Beneath Hill 60 Blog

Beneath Hill 60 - DVD's/Awards/International Release

2010-07-22T19:15:00.000-07:00

DOMESTIC RELEASE

The cinema-run is now complete in Australia, after 8 weeks in the top ten at the box office.

Avalon Cinema (above) on Sydney's northern beaches was one of the last cinemas in Australia to still hold the film after weeks, which is a long run for a local film. They have to make way for the AVATAR's and the ROBIN HOOD's.

INTERNATIONAL

INTANDEM our International Sales agent, based in London, has been working the film very well. They started at the Berlin film festival in Feb with a short promo from the still unfinished film. In May they took the finished film to Cannes where it was seen in two main cinema screenings by their main buyers (those able to make it to Cannes through the smoke of the Iceland Volcano).

Since Cannes INTANDEM have been back in London following up the contacts made in the those markets.

Bill Leimbach at Cannes Film Festival, 2010

Segi Segilola, Development Executive at INTANDEM shows off their add in VARIETY magazine for the Premiere Screening.

Bill meets producer Judith Hunt of THE KID, from another INTANDEM hit, called THE KID

EP Ross Thomas, Australian Ambassador to France, David Ritchie and EP Greg Rains share some laughs with Producer Bill Leimbach at Cannes.

Jeremy Sims and David Roach also had a great reception for the film in Hollywood, in June, as they presented it to many American buyers in attendance at an invited event called AUSTRALIANS IN FILM.

In attendance in Hollywood, Brendan, Jeremy, David, Bill Leimbach's sister Barabara, living in California and David Roach.

The result of all these contacts have created the following sales:

UK MOMENTUM

GERMANY ASCOT

ELITE SCANDINAVIA (Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland) CCV

POLAND VISION

CZECH AQS

MIDDLE EAST FALCON

FRANCE CTV

JAPAN NIKKATSU

America and Canada are still pending and of course are very big markets. Stephen Spielberg saw a 35 mm print of the movie in the privacy of his own theatre and has been helpful to spread the word there. We have learned that Americans aren't as interested in WW1 as they are in WW2 so the hope of a theatrical presentation there is thin. But a good strong DVD run there could sell many thousands of units. We are working on attracting the best company for that exercise.

AIRLINES

We have sold it to QANTAS and VIRGIN and another company in California is dealing with other global airlines

DVD sales have a window of opportunity of at least a year before it can go to TV. It remains to be seen which of the TV networks in Australia will buy the film. That is the realm of Transmission and Paramount our domestic distributors. The International TV rights belong to those companies mentioned above who have licensed the film in that territory.

DVD Release

Beneath Hill 60 will be out on Blu Ray and DVD in all entertainment stores nationwide from August 19th. International DVD is the domain of each country who has licensed the film in that territory, so watch out for it in your country. If you want more info about its availability in your country, you can email any of the above named companies.

The DVD will include bonus footage such as a talk with Director Jeremy Hartley Sims and a 40 minute 'making of' feature with footage throughout the production of the film when it was shot in Townsville, North Queenslands.

There will also be Special DVD, a two disc set to include the 90 minute Television Special made for HISTORY CHANNEL by Bill Leimbach and Jonathan King, in 2005 to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the end of World War I on November 11th 1918. This film is called WINNING WORLD WAR 1: LETTERS FROM THE WESTERN FRONT and will fill in many of the gaps in our knowledge of Australia's participation in WW1.

The IF Awards

Voting for the Australian IF Magazine Awards has begun and you can go onto the website (link below) to vote for Beneath Hill 60, for nomination in five different categories, for their Awards Ceremony, held later this year.

http://www.ifawards.com.au/rating/film/beneath-hill-60

ARTICLES

Here are just two of the dozens of great articles written during the course of our film run.

Hopefully we will see a few more now that the DVD run is soon upon us.

(David Roach - Writer/Producer) had a great one in his local Wollongong Press and Gyton Grantley (Actor) had many appear in the Townsville papers.

Beneath Hill 60 Press

2010-04-20T23:10:00.000-07:00

Beneath Hill 60 is getting a lot of press nation wide. Here are a few articles on some of the stars of the film, if you've missed out.

Left - Harrison Gilbertson (Frank Tiffin)

Mark Coles Smith (Billy Bacon) - Right

Here is a link on Movie Juice's youtube channel. Where they did a cover story on Beneath Hill 60, aswell as interviews from the stars at the World Premiere in Sydney.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NX3Ot20ook

Also, catch the Beautiful Bella Heathcote (right) who played Marjorie Waddell in the film. Watch her interview with Matt Young from Central Magazine about what it's like playing a female role in a WW1 Film.

Here's the link.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vG383Ug3fj4

Townsville Premiere

2010-04-18T18:01:00.000-07:00

Townsville scrubbed up very well with the Premiere for Beneath Hill 60 at Birch Carroll & Coyle Cinemas. The Town went all out with a Hollywood Bang!

The Producers, Directors and Cast rocked up in style, driven in vintage cars from the Townsville Veteran Vintage and Historic Motor Club.

The Salvation Army Riverside Brass Band performed for the Premiere to greet everyone on the red carpet.

LtoR Stars of the film Brendan Cowell (Oliver Woodward) and Gyton Grantley (Norm Morris)

The Actors and Stars of the Film were swarmed by the media frenzy...

and Director Jeremy Sims starred in the bright lights.

Check out the Video that the Townsville Bulletin made of the night's activities. Here's the link:

http://www.townsvillebulletin.com.au/NewsVids.html?vid=News%2Fred-carpet.f4v&title=Beneath%20Hill%2060%20red%20carpet%20premiere

The Film is now out in public screening at 161 cinemas nationwide. There are articles, interviews and pictures about the film everywhere and even the occasional cartoon.

This one courtesy of Townsville Bulletin.

Here's the article in the local press about the book selling like hotcakes.

Beneath Hill 60 World Premiere

2010-04-12T00:59:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday night, on the 8th of April, Event Cinemas in George street Sydney rolled out the red carpet for the world premiere of Beneath Hill 60.

Once reached the carpet you were greeted by two soldiers to solute you down the carpet, dressed the in historical delicate ww1 uniform used from the film (thanks to costume designer Ian Sparkes), with decor from the set.

Press were excited, flashes of light were constantly on a roll and there was great excitement in the air. The Cast and Crew looked sharp and glamourous in their frocks and suits.

With an introduction from Bill Leimbach, David Roach and Jeremy Hartley Sims to start off the night ahead, the film began and was well enjoyed by everyone there.

With Constant praise to everyone who worked on the film, a great love for the story and the production, excitement buzzed through to the after party at the Art House Hotel on Pitt Street.

The night went on with mingling, smiles and drinks. Great company, great film.

The BH60 cast and crew

Overall the night was a tremendous success. Well Done everyone, we are all so proud.

(LtoR)Leading man, Brendan Cowell and Leading lady, Bella Heathcote

(LtoR) Gyton Grantley and Harrison Gilbertson

Beneath Hill 60 Crew

2010-04-05T17:29:00.000-07:00

We had up to 150 cast and crew at Townsville during the filming.

Since filming they have all dispersed of course, back to their film making homes.

Some to Sydney, Melbourne, Gold Coast and as far away as Perth.

We hope they all have places to go for cast and crew screenings scheduled over the coming two weeks, with the build up to National Release on April 15th.

Contact Kirsty in our office if you've been left out for any reason.

She's on Facebook or kirsty@beneathhill60.com.au

Will Davies Book Launch

2010-03-23T19:28:00.000-07:00

On Monday 22nd of March, Random House and Historian Writer Will Davies launched the book "Beneath Hill 60" at the beautiful location of 'Tony Bilson's ONE Wine Bar' in the Rocks, Sydney.

The night was a huge success with great food, wine, lovely company and a great vibe and buzz about the Book and the soon to be released film.

