The Great Waldo Pepper, directed by George Roy Hill and written by William Goldman, is a film I only discovered a couple of years ago and man, do I wish I had it as a kid.  Just like how Raiders of the Lost Ark made me want to be an archaeologist, and Spider-Man made me want to be bitten by a spider, The Great Waldo Pepper made me wish I were a pilot.

Like Howard Hughes’s Hell’s Angels, The Great Waldo Pepper is worth a watch for the spectacular stunts alone. Released in 1975, the film follows Robert Redford as a pilot right when the magic of flying seemed to be wearing off, seeming more and more normal to his flock of potential customers. This is the end of what was called “Barnstorming”, where pilots would travel from town to town, taking passengers for rides, always willing to show off.  Made, obviously, without the helping hand of computer generated effects, I can’t think of any other film where you’ll see Robert Redford wing-walk on a bi-plane at 6,000 feet with no parachute. The stunts here start at edge-of-your-seat and only get more impressive as the two-hour film continues on.

A bit of a warning: if you’ve tried Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and found you’re a heartless misery-guts who can’t handle something that twee and sentimental, then maybe The Great Waldo Pepper isn’t for you… Because if ever there were one big twee, sentimental with a touch of the bittersweet cornball film, this is it.

But that’s Goldman’s trick. He did it in Butch Cassidy and he’s done it here. He pulls you in with just how fun everything is, all the more exciting with the ever-charismatic Robert Redford taking the wheel, and then he hits you smack in the face. William Goldman is a master of the kind of Hollywood fakery that had been perfected by the likes of Billy Wilder. Stories that are, from the way the characters speak to the relatively straightforward way the stories unfold, total artifice and not pretending to be otherwise. But within that artifice is a core of real emotional truth, reality where it really counts.

In interviews, William Goldman is notoriously down on his own writing and The Great Waldo Pepper certainly hasn’t swung clear of his ire. He’s said he would never have written it if George Roy Hill hadn’t been so into planes, but this isn’t a script written by someone uncaring of the story or its characters. Goldman is one of the few screenwriters who’s ever flawlessly walked the tight-rope between light-heartedness and tragedy. It’s something he attempted here again and, admittedly, in Waldo Pepper it’s a harder pill to swallow.

Hill and Goldman seem to have tried their best to establish the stakes and danger of the film’s premise. The opening shots show a wall covered in black and white photos of pilots, their ages beneath, all implied to have died young. But that doesn’t soften the impact when, around halfway through the picture, death brutally enters. Goldman’s talked of how one particular moment in the film seemed to have been taken by the audience as a betrayal, too dark for what they thought the first half had promised them.

But while Goldman may think this is where he failed, I think this is exactly where Waldo Pepper succeeds. It took me back to when I was a kid, when I was watching Star Wars, or James Bond, or Indiana Jones for the first time and I was still learning the classic story tropes, everything was still a discovery, not a thing came already expected. Waldo Pepper doesn’t wear its twists and its subversions like badges of honour, none of that on-the-nose Avant Garde genre-breaking attitude you tend to get. It’s just an exciting adventure and one that’s still surprising and unexpected no matter your age.

Written By Tom May

Database Productions is excited to introduce it’s newest documentary series “Racey” that is due to begin production this month.

Racey explores the issue of Interacial Relations both in Australia and abroad, in the context of intimate relationships. How are these relationships perceived? How do our families react? How does it affect the relationship? Why are people so afraid of something different?

We take a close look at the struggles faced by these couples in their daily lives and how hard it can be to overcome racial prejudice, even in the face of something as pure as love. We ask the hard questions but try to encourage honest communication and growth, we are one world, yet still remain so separated and in a country as multicultural as Australia, why is this even something to be questioned?

This production is an open interview style documentary and although we currently have a full list of participants if you are also interested in taking part, feel free to email info@thedatabase.com.au for more information we would warmly welcome any new participants that are passionate about this topic, to speak either in a couple or on your own.

