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Smitten the movie

simey

31-Aug-2011
9:44:55 AM

On 31/08/2011 nmonteith wrote:
>Hard and interesting climbing doesn't just happen in the Blue Mountains.

Does the Blue Mountains have interesting climbing?


nmonteith

31-Aug-2011
10:04:33 AM

On 31/08/2011 simey wrote:
>Does the Blue Mountains have interesting climbing?

You seemed mildly interested in Telstar a few months back.


sliamese

31-Aug-2011
10:49:23 AM

a movie is slightly different from a guidebook tho??

how many guidebooks for each area? so if someone puts out a bad one, it has pretty big ramifications. simey, your guide to araps is awesome, but it does mean no-one will ever make an araps guide. is that what we want in the film world? one good movie.

another movie to put on the shelf doesnt supersede the existing ones. and even a sub-standard one wouldn't put people of making another movie to sit next to it on the shelf would it?

did anybody see the last Banff mountain film festival? i think Smitten shits all over most of the crap on that reel!

Wendy

31-Aug-2011
1:22:53 PM

On 30/08/2011 benjo wrote:

>“There was NO consideration given to flat light conditions, the camera
>just kept rolling in full sun so the contrast was woeful”- well there was,
>it’s just that we aren’t all blessed with the right lighting conditions
>allllll the time, not to mention the keen eye for film making that you
>obviously have. When you drive to Victoria for 2 days in summer to film
>3 routes it puts you under the pump a bit apparently…

I haven't seen the film, but this did stand out to me - why try and fit all that important filming into 2 days? Sadly, footage often doesn't turn out how you want it to. You just have to suck it up and try again. If you're making something amateur, it probably doesn't matter much, but if you hope to sell the end product, devoting an adequate amount of time to it is probably a good idea.

SteveH

31-Aug-2011
1:45:11 PM

Silence on the 'Smitten' front on Chockstone for weeks.

Ado appears (and disappears) with a controversial, Smitten post that doesn't read as a SPAM post...

Things get quite and Ben appears with a good controversial rev-up, F-bombs and 'Smitten' everywhere....

Smitten continues to remain on the front page and topic of conversation.

Congratulations gentlemen on a fantastic covert-marketing job. My hats off to you, well played!

Haven't seen it yet, ordered it today! Do I care how good it is? Not really, I will still enjoy it!

Duncan

31-Aug-2011
3:40:24 PM

So cynical, Steve! You getting out bouldering much these days? We should catch up.


Sabu

31-Aug-2011
4:24:34 PM

On 31/08/2011 SteveH wrote:
>Silence on the 'Smitten' front on Chockstone for weeks.
>
>Ado appears (and disappears) with a controversial, Smitten post that doesn't
>read as a SPAM post...
>
>Things get quite and Ben appears with a good controversial rev-up, F-bombs
>and 'Smitten' everywhere....
>
>Smitten continues to remain on the front page and topic of conversation.
>
>Congratulations gentlemen on a fantastic covert-marketing job. My hats
>off to you, well played!
>
>Haven't seen it yet, ordered it today! Do I care how good it is? Not really,
>I will still enjoy it!

Yes I was thinking that. Any publicity is good publicity!


gordoste

31-Aug-2011
10:33:19 PM

On 31/08/2011 Wendy wrote:
>On 30/08/2011 benjo wrote:
>
>>“There was NO consideration given to flat light conditions, the camera
>>just kept rolling in full sun so the contrast was woeful”- well there
>was,
>>it’s just that we aren’t all blessed with the right lighting conditions
>>allllll the time, not to mention the keen eye for film making that you
>>obviously have. When you drive to Victoria for 2 days in summer to film
>>3 routes it puts you under the pump a bit apparently…
>
>I haven't seen the film, but this did stand out to me - why try and fit
>all that important filming into 2 days? Sadly, footage often doesn't turn
>out how you want it to. You just have to suck it up and try again. If
>you're making something amateur, it probably doesn't matter much, but if
>you hope to sell the end product, devoting an adequate amount of time to
>it is probably a good idea.

Waiting to see your movie Wendy, obviously it will be much better than Smitten. Perhaps all of the people involved could only spare 2 days because they have other commitments? Do you seriously think that they would have purposely filmed it in poor lighting conditions if they had a choice? I am impressed that they went to all that effort, because many filmmakers would have just decided that the Victorian bit was too costly to bother with.

plugngo

31-Aug-2011
11:17:03 PM

On 31/08/2011 gordoste wrote:

>
>Waiting to see your movie Wendy, obviously it will be much better than
>Smitten. Perhaps all of the people involved could only spare 2 days because
>they have other commitments? Do you seriously think that they would have
>purposely filmed it in poor lighting conditions if they had a choice? I
>am impressed that they went to all that effort, because many filmmakers
>would have just decided that the Victorian bit was too costly to bother
>with.

