Mike directing the Poags crew.

We were staying in Melbourne’s central business district, in a 5 star hotel. I’ve never been
in a 5 star hotel before.

It has a 15 floor atrium. With very scary elevators.

I shared a room with my colleague Alex, and by room I mean huge apartment.

This week me and Mike are heading off to Western Australia. We’re flying to Perth
tomorrow (5 hour flight), and will drive to Bunbury on arrival (3 hours).

Melbourne, from the docks area, shot yesterday afternoon (we just got back in Sydney). A large cargo container ship was being unloaded on my right.

1. Spaghetti Bolognese
2. Bourbon basted beef ribs
   With rosemary roasted vegetables
3. Prosciutto-wrapped chicken
   With carrots & creamy mash
4. Beef steak & mushroom sauce
   With carrots & creamy mashed potato
5. Butter chicken with rice

This is what I’ve been doing here. Along with the Timelapses and the Showreel, it is the return on the investment of working as an intern for 4 months. I made the conscious decision to focus solely on visual effects for this period of time, and it played out well. I now know a lot more on the subject, enough to judge how things are made and to come up with a plan of attack for problems I might face on future projects. In short, I’m happy with the results from this internship.

That’s right, I’m staying in Australia for 7 additional months.

Let me explain why. I’m working at a company where fresh experiences are served on a daily basis. I may not earn much, but the real value does not come from the money anyway. Besides that I have settled in Sydney. I have a car here, a house, a job and even some friends. I can leave Sydney now, but I may not return for a very long time, if ever at all. I fear that, should I leave in September, I’ll regret it for a long time. That last point has been the deciding factor in my decision.

My return date is definite. Here’s why:

• My arriving flight was on the 3rd of February. I’ve got a ticket that’s valid for a year, so my departing flight has to arrive in Schiphol before the 3rd of February ends. That means I have to leave Australia on the 2nd, or I forfeit my ticket (a very pricy business indeed).
• My visa ends on the 4th of February 2011, a year after the day I entered Australia. I don’t know what’ll happen if I stay here beyond then, but it won’t be very good. The Australian government loves to see you come here and work for free for a few months (it’s good for their economy), but they’re just as happy to see you leave after.

So that’s the story! I’ve updated the countdown in the sidebar. I’ll answer any questions in the comments.

+61 4 111 46 083

This phone is on 24/7, except for when I’m on an airplane, or at a shoot. Please consider the timezone when calling me, Australia is +8 hours from The Netherlands. People have actually called me at 3 in the morning on my Dutch phone…

For those that have expressed concern about the safety in these videos: a safety instructor and gun specialist was on the set at all times while live ammo was used. Gun replicas or empty, locked rifles were used for all shots where the camera is located directly in-front of the gun. When firing in the general direction of the camera, the camera was setup and left, and all crew were located behind the shooters, safe from shrapnel.

When dealing with live firearms I suppose there is always a certain risk. It’s equipment designed to shoot dense pieces of metal over a large distance using a small explosion, what could possibly go wrong? I can assure you we took every safety precaution on set.

I considered posting my personal opinion on guns on this blog, but I’ve decided against it. It should be enough to say that it was a day of new experiences that had a considerable affect on the way I think about guns.