ATTN: Dalton (not Tex-related)

Hey Jerry,

I'll answer the second question first...

The Man Fron Snowy River is an Aussie classic poem, but who many know it? When Kirk Douglas arrived in Oz the press crucified him as an American starring in their beloved poem. Kirk retorted "I'm old enough to play the father of the 'man' from Snowy River. And it's not 'your' Snowy River, it belongs to the world. Then he quoted the first two lines of the poem "There was movement at the station. The word had passed around the colt from old regret had got away" He then said I know the whole poem, who here can recite the next line? The press couldn't answer him, then he had them eating out of his hand. I guess that's a long winded way of saying that most Australians are like the press - probably more so today than when I grew up.

In regard to the effect you are referring to. Yes it was innovative at the time, but born out of neccesity [that ol' mother of invention]. The horse rearing didn't look threatening enough except for this one close up shot where its eye looked wild and bloodshot for a single frame. I decided to try and give the moment some impact and decided to make a Freeze Frame with progressive jump cuts enlarging the frame each time we stepped in, and to smooth it out I had the optical effects house make a continuous zoom in during the three jump cuts. I had heard this music sting on a movie score and dug it out of my CD collection and used it as a temp score [a substitute technique we use until the actual composer comes aboard]. So I edited the freeze frame cuts to the music.

Hope this answers your question.

Dalton[/i]

It's a shame I hadn't heard of the poem until I read it after watching the movie. It's iconic and heroic in a style not common nowadays. Great story about Kirk Douglas!

You answered my question about the effect. I can see how the horse simply rearing up would not pack much of a punch, and so the intended impact of the shot was indeed enhanced by your slight of hand. My wife and I probably noticed it primarily because we were analyzing the editing. Then I got to wondering how much the score was based on the editor's decisions. Very interesting. Thanks for your response.

Did you notice how many shots have cracks' [Aussie for horse wranglers] in the background? From memory there are 2 obvious ones. And have you worked out how we created the illusion of a man riding his mountain pony at a full gallop down a virtual 90 degree angle?

FYI - the temp cue for the ride out by the horsemen from the ranch was from The Wild Bunch [High Adventure] and the 2nd part of the horse chase was the rhythm section looped from Star Wars [Ben's Death] with any of the give-away fanfare. The finale where the man brings the horses on his own was a fanfare, I think, from Rocky. They basically gave the composer an idea of the scale and style I was thinking of when I was editing. I had a tremendous input into the post production side of Snowy River.

Some trivia - all the grunts for people falling/being trampled atc were voiced by moi.

So I hope these notes will enhance the viewing pleasure the next time you watch the film.

Dalton

Forget all that. I want to know how you squeezed Suzanne Barnes into that cowgirl outfit - YEE HAA!

Sorry...I noticed you mentioned shots with cracks in them, and it was the first crack shot I could think of. Cheers.

Very quick - Trust me Suzanne fit into that outfit perdy easily.

Dalton

Wow... I must rent it out again. I remember seeing it years ago, but now I can see it in a different light.

So, Dalton...

Tell us about 2004: A Light Knight's Odyssey.

That's a pretty hefty v/o cast you got there, What style of animation is it?

-Cub. =o)

G'day Cub.

The animation project is seeking financing - the voices are all recorded and edited and a rough score has been written by Shawn [Buffy the Vampire] Clement. It is designed as a 3D large Format [ala Imax]. it runs about 40 minutes. Directing A list talent was surreal.

Dalton

Well, the only things I could think of when watching the man riding downhill were 1) either they cast him because he was one heck of a horserider, or 2) they tilted the angle of the shot. I deem the second more likely, but the problem with that is that I noticed the trees in the shots were still vertical - or at least, they appeared to be. Maybe that's where the illusion came in.

As for what you used for temp cues, it's great to think you used the Wild Bunch, Star Wars, and Rocky!

The vertical trees - therein lies the clue, you will notice if you crank your neck to the side that the grass is growing out at an angle and we all know grass grows vertically [so yes the camera was angled]. The next bit takes some imagining -- The trees were cut and individually angled and supported by metal brackets [blind to camera] and THE actor [who did 99.9% of his own riding during the chase] rode down a small incline leaning back in the saddle and used the whip for balance - combining all these elements created one heck of an illusion.

Dalton

Pretty ingenious. I was really stressed out by that scene, thinking that either he or his horse was going to fall and break something. I think it was the slow motion and the cuts away to the faces of the rest of the gang that kept me from thinking simply, "Wow, he's going down that steep hill quickly." Again, a job well-done.

Thanks for the info, Dalton.

BTW, The Wild Bunch is a great western movie. I bought the DVD version a few weeks ago and was pleasantly surprised by the over all quality of the movie.