Here is a photo of Author Will Davies with Publisher Meredith Curnow enjoying the evening.

We also had a visit from the lovely Virginia Gordon (President of the 'Sydney Film Festival'). Here is her and Will having a lovely time at the launch.

The BENEATH HILL 6O Official website by Paramount has gone live. Click the following Link

http://www.beneathhill60movie.com.au

to check out the site where you can download the 1st chapter of the book. Check out the cast and actor bios and also see the Gallery, with stunning shots done by our Stills photographer Wendy McDougall.

Sound Mix complete

2010-03-07T22:33:00.000-08:00

These are the last standing members of our glorious Sound Mix Gang - L to R Alicia Slusarski, Sound editor; Sound Designer Liam Egan; Sound assistant Michelle Child and the indefatigable Sound Mixer, Robert Sullivan. They are all part of a 10 person team that have slaved for four months - at SOUND FIRM, Sydney - to ensure the Sound Track is ready to meet out National Release date of April 15th. The Final Mix of Effects, Dialogue ad Mus

ic was completed on March 5th 2010.

Also lets not forget the rest of the team Dialogue Editor Tony Murtagh, ADR Editor Leah Katz, Assistant Sound Editor Jennifer Sochackyj and to Bruce Emery for all his wheelin and deelin at SOUND FIRM.

Champagne glasses clinked to them all. Love your work guys, WELDONE!

We'd also like to mention the great help back in pre-production days of the 'Poole Family' (above). They suppplied the acreage on the outskirts of Townsville at Kelso, which became the trenches for the film. We are looking forward to seeing them and many other supporters of the film at the Townsville Premiere April 14th..

Actors Debut

2010-02-25T15:47:00.000-08:00

Three of our tunnelling soldiers will have their feature film debuts with BENEATH HILL 60, when it is released this April 15th. We wish them all the success they deserve and thank them for such a great effort.

'Billy Bacon' played by Mark Cole Smith

Mark is a Broome based indigenous performer. He has a certificate in Aboriginal Theatre from WAAPA and

a Bachelor in Indigenous Studies. He made his acting debut in 2003 in the children’s series OCEAN STAR, shot on location in Boome for BBH. Mark has done extensive theatre work for the Barking Gecko Theatre Company in Broome, touring WA invarious productions. His TV credits include guest roles in BLUE HEELERS (Southern Star) and DIRT GAME (ABC) as well as the supporting role of Billie in series 1 and 2 of THE CIRCUIT for SBS TV.

Billy 'Streaky' Bacon

Billy Bacon, or Streaky as his comrades

affectionately call him, is a

young Aboriginal tunneller, who has a bit

of mining experience and

wants to head over to Europe and go to battle.

'Walter Sneddon' played by Alex Thompson

Alex Thompson is a graduate of The Drama Company and also attended Newtown Performing Arts high school. Alex was selected to participate in the Acting for Film intensive at the New York Film Academy. Having performed in various theatre productions, BENEATH HILL 60 is Alex’s first film.

Walter Sneddon

At 18-years-old, fresh-faced Walter Sneddon is one of the youngest in the section, and he craves adventure. His father finds out that he’s signed up, and not wanting him to go to the frontlines alone, signs up the following day. Walter is still a child, he’s very naïve, he says the wrong thing in situations, and is not very tactful. But he’s a sweet kid, and everyone likes him. He scares very easily, and is easily upset, so will take it to heart if someone says something harsh to him.

Ginger 'Mick' O'Donnell played by Martin Thomas

Martin Thomas has appeared in many theatre productions and has appeared in numerous TVCs for major brands. While studying Acting for Stage and Screen at Charles Sturt University, Martin starred in a number of CSU TV shows. BENEATH HILL 60 is Martin’s feature debut.

Ginger 'Mick' O'Donnell

Ginger comes from a large, poor Irish family where he had to struggle to survive. He‘s a tough kid with a mean streak who tends to attach himself to power. If the war has taught him anything, it’s that if you

look after the man beside you, he’ll look after you.

Post Production

2010-02-04T18:36:00.000-08:00

Here, at Beneath Hill 60 headquarters we have just wrapped ADR with our actors and now we our talented team over at Sound Firm are now moving onto the process of the Final Mix.

This means that all elements are to be equalized, balanced in volume and to be set. This includes sections on editing sound with picture, dialogue, sound effects eg .creating noises of giant explosions, music editing and adding subtle sounds that enrich the language and feeling of the film.

Also this week Jeremy Sims (Director), Bill Leimbach (Producer) and David Roach (Writer / Co-Producer) headed down to Melbourne to work with the amazing music composer, Cezary Skubiszewski and Melbourne Symphony Orchestra for the recording of the final music score to BENEATH HILL 60.

The official Beneath Hill 60 trailer has been launched and you can see the posters all around Australian cinemas near you. You can watch the trailer by clicking the link,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYOpCJCl5L4

You can also catch the trailer in cinemas, which is being shown in front of the films 'Up in the air' and 'Nine'.

We also have a 'Beneath Hill 60' youtube channel up and running. Visit http://www.youtube.com/user/beneathhill60

to see some behind the scenes footage of the film and interviews with our talented Production crew.

Keep an eye out on the book 'Beneath Hill 60' written by historian Will Davies, which is due to hit bookshops all around Australia on March 1st.

Sound Mix and Music

2010-01-06T16:05:00.000-08:00

The picture of the film has been locked off in the editing rooms at Cutting Edge and delivered over to Soundfirm next door for the sound mix.

We've brought back some of the actors to record ADR (Additional Dialogue Recording) - a process in which the actors re-record dropped dialogue or lines affected by sound issues on set, as well as recording voice-overs.

Jeremy Sims (our Director) believes the Music to be one of his favourite parts of film making. In his first feature film (Last Train to Freo), he selected and pieced together all the music himself, but wanted to create a more 'epic' feel for Beneath Hill 60, using Music on a larger scale, with an original orchestral score. He feels the music will play an integral part in creating drama and wants it to have a massive presence in the film. We are thrilled to have reknowned composer, Cezary Skubiszewski on board to write the original score, to be recorded by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. Cezary will work closely with our Sound Designer, Liam Egan - combining sound Design with the Sound Effects recorded on set (by Sound Recordist Mark Cornish), to create a rich sound palette.

Cezary has composed and arranged many well known works - you will probably recognise some

of them!

Check them out on Youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D21EHpWVKXQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mv5U0W8FDDk&feature=related

Also, we have begun drafting the poster art. The poster will go up around the place from Australia Day (January 26th), ready for the anticipated release of the film on ANZAC Day 2010.

Historian Will Davies, has finished writing the book of the Film, to be released in conjunction with the movie release. Here's the draft of the cover Art.

Synopsis

2009-12-14T19:42:00.000-08:00

Our final cut of the Beneath Hill 60 was locked off today!

Now our editor, Dany Cooper and our First Assistant Editor, Luke Byrne will hand the cut over to the Sound and Visual Effects Departments of Post Production for the final mix, grading, music and visual effects that will bring all the elements of the film vividly to life.

David has re-written this new synopsis to match the final plot:

1916. Two massive armies facing each other along the Western Front have fought themselves to a standstill. The count down to the Battle of Messines Ridge has begun. The allies' audacious plan to break the deadlock depends on a small company of Australian miners led by Captain Oliver Woodward.

These ordinary men from mining towns across Australia were given just two weeks military training before being thrust into the war. Poorly equipped, with scant regard for military etiquette, the miners' task is to defend a leaking, labyrinthine tunnel system snaking beneath the Messines Ridge. The tunnels hide a deadly secret; a series of massive mines. If the plan succeeds it will produce the biggest explosions the world has ever known and could change the course of the war.