This coming Sunday (the 5th of February), The Astor is bringing back the best ever double feature in rich 35mm. Mike Hodges’s Get Carter and John Boorman’s Point Blank. Two of the finest examples of a sub-genre that seems to have almost disappeared. Crime films that are simple in their plot, stylish yet stripped of all excess, with foundations to withstand a nuclear blast. At a time when a crime film seems to require a labyrinthine plot, accompanied by a dozen sub-plots, and convoluted character intentions and schemes, to have gut-punch films like these is a huge breath of fresh air.
Both films are ferociously unflinching, intoxicating and immaculately crafted from their script to their cinematography to their score. But while Get Carter is a prime example of the genre, the best of the best, Point Blank is where things get really interesting.
Point Blank is incredibly inventive. While at its core it’s a simple, strong, easy-to-follow revenge story and was always set out as such in the screenplay (written by Alex Jacobs, Rafe Newhouse and David Newhouse, which I highly recommend any screenwriters out there read), the film begins chaotically. Segments of scenes are edited together so rapidly and so seemingly discordantly you feel as though you’re trying to remember a dream or some past trauma. I understand how purple all this sounds, but I’m not really sure how else to explain this movie without getting into flowery language and vague metaphors. A film like this, so dense in symbolism and avant-garde filmmaking techniques (this film owing a lot to the French New Wave), seems to ask for it…
Point Blank at every moment forces you into the mindset of its protagonist, Walker, played by Lee Marvin in (if you ask me), his best performance. When he’s disoriented, the editing, the camera work, and the sound design all work together to ensure you are too. The film is laden with voice over and sound effects that almost echo, sounding as though they were recorded in a large hall. Everything you’re seeing and everything you’re hearing feels like a recreation from his mind.
Like the best of its genre and its stylistic roots (Film Noir and the French New Wave) Point Blank only adds to the pile of evidence that argues that to be inventive and fresh, you don’t need a series of convoluted twists, misdirections and seemingly impossible camera moves… All you need is a rock hard, waterproof screenplay and a visionary director.

Author: Tom May of Database Productions

Meetings, the newest film from Database Productions, is coming soon. Meetings is an office drama about the complications of colleague relationships in the business world. The stakes are high and the pressure is on as Brad and Sarah come to realise just how what they’re doing is effecting them and their work.

Organising unit catering for productions and shoot days can always fall to the last minute to be done. Catering is important on a film set as it’s not always convenient to leave set/location to purchase meals and refreshments. However, it’s hard to decide who to employ to take care of unit catering, and, while they provide excellent service, it can be an expensive task for smaller productions to hire a purpose built catering company.

Foodbase, an initiative by Database Productions, takes care of this problem. Foodbase is a catering service for film sets and shoots, no matter the budget of the production. Through this membership-only service, we will provide catering with real, healthy food as we at Database know how important it is on set to have access to proper meals and refreshments and not simply a constant supply of pre-prepared or fast food (even though that seems like fun). Sign up to Foodbase to enjoy the full benefits of this service, without the enormous price tag.

If you would like more information, you can contact Database Productions via phone on 1800 DEE BEE or via email at info@thedatabase.com.au

For further updates on Foodbase, make sure to keep updated with Database Productions here and at our Facebook page.

Foodbase coming soon

Renting gear is a crucial skill in filmmaking and video/photo production. It can be a time-consuming progress to hunt for the best deal and package for your needs. Renting gear should not be entered into lightly, the costs of doing so could be saved with research to ensure you’re not renting things you don’t need or paying more than you could be. The problem is, who has the time? That’s where we come in.

Database Productions introduces Gearbase, a gear rental facility based in Melbourne. Gearbase is a platform that allows you to rent everything from a DSLR to a drone. We pride ourselves on having the gear that you need when others don’t. As a membership only platform, Gearbase offers advice and technical assistance from Database Productions on the perfect gear and kit for your project.

Membership to Gearbase allows you access to not only our own gear at Database, but the gear from several hiring companies that we have formed partnerships with, saving you the time finding quotes so you can focus on planning your project and getting that perfect shot/photo/sound. In addition to this, premium and pro memberships also have additional gear discounts through Gearbase.

If you would like more information, you can contact Database Productions via phone on 1800 DEE BEE or via email at info@thedatabase.com.au

For further updates on Gearbase, make sure to keep updated with Database Productions here and at our Facebook page.

Gearbase coming soon

As an actor, professional and current marketing is key. You need to be able to present yourself to employers effectively in order to excel in your career. An online presence is crucial in the industry, not only a CV and profile, but an online community of creatives to collaborate with. There are networks and websites available that fulfil this need, however they cannot effectively provide actors with opportunities for work as well as give them a connection with like-minded industry professionals. At Database Productions, we recognise this, and have created a solution.

Introducing Actorbase, an online network created specifically to connect actors, models, comedians and entertainers with jobs, contacts and opportunities with other creatives and professionals. As a membership-based service, Actorbase is a platform that will allow you to build a network of contacts whilst marketing yourself for roles and opportunities. The Actorbase platform has member profiles that show your creative skill-set, thereby matching you with paid opportunities and jobs.

Database Productions have created the network with the intention of allowing members to focus on excelling in their industries. Actorbase will notify members when opportunities are available, meaning less time is spent in application. Let Actorbase set you apart from the crowd by providing a professional profile that will provide marketing and unlimited access to creative professionals, leaving you to focus on your craft.

