With the release of their first feature, NO THROUGH ROAD, Nakatomi experienced the magic of Balinese graphic design. Royalties would be nice, but really its more eyes the merrier.

In case you missed it, the trailer for NO THROUGH ROAD…….

And on with the interview….

Sit at the feet of grandpa while he spins you a yarn of times past.

Shooting in Perth, with all its pro’s and con’s, is still a viable option for people out to produce their own features, says Nakatomi Pictures.

Dizzy Lamb Park – torched by arsonists or reclaimed by Satan? You decide.

Its really rare for Aussie filmmakers to follow through with a sophomore feature effort, but in WA it’s next to unheard of. With this release Nakatomi Pictures has entered the pantheon of WA film gods, so to those who are about to make a third, we salute you.

bell tower photo c/o flickr user timparkinson

Perth Indy Features Keep Falling On My Head
I guess that means my eyes will soon be turning red.
Watching them’s for me
‘Cause I’m never gonna stop the rain of features by complainin’
Because they’re made for free
Nothings paid in the way of fee’s

[trumpet]

Yep, it’s raining outside but that hasn’t put the damp on the flood of features that will be pouring out this year from Wet Australia.

Below is a sure-to-be-incomplete list of West Aussie indy features that are in the works.

Drop a comment here or on Facebook if something has been missed.

Playthings – Will we see it by year end, Wade? Contributor to Brains? Wade K. Savage* has his feature PLAYTHINGS rolling along nicely.

The Near Death Experience – Kane George Jason* is getting his feature TNDE up and running with a 2011 release goal.

Gemini – Burliegh Smith has a rom com feature in the works, aiming for a early 2011 release.

House of Blue – Kenta McGrath‘s feature length doc has been completed and LBP has a feature in pre-production.

Redback – Loren Johnson’s feature length thriller wrapped last week. Expecting more soon.

Esoterica – Nakatomi Pictures have completed production on their feature.

Congoro – Matt Z’s feature, finished, but not.

*Phil Jeng Kane is another of the three name film guys in this city. Does the K in Wade K., stand for Kane? Remind me to ask him.

Who are you?
Amaneal Woldeselassie

What do you do?
Multimedia Freelancer, Film Director, Producer, Cinematographer, Editor, and Visual graphics artist.

What have you done?
more than 30 industry standard music videos for Perth Underground artists (Unsigned Hype) which is due to be released by July.

What are you going to do?
Next Project after “Unsigned Hype” is “The Day in Life of Xzakt”

What is the Unsigned Hype project?
The “Unsigned Hype” Project is a Television Program and DVD coming out to help support local Perth City Based artists.
Featuring appearances from many well renound artists including Hunter, Xzakt, Porsah Laine and many more of the local underground artists here in Perth.
Unsigned Hype will be appearing across Australia and New Zealand on Foxtel and Cabel TV in May/ June.
Profits raised from the Television appearances of the Program and sales of the DVD are going to be used to help poverty stricken families suffering everyday in the third world countries. So by supporting the Unsigned Hype Project your not only supporting local hip-hop, but helping the save lives and bring hope to those who have none.

Produced and Directed by Amaneal Woldeselassie.
Features 30 different artists from HipHop / Rap/ RnB and Urban genres.

Artists includes:
1. BobbyDogg – You Don’t think you know Me
2. Complete – Forgive Me
3. G Runna – Illest Cat
4. Kadyelle– Anybody Like Me
5. Madhatta– Green & Gold Stones
6. Dyvers– Rock with Me
7. Kaymore Ft. Khoisan – You did me Wrong
8. KKT Ft. Defekt & Complete – Hip-Hop Heart
9. Lively – Hopeful
10. Mike Virtue– No Sleep
11. Jae Lan –All my Life
12. Intelekt Ft.Dyvers & Hunter – It wasn’t Us
13. S.O.X –Forgive Me
14. BYP – Gotta Get Paid
15. DONNSUBI Ft. LNXDread & Champayne Cee – Invincible
16. Thorts Ft.Kadyelle – Diluted Shadows
17. Knowledge Bones – Yeah Dard
18. Porsah Laine– Feel This
19. Chile Chillz – Bring it Back
20. Hunter – Never Commit
21. Xzakt Ft.Jerrie – Conclusion

Where can we find you (online or off)?
Online: amaneal.com
YouTube.com/amaneal
Facebook.com/amaneal
Myspace.com/amanealshow
Twitter.com/amaneal

Any last words?

