Okay, we are recording, thanks. Here we go.
Okay.
Santo, what's the shot?
Alright, this is for the opening title. It's three different versions of Mike Moore saying
hello I'm Mike Moore. Okay?
And this is opening title's episode seven, shot one, take two.
So Trevor, if we can start off wide and we'll just do a bit of a zoom in.
Hello, I'm Mike Moore. Fieck or Mike Moore? We settled that one. It's Mike, I believe.
It's the recording, Robbie.
Here we go. Hello, I'm Mike Moore. Welcome to Frontline.
That was warm. And now super serious.
Hello, I'm Mike Moore. Welcome to Frontline.
Music
What should happen here at the general office?
Yeah.
Sam prepares everybody that there's going to be a backlash tomorrow.
Right.
Okay.
Yeah.
Mike shits himself and says, well this was Marty's story anyway.
He should do the radio.
Tom Gleisner and Santo Chilaro, two of the creators of Frontline,
a satire set behind the scenes of a fictional current affairs show.
This is, we're looking at episode seven, which is being shot the week after next.
We just think there's a few, just a few logical problems with the episode.
Santo, having read it today, feels the ending doesn't quite hold as well as we thought it did.
See, I think that the concern that Rob and Jane had...
This is show seven of the second series of Frontline to be produced.
But where did it all start?
When we began putting Frontline together, we actually knew what it wasn't going to be more than what it was.
We knew it wasn't going to be a traditional sitcom,
nor was it going to be sort of a terribly heavy, serious drama.
So we came more from the perspective of what it wasn't going to be than what it was going to be.
And we really only discovered that as we went along that it was...
I guess the original idea was that it should be...
Not it should be, but can you make a comedy which doesn't have a laugh track and looks like a documentary?
And then it's like what subject is a good subject that could be depicted in that way?
And we had various ideas where we could set the whole thing in there and we thought,
oh, there seems to be a bit of interest in the sort of the whole current affairs wars and just the ethics of it.
There had been some programs on the television.
We thought, hey, that's probably not a bad subject to delve into.
In fact, the media was even questioning itself about ethics with a televised debate.
It was called, has the media gone too far?
So it was commercial television exploring whether commercial journalists and ABC journalists had gone too far,
had they breached codes of ethics when it came to checkbook journalism, grief, dealing with grief and people who'd lost loved ones.
And no conclusion was really come to, I think, in the end.
I guess that's what we were left with.
But there was lots of subtle little ironies in it that someone was talking...
One of the issues that came up is editing a story for more conflict and to favor the host or the view they're trying to present.
And as you're watching it, you're thinking, but this show itself has been edited to up the conflict and make the host look good.
And so without wanting to sort of be too... taking too much of the moral high ground,
we thought a show like Frontline would just be a good opportunity.
Those buggers aren't going to really clean up their act, so we can just sort of sit on the sidelines and toss stones.
So it doesn't matter what it actually is.
If we think of a whole lot of things that are divisive...
Tom, Santo, Jane and Rob teamed up with manager Michael Hirsch and formed a company to produce the show.
Most important was being able to make the show they had envisaged.
With television, there are an enormous number of links in the chains from conceiving an idea to actually going to where...
from the rehearsing and someone to direct it and someone to act it and someone to edit it.
And what we tend to do with Frontline is try and control as much of the process as we can.
The advantages of that is that there is the least amount of interference put in between the inception of the idea and the execution of it.
We're running a business as well, so I would think in any other business it's curious that we actually...
sometimes journalists say it as a criticism, that we're control freaks.
And if it was any other business, they would call it professional.
We actually just like to know exactly what's going on.
It's our asses on the line as well and it's our money coming out of our pockets as well.
Then we go to the general office when Marty and Stu returned from the demo.
They're covered in blood.
Every episode has at its core a general theme.
And this is basically something that happened a few years ago.
I think an SBS film crew got an anonymous tip-off to go to an Iranian embassy.
And they captured on footage some amazing violence which was captured by no other news teams.
And there were no police there even.
And it's basically what happens when you have a dynamite piece of footage like that.