But no one seems to know when the order will be given to blow the mines. With constant inundation of mud and water and endless vibrations from heavy artillery, the tunnels are in imminent danger of collapse. Disaster looms as the Germans discover the Australians' underground activity. A deadly cat-and-mouse game is played out thirty metres below the fields of Flanders and, as zero hour approaches, the whole allied strategy could be in jeopardy.

Beneath Hill 60, based on an extraordinary true story.

Random House: The Book of the Film by Will Davies

2009-11-29T22:37:00.000-08:00

Random House publishers will be launching the book of the film early in 2010, written by Will Davies (author of 'Somme Mud' and 'In The Footsteps of Private Lynch'). Here is the first promo material:

Post Production

2009-11-04T16:30:00.000-08:00

So we've said our fond farewells to the city of Townsville. We've filled in the trenches and dismantled the set and packed up the costumes.
Now, if you came across an empty field on Shane Poole's Kelso property, you'd never suspect it was once excavated into a trench system so large it could be seen from outer space! Luckily, Google Earth captured the moment...

Image from Google Earth

Post Production is going full steam ahead at Cutting Edge Post in the Fox Studios Entertainment Quarter. It's very exciting hearing the screams and explosions through the wall of the editing suite where Dany Cooper our Editor and Luke Byrne, First Assistant Editor, are cutting the film.

Our very talented Editor, Dany Cooper

These two are working tirelessly and Dany is deliberating closely with Jeremy Sims - who often seems to disappear into the dark edit suite for days at a time.

Our Post Production office is a few doors down the corridor in Cutting Edge. Sadly most of our Production team have moved on to new projects. We said our goodbyes were to Michelle Russell our Line Producer, Kelly Vincent our Production Coordinator, Katrina Lubans our Production Secretary, Lucy Vorst our Film Accountant, and Sandy Stevens our Production Manager - who is now working on a Bollywood film being shot in Sydney. (Couldn't get much further from a WWI drama!)

These ladies have had a huge job of settling all accounts and signing off and filing away any loose ends of Production, before packing everything up ready for Post.

Saying our goodbyes to Sandy (far left) and Lucy (2nd left).
Colleen Clarke (far right) and Producer's Assistant Georgie Scott (2nd right) are staying on through Post.

Some new crew members have come on board to guide the project through the final hurdles in Post Production and ensure the film meets all delivery requirements and doesn't exceed the Budget. We are now in the capable hands of Colleen Clarke our Post Production Supervisor, from a company called Post and Deliver. She has a similar task to what our Production Manager, Sandy had during Production.

Another very important role is that of Visual Effects Supervisor. Ron Roberts makes sure the film is as visually precise (and exciting) as possible, using CGI (Computer Graphic Imaging) and other techniques. He deliberates closely with Luke, who provides Ron with a list of each scene that needs Visual Effect enhancement. For example, due to continuity reasons, the addition or enhancement of smoke and rain effects may need to be added to a shot, or a shot may need to be resized or blurred. On the odd occasion, something may need to be painted out of the picture - for example a glimpse of red underwear on a WWI soldier...

Ron also has the fun job of creating and enhancing explosions and flares, which were originally created by the Special Effects team during the Shoot.

And of course, the 'Big Bang'...

We are getting the film ready for test screenings. Audience members are selected to represent a range of ages, likes and dislikes, genders etc to complete a questionnaire about the film. This gives the Director new insights into scenes that work particularly well, or those that are superfluous. Not only are we on a tight Budget and deadline, but also the running time can't be too long!

Armistice! - Production in Townsville is finished for Beneath Hill 60.

2009-09-21T18:49:00.000-07:00

We have now sadly finished Production of Beneath Hill 60 in Townsville - after 40 days and 40 nights of shooting in the mud, in the dark, in the heat, in the wet, in the moonlight, in the tunnels and in the trenches.

Our Art and Construction Departments had the tough job of deconstructing the set, filling in the trenches, bunkers and shell holes out at Shane and Kylie Poole's Kelso property, as well as dismantling the tunnel system and packing away the props.

Seems like only yesterday we were standing on this exact spot, marking out the land with spray paint ready to beginning excavating the trenches. Here is Shane Poole (owner of the property) with Art Director, Sam Hobbs, out at Kelso, now all cleared out and filled in. It's hard to believe it was a war zone only a week ago! Gavin Markwell supplied the Excavator that was firstly used to dig the trenches and lastly to fill them in again.

Soon our labyrinth of tunnels will be all packed away and the shed on Brad Webb Drive will be empty again....

As for the left over explosives, why not have a bit of fun and let them off for an impressive atmosphere out in No Man's Land, strategically timed to coincide with a visit from Ray Martin and the 60 Minutes team for their story - at a safe distance of course! Ray looked very heroic marching across the battlefield with explosives erupting behind him and smoke trailing across his path. It's certain to be a fantastic piece which will be screened on Channel 9 in a few months. Here's Ray with Gyton Grantley after their terrific interview.

Everyone has been packing away their equipment - the lighting rigs, the moonbox, the cables, the cameras, the scrims, the Unit trucks, the Special Effects gear, the Sound Equipment, the Costumes, the Makeup truck, the props - slowly and carefully as everything is covered in a fine bulldust. The cars and trucks all had to be given more than one hose down and everyone's boots are well and truly caked in mud. There was a lot of cleaning and washing to be done!

One thing's for certain - everyone's going to miss Cookie and Louise's delicious catered lunches everyday!

Everyone was sad to leave Townsville, the friendly and hospitable locals, the perfect weather and saying goodbye to newly made friends from within the Beneath Hill 60 family.

And so this was the 'Armistice' of Beneath Hill 60 in Townsville, celebrated with a Wrap Party at Greg Rains' Exchange Hotel. A wonderful time was had as cast and crew got together one last time for some food and beers, dancing and music and to say goodbyes to comrades from the 'Western Front'.

Armistice celebrations on the Western Front in 1918 - their brass marching band sounded a little different to the music at our Wrap Party...

... performed by Alien 8 (below) - these guys got everyone up and dancing and tapping their feet!

But it doesn't stop here...

We are now embarking on 15 weeks of Post Production, during which our editor, Dany Cooper, and a fantastic team of editors, graders, Sound mixers, Visual Effects supervisors at Cutting Edge Post in Sydney will turn the rushes of Production into the finished product: a 100 minute feature film.

Caroline Baum talks to Gillian Huxley, Australia’s only female Best Boy.

2009-09-21T18:17:00.000-07:00

Gillian setting up a scrim with Gaffer, Miles Jones.

It’s taken me weeks to speak to Gillian Huxley. She’s always on the move around the set with too much of a sense of purpose to be interrupted. Her flicking long black plait and formidable tool belt all add to a slightly intimidating ‘don’t get in my way, I’m busy’ attitude. When she’s still, you can’t help but notice her ramrod straight posture and the fact that her feet are always in what ballerinas recognise as first position. Her journey to the film set is unconventional, to put it mildly.

The daughter of an Australian jackaroo and a Chinese nurse who emigrated from Beijing, Gillian has her father’s nomadic spirit and work ethic. Harbouring dreams of becoming a dancer, she found herself accepted into class at the prestigious UK Royal Ballet School in London, despite her considerable height (She’s nearly 6 ft tall.) When a career as a ballerina did not materialise, Gillian formulated Plan B for how to work in the theatre, though she took a roundabout way, switching from the feminine world of the tutu to the other extreme.

In order to get work as a rigger in the theatre, at 23, she went to work on an oil rig in Bass Strait to build up her experience and her hours. There were three women in the crew with forty men. Gillian’s job saw her high up on a platform above the sea, pulling hoses out as part of an operation to remove drills from the seabed. ‘It gave me the tenacity you need to see a job through to completion’ she says.

‘In ballet, the endpoint is perfection, which is unattainable and ultimately futile, so the oil rig was curiously satisfying. I’m pretty fearless by nature, so I didn’t find the height or the conditions scary.’

