My blog is a bit off schedule at the moment. Something about my host site going down, my blog emails not syncing and my c-panel requiring adjustments. Really, the behind the scenes technical bits leave me feeling bewildered. For now I am back up and running and this post will be the test I suppose. Once again, thank you JJ for keeping me on track and patiently guiding me through things that are probably quite obvious.
In other news, we have had a film crew visit our property. They were filming an advertising campaign and needed sheep, cows, working dogs and other quintessential outback elements. They also needed a quintessential outback man who could coordinate all of those elements in a practical sense, cue The Shady Farmer .
Perhaps we underestimated the size of this venture but it was as if a move-able city had rolled into our property complete with trucks, hire cars, tonnes of equipment, catering vans, props, coffee machines, an alfresco bath and an instant human population explosion. There were stylists and runners and directors and actors and advertising people and safety people and they all wore black puffer gear. There were signs everywhere and maps and traffic cones and daily safety briefings.
As they busily filmed and set things up and dismantled it all again it was like watching another world, in our world. Almost all of these lovely people were from the city and many of them had never experienced the outback before.
Given our current dry conditions we were feeling very aware that our property is not looking at its best at the moment. The film crew didn’t mind, in fact I don’t think they even noticed. They were thrilled with the dust and light, our overly enthusiastic pet sheep and the other quirky characteristics that make our place unique. Some of them were not so thrilled with the off road driving conditions.
When the last truck rolled out they left us with many memories, some new connections, a lot of left over fresh food and these gorgeous flowers, also left over from the shooting. It was incredibly rewarding to be involved in something that is an overall boost for our local community. It also felt like we provided our new city friends a positive snapshot of our lifestyle and in turn they gave us a glimpse into their high tech filming world.
Perhaps when the ad is finally live I will try to share a link here so you can see it.
How about you?
Any news to share? Technical issues perhaps?
Pretty flowers?
Happy Tuesday, friends x
kate
wow what an experience that must have been for everyone.
I do hope that you can share the finished ad with us, as the photo you have shared are very intriguing and leave me wanting for more.
cheers Kate
Jane S
Thank you Kate!
EWE BEAUTY
having experienced this on a smaller scale with a cooking show ( Stephano’s) twice Jane , I know where you are coming from! truly a unique experience …. and a greater appreciation of just HOW they go about producing such small clips of film …. it takes DAYS!!!
love the flowers and …………. BRAVE YOU !
Jane S
Oh yes Trish, I remember your television days! It was fun and we were quite well rewarded for our efforts if you know what I mean!
Lenore
How exciting, can’t wait to see the ad. I have just arrived in Ireland after spending 2 weeks in the UK. Although they say they had a dry summer it is so beautiful and green here. I don’t know the stocking rates but they appear to have a lot of sheep in very small paddocks!!! X
Jane S
Thank you Lenore, safe travels!
Kate
Oh yes! This happened to us a few years ago when Sportscraft filmed an ad campaign here. Gosh it was hilarious watching them pretend to pick Coles bought apples off trees that were only starting to blossom. I think they hired a woman whose who job was to peel stickers off those apples. But what a fun few days it was for all of us. I love these few photos Jane, so excited to hear more about it. xx
Jane S
Thanks Kate, that is funny. Clever trees producing fruit and blossom at the same time…and stickers! x
JJ
I can only imagine what a circus it was! Commercial shoots are such big productions for such a small amount of content, how wonderful that you’ll know it’s your space when it comes out – please do share when it’s released! Glad all the tech stuff seems to be sorted out xx
Jane S
Thanks JJ, it really was crazy! Funny you should mention tech stuff, now I am having problems with WP Recipes putting in strange spaces where they are not wanted. I wonder what that is all about?
Anne
We’ve only had very limited experience of this but it’s great fun when such different worlds collide! It sounds as though you enjoyed it.
Jane S
Thanks Anne. Hopefully I can share the link with you!
KateW
Oh hey,
what a fabulous distraction for you all – sounds like super fun and almost once in a lifetime experience. Can’t wait for the link.
Jane S
Thanks Kate, I will keep you posted on a link!
Kate
Sounds like a lot of fun Jane! I bet the kids were intrigued!
I was recently a part of a shoot for the next advertising campaign for the school I work for, everything was so big, and bright, yet muted at the same time. It was lots of fun. The best bit was when the makeup guy told them all where to go when they said the Ag teacher(me) didn’t have enough eye shadow on. He is a farmer himself and was very firm about the “look” I should have. He was a wonderful advocate when they wanted to go all stereotypical on me and put me in a denim shirt that really wasn’t a “me” look, instead of my usual uniform of jeans, boots and a work shirt (brand new of course).
Jane S
Advertising really is a whole new world to me Kate! x