Joe is crowdfunding the costs to make his 3D amazeball new media art exhibition showcasing the inspiring landscapes of New Zealand. All he needs is a little help to cover fuel costs (of both the human and car kind). We love Dark Cloud: White Light, and all it shows about New Zealand.
We had a chat to Joe about what got him started in the film industry, his inspiration, the 3D angle, and why he chose crowdfunding. Check-check-check it out:
What made you decide to get into film?
I’ve always been passionate about film, I studied film and media at university as the theory component of my Fine Arts degree. I was actually a huge fan of Lord of the Rings, I remember seeing it and thinking wow.. films like that can actually be made in New Zealand? it opened my mind to what is possible.. Before then I thought movies like Star Wars and other Hollywood blockbusters were made in some unattainable place and to have such a huge film made right here in New Zealand was inspiring.
I guess that’s why I was always drawn to working in film. After My Fine Arts degree I worked in television for a while before studying at the Australian Film School (AFTRS), which lead to work in commercials, shot films, indie films, then of course “The Hobbit” which I’ve just finished 18 months as a Camera Assistant in the Motion Control Unit (we make the big people small and small people big). Now things seem to have gone full circle and I’ve got the chance to work on my own project which is really exciting.
What was your inspiration to move into 3D?
I love new technology, gadgets. I remember first seeing 3D on the set of Avatar and thinking wow.. this is really going to change cinema. During my time at AFTRS I helped make the first student 3D film ever made. It was a real buzz, people were literally designing the technology as we were using it. It’s similar to the technology I’m building for my 3D Media Arts exhibition. I have learnt a lot on 3D films over the past few years but of course I don’t quite have the budget for the $200,000 3D rig we use on the big films so my friend is helping me build one. Another friend has helped me build a wireless controller to fire the cameras in sync. The controller, I’ve nicknamed “Dave” (partly because I like space odyssey 2001 and party because my friend Dave built it), also sends an error message back to the motorhome if anything is wrong with the 3D rig while I’m out filming timelapse.
This technology didn’t exist but because I’m filming for 24hours or more I needed to come up with a gadget that could do this for me. Otherwise I’d have to be out constantly checking the Rig..
Why crowdfunding? What has been your crowdfunding highlight so far?
It’s quite a hard thing to put yourself out there and ask people to invest in your ideas, but it came about by necessity really. I’m lucky enough to have some fantastic sponsors on board the project but getting cash to cover the basics has actually been the most difficult task. Highlights.. it’s great that I’ve got such incredible family and friends that want to help me succeed with the project. It’s also really amazing to see people that I don’t personally know invest in my idea.
What was your favourite location for Dark Cloud : White Light so far? Why?
Favourite location.. The journey is just starting! Ask me again in four months time! I’ve been out for a week testing around Ruapehu, which was pretty cool but I start filming for real in September. I’m open to ideas as to what are New Zealand’s most epic landscapes, that is part of the journey. So If anyone has recommendations jump on my facebook page www.facbook.com/darkcloudwhitelight and let me know.. you may end up choosing one of the landscapes that makes it into the exhibition!
Check out his PledgeMe project here.
