ScreenTalk » NZ music

Ice cool filmmaker Greg Page

Screen Talker — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 23:33:22 +0000

Musician, artist, writer and director Greg Page began his film career in Hamilton in the early 90s, making music videos for local bands. Since then the international award-winning filmmaker has written and directed several short films, including claymations Decaff and The New Zealand Centenary of Cinema, as well as Sarah’s Washing, and his full length feature film The Locals.

Page’s boundless energy and fanaticism has also given rise to some of NZ’s most memorable and spectacular music videos for top recording artists like Scribe, The D4 and Elemeno P.

In this ScreenTalk interview, Page reveals:

how he shot his 1994 claymation short Decaff
the story behind making the claymation short The New Zealand Centenary Of Cinema, along with John O’Shea
behind-the-scenes details from his feature length horror The Locals, including the animation process, casting and soundtrack decisions
how the D4’s Exit To the City music video came about and a behind-the-scenes insight
what it was like shooting Elemeno P’s Verona in an icecream freezer in minus 20 degrees
his views on the state of NZ’s film industry

This video is available on YouTube to embed and distribute via a Creative Commons licence.

Credits: Interview, Camera & Editing – James Coleman

Karyn Hay and Andrew Fagan

Screen Talker — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 05:11:22 +0000

Rock’n'roll couple Karyn Hay and Andrew Fagan have both had long and varied careers in New Zealand music and media. They are currently night-time hosts on Radio Live, but Fagan spent many years as the lead singer of pop band The Mockers, and Hay was the long-time host of iconic music show Radio with Pictures. Hay and Fagan are also both published authors.

In this ScreenTalk interview, the pair talk to James Coleman about:

The trials and tribulations of getting a music video made in NZ in the 80s through TVNZ’s “sausage factory”
Radio with Pictures and the decision to play the forbidden video – AFFCO by The Skeptics
Hay’s work on her favourite music video of all those she has directed – Hey Judith by The Dribbling Darts Of Love in the 90s
Fagan’s cameo appearance in the Hey Judith video

This video is available on YouTube to embed and distribute via a Creative Commons licence.

Credits: Interview by James Coleman, Camera and Editing by Leo Guerchmann.

Stuart Page on making music videos

Screen Talker — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 21:35:06 +0000

Director, photographer and Axemen drummer Stuart Page is a prolific filmmaker, and has made over 40 music videos. Page has directed promos for Superette, The Clean, and The Skeptics’ infamous AFFCO. In 2009 he won Best Feature Documentary and Best Emerging filmmaker at the DocNZ International Film Festival for his film Shustak, a portrait of American photographer Laurence Shustak. Page also compiled alternative music compilation Noisyland.

In this ScreenTalk interview, Page talks about making two of his finest music videos – the controversial AFFCO by The Skeptics and Killer Clown by Superette.

Regarding Killer Clown, Page discusses:

The themes behind the clip
The set, and ensuing shambles
The standout performances

And on AFFCO, Stuart talks about:

The initial impetus for making the video
Where and how the opening scenes were shot
The visit to the abattoir and the incredible story of how these scenes were realised
The reaction to the clip

This video is available on YouTube for distribution via a Creative Commons licence.

Credits: Camera and editing – Leo Guerchmann. Interview – James Coleman.

Roger Shepherd talks to Chris Knox – part 2

Screen Talker — Sun, 31 May 2009 06:00:27 +0000

Chris Knox is a musician, film critic and cartoonist. His music career began with legendary Dunedin punk band The Enemy, followed by post-punk heroes Toy Love, then the Tall Dwarfs and his own solo work.

Knox has appeared as a film reviewer on arts TV shows The Edge and Backch@t, and hosted the series The New Artland. He is also the man behind the long-running Max Media cartoon strip in the NZ Herald. Knox has also hosted an Intrepid Journey to India.

As a singer-songwriter and music video director, Knox is known as a pioneer of lo-tech, DIY classics.

For this special two-part ScreenTalk interview, Flying Nun founder Roger Shepherd chats with Knox about his life and career. (See the first part here.) In part two of the interview, they discuss:

Knox moving from appearing in music videos to directing his own with the Tall Dwarfs‘ Nothing’s Gonna Happen
Making the video for the Tall Dwarfs‘ Turning Brown and Torn in Two
Making the video for his solo classic Not Given Lightly
Becoming a film reviewer on TV arts shows The Edge and Backch@t
Moving into television presenting, with an episode of Intrepid Journeys, and the series The New Artland
Knox’s long-running cartoon strip Max Media

This video is available on YouTube for distribution via a Creative Commons licence.

Credits: Interview by Roger Shepherd, directed by Clare O’Leary. Camera and editing by Leo Guerchmann.

Roger Shepherd talks to Chris Knox – part 1

Screen Talker — Sun, 24 May 2009 23:43:15 +0000

As a singer-songwriter and music video director, Knox is known as a pioneer of lo-tech, DIY classics.

For this special two-part ScreenTalk interview, Flying Nun founder Roger Shepherd chats with Knox about his life and career. The pair discuss:

Knox’s early love of film and how he first got into filmmaking
The first footage of The Enemy, shot by cameraman Peter Janes
Making the Toy Love video Squeeze
Making the later Toy Love videos Rebel and Don’t Ask Me

Part two of this interview can be found here, where Knox talks about moving into making his own videos, being a TV film reviewer and presenter, and Max Media.

This video is available on YouTube for distribution via a Creative Commons licence.

Credits: Interview by Roger Shepherd, directed by Clare O’Leary. Camera and editing by Leo Guerchmann.