The team normally work on scripts in pairs, which frees the others to deal with ongoing production matters.
Jane is casting for next week's show, while Rob is doing a live radio interview.
I think much more interesting than the blatant lie is the subtle distortion.
We've seen it all in press.
Politicians are very, very sensitive to this.
And you can see, I always thought that they were complaining about nothing,
but the way a paper presents them, including the photo they choose, the headline they pick,
the way the story is written, the emphasis and all these sorts of things,
it's very important to your overall impression.
And you don't realise that you're getting a distorted impression, but it can be very, very effective.
Just looking at the end, the end now doesn't quite work because it was tied up with the fact that,
remember we had the pensioner got up and shot the other guy.
So that's what was funny about it.
To have a forum just going out of control is not in itself a good finish to an episode.
Yes.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
That's a pleasure, any time. Cheers.
I couldn't remember whether it's Miriam or Mariam.
Cut to Sam's office. Brooke's doing a story, it's on the television.
But for the campaigners dedicated to saving this historic landmark, time is fast running out.
Sam, stop. No, that's where I want to pause you.
Is that not a little ridiculous? No, that's sort of...
It's the Friday before the week of production of episode seven,
and a read through of the script brings more changes.
Why does Mike always wait for the last possible moment to raise major ethical issues?
See, I reckon that saves it, that line saves it.
So that can be resolved in five seconds. Of course we did the right thing, Mike.
Good, just checking. Sure we did.
Sure we did, I reckon just checking, Chell.
Just checking. Good, just checking.
I reckon we're heroes. I reckon he doesn't need the press.
If he waves the paper... Hey, these people think we're heroes.
No, no, if he waves the paper... Hey, we're heroes.
OK, scene one, general office.
Marty Stu, Jace, Emma, Shelley, Dom.
Look, piece to camera. I reckon it's somewhere around here.
It's basically just one shot. It's a mid shot, so you don't even know...
You don't even know what the background is, really.
So moving on.
They're not... The clothes aren't torn or anything like that.
I think there's nothing that's destroyed, just rumpled in.
And the blood nose?
No, I think that's a bit too much. I don't think they've been involved in a fight.
They just shut it all.
Scene 15 again, day two.
We're talking about the forum now. The number of guests, if we...
It's going to be a dark bear forum, 20 or 30.
30's going to look pretty pissy, I reckon.
Not if they're in one bank.
That's Mike. So he's on Rostrum?
Yeah. Just this little raised...
Was Yarn on a little raised forum on those?
Little platform.
So 15 people in one, 15 on the other?
Yeah, I'd say 40.
So Chadi through pseudo-canonists?
Now, the other suggestion is that we actually...
Is it possible to actually get Bruce Ruxton in?
To be sitting in the audience? Yes.
Happy everyone. Any problems, questions?
The decision about Harry Shearer's importation will be made on Monday night
by a national performance committee, bearing in mind at this point in time
the Victorian performance committee and the New South Wales performance committee
have both said no.
The team are currently negotiating with the union representing actors,
of which they are members.
We had an idea for an episode to have an American specialist come in
and re-jig frontline.
And so we've always liked Harry Shearer, who was in Spinal Tap,
does a lot of The Voices and The Simpsons.
We sent him tapes of the show and he said he'd do it,
and for basically a nominal fee.
And so we applied.
It's our only time we've ever applied for someone from overseas in 2013.
They said no.
So it's fine to have American producers come out
and talk with producers and filmmakers and stuff here,
but the same is not allowed to Australian actors.
You can't do it because he's American.
It's a bit of a pity to be deprived of that chance of working with a guy
who's a really good actor.
Comedy Central have come back with our proposed title change for frontline
because of the problem of a real frontline in America.
One recent success, however, has been overseas interest in the program.
We've sold to a number of countries, but the best one that we got,
and one that we never expected, was a sale to America, to Comedy Central,
and that starts later in the year.
Not that many Australian comedy programs have been sold to the United States,
and let's see what happens.
I mean, originally there were conversations that I heard about
would people in Australia get frontline
or did you have to work as a journalist to get it,
and we've fortunately proved that hasn't happened.