It's not just the Taipan wall lighting - I thought that was pretty good. Access and getting the angles would have been the major concern. I reckon it's the best footage in the movie. It's the fact that the lighting is absolutely terrible in places where it would have been solved by buying a $50 light and a reflection board. The footage of Nowra and Sydney bouldering is awful because of this.

The argument "well it's a better climbing movie than you could make" is ridiculous. You obviously don't have to be able to do any given activity in order to critique someone else doing it. Especially if you're paying for it. Have you ever bought any climbing shoes or rope or whatever that you thought wasn't too great? How good are you at making ropes?

But after all that, I really did enjoy the movie.

Wendy

1-Sep-2011
7:44:14 AM

On 31/08/2011 gordoste wrote:
>On 31/08/2011 Wendy wrote:
>>On 30/08/2011 benjo wrote:

>>I haven't seen the film, but this did stand out to me - why try and fit
>>all that important filming into 2 days? Sadly, footage often doesn't
>turn
>>out how you want it to. You just have to suck it up and try again.
>If
>>you're making something amateur, it probably doesn't matter much, but
>if
>>you hope to sell the end product, devoting an adequate amount of time
>to
>>it is probably a good idea.
>
>Waiting to see your movie Wendy, obviously it will be much better than
>Smitten. Perhaps all of the people involved could only spare 2 days because
>they have other commitments? Do you seriously think that they would have
>purposely filmed it in poor lighting conditions if they had a choice? I
>am impressed that they went to all that effort, because many filmmakers
>would have just decided that the Victorian bit was too costly to bother
>with.

I'm not saying anything about the overall movie, i haven't seen it. But I do think it's unreasonable in a filming schedule to try and cram a major section of filming into 2 days. The trailers were all out over a year before the release. I'm guessing there was at least a year of work before that then. So out of all that time, they could only possibly spare one rushed 2 day trip to film Taipan? It's seems simply a matter of if you are going to the effort of doing something, make it the best possible chance to do it well. How many days of filming would have been spent in the Blueys?

And do all filmmakers live outside victoria? Still, I know it's terribly costly driving to Victoria. So expensive that almost noone bothers to do it. The cost of living down here is out of control. Bush camping in the Gramps is a killer. And the climbing barely justifies the expense. Yep, we're all best off sticking to the Blueys.

BTW, I am an award winning filmmaker :)

simey

1-Sep-2011
9:25:24 AM

On 1/09/2011 Wendy wrote:
>BTW, I am an award winning filmmaker :)

Wendy, I'm not so sure that highlighting your film adds any credibility to your comments.

pecheur

1-Sep-2011
9:37:14 AM

On 1/09/2011 simey wrote:
>On 1/09/2011 Wendy wrote:
>>BTW, I am an award winning filmmaker :)
>
>Wendy, I'm not so sure that highlighting your film adds any credibility
>to your comments.
>
It highlights that she acknowledged that the audio needed work and didn't complain about feedback received on the matter? Additionally she did knock over that movie in a very short timeframe.

simey

1-Sep-2011
10:08:12 AM

On 1/09/2011 pecheur wrote:
>On 1/09/2011 simey wrote:
>>On 1/09/2011 Wendy wrote:
>>>BTW, I am an award winning filmmaker :)
>>
>>Wendy, I'm not so sure that highlighting your film adds any credibility
>>to your comments.
>>
>It highlights that she acknowledged that the audio needed work and didn't
>complain about feedback received on the matter? Additionally she did knock
>over that movie in a very short timeframe.

I should have put a smiley face after my comment. (But I don't have the M9 gene).

One Day Hero

1-Sep-2011
1:06:50 PM

On 1/09/2011 davidn wrote:

>.........for what most (everyone?) considers the best climbing area
>in Aus.

An area which davidn has never visited. Surprising, given what a hardcore bouderer he is............and how he never tires of dropping the big V8 claim at any given opportunity.

widewetandslippery

1-Sep-2011
1:52:21 PM

I heard you've pulled out of the GT on the weekend ODH, whats the matter? No cameras?

One Day Hero

1-Sep-2011
1:58:53 PM

On 1/09/2011 davidn wrote:
>
>When's my sewer wall going to be done, I want to put up a FA called 'I
>met Magoo Once, and He was a Skinny Wretch' !

You mustn't have a mirror at your place........pot? kettle?

Yeah, I went on a recon mission.

Pretty funny seeing the actual situation, as opposed to the situation filtered through the 'tard lens' of a bouderer.