Once she had her qualifications as a rigger, Gillian moved into the world of theatre and rock and roll tours, becoming part of the crew for everyone from Andre Rieu to Michael Jackson on his History tour (‘He had bouncers the size of heavy oak doors’) and Robbie Williams, a personal favourite ‘ because he came downstairs and shouted us all drinks at his hotel one night’.

From stage shows to film was just one easy step. Her first film was Mission Impossible 2 in Sydney and she was soon established as the only female Best Boy in the country, working on Moulin Rouge and Wolverine and fulfilling a personal ambition to work at the UK’s hallowed Pinewood Studios on one of the Star Wars movies.

Her favourite experience on BH60 has been rigging the so-called Moonbox, creating the moonlight effect by which many of the night time trench sequences were shot. ‘Eighty feet up in that cage of light, you get so elated by the view, you are the eye in the sky.’

And the most indispensable item in that tool belt ? ‘My Leatherman ‘ she says, without hesitation, ‘although I call it my Leatherwoman.’

Sporting a tattoo of a gecko on her leg, Gillian explains him as her climbing companion and talisman. Even when she’s relaxing, it’s with a sense of risk and height. She’s currently taking flying lessons, having mastered skydiving. Rock climbing is another pursuit. ‘Being in control of where you are heading matters to me. I like fighting gravity.’ The feminine side of her nature is apparent below the surface. ‘My toenails are always painted and my underwear always matches, that’s all you need to know!’

Gillian's gecko tattoo

After Hill 60, Gillian’s projects include work on another independent film, The Tree, in Queensland before building an eighty foot Christmas tree at Darling Harbour. Next year, her plans are to crack the Chinese film industry as a fluent Mandarin speaker, while working on World Expo in Shanghai. Crouching tigers, hidden dragons, watch out.

CREW PROFILE: Caroline Baum talks to Head of Makeup, Shane Thomas

2009-09-11T00:44:00.000-07:00

There’s a reason that Shane and his team are known on set as The Beauty Department.

They always look good. Since the shoot has turned from the early civilian family and love scenes to the tunnels and trenches, everyone who goes into the make up truck comes out covered in mud and blood. But Shane and his team? Not a hair out of place.

Blessed with curls a Renaissance angel would envy, Shane fell in love with the movies as a kid. Growing up, his heroes were the Star Wars characters and The Wizard of Oz. ‘I also love Esther Wlliams movies’ he says.

After graduating from make up school in Sydney he got a lucky break into the business when he was taken on by seasonned make up artist Les van der Wal to work on Babe 2- an epic shoot that lasted twelve months. ‘Because it was so long it was like an extra year’s course, I learned so much’ says Shane, remembering that one of his jobs was ‘ to put wiglets on piglets. We had to glue these hand-

tufted hair pieces on to baby pigs while they were being bottle fed.’

Shane graduated from animals to children on Peter Pan - another unusually long shoot that lasted eleven months. ‘The huge luxury on that film was that we had a full time wig-maker on the team. She was old-school, London-trained and taught me how to set wigs. You wet them and then you bake them in the oven, which is great for period dos and finger waves.’

Working on Star Wars- Revenge of the Syth was a career highlight, given his childhood love of the characters. ‘It was pretty awesome to find myself turning Anakin into Darth Vader! We didn’t use any prosthetics for that transformation, just a lot of subtle work on the eyes, shading them as he crossed over to the dark side.’

Hill 60 is Shane’s first experience of a war movie. ‘There are two sorts of mud in the film: the blue clay type which the Germans dug through and the brown that the Australians dig. We have to match the facial mud to the mud on the ground for the Aussies, but I like the blue stuff because it looks good when you add the contrast of blood from cuts and wounds.’

Like all make up artists, Shane has preferred products but they are not the ones in a traditional beauty kit. He uses a favourite brand of blood he imports from the UK. ‘ It’s from a company called Animated Extras and they offer different textures and colours’ he says, with the enthusiasm of a vampire. ‘I like it because it does not stain skin, hair or clothes and that’s really important from a practical point of view when you are having to do a quick touch up.’ He imports his wounds from a US company called Watermelon. ‘It’s latex painted into moulds and it is particularly skin friendly and effective,’ says Shane, who has to keep up with ever-changing techniques and technologies from suppliers as well as increasingly varied demands from directors.

‘Hill 60 has been challenging because the budget is tight but the film requires everything

from the fresh faced beauty of a young girl to slit throats and stomach wounds that require pump rigs. Then there’s the fact that we are working under very difficult conditions, squeezing in and out of very tight, unfriendly spaces to get to the actors . There’s just no room for all of us to be doing touch ups in the tunnels at the same time so that’s an added pressure. We’ve had to become like a rapid response team, and work in quite an organic way’ says Shane, who starts a new job on the adaptation of John Marsden’s children’s classic Tomorrow When The War Began just one day after wrapping Hill 60.

He’s in demand as much for his manner as his technique. The make up artist sees actors first thing in the morning, no matter what state they are in. Sometimes the truck is a confessional, sometimes it’s a therapist’s couch ‘In this job, you really have to love actors, make them feel safe and that you are there to help them on their journey. I often ask them how they want the atmosphere to be, whether they’d like music or not, to make them as comfortable as possible. Sometimes I am the last person they see before the camera rolls and I need them to feel they can trust me completely.’ says Shane.

Asked who he’d most like to make up he replies Angelica Huston, Jake Gyllenhal (‘ he’s hot’) , Philip

Seymour Hoffman and George Clooney.

And his favourite beauty product that everyone should have?

Nothing fancy, not a luxury brand name. Just a jar of Paw Paw Ointment.

Photo by Wendy McDougall

CREW PROFILE: Caroline Baum talks to Health and Safety Officer, Laurence Pettinari

2009-09-10T19:29:00.001-07:00

Health and Safety Officer, Laurence Pettinari at the hazardous trenches at Kelso, dressed in his staple khakis.

Photo by Wendy McDougall.

From day one of the shoot, I noticed a man in camouflage fatigues who seemed to be everywhere, always watching, watching. Sometimes he’d come up behind a member of the crew and gently move them to one side, out of the shade of a palm tree.

I soon discovered that Laurence Pettinari’s job is to keep everyone on the cast and crew safe from everything from falling coconuts to explosives. He has to anticipate every danger, make a detailed report of every scene in terms of risk assessment and then make sure that the worst case scenario never happens. On Hill 60 explosives, weapons, trenches, low roofed tunnels, horses, rats, electric cables, candles, mud and water all present particular challenges, to name but a few.

One of Laurence’s early reports out at the homestead where the scenes involving the Waddell family were shot warned of the dangers of standing under palms ‘unless they have been de-nutted’. Sounds painful. ‘I’ve seen it happen to people on holidays,’ says Pettinari, who has been a Health and Safety Officer for ten years and has learned to interpret even the most benign details as potential risks.

‘When we were scouting locations for Eucalyptus (the aborted Australian adaptation of Murray Bail’s novel) one of the dangers we had to note was the risk of falling branches in high wind. They are not called widow makers for nothing.’

‘Luckily, we’ve had no close shaves on this set apart from one incident with an untrained horse which panicked when blinkers were put on it. No one was injured, though the horse gave everyone a bit of a fright.’

He describes the Kelso trench location as ‘tough and dangerous but at least it was contained. Everyone had headlamps or personal torches so they could see where they were going during night shoots. Explosions are always a worry, no matter how much testing you do,’ says Laurence, who briefly considered a career in the military before discovering that he could enjoy the thrill of combat without the fatalities, in the film world.