Indeed, when Frontline premiered on Australian TV in May 1994,
people weren't quite sure what to make of it.
Who was this Mike Moore bloke?
Was this a real current affairs show?
In fact, one current affairs presenter was quoted asking why there was no laugh track.
In the hard-hitting world of current affairs, Mike prefers a gentle touch.
Oh, what?
Well, they obviously didn't see my run-in with Jackie McDonald.
Mate, you nailed her.
It didn't take long for viewers to cotton onto the idea,
and what followed was a metamorphosis in the public's perception
of current affairs programs and their quest for ratings.
OK, she's alive. It's an inconvenience,
but let's forget about having egg on our faces.
In fact, I'm glad she's alive.
She could give us 26s when she's dead.
Imagine what she can do for us now.
But just how bad are the programs that Frontline satirises?
I don't think they're bad at all.
I think they are programs that I enjoy watching.
I think the bad thing comes from purporting to be an in-depth,
hard-hitting current affairs program.
You know, we all sit down for our dose of current affairs at 6.30 on a weeknight.
We're not getting current affairs.
We're getting miracle diets and scary new spiders
and this virus in from Africa
and maybe a bit about a Hollywood marriage that's broken up
and a passing reference to some really big political story,
but preferably the human interest side of it.
And we all sit around and think,
hmm, hmm, that's weird, I watch a lot of current affairs.
You don't. You're just watching live at 5, really, to rest in peace.
And so it's just that...
the hypocrisy of carrying on like you're this worthy behind-the-scenes analysis of the news,
and you're not. It's just lightweight.
Deb, can we find out if Domaine Chandon is who's it owned by?
Sure.
And also, is there a Serbian consulate?
Hi, can you tell me if there's a Serbian consulate or embassy, please?
Casting for this episode where we need basically it's Serbo-Croatian parts.
These are not huge roles, but they're very important roles.
Not huge as in there's not a lot of lines.
We feel it's really important, even for the smallest of roles in frontline,
to go with the best possible performance we can.
Well, is there a place, well, if there isn't one,
see if there's a place where it's...
if you had a demonstration, you'd go there, like, you know, if there were Serbian airlines or something like that.
OK.
Sam's boat.
Yacht just happens to be owned by the EP of frontline.
This episode focuses on the clash of ethnic groups,
but one of the subplots deals with contra.
In fact, I don't think it's private information.
I think in this case, it was John Westerkot, the executive producer of Sixty-Five,
it is alleged, well, did a story on yacht in the Sydney Hobart race,
which seemed to have the word Kodak.
Toyota.
Was it Toyota, was it?
Yeah, Toyota.
Oh, well, maybe we should make it Toyota then.
Displayed a little more prominently than you might normally expect.
The wholesale, I think, had Toyota written on it.
As did most of the crew.
So, yeah, we're just... occasion in frontline...
What's the story?
...in 60 minutes.
Yeah, occasion in frontline, we just knew it was going to be a big hit.
In front line, we just mirror these true events.
And other times, we make them up.
And I think it's the mix of truthful ones and ones we've made up is great
because it keeps people guessing.
They then assume everything in frontline is based on the truth, and it's not.
But it's nice to keep them guessing.
Was it Toyota, was it?
Yeah.
Shall we make it Toyota?
I thought you did a Kodak so that you deliberately kept the word.
If we're going that close, we might as well go to Holland.
OK, let's say Toyota.
Let's do it.
And this week's episode contains a big forum,
a big sort of debate for some different race groups.
And we just wondered how Mr. Uxton would feel about being part of the audience.
He wouldn't have to say anything.
I was just wondering if we might be able to find out the availability
of Dino Manika for a role we're looking at for next week.
9.30, 10, 10.30, 12.30 and 5 o'clock.
Well, between 10.30 and 12.30, do you think he'd be up to coming down to the ABC
and just being in a crowd or be interested?
Would you be able to fax something to your man?
Sure.
The day is almost over as the shooting schedule is finalised.