Bottom access is a stroll down a ramp, top access is easy once you work out where it is. There were numerous trees thicker than my legs, so rap anchors were bombproof. The "piles of loose rock at the cliff edge" took me 2mins to trundle, so no probs there. Once over the edge I found that the rock is pretty solid, the old bolts are plenty strong enough, the chocked death blocks are........ok for now......if you're not a fatty, and the lichen is very dry (will clean ok with a stiff broom)

Anyway, davidn's assessment was all wrong except for one rather unfortunate point. The climbing probably isn't that good. It seems (from the bits I self-belayed on) to be pretty unsustained, the rock is kinda rough, and I just wasn't impressed with the routes......bit like Tianjara really.

On the plus side;
-it faces much more south than I remembered, so should be good for summer
-the 'sea level traverse' will be hilarious
-the bolts are good enough that it only needs a brush and a trundle to get it useable
-the river is pretty clean after all the rain, I'd be happy to swim in it once the weather warms up
-a bunch of keener folk than I are up for renovating, so it'll happen

On the minus side;
-It's nowhere near as sweet a crag as Red Rocks
-I reckon the potential for good new hard routes is 0
-the whole situation with the river/top belaying/seconding is too far from 'Model A' to suit modern pussy climbers. Its all going to be too much for the punters, so once the cleaning crew has tired of the place it will quickly revert to its current condition

Anyway, a crew of cool folk are psyched for the job, so I'll lend a hand. People should go check it out once its done, not A-grade by a long shot, but worth a visit if you live nearby


wombly

1-Sep-2011
4:18:28 PM

I could care less about the swearing, thought the footage of the dank hovels at Nowra and the Sydney bouldering portrayed them for what they are, and thought the overall the production was fine.

On the other hand, I'll hazard that it's hard to take video of climbing that isn't inherently dull. The only exceptions are when it goes pear shaped, there's a real story behind the climb or you have an inherent stake in the action.

JDB

1-Sep-2011
4:39:08 PM

I would have loved to be a 'fly on the wall' when Mr and Mrs Cossey(senior) watched Smitten and heard young Ben's utterance topping out on Sneaky Snake.

I don't blame Ben for such language during 'the heat of battle', it just should have been edited out. It just felt wrong.


ChuckNorris

1-Sep-2011
9:51:51 PM

On 1/09/2011 One Day Hero wrote:
>On 1/09/2011 davidn wrote:
>>
>>When's my sewer wall going to be done, I want to put up a FA called 'I
>>met Magoo Once, and He was a Skinny Wretch' !
>
>You mustn't have a mirror at your place........pot? kettle?
>
>Yeah, I went on a recon mission.
>
>Pretty funny seeing the actual situation, as opposed to the situation
>filtered through the 'tard lens' of a bouderer.
>
>Bottom access is a stroll down a ramp, top access is easy once you work
>out where it is. There were numerous trees thicker than my legs, so rap
>anchors were bombproof. The "piles of loose rock at the cliff edge" took
>me 2mins to trundle, so no probs there. Once over the edge I found that
>the rock is pretty solid, the old bolts are plenty strong enough, the chocked
>death blocks are........ok for now......if you're not a fatty, and the
>lichen is very dry (will clean ok with a stiff broom)
>
>Anyway, davidn's assessment was all wrong except for one rather unfortunate
>point. The climbing probably isn't that good. It seems (from the bits I
>self-belayed on) to be pretty unsustained, the rock is kinda rough, and
>I just wasn't impressed with the routes......bit like Tianjara really.
>
>On the plus side;
>-it faces much more south than I remembered, so should be good for summer
>-the 'sea level traverse' will be hilarious
>-the bolts are good enough that it only needs a brush and a trundle to
>get it useable
>-the river is pretty clean after all the rain, I'd be happy to swim in
>it once the weather warms up
>-a bunch of keener folk than I are up for renovating, so it'll happen
>
>On the minus side;
>-It's nowhere near as sweet a crag as Red Rocks
>-I reckon the potential for good new hard routes is 0
>-the whole situation with the river/top belaying/seconding is too far
>from 'Model A' to suit modern pussy climbers. Its all going to be too much
>for the punters, so once the cleaning crew has tired of the place it will
>quickly revert to its current condition
>
>Anyway, a crew of cool folk are psyched for the job, so I'll lend a hand.
>People should go check it out once its done, not A-grade by a long shot,
>but worth a visit if you live nearby

ODH and davidh - you two are clearly bum chums. Can you restrain your agro-flirting to PM's and sext msgs, as opposed to the forum.

Christ how much agro do you guys need to build up before you have that all night session of love/hate - sex/hurt.

You really must be on the brink now.

And when you finally yield - as you inevitably must do - please don't post a TR.

simey

1-Sep-2011
11:57:32 PM

On 1/09/2011 useful wrote:
>And when you finally yield - as you inevitably must do - please don't post a TR.

No, post a video instead. I think Smitten would be a good a title.

There are 124 messages in this topic.