She Brings The Rain - Principal Photography Day 1

Auki & Maddison Ash on location.  Darwin, Australia. Photo by Mark Hamilton Photography Today was an exceptional day for filming a b...

Auki & Maddison Ash on location.  Darwin, Australia.
Photo by Mark Hamilton Photography

Today was an exceptional day for filming a beach scene,  the blue cloudless sky made for constant lighting and added vibrant colour to the water, just the right amount of sun and wind to keep everybody reasonably cool and no crowds to complicate some of the shots where we needed to orbit around the set and talent.

This post however is not going to be about any of the particular technicalities of filming on location, but rather the fantastic group of people I got to work with.

Starting with the gorgeous Maddison Ash, a local girl who was undiscovered (even to herself) until last year when  we found her featuring in a responsible drinking advertising campaign.  Maddison has worked with a few big name photographers since then and even featured in one of my series of  beach shoots at the start of this years dry season.  When Erica Owns The Sky's lead singer Sam Korn first approached me with "She Brings The Rain" I immediately saw Maddison playing the part of the girl next door with a ready smile.

Mark Hamilton, who plays the photographer in our beach shoot set is in fact a real photographer, especially well known for his glamour photography work which is widely published.  Interestingly Mark's primary occupation is as a helicopter pilot.  The Hamilton Photography team of both Mark and Katrina Welfare came down with a bunch of gear that made up the majority of the set, I have seen them both in action before and its like a well oiled machine when they start working.  Its always reassuring to work with the pros, there is a certain luxury knowing that they know what makes things tick on a set and they really helped making things run smoothly and on time.

Then there was the rest of our support team, Katie Abraham who has been our makeup artist for many shoots and features now.  Lan Treagus whose wardrobe and styling ideas have classed up both our motion projects and photo shoots.  James Isacsson previously a budding motocross videographer was our hard working behind the scenes camera man for day 1, he came down just to give 'something different a shot'.  Jess Lai who helped with the running of the shot list and shared DOP duties for another music video we did this year came down again to help us out in the same capacity.  Bronwyn Pain who has been a set assistant for my photoshoots as well as recording sessions for motorsports show HighRPM was invaluable with set equipment and props on Day 1 she tirelessly keeps an eye out on anything that may not be running quite as smoothly as it should and fixes it up for us. EOS's singer Sam Korn even came down for the shoot and was quickly (and willingly) put to work holding reflectors and strobes for the duration.

All the people I have mentioned came down to work on the set voluntarily, for the fun experience to be had,  and that's what made it an exceptional day for me.  I find it extremely rewarding to be able to work with a group of people who are keen to further themselves in their own interests by collaborating with others.

In fact I'd go so far as to say that just in my limited experience I much prefer this type of project to commercial ones where money is involved.  To be fair, this also isn't my primary source of income and I realise it would not be commercially viable to only work on non paid ventures, all I am saying is my satisfaction and creativity levels are much higher on collaborative volunteer projects where the ideas flow as freely as the enthusiasm and sense of teamwork!

Day 1 Behind the Scenes shots
Some shots of the set from behind the scenes. Click to enlarge.

Behind "She Brings The Rain" - The crew setting up - pic courtesy of Mark Hamilton Photography

Behind "She Brings The Rain" - Sam Korn and Wardrobe/Stylist Lan Treagus - pic courtesy of Mark Hamilton Photography

Behind "She Brings The Rain" - The crew adjust between takes - pic courtesy of Mark Hamilton Photography

Behind "She Brings The Rain" - Maddison Ash on Set - pic courtesy of Mark Hamilton Photography

Behind "She Brings The Rain" Auki filming a take with Maddison Ash - pic courtesy of Mark Hamilton Photography

Behind "She Brings The Rain" The crew filming Maddison - pic courtesy of Mark Hamilton Photography

Behind "She Brings The Rain" Mark Hamilton & Maddison Ash - aukihenry.com

Day 1 Blooper Out Take
I don't know any production that wouldn't have bloopers of some sort. Day 1 of filming was no different for us. Whilst filming a scene with Mark Hamilton 'directing' Maddison during her shoot the DOP noticed Maddison was actually taking a break in the background!