Generally I try to, for the actors, do the office upstairs scenes in chronological order,
but the location runs are usually never in order.
And I can fax on that as well?
Yes, you can.
And what was your name?
Helen.
Helen. Thanks, Helen. I'll get something to you soon.
You're welcome.
Thanks. Bye bye.
I don't think it's going to happen.
I have to get my fruit out.
Hang on.
I'm happy.
If you speak to Jenny, she said she was getting out some Clare vision of Wiser
and a couple of ABC programs, possibly 7.30, where they've had a forum.
I want to show you the tape stuff, OK?
Which tape stuff?
The bathrooms.
OK, you'll have that when you've got a moment.
Actually, I'll just grab some musli.
This back projection for the forum, while I was thinking of perhaps having a
ethnic up here in the corner and then warfare sort of enlarged.
So we've requested three cameramen this week in 33.
We're hoping to shoot the control room scenes first so that we can release the
33 crew to moving to 31 and sort of have 10 or 15 minutes to set up before we get there.
Tomorrow night on Home Street.
Oh, yes. Oh, it has got booked.
Tomorrow night on Home Street.
Tomorrow night on Home Street.
Tomorrow night on Home Street.
Tomorrow night on Home Street.
Tomorrow night on Home Street.
Tomorrow night on Home Street.
Tomorrow night on Home Street.
We go from this to this in just one day.
Yes, it's Celebrity Renovator Brooke Vanenberg's bathroom.
OK.
What I did is I held the camera up quite high and...
Michael Hirsch has done a check on some possible locations for the bathroom scene.
You can't get in to show the before...
And I'll go to the after...
Yeah, find a before for that.
It's easier to shoot it.
We can say she was a woman.
Sell it, Kit. Come on.
The other request is we need to put a light on the roof.
Is there easy access to the roof?
This is an interesting touch.
We're just trying on Brooke's outfits and Kitty and I usually do this the day before we start shooting.
Basically, a lot of the time is to test the colours.
Some of the colours blow out and...
And others just recede completely.
Yes, others just disappear.
And also, we use a bit of white here which is good for lighting, lift your face a bit.
OK, you want to try on the other one?
Yep.
Jane reveals where Brooke's character began.
Growing up with current affairs and having this very sad dream as a child to be a television journalist.
I did used to watch the news and wonder where they'd all got their outfits from.
I wasn't listening to a word that these poor women were saying.
The old faithful blue Jaeger one?
Yes.
Because that's never been seen for any decent amount of time.
OK.
It's got a very good pedigree.
Sorry?
Used to be Joe Pearson's.
Oh, that was, yes.
That's our credibility.
It's good enough for Joe Pearson and it's good enough for us.
Bye bye.
Story trading?
Carl said we can do that but someone leaves at about 5.30 so Joe or Michael or someone can go in at about quarter to five.
Like before quarter to five.
Yes.
But the schedule may have to be redone.
Checked out with both Ansett and Qantas.
It's 7.30 is the only possible flight to get in there on time.
After shooting on Thursday Rob will be flying to Sydney to appear on the national TV talk show Denton.
But right now a journalist and photographer are here from the Sunday Herald Sun.
The other option is I was saying what about doing something on the couch like going down to the beach or something?
We've got very limited time. We can discuss it so.
That was the other option. It's just nicer than an insider menu that fashion shoot out on the beach, the pantry is down just down the road.
Alright, well I'll just check that Rob's happy about doing that and we can get him dressed here and then take him down.
Yeah, sure.
So change down there?
Yeah, I guess so.
How long all that?
Yeah, how long? It'll take about an hour.
Yep, let's just do it.
We never base a big subplot or a whole episode on something topical because in three or four weeks it dates a bit.
But we really wanted this series to be able to be watched two or three years down the track.
This has got a large margin for error of Mike Moore. You can actually go as hammy and stupid as you like.
It's just a user friendly character.
Do you find that viewers follow your lead?
They do. I was at a Lease Club the other day and a guy was wearing a shirt almost made entirely of this same material.
Ahhhhhhh!
Back at the office, Jane and Santo view the actual incident that this week's episode is based on.
