Review: Serial Killers
The Gryphon’s production of Serial Killers is a period piece set in the days when instead of saying “YouTube” we said “network television,” and instead of bemoaning “reality TV” and its effects on the unwashed-at-large, we bemoaned “soap operas” and their see above. One assumes it’s intended as evergreen commentary upon the early 2000s when […]
FixTV: people in Wellington doing cool things
The first episode of FixTV has gone live on their FB page. It’s filmed at Downstage in front of an audience. I don’t think they’ve quite got the mix right in terms of what they want for the web chat show versus what I want from a show when I’m in a theatre. There are […]
Wellington On Screen
NZ On Screen – the brilliant website dedicated to putting New Zealand film, television and music video online – is celebrating its second birthday. So to help celebrate, let us delve into the NZ On Screen archives and see what Wellington gems are to be seen. Monaco Monza Macao Wellington (1990) A TV doco looking […]
From the Archive: Gavin Soper, Cabin Steward and Ratepayer
With my usual excellent sense of timing I have decided to make my contribution to the Intenscity event some days after it has been dismantled but I hope Wellington history aficionados will appreciate it anyway.
This short video features Brian Sergent playing his well-loved character Gavin Soper (Air New Zealand Cabin Steward) for TV3’s Nightline in (I think) 1992 or 3. Gavin is celebrating the impending completion of the refurbished Te Aro Park, the cost of which was a source of some local controversy at the time. The other great contemporary issue he alludes to is the number of glue-sniffing street-kids predominating around the Te Aro area. Simultaneous with the beautification of Te Aro Park was the WCC scheme to house these “poor glue-addled kiddies†in a couple of converted shipping containers on waste ground south of the Basin Reserve.
Written by Brian Sergent; directed by Jonathan Brough; produced by Jonathan Brough, Gordon Harcourt and myself.
FOTC Wednesday: Frodo is great.… who is that?
This ia friendly public service announcement that the object of much lust is the subject of a documentary about his being such an object of lust that screens tomorrow night on Prime at 8.30pm. According to the IMDB entry, Frodo Is Great… Who Is That?!!,
The documentary looks at the rise to celebrity status of NZ actor and musician Bret McKenzie, who appeared for 3 seconds as an extra in “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring”, during the Council of Elrond scene. His brief appearance sparked a huge internet fan-base dedicated to his “brooding pout” and “elvish good looks”. McKenzie has been dubbed “FIGWIT”, an acronym of “Frodo is Great; Who is That!!?”
So that’s probably quite a nice warmup to when Flight of the Conchords finally start screening here on the 17th.
Beautiful Mash
We all know that in Wellington, everyone and their dogs are already busy making films of some description already, but for any aspiring film-makers not currently up to their eyeballs in digital video, here’s your chance. LOOP Recordings want you to make a video for Adi Dick’s song “Beautiful View”.
They’re providing you with nearly a Gigabyte of green-screen footage of the singer, then handing it over to you to mash it up with your own footage or animation to create your interpretation of the song. You have until the 20th of May.
We answer: Boy and dog
Remember when we asked you about what was filming that would involve a boy and a dog?
Turns out it was a New World ad. Of course. It’s making a big deal about how New Worlds are the only local supermarkets nationwide. Personally, I think the only big deal about something that a New World has done is give Maurice Bennett enough of an income to start Bennett’s Beer. But maybe that’s just me.
Royal Bank of Sheep
Imagine that you are a large Scottish Bank. You want to film a new advert. For no doubt good reasons you already have a short list of ingredients:
- The agreeable voice of Ken Stott; and
- A flock of sheep.
But no location. Yet. Hmmmm. Sheep. Where should you send your advert-wallahs?
New Zealand of course! But you also need an urban setting, and lots of production talent. Oh, and if there’s the occasional Stagecoach liveried bus then all for the cheaper (less sfx, you realise.)
And so your sheep and your advert-wallahs turn up in… Wellington!
They have a fine old time, too. In the airport, at the train station, and on a (digitally manipulated) motorway offramp, the suspiciously tidy sheep act the part of inert bank customers following each other around the place. But one brave ewe models the desired behaviour for all the other sheep to, er, follow: to breakaway and join the Royal Bank of Sheep!
Here at the Wellingtonista we won’t point out the irony inherent in using sheep to promote slightly more individualistic behaviour. Nope. Instead, we’d suggest a nice game of spot the fleeting Wellington locations, while having your day’s concerns soothed away in the Scotch Whisky balm that is Ken Stott’s voice.
Hat tip, and where to go to see this spot: the Best Ads On TV Blog.
Wellington Idol
The nationwide hysteria that is NZ Idol has got underway, with the Group 3 heat this Sunday. So how likely is it that Wellington will have a contender in the Top Ten? In the earlier Groups 1 & 2, Wellington contestants Kevin Malagamaali’i and Daniel Bell didn’t succeed in getting the necessary votes to move […]
The death of the British Weather Symbol
The BBC has, of this week, started using the Weatherscape XT graphics package created by Wellington-based MetService (the only commercially run state weather forecasting service in the world, wouldn’t you know?). You’ll see the new graphics if you tune into the hourly weather updates on BBC international. They’ll look familiar to New Zealand viewers who […]