Monday, January 12, 2009

spirit song - film clip I worked on in 1989 !



My dearest friend performer and healer Karina Hayes sent me this clip today, she is the featured singer and after many years of her living in the US I have happily found her after she married mr golden tonsils   (god bless Google and Facebook)
  
 20 years kinda flies ! so here is a little blast from the past with some updates. 

This is the trailer made for the first film writen and directed by Alex Proyas.( I, Robot, Dark City, The Crow etc )  produced by Meaningful Eye contact. The film, shot on a shoestring in Broken Hill, NSW Australia. Was made with the use of equiptment used for the filming of "kiss the Dirt" film clip Proyas directed for INXS at the same time.

The B&W sequences for which I was Makeup and wardrobe, was shot in a studio on an old tabacco factory site very close to the old Ikea site in Waterloo. It was to be a stark contrast to the extreme colour of the film. 

The remarkable makeup in the film sequence (shown in colour) was the creation of Mathu Anderson  - based in the USA since the filming. you will spy him in early episodes of America's Next Top Model as the resident makeup artist. 

Dean Denim and I have a little cameo doing Rhys Davis's Hair & Makeup - well pretending with much dramatic effect ;-)

And Karina Hayes (now Blakeley)  as our slightly dark angel singing the theme song. Her sweet tones and her extravagant performance graced many a swanky nightclub and giant dance parties of our youth.  Karina was a lead singer in in a hard core experimental band called SPK with the rather imposing Graeme Revell, now one of  Hollywood's most prolific film & TV composers. 

It took me hours to create the costume - not that you see much of it! - the bodice was constructed with rushed ribbon. the long black gloves for contrast and she was wearing my agents heavy metal biker rings (thank you Sally Galwey - she is now a jewelry designer). 

The shoot was a laugh and it is wonderful to see it again - I hope you enjoy it. 

1 comment:

Karina said...

Wow Marian you have a great memory. The film Spirits of the Air, Gremlins of the Clouds did'nt do so well for Alex but this clip was what really started things in the United States for him. It was one of the first Australian film clips place on MTV. We did'nt have cable in Aussie then so it was pretty amazing. There were so many talented people on that shoot working for the love of it.

Sydney was a melting pot of incredible creativity at the time. I am surprised no one has written a book about it. All those big parties we did with thousands of people inspired director Baz Lurhman and the English Raver scene. Sydney really was the place to be.

Its great to have been part of so many incredible people's lives, including you Mama... xxx