In the studio where the tunnel sequences are being shot ‘dehydration is an issue as the days get warmer now’ says Laurence who experienced intense forty degree-plus heat shooting out in the desert near Winton in Queensland on the road movie Gone. ‘We had cool rooms set up and I got everyone tuned in to drinking miso soup and tea as part of the strategy for maintaining body temperature. You take a leaf from other cultures like the Japanese and the Indians when it comes to extreme conditions.’

A tidy Virgo (his description) Laurence lives on the Gold Coast. So far, his career highlight was spending six months in Port Douglas working on The Thin Red Line (‘Five day weeks- bliss’ he says, referring to Hill 60’s more arduous six day week schedule). Another highlight was working on Matrix 2 and 3. ‘Those were huge units with lots of rigging and flying so very challenging in terms of stunts. But with 1500 people involved, you just can’t hold everyone’s hand,’ says Laurence, before lugging a fire extinguisher on to the set.

When he’s not watching over other people’s safety, Laurence relaxes riding motorbikes and submitting to the ‘controlled pain of Japanese style contemporary tattooing.’

CREW PROFILE: Caroline Baum talks to Unit Manager, Kim Gladman

2009-09-10T19:18:00.000-07:00

Unit Manager, Kim Gladman, with her Dad, Graeme "Snowy" Bostock, our on-set security guard.

Photo by Wendy McDougall

At the end of the first week of the shoot, my husband (screenwriter and co producer David Roach) came home clearly very impressed with the remarkably competent women on the set.

‘What am I, chopped liver?” I thought to myself.

Just exactly what kind of competency did these women have?

‘Oh you know, they fix generators, they climb rigging, they drive trucks,’ he said with undisguised admiration.

So I decided to go and check them out.

And sure enough, they are Hill 60’s Secret Weapon.

Leader of the pack is unit manager KIM GLADMAN , aptly named because she is always cheerful, no matter how tough the conditions. A self-confessed nurturer whom others call Earth Mother, you‘ll see Kim sweeping floors in punishing heat, happily cleaning toilets in a dusty paddock, doing anything that needs doing around the place to keep it ticking over smoothly. She is the only female unit manager in Australia and while her work uniform is shorts, boots, and a number 55 Rough Rider Akubra she replaces every year, she wears a different pear of earrings every day ‘as my one concession to being feminine.’

Her most important equipment on set is the coffee machine on the back of one of her trucks. ‘That is top priority’ she confirms. ‘Without that, the shoot would grind (forgive the pun) to a halt. She gets her coffee from a company in Albany called The Naked Bean and makes a mean latte.

Kim started in the film business twenty years ago as a driver, having grown up on the family gold and sapphire mine near Cooktown. (Her father, Graeme ‘Snowy’ Bostock, is Hill 60’s on set security guard.) Growing up around machinery from an early age, it was inevitable that she would end up driving trucks. ‘The mining industry likes hiring women because we are generally gentler on the gear, there’s less wear and tear,' says Kim who enjoys a bit of bush mechanic tinkering with engines.

In 1993 a film called The Penal Colony, starring Ray Liotta, came to the Atherton Tablelands. The production company used skips hired from Kim’s father’s business. ‘I had to empty out the rubbish’ says Kim ‘and when the unit manager, Tic Carroll, needed a driver for one of the trucks back to Sydney, he asked me and gave me my break into the business.’

Now Kim’s company, Ironbark Holdings, owns 8 trucks that she and her husband Ron built together, including Hill 60’s make up and wardrobe trucks.

Kim’s biggest gig so far was working on Baz Luhrmann’s Australia. “I was second in command on that, with forty five trucks at base camp. I ran the set in Bowen, then Darwin, then Cunnunnurra and I had to provide shade, water and toilets for everyone. It was massive. I love the big productions like Mission Impossible 2 and Wolverine,’ says Kim who loves logistics and admits that at home she is a fierce list maker and neat freak, which can’t be easy as the mother of four children under the age of thirteen (two of whom accompanied her to Albany for the recent shoot of Tim Winton’sLochie Leonard, where they were extras).

Fool’s Gold, a romantic caper starring Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey presented special challenges.‘ We were on water virtually the whole time for a fifteen week shoot. We slept on cruise ships off Lizard island and had barges of food, and had to freeze all our rubbish and take it off site.’

Phil Noyce’s The Quiet American was the only time when she’s cried on set

‘ because suddenly I could not communicate with my crew, who were all Vietnamese and it was terribly frustrating, as we did not have enough interpreters.’ she says.

And the film she wishes she’d worked on ? ‘Braveheart!’ Kim says, without hesitation.

‘I’d like to work with Mel just once, so I am holding out for Mad Max Four!’

As if all this were not enough, Kim has a hydroponic lettuce business and a barramundi farm above Port Douglas, where she and her family live on one hundred and fifty acres. To relax, she loves taking the children camping at Lake Tinaroo. ’ We catch yabbies and cook in camp ovens. I love teaching the kids that stuff, it’s the nurturer in me coming out again,’ says Kim, who is looking forward to going home for a few months when Hill 60 wraps. ‘I never know what the next job is until the phone rings’ says Kim, before being summoned to go and check out a power problem. Before I know it, she’s round the back of a truck, checking cables and the generator. All is right again within minutes.

Competent. It’s the understatement of the year.

CREW PROFILE: Caroline Baum talks to Stand-by Props, Adrienne "Ado" Ogle

2009-09-03T00:30:00.000-07:00

You don’t want to get in ‘Ado’ Ogle’s way on set. As the eyes and ears of the art department on set, she moves around with a sense of urgency that never slips into panic. Her job is to anticipate every item that the director will want to see in shot and to make sure it is ready- from a shovel to a gun to the nightmarish challenge of making sure the hundreds of specially made double-wick candles used to light tunnel scenes are all matched up from shot to shot. ‘I can’t tell you relieved I am when we are using electricity!’ she says with feeling.

With ten years as a horticulturist and sales rep for a nursery, Ado had a truck licence which came in handy as a way into the film business: she started out driving unit vehicles in 1997. ‘My first film as stand by props was a low budget Australian film called Angst. It was aptly named because I was a nervous wreck on it!’

‘My job means I am the front runner for ten or eleven departments, who can all be saying or wanting different things at the one time. You have to be able to cope with a lot of pressure and be obsessively organised and one step ahead, in all situations.’ Which is not so very different from the world of the military. She regards the atmosphere and

team spirit of the Beneath Hill 60 shoot as unique. ‘People have offered to help each other in ways you don’t often see on other shoots, perhaps because we’ve all been stuck in the same hell-hole conditions in the trenches and the tunnels. There’s a very special bond with this mob. I’ve never come across anything quite like it. We’ve all endured the mud together, and the awful claustrophobia of the tunnels, the rats, and we all know it’s nothing compared to what the real soldiers had to deal with.’

Her personal career highlight was another military project, the mega US TV mini series Pacific, shot around Port Douglas and to be screened next year. ‘There are not many women who do this job, maybe four in the country. I had a team of five blokes working under me, carpenters, painters... but also scenes involving five hundred men running across an

airfield , lots of testosterone and aggression and a US military advisor who treated me a bit like a nobody until I acquired the confidence and authority to step up to him and say ‘Look Captain, this is how it is.’ That was a real turning point for me. This is a job where you are continuously having to prove yourself and earn respect every day.’

Not surprisingly, Ado admits to finding it hard to relax at the end of a day of being keyed up on high alert. ‘It’s hard to wind down. I have a beer and shower, but on these night shoots, you never really sleep properly when you get home at six a.m. I love swimming and surfing, but there’s no surf up here and no time anyway.’ says Ado, who was captain of the crew team at a recent cast versus crew cricket match but was forced to retire early with a recurrent hamstring injury that occurred on set in the second week of the shoot.

She’s loving the Townsville climate. ‘I prefer to work in the warm, although I am a snow and ski freak. My next job has me up here till Xmas, working on the Sea Patrol TV series at Mission Beach and that suits me just fine.’ Art least on that job she can be pretty confident that she won’t be wrangling candles.