If you would like more information, you can contact Database Productions via phone on 1800 DEE BEE or via email at info@thedatabase.com.au

For further updates on Actorbase, make sure to keep updated with Database Productions here and at our Facebook page.

Actorbase coming soon

It’s happened to every filmmaker at one point or another, it’s always last minute, and it’s always very stressful, a crew member cannot complete their role on set. You get stuck and you’re one person down, bringing the production to a halt. At Database Productions, we have the solution to this common problem for filmmakers at all stages in their career.

Introducing Crewbase, a Database Productions initiative. Crewbase is a database that connects filmmakers on the network with one another, allowing for easy crewing for filmmakers and the chance for individuals to market themselves and their skills. It’s a promotional tool for creatives to be connected with new jobs, contacts and exciting opportunities. A membership-based initiative, Crewbase has member profiles that provide professional personal marketing and show your creative skill-set, thereby matching you with potential opportunities and jobs.

Crewbase is not strictly for filmmakers, however, it is a database for all creatives to publicise their skills and network with others in the industry. Whether you’re a filmmaker, artist, composer, make-up artist, photographer or editor, Crewbase is a must-have profile to have in the creative industries. Now you can effectively and professionally market yourself in your industry from any location at all times. Whether you’re at an exhibition or on your couch in PJs at 4am on a Wednesday morning (we’ve all been there).

If you would like more information, you can contact Database Productions via phone on 1800 DEE BEE or via email at info@thedatabase.com.au

For further updates on Crewbase, make sure to keep updated with Database Productions here and at our Facebook page.

Crewbase coming soon

When Nabokov’s novel Lolita came out in 1955 in Paris, 1958 in New York, and 1959 in London it was Scandal. It was ironic, it was an instant classic. The tragicomedy told by the unreliable narrator Humbert Humbert relates his obsession with 12-year-old Delores Haze, his “Lolita”.

Commonly mislabeled as an erotic novel, Lolita can be more accurately categorised as a late-modernist surrealist piece. But this complexity is a point that is arguably missed in the finished film.

The film production was arguably interfered with at all levels of production. The script itself was written by Nabokov, but the copy he submitted to the studio ran 400 pages long and called for a seven-hour film.

Die-hard fans wanting to experience the nature of this art in its purest form should consider reading the later published full-length screenplay Lolita: A Screenplay (1974)

Kubrick further laments his restrictions in producing Lolita below-

“…because of all the pressure over the Production Code and the Catholic Legion of Decency at the time, I believe I didn’t sufficiently dramatise the erotic aspect of Humbert’s relationship with Lolita, and because his sexual obsession was only barely hinted at, many people guessed too quickly that Humbert was in love with Lolita. Whereas in the novel this comes as a discovery at the end, when she is no longer a nymphet but a dowdy, pregnant suburban housewife; and it’s this encounter, and his sudden realisation of his love, that is one of the most poignant elements of the story. If I could do the film over again, I would have stressed the erotic component of their relationship with the same weight Nabokov did…”

We bring you this review of Kubrick’s Lolita in light of the upcoming Stanley Kubrick Film Festival at Cinema Nova in Melbourne, which you can check out here.

The latest in Taika Waititi’s body of work has brought us the charming new film Hunt for the Wilder-people. And we at Database, are bloody excited.

Though the Australian and New Zealand film industries have grown exponentially over the last decade, they remain relatively small in the scope of the global marketplace. The most recent release from New Zealand Auteur Taika Waititi (Dir. Boy, Eagle vs. Shark, What We Do In The Shadows) is an important reminder that this corner of the world has important, funny, compelling stories to tell.

A delinquent foster child (Julian Dennison) and his foster Uncle (Sam Neill) go on the run from a corrupt child services agent in the New Zealand Bushland. The film is full of rich cinematography, upbeat edits, and charming characters. With a 100% on RottenTomatoes.com this film has been received warmly by critics and audiences globally.

But probably the most admirable thing about Waititi and his body of work is that though he is internationally recognised as one of the best indie filmmakers in the Asian Pacific region right now (The New York Times recently likened him to Wes Anderson). Taika Waititi’s work is not concerned in pleasing the global market, he makes films for his own people by his own people. As a result of his genuine integrity and loyalty to his home industry of New Zealand Waititi’s filmic voice has quickly become a recognisable and important one in the Australian/ New Zealand independent industries.

Hunt for the Wilder-people is an inspiring reminder that we can and should be primarily concerned with telling our own stories through film, and that those stories are of interest and value in the global market-place.