Premiere screening & after-party! [By invitation only]
Date: Wed 30 Jan
Time: 7pm
Location: Surry Hills

Stay tuned.

Report to follow.

This scenario forms the basis of “Harmless”, the eagerly-anticipated short film by NAFA Productions. A huntsman spider finds itself in an apartment shared by two young women, Pat and Alex. Although the girls are at first pitted against the spider, soon they are pitted against each other, as competing instincts battle for their very souls.

But how would two male flatmates react in the same situation? Using the same script, the film “Housemates” casts Pat and Alex as two young men haunted by the spider. This experiment created a hilarious dynamic, as the unwanted housemate creates a tectonic shift in the relationship between the two men.  

Both films are produced and directed by Tony Chu, from the script by Pete Greenaway. “Harmless” stars Jaclyn Cunningham and Sarah Stevenson, perfectly capturing the conflicting emotions we all recognise from being in that scenario. And returning fire in the battle of the sexes is its companion piece “Housemates”. Steve Corner and Aidan Pezzutto vividly demonstrate that, as far as huntsman spiders are concerned, the sexes are definitely equal!Pete Greenaway

Finding similarities with Betacam-style body cameras, Shane especially liked its lightweight feel, the shoulder-mount & the broadcast quality lens. Elaborating further, he appreciated the proper Fujinon lens with its manual focusing capabilities and the same conveniences of larger broadcast cameras, including colour bars, zebra, multiple record buttons & large battery capacity. Shane shot both films with the camera mostly on sticks. The only exception was girls’ bedroom scene. In order to showcase the fear & panic of finding the spider on the bed, the scene was filmed hand-held with great effect. The total range of shots used were: 2 shot, CU, OVS, Single, Master – all conventional shooting throughout. 

During post-production, Shane will be reviewing the footage and colour grading both films.

Overall Comments:
Looking back we had a great shoot.
I think all our cast & crew had fun! I did!

This was a great team. Friendly and highly efficient. Everyone was happy to help each other out & bonded well. Of course throughout the shoot we scared each other (or was it entertained?) when relating our favourite spider stories! Plus lots of spider jokes - who can resist?

We scheduled two days to shoot the two films. As mentioned, we were going to use the same script with only minor modifications to the dialogue. But then made major changes to the look of the set and tweaked performances aiming to create 2 very different films. Guess what? We did it - on time & on budget.

Spider comments:
We found the most effective prop was a photo of a huge Huntsman spider. We pinned this pic high on the ceiling, which was perfect for actors’ eyelines and gave something real for actors (& crew) to react to.

Also noteworthy was a camera frame that as far as I am aware has never been attempted in cinematic history, an over-the-spider shot! That is, we framed as for an over-the-shoulder shot, but instead we did it over one of the spider’s legs, keeping one of its lower legs in the foreground & right of camera, while capturing a 2 shot of Pat & Alex at the dinner table. Luckily our spider was compliant, holding still enough for 2 -3 good takes, though we did see it looking a bit nervous at one stage.

In retrospect, the most demanding crew job was spider wrangling. We needed 2 good shots of the spider running away (on both days). So we decided to give this tricky task to the writer, who luckily had befriended Septo, as it became affectionately known. Applying every trick described in the ‘Huntsman Spider Manual’, we eventually found the best approach was to gently coax it to amble quickly from the lounge room (for a wide-shot) & then do the same as it went under the bedroom (for the close-up). Despite the need to frequently reset Septo back to first position & do multiple takes with Alex chasing it, our spider obliged without complaint. [Please note: no Huntsman were harmed in the making of this film.]

Shooting Days:
Day 1 (29 Nov 2007):
Our prediction that shooting the first film: ‘Harmless’ on Day 1 would be challenging, proved spot on. Moving furniture to create the set, fancier set dressings, lighting set-ups to give a richer look, cutters to create shadows, specific dolly movements, careful make-up & hair styling - all made things challenging to film within the time constraints. Nevetheless we still finished within the 10 hour day, capturing some great performances from Jaclyn and Sarah.

Day 2 (30 Nov 2007):
On Day 2, although the crew probably knew the dialogue off by heart, the scenes still felt fresh as Steve & Aidan delivered nicely on their respective characters for the second film: ’Housemates’. Wanting to create the reality TV look, we used simpler set-ups, no make-up & flat lighting with kinos. In the end, Day 2 was like a reward as we finished early, being ahead of schedule every step of the way. 

Special Thank You’s: 
A huge thank you to Armondo, who kindly allowed us to film at his house over the 2 days and was most patient with our many requests. 

Also a special thank you to Pete Greenaway who organised the catering - it was fantastic & bountiful!

Tony Chu

All agenda items were covered:
For actors:
Rehearsals x 2, blocking & costumes checked.

For crew:
Visual treatments, shooting schedules, map of location, call-sheets, minutes taken, contacts list, equipment checks, props sourced & made, website created. All departments happy.