Ado setting the props at the Waddell Homestead.

Germans

2009-08-31T18:24:00.000-07:00

While the Australian tunnellers were trying to undermine the Germans, deep below the surface of the Western Front, the German tunnellers were trying to get to the Australians the same way. In Beneath Hill 60, the Germans play quite a prominent role, not just as evil shadows.

We are fortunate to have some very talented German and German-speaking actors on board with us. Also, a special thanks to our German translation and language advisor, Verena von der Heiden.

Marcus Costello (left) as Ernst Wagner with Kenneth Spiteri as Karl Babek in the German tunnels beneath Hill 60.

Photo by Wendy McDougall.

Dennis Kreuseler as a German soldier.

Photo by Wendy McDougall.

Marcus Costello as German Tunneller Ernst Wagner climbing a shaft.

Karl Babek (Kenneth Spiteri) watches from below.

Photo by Wendy McDougall.

Production Stills

2009-08-31T18:13:00.000-07:00

Shoot Week 5 had some very exciting scenes! Our Stills Photographer, Wendy McDougall captured the action in the tunnels and trenches.

Suffocating darkness. Brendan Cowell as Captain Oliver Woodward in the claustrophobic tunnels of the Western Front.

Photo by Wendy McDougall.

The 1st Australian Tunnelers' rugby team prepares to take on the Royal Northumberland Fuiliers.

The SFX team's smoke machine creates a wonderful atmosphere of foreboding.

Photo by Wendy McDougall.

Brendan Cowell as Captain Oliver Woodward (left) and Anthony Hayes as Captain William McBride with a map of the underground tunnel system.

Photo by Wendy McDougall.

Rain (courtesy of the Special Effects Deparment) in the trenches on the Western Front.

Photo by Wendy McDougall.

Crawling away from the Red House (German Machine gun emplacement) before the explosion.

Photo by Wendy McDougall.

Harrison Gilbertson as Tunneller Frank Tiffin.

Photo by Wendy McDougall.

Tunneller Jim Sneddon (Alan Dukes) and his son Walter (Alex Thompson) wearing rescue equipment in the tunnels.

Photo by Wendy McDougall.

Underground

2009-08-18T17:30:00.000-07:00

We've taken a break from the dusty trenches and have moved the Shoot to the 'underground' tunnels - constructed above ground in a studio shed at Bohle. The Art Department, SFX, Lighting, Sound and Makeup teams have done an amazing job to create a very claustrophobic and suffocating atmosphere in the low, dripping, muddy tunnels.

Jim Sneddon (Alan Dukes) and Walter Sneddon (Alex Thompson) clay-kicking to lengthen a tunnel.

Photo by Stills Photographer, Wendy McDougall.

Captain William McBride (Anthony Hayes) at his desk inside a dugout.

Photo by Stills Photographer, Wendy McDougall.

Most of the tunnels beneath Hill 60 had names to help identify them. The Aussies named them after familiar places from home. Today's filming was in the 'Townsville' tunnel.

Photo by Wendy McDgouall: Lead actor, Brendan Cowell, as Oliver Woodward.

Young and terrified Sapper, Frank Tiffin (Harrison Gilbertson), in his bunker.

Photo by Stills Photographer, Wendy McDougall.

The Men

2009-08-18T16:38:00.000-07:00

Captain Oliver Woodward (Brendan Cowell) leads his team through the mud to take out a German machine gun nest.

Photo by Stills Photographer, Wendy McDougall.

Sapper Norman Morris (Gyton Grantley).

Photo by Stills Photographer, Wendy McDougall.

Sergeant Bill Fraser (Steve Le Marquand).

Photo by Stills Photographer, Wendy McDougall.

Sapper Frank Tiffin (Harrison Gilbertson).

Photo by Stills Photographer, Wendy McDougall.

Sapper Percy Marsden (Warwick Young).

Photo by Stills Photographer, Wendy McDougall.

Billy Bacon, nicknamed "Streaky" for his lightening speed and agility. Played by Mark Coles Smith.

Photo by Stills Photographer, Wendy McDougall.

Jim Sneddon (above) played by Alan Dukes and Walter Sneddon (below) played by Alex Thompson. The Sneddons were a real father-son team from Walsend in NSW who joined up together.

Photo by Stills Photographer, Wendy McDougall.

Captain William McBride (Anthony Hayes).

Photo by Stills Photographer, Wendy McDougall.

CREW PROFILE: Caroline Baum talks to on-set nurse, Bernadette Kersh.

2009-08-16T19:11:00.000-07:00

Bernadette Kersh tending to SFX Supervisor, Dan Oliver.

Bernie Kersh prefers having nothing to do.

She’s the on-location nurse for the production and ap

art from standing on the sideline

s keeping a vigilant eye on the action, she hopes not to be called on. So far, she’s only had to attend to minor cuts as people hit their heads on the tunnels, un-used to how low they are... and she’s administering decongestants as people find it hard to breathe due to the amount of dust in the air. Fortunately all the serious wounds on set are fake, courtesy of the make up team.

Beneath Hill 60 is Bernie’s first experience of being an on-set nurse. But she is used to dramatic real-life situations - as a nurse at Townsville General Hospital she’s looked after premature babies in the Intensive Care Unit and she’s also had extensive experience in the mines around the city, dealing with industrial accidents in high-risk situations.

‘It was a bit of a dare going into that world’ says Bernie. ‘I just answered an ad in the paper ..I thought the work I had done in Africa had prepared me for pretty much anything, Traveling in Kenya, I had worked in a remote, very poor orphanage and set up a mobile wound clinic to

deal with things like flesh eating bug infections, machete slashes, child abuse burns and ulcers due to poor nutrition .’

She found herself as one of the small group of women working among four to five hundred blokes at the Gunpowder mine four hours west of Mount Isa. ‘They always rib you at first and check out ‘the new meat’ , as they call you. But I grew up with seven brothers so I could handle it. I wore an engagement ring at first, which was a tip I got from Connor (one of her brothers, who is also an investor in the film). It made everyone feel safer.’

Bernie learned to use full breathing apparatus so she could go down into the mines in case she needed to. ‘ I like it down there!’ she says. ‘There’s a great sense of fellowship.’

She dealt with severe crushing injuries, heart attacks and death with her usual down-to- earth calm and compassion.

‘I was born with club feet and I think having had surgery at a very early age has made me better able to empathise with people, whether it’s the patient, or, in the case of tiny babies, their parents, who are suffering just as much,’ says Bernie, who would like to extend her experience in ICU into combining her skills wit

h education to work with underprivileged kids or NGOs like Medecins sans Frontieres.

When she’s not on duty, Bernie’s favourite way to relax is ‘hanging out at my mum’s place (not far from the location for the Waddell homestead) with the horses, friends and family around a camp fire with a guitar - or ten pin bowling, at which I’m hopeless but it’s a great laugh!’

Bernie with orphaned twins, William and Willikista, in Kenya.

CREW PROFILE: Caroline Baum talks to Eric Fleury, in charge of on-set catering for the shoot in Townsville.

2009-08-16T18:34:00.000-07:00

My husband is getting fatter and fatter.

Each day when he comes home at the end of the shoot I ask: ‘So what was for lunch/dinner ?’

The reply goes something like this:

‘Well, there was a choice between grass fed fillet of beef or New Zealand flounder with a ginger sauce’

‘And what did you choose?’ I say, trying to sound casually disinterested instead of downright jealous .

‘Um well I had both actually... protein, you know.…

‘And was there a dessert?”

‘Oh yes, there was bread and butter pudding with roasted pears’ (for which you can substitute Pavlova, macadamia nut pie and other wicked temptations served up with vanilla bean custard and ice cream on any given day).