Once inside they ran wild, smashing office equipment, furniture and lighting fires in an attempt to destroy documents.
I mean you wear loose as wearing pants because you're going to crouch down like you're in danger.
Behind me the floods are rising as I speak.
Oh, I mean I'm still looking at two hours of make up today so it's a pretty full day. She's a pretty tight shank.
While Mike Moore changes outfits, Tony Johnston considers the realism portrayed by Frontline.
I think a lot of the viewers think that they're dark edged characters that are larger than life.
But in my experience they're all pretty spot on.
You know, hosting a current affairs show can take up to three or four hours a day.
And various other commitments, I'll fax those to you.
Frontline Charlie speaking.
Just one green page.
Could be two people wet down here.
It's one or the other.
Here we go.
Welcome to Frontline.
To start rehearsal day, the crew and cast watch a rough cut of the episode they recorded the week before.
We're actually lucky to see the episode before it goes to air.
And that's quite unusual with others. You don't see it until it does go on air.
So in that respect it's great because you see what you've done, you see what works and what doesn't work
and how you can use it in the next episode, the episode that you're shooting that week.
Often stuff that you do in kind of soap stuff you never get to see until it actually goes to air.
The scenes that I've watched from last week's episode I noticed that I'm chewing my pen a lot.
And I kind of don't mind that in that it's a character thing.
But I really think that I overdid it and so now I'm kind of aware of that and I'm going to try not to do that in the next time.
Jane's father drops in to have a look.
You bitch!
Okay, so scene one, thanks.
Is there some demonstration being organised for today?
If there was a flower show on today I would have found it.
This guy said not even the police know about what's going on.
The script is read through once before rehearsing each scene in position.
The scene has to open really slowly.
One of the unconventional things about Frontline is that it is directed by the writers.
This week is Rob's turn.
Yeah, I reckon, imagine that you play, I reckon play two or three balls.
We've been directing a lot of our things for a while.
Now we may not use the correct words all the time but we knew exactly what we wanted.
So we didn't find that transition very hard at all.
And then everyone stops, so let's just go through it in minds.
It's a real luxury too that we don't take for granted.
And we like to sort of not to make such a big song and dance about it.
We don't see it as such a big deal because it's just an extension of the writing for us.
You can actually spot him over this side.
This is easily shot.
Another break with convention is that most of Frontline is shot by Santo on a Hi8 home video camera.
Actually the first shot you see, Rob, it's such a wonderful small little camera, so portable you can tuck away into corners, all sorts of things.
And it's also, if you're performing in a show like Frontline, I think the less technical stuff there is around, I think the better you're able to act.
Okay, we'll call it, that'll be a cut.
Maddie's got a UFO because they'll be watching.
We wanted a particular form of performance too and that's naturalism.
And there's a lot of things that interrupt naturalism.
One is just huge lights, cameras, everything like that.
And the small cameras and a small crew means that the crew and the technical aspects of the show stop intimidating people out of seeing their performances as important.
It's not nearly as intrusive, like you just feel like you're actually in an office playing.
But with those huge big studio cameras, they're very imposing.
Robby?
Yes?
Your MEAA hookup is at one o'clock.
Michael Hirsch has arranged for Rob to speak during a national phone hookup with the state actor unions regarding the importation of American actor Harry Shearer.
Scene five, Brooks and Kate, Dom and Kitchen.
If we could just move the action just a little bit further towards the fridge.
You can do it.
It's okay.
I can do it?
Yes, you can do it.
Just keep it subtle.
Oh my god!
On the oh my god, just actually turn, regard the door and then walk.
Just...
Downstairs, Tommy's working on episode eight, while the last of the 30 extras for tomorrow are confirmed.
I just need their home phone numbers.
Yep, that's fine.
Michael Hirsch briefs Rob before the phone hookup.
I'm not quite sure as to what form it's taking.
There's 15 people on the phone and they are representatives of each state, including both actors and some of their state secretaries.
This has the feeling of a blanket no.
I understand where the policy comes from.
I understand the reasons and I understand the benefits that the policy has brought.
