necessary light. Every single camera set-up required each of the lights to be moved, balanced, adjusted and moved again to create the best atmospheric lighting conditions without casting shadows of the entire crew across the back wall of the shot. Sadly, this meant there are many changes in lighting from shot to shot in the final edit, preventing many shots from cutting together convincingly.

The rush to get through the shoot took its toll on everyone, but all the volunteers were wonderful. They offered ideas, experimented numerous different ways of carrying out each shot to find the best solution and generally had a ball in pulling this three minute scene together. Regardless of the hard work and the pressures, everyone was giving their time for free because they love producing work like this. This wasn’t work, this was fun. By the time we left the derelict house at 6pm, we were exhausted, hungry and sick of the smell from the house. (You don’t want to know what one of the rooms had been used for by previous ‘visitors’).

The week that followed saw me glued to my PC. At one stage, I had the PC in bits on the dining room table when I realised I needed to install a new firewire card and boost the power to get a decent transfer of video from the camera to the hard drive.

And then there was the moment of horror when I realised a key shot was missing. In the rush from one camera set-up to another, I had completely missed one shot from the storyboard. I still don’t know how it could have been missed as it was clearly illustrated on the storyboards. No matter how I tried to recut the scene using the existing shots, I couldn’t convey the moment when Adrian grabs Jessica by the throat and pushes her into the wall – an important moment that causes the action to leap if left out.

After a couple of sleepless nights, I hit upon a solution. I took an outtake from a later shot depicting Matt letting go of Nicole’s neck, throwing her aside. By cutting it very tight and reversing the footage with some nifty software I downloaded, it almost looked like Matt was grabbing Nicole by the throat and pushing her back instead of pulling her forward and letting go. Almost. If you squinted. And if I gave you a few beers first.

With that problem sorted, I was running against the clock. Editing in any spare moment, I was often to be seen on the train commuting to work with my laptop open, desperately trying to knock it into shape.

Straight to Video

I recently came across the original video file and thought – rough as it is – it could at least make an interesting accompaniment to the script on my website. At the very least it could be a blog post. So here it is. Now you know the story behind the video, I hope you will forgive the crudity, ignore the many mistakes and faults and admire the pluck of all involved.

Just as an aside - my daughter makes a very brief cameo, running away from the camera in the opening moments accompanied by an ex-girlfriend.

One thing this experience taught me was to stick to writing. Although I knew the principles of directing from my university studies, this was not my scene. I want to produce a wonderful script and then have a talented director craft it into a fantastic film. I know that if I were to ever direct my own work, I would risk turning my hard work into a forgettable and rather embarrassing farce.

I have learned my limitations. If I ever get ideas about directing my own vision, I only have to pull out this video and remember the fortnight of hell that went into producing it.

I hope you enjoy it on some level. If it intrigues you, read the complete script. I am currently working on a brand new – and quite different – draft, so any feedback, criticisms and praise would be very useful.