At breakfast there are pancakes with maple syrup and porridge with cinnamon and raisins

as well as the standard egg and fry up dishes.

According to Napoleon, an army marches on its stomach. (He was so concerned about the dietary welfare of his troops on long overseas campaigns that he instigated a national competition to invent the most travel friendly food - the inventor of tinned sardines was the winner.)

Nowhere are Napoleon’s words truer than on the set of Beneath Hill 60, where the prospect of a meal prepared by Eric, known as Cookie, keeps the morale of all troops, whether cast or crew, high. Born in Cherbourg, in north west France, he works out of Brisbane, where he also runs a wholesale meat business called Green and Gold. After time spent in the Caribbean working with Club Med resorts, he traveled to Mexico and Haiti, developing a repertoire of dishes from the world’s exotic cuisines and then set up two restaurants of his own in Brisbane- Cafe Galichet and Fleury’s - before going into the film catering business. He has provided on location catering for productions including Pacific, the Spielberg /Tom Hanks mini series on which cast the cast and crew of one thousand consumed up to 1.3 tonnes of meat a week, The Great Raid, House of Wax and Anaconda.

Eric prepares all the food for Hill 60 himself, preferring to work alone in his mobile kitchen with his wife Louise in charge of the buffet. He writes up a menu for each day, which always includes a couple of salads and a vegetarian option which was particularly appreciated by vegan cast member Bella Heathcote. He’s used to special dietary requests.

‘On The Great Raid we had thirty eight different diets to accommodate. Stars all have their own preferences. In the case of Benjamin Bratt, it was egg whites for breakfast and only fish or chicken for lunch.’

Budget is not what determines cast and crew satisfaction, according to Eric. ‘It’s like making a garden - you don’t need very expensive ingredients to make it beautiful,’ he says, adding that ‘what film people like best is a mixture of healthy food and comfort food. They want variety, freshness and balance, but they don’t want rich fancy restaurant food.’

The act of eating together at the start of the shoot is like a kind of unofficial communion, bringing everyone together to share sustenance before the arduous work begins. Each and every member of the production has probably given thanks at least once for not being on the dreadful rations that barely sustained the men at Ypres. But when you see the conditions they are working under, slogging it out in the middle of a chilly night wading through mud, they certainly look like they deserve that second helping of pud.

Cookie stirring up a feast in the kitchen.

His lovely wife, Louise, is in charge of the Buffet.

Sound tempting?

Here's an example of one of Cookie's delicious recipes:

Pears and milk chocolate bread and butter pudding served with a warm caramel sauce

Caramel sauce .
Butter unsalted : 250 g
Brown sugar : 250 g
Cream : 800ml
Corn flour : 2 tea spoon
Water : 50 ml

Sauce :
Melt your butter slowly add your brown sugar stir it to the point to become creamy and lighter colour add your cream and cook slowly for a good half hour. Finish with a 2 tea spoon of corn flour .

Pudding:
Fresh pears : 8
Butter : 40 g
Brown sugar : 60 g
Eggs : 6
Castor sugar : 150 g
Cream : 600 ml
Milk : 1 litre
Raisin Bread : 1 pack
Milk Chocolate button : 250 g
Soft butter : 100 g
Cinnamon : ½ tea spoon
Honey : 50 ml
Vanilla essence : 2 tea spoons
All spices : ½ tea spoon

Peel your pears and cut them in chunky quarters, melt butter in pan, sauté the pears and add brown sugar. Sauté cook for a few minutes to the point that the sugar melt around the pears should take couple of minutes. Stay next to your fry pan, you do not want burn the sugar .
In the bowl put white sugar + eggs + honey + cinnamon + all spices + vanilla whisk for a few seconds add your cream and milk
Butter your slice of Raisin bread take your baking dish, pour some milk first at the bottom of your dish just to cover the bottom.
Put your first layer of bread, add pears + chocolate, pour your mixture, add your next layer of bread, press the bread with your hand to make sure that the bread infuse all the egg mixture. Do the same process for 3 layers, cook for 40 minute in a 160 -170 c oven ( check with a knife if it’s cooked, the blade of your knife should be clean and hot if not let the dish cook for a few more minutes ) .
When cooked, let rest the dessert for a 10 minutes. Sprinkle some icing sugar to the top served with your warm caramel sauce and if want to be naughty some lovely vanilla creamy ice cream and a lovely glass of champagne.

2009-08-05T18:55:00.001-07:00

Beneath Hill 60 on Facebook

Homestead, Wedding and Burns Philp Office

2009-08-03T18:04:00.000-07:00

The First Week of Shoot got the film off to a terrific start. All the Civilian scenes were shot in Week I - at the Waddell family Homestead, in the 'Burns Philp Office', at the Wedding Church and the scene at Alligator Creek. Next, we'll make the move to the tunnels and trenches and begin to recreate WWI !

Producer, Bill Leimbach getting into Costume as the Head of the Burns Philp Office.

The typing pool at Burns Philp

Adrienne "Ago" Ogle makes the finishing touches on props before the cameras roll.

Chris Evans, 3rd AD takes charge at the Wedding Church.

Chris directing the Extras at Burns Philp.

The angelic Marjorie (Bella Heathcote) in her bridal gown with her newly-wed husband, Oliver Woodward (Brendan Cowell).

Writer, David Roach getting into character as the 'disapproving man'.

The 'Disapproving Man' gets back to his writing.

A Burns Philp Customer.

Extras.

Caro getting her wig on in the Makeup Truck.

A Burns Philp Customer

David and Caro are partners in 'Disapproval' according to their withering stares.

Everyone from the Production Office wants to have at their 15 minutes of fame as an Extra.
Here's Producer's Assistant Georgie getting her hair done in the Makeup Truck.

Simon Ward from WIN TV interviewing our leading lady, Bella Heathcote.

Art Department Assistant, Tania Leimbach making German tunnel maps in 'Fusselein's Bunker' - in the basement of Customs House.

PRE SHOOT DAY - FRIDAY 27th JULY - HERVEY RANGE

2009-07-29T19:26:00.000-07:00

Shooting got off to a terrific start on Friday 24th July with our Pre Shoot Day up in Hervey's Range with a breathtaking view of the valley.

Wendy got some terrific shots from our vantage point up in the hills.

Oliver Woodward (Brendan Cowell) surveying the valley on horseback.
Photo by Stills Photographer, Wendy McDougall.

Our fantastic hair and makeup duo, Shane Thomas and Anita Morgan on set, poised and ready for any touch ups.

To start the day we had breakfast at the lovely Hervey Range Heritage Tea Rooms - the oldest in Townsville.
We were filming just up behind the Tea Rooms on Hervey Range road.
Here's our DOP, Toby Oliver. He looks hungry!

Meet and greet with the horse.
Photo by Stills Photographer, Wendy McDougall.

Stunt Coordinator, Lawrence Woodward gets the horse in position.

Photo by Stills Photographer, Wendy McDougall.

Inside the tunnel.
Photo by Stills Photographer, Wendy McDougall.

Ready in the tunnel.
Photo by Stills Photographer, Wendy McDougall.

Emerging from the tunnel.
Photo by Stills Photographer, Wendy McDougall.

Jeremy envisioning the shot.

Photo by Wendy McDougall

Script Supervisor Kira Bohn and Sound Recordist Mark Cornish heading to the scene.
Photo by Stills Photographer, Wendy McDougall.

Sound Recordist Mark Cornish talking business with Gaffer Miles Jones.
Photo by Stills Photographer, Wendy McDougall.

Creating the movie magic (from left) with Sound Recordist Mark Cornish, Lead Actor Brendan Cowell, Stunt Coordinator Lawrence Woodward, Gaffer Miles Jones and DOP Toby Oliver.