Stay blessed for the end is near.

Comprising my mother’s voice and the sounds of her garden, this video is my first Pogo mix of the real world. I hope I’ve done my mother justice in capturing her passion. Enjoy!

8 Pier Street, home to Little Boy Pictures and lauded filmmaker Kenta McGrath. Situated amongst the hussle and bussle of Perth’s CBD, Brains stopped by for a catch up with McGrath.

What’s in production for Little Boy Pictures?

Production wise nothing yet…we are wrapping up post production on a feature documentary called House of Blue. It was shot back in December 2005, but it was a film that we needed to mull over, five years later we are finally ready to finish. We have a feature film still at script level and a feature film in pre-production.

You’ve shot on both film (Welcome to Pipe Mountain) and digital (Three Hams in a Can, House of Blue). Do you want to weigh in on the film versus digital debate?

I think it’s a very interesting debate, I’m really undecided about it. From my past experience I much prefer to shoot on film. First of all the general aesthetics, I like the look of film, when you shoot on something as expensive as film it really brings out the best in you. With video it’s so disposable, it’s so cheap, there’s a tendency to just keep doing it again and again. Whereas with film every second is dollars ticking over. It forces you to make tough decisions. This is mainly to do with low budget films, if you are working with a Hollywood budget, of course you can buy all the stock you want, but with low budget films it can really raise the professionalism of your crew, and improve the decision making of your crew.
Video is very interesting, what I don’t like at the moment is people who use video but try to make it look like film. Video has a lot of other possibilities, which many Australian filmmakers haven’t really tapped into, yes it’s cheap but for example if you shoot on a tiny camcorder, that camera can fit into any small space, which a 16mm camera cannot do. They are so unobtrusive and so ubiquitous. You can get really truthful performances, I think digital cameras can be used to make films that can only be shot on digital. There’s an Iranian film called “Ten,” the whole film is a scene in a car, you have two digital cameras on the dashboard. It’s a film that could not be shot on film, first of all, logistically you couldn’t fit a film camera on a dashboard it’s too big, and you couldn’t get that type of performance from the actors. It doesn’t matter if they are professional actors, digital cameras can be so unobtrusive you don’t even notice them. People haven’t quite exploited what digital can do yet.

What filmmakers are you influenced by?

There are filmmakers who I absolutely love and will for the rest of my life, but I wouldn’t necessarily reference them in my work. Influences can range from certain films, a song that I’ve heard or a story that someone has told me. Most of the time it doesn’t have much to do with other films at all. But having said that, I like how certain filmmakers approach film and I try to adapt what I learn from them.

You write and direct, as a writer, what are your processes from idea to script?

Generally scripts that I’ve written have been really really sparse. All the scripts that I’ve written have been with Hugh Thomson, who shoots most of my stuff. Hole in the Ground is the same, it’s a forty minute film but the script is only 10-12 pages. I only see scripts as a template.
The process, we come together first and write down 6-7 general ideas for films to be made. Then we choose two or three of them, we alternate working on them, sometimes ideas from one film will find it’s way to another. We just shout out ideas, we don’t really write films which are narrative driven, or plot driven should I say.

I notice recently that a lot of filmmakers in Perth work in pairs. Is that common in film?

Yeah, I never noticed that but that’s totally true, you’re right. Umm.. it’s certainly common.

Is it easier to work with a partner?

Yeah I definitely think so, I mean… Well you can’t make films by yourself. It’s definitely easier, especially in script writing, I find writing by yourself to be almost an impossible task. Other people love it, they just lock themselves up in their bedroom eating Maggi noodles all day and write a script. I can’t do that, I’ll constantly need bouncing back and forth. Yeah, I think with scriptwriting having a partner is extremely important.

If you aren’t already on the McGrath bandwagon…I suggest you jump on, I suspect seats will become a premium in the near future.