2009-07-24T00:30:00.000-07:00

So much goes on in the Final Countdown to the Shoot. Locations, Tech, Recces, Meetings, Costume Fittings, Haircuts, Set Construction, Excavation, Set Dressing, Publicity, Props, Camera tests, Special Effects and much, much more. There is so much to do and so many decisions to make.

Here are some photos by our Stills Photographer, Wendy McDougall, which capture our final week of Pre Production.

Tech Recce - The "Wedding Church".
Gaffer Miles Jones (below) and DOP Toby Oliver working out how to situate and position lighting and camera equipment for the best possible shot.

DoP Toby Oliver (left) and Jeremy Sims at the tech recce working out how to position the cameras for the best shot.

Locations Recce - Alligator Creek shooting Location. The "Swimming Hole"

Locations Recce - Beautiful Customs House on The Strand. The "Burns Philp Office"

The Props Department - a WWI movie definitely needs some 'blown up' legs and charred skeletons lying around!

Hideously realistic...

The Props Department covers all the small stuff too, like these old dusty bottles. They'll be used for dressing the sets for a more geniune, period look. Original WWI photos line the walls for inspiration.

Brendan Cowell (lead actor) with EP Ross Thomas and Director Jeremy Sims at the Mount Wright Mine at Ravenswood.

Director Jeremy Sims with Brendan Cowell (lead actor) with EP Ross Thomas at the Mount Wright Mine at Ravenswood.

Brendan and Jeremy check out the local attractions at the Mount Wright Mine.

Locations Recce - The "Homestead". The Art Department will "dress" this so it fits in with the Period and looks like the inviting country house of the Waddell family.

Final Meetings. From left: Jeremy Sims, Stunt Coordinator Lawrence Woodward (although he's not related to our hero, unfortunately!), Production Manager Sandy Stevens and Writer David Roach.
Wait, that's not wallpaper! That's Storyboards!

Final detailing on the Military uniforms in the Costume Department.

Jeremy and Paula Tapiolas do a live Broadcast for ABC NQ Radio.

Producer, Bill Leimbach hops behind the camera for the EPK interview in the Costume Department.

Ian Sparke (Costume Designer) with WWI helmets in the Costume Department.

The Hair and Makeup Department are getting ready to make the actors look like genuine 1916 Australians.

Webbing and Civillian Costumes in the Costume Department.

Extra! Extra!
Makeup and Hair Designer, Shane Thomas, giving an Extra the classic WWI 'short back and sides' cut.

Ivana working hard in the Costume Department to finish off all the intricate detailing that makes every costume unique to the character.

Jeremy and Brendan getting ready for an EPK interview. Nice...er...helmet, Brendan.

The "Shearing Shed".
All the 'soldiers' need to have the classic WWI 'short back and sides' haircut for their appearance in the trenches. Snip, snip, snip!

Alex Becconsall polishing boots in the costume department so they look genuine for the Period.

Camera Tests with Andre to work out positioning and angles for the best possible shot, making sure to iron out visual issues before the start of Shoot.

Civillian Costume rack in the Costume Department. But that's not all - our Civillian Costume Designer, Wendy, has her own truck on-site, FULL of exquisite vintage and period pieces.

Military Costumes.

Boots.

More Camera Tests.

Shane Thomas (Makeup and Hair Designer) works his magic on Lead Actor Brendan Cowell.

Webbing in the Costume Department.

Camera tests.

Jeremy and Brendan.

Our first German soldier. Looking very fierce in uniform for the camera tests!

The soldiers have a yarn at the camera tests.

Oliver Woodward (Brendan Cowell) in his wet weather poncho for the camera tests.

DOP Toby Oliver shoots 'Oliver Woodward' (Brendan Cowell) in his wet weather poncho for the camera tests.

Tunnels, Costumes and Publicity - July 20th

2009-07-20T02:00:00.000-07:00

Attention to Detail:

The Art Department have been working hard to ensure the tunnels look authentic. Dressing the set with mud, dust, moisture, slime and all the rest make these pristine wooden boards look like the real WWI tunnels looked back in 1917.

While construction of new tunnels continues at the same time...

On Wednesday 15th, Simon Ward and Victor Paull from WIN TV came to the office to shoot for their evening news programme. They toured the Costume and Art Departments, before heading out to the tunnel sets!

Inside the tunnel set - Victor Paull shoots a piece-to-camera with WIN TV host Simon Ward.

We have been getting a huge amount of publicity from the Local media here in Townsville, all very positive, getting the word out about Beneath Hill 60.

Paula Tapiolas, from 630 ABC North Queensland's Breakfast Show came into the Production Office to record a live Broadcast with exclusive interviews with the Heads of Department: Ian Sparke (Costume Designer), Wendy Cork (Civillian Costume Designer), Bill Leimbach (Producer), David Roach (Writer), Toby Oliver (Director of Photography), Dan Oliver (Special Effects Manager), Jeremy Sims (Director), Brendan Cowell (Lead Actor), Mim Weger (Extras Casting) and Shane Thomas (Makeup and Hair Designer).
The show was a terrific success and ABC North Queensland had a huge amount of positive feedback from the listeners!

Here's Paula interviewing David about the script and storyline:

...and talking to Shane about Makeup and Hair Design:

But even though this was all taking place in the Costume Department, the mending, designing, conditioning, creating and adjusting and detailing never stops in that place!

Here are the tireless Costume boys - Luke Sparke (Costume Stand-by) in the foreground, and Alex Becconsall (Assistant Costume Stand-by) in the background - pouring over their work on the Costumes:

But wait, there's more!
There have also been a couple of articles in the Townsville Bulletin - Townsville's local newspaper, about Beneath Hill 60 in Pre Production and the reception of the film by the city at the official Launch Party held on Saturday night at the Exchange Hotel.

Art Department and Set Construction

2009-07-06T23:32:00.000-07:00

In the Construction Department, Pre Production continues inside the huge industrial sheds supplied by Brad Webb. The workspaces are a hive of activity with builders, painters, props makers, metal workers and carpenters all constructing the props, sets and tunnels.

The Art Department and Construction Team with Bill Leimbach, Producer.

The Art Department Construction Shed

Ben Selleck with his stretchers.

Steve Reid (Props Maker) working wonders with metal.

The giant workshop.

The tunnel set are being constructed ready for shooting in Brad Webb's brand new Industrial shed.

When genuine looking props are too difficult to buy, they have to be made from scratch - like these wooden bottles, to go on the soldiers' backpacks.

Producer, Bill explores the Tunnel sets.

Around corners...

And in the tight spots

Georgie Scott, Producer's Assistant crawls into the tunnels.

Who said being the Producer was all work and no play?

Digging the Trenches - July 6th

2009-07-05T23:34:00.000-07:00

July 1st was the "groundbreaking" of the trenches and thanks to two local excavators, Shane Poole from Diamond Diggers and Gavin Markwell from The Marwell Group, the digging is moving ahead at a fantastic pace!

First discussions, planning out the trenches on Shane Poole's Kelso property - before the excavation began:

From Left: Art Director Sam Hobbs, Excavator Shane Poole, Investor Greg Rains and Production Designer Clay Jauncey.

Mapping out the plans:

Before we could start digging, we had to burn off the vegetation.

Here's the ground before the burning:

The ground before the breaking:

Markwell and Diamond Excavators make the first mark - the trenches have begun!

After a few days of Excavation, the trenches are really starting to take shape.

The layout of where to dig was mapped across out with stakes and pink and orange ribbon, and dotted lines were sprayed on the ground with orange paint.

Sam talks depth with John.

Jamie, Jeremy, David and Clay get down and dusty in the trenches.

Producer's Assistant, Georgie Scott checks out the newly forming trenches.

Those pants won't stay white for long, Sandy!

Michelle is very excited about the trenches!

The end of a long and dusty day! Thank God we didn't have to dig these by hand like the soldiers in World War One!