In this case, if there isn't a way of letting in someone to do this part in this context with this financial arrangement, where is it going to be an extra episode anyway?
The others wait nervously.
Not only are they concerned about the issue, but there are still 12 scenes to rehearse and they're running behind.
Look, it's very simple to say someone can do an American accent.
I totally agree with that.
If our casting ended there, we wouldn't have an argument.
Rob leaves the phone hookup to let the unions make a final decision.
The thing about Harry is that he's been asked to be on Seinfeld and he's said no because he's doing it in...
Because he said I'm going to Australia to do it.
So he can't wait for arbitration. If they say no now, we can't do it. For his sake.
That's lunch!
Fish with olive,
cake with lemon,
eggplant with safa,
salad with peas,
and a pool comes out of a fish.
Whilst we sort of agree with the policy of not allowing actors as a generalisation for overseas,
I think each situation has got to be judged on its own merits.
Yeah, it's also, strikes me, there are certain double standards.
Some people can get away with it and hang up this card.
There are different guidelines for variety and for... and so on, so the loggies can do it.
And the winner is...
Frontline, ABC TV.
Earlier this year, the show was awarded a loggie for outstanding achievement in comedy,
an industry-voted award.
But it was not all smiles.
For those of you who may not be aware, Bruno is quite ill.
New Zealand actor Bruno Lawrence, who played the role of the EP of Frontline in series one,
had been diagnosed with cancer.
I've got a lot of respect for him.
We were hoping that he would be able to do one final episode, and that was going to be the first one for this year.
And we actually wrote an episode that was really quite moving
and had, you know, involved us flying to New Zealand and shooting Bruno.
And unfortunately he was just not even up to doing that.
Yeah, and I want it by this afternoon.
Bruno lost his battle with cancer in June.
Thank you.
He was fantastic for this project.
Delightful, gave great performances, was fun.
He lived life, I think, better than we were.
He had his wild ways and his fun ways.
He was gentle and generous with people.
He was a really, really... I think he was a special guy in the true sense.
Sometimes people... you hear these sorts of comments and you think,
oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, but it really is true.
Bruno was a very special person, and we miss him a lot.
Every now and again there's things that happen or a sound or something that happens in the office
that I instantly think of Bruno.
He's not gone.
The first time I was working with Kevin in one of our scenes,
I looked up and there was like Venetian blinds.
You know, the Venetian blinds in Sam's office.
And there's a photo of Bruno looking down at me.
I just... It was very strange.
Very strange. I think I don't really know.
The first location for today is the ABC Studios.
Make-up artist Stephen Claude gives Rob that classic current affairs look.
You just sort of try to take away any sort of imperfection
and just try and make them look as bland as possible so nothing catches your eye.
It's just quite easy.
But if you were to name those bland imperfections, still not enough.
Ruining!
And good morning. This is scene ten, shot one, take one.
The first scene is the frontline studio set,
shot in the same studio used by the ABC's 730 report.
Martin d'Eustacio with that exclusive report.
And just reminding you, that footage was exclusive to frontline.
The studio scenes make use of broadcast quality cameras,
creating a contrast to the behind the scenes shot on home video.
The juxtaposition works well when we do go to the bits that go to air
so that you really know the difference.
You go, oh, I see.
And then the sort of underhanded kind of manipulative stuff all happens
to produce this glossy piece of television which the public then sees.
Yeah, well when Kimberley Davies walks in and all the rest of the crowd,
all the people in the office just go, you are kidding me.
Back at the office, Jane and Tom are going through episode eight.
So then basically from here I just compressed,
so there wasn't too many scenes between the dog.
So we went page two and three as is.
No, no, no, when we do that control room shot,
we are not shooting it from the front, we will shoot it from behind.
When we go to pick up Emma and Sam.
One of the tricks of the trade that frontline doesn't give away.
Jane heads to the ABC to help out with the forum,
trying to forget the episode she was just working on.
I think that's one thing about it's mentally straining doing the show
because you really have to keep your wits about you all the time.
And people are asking what's happening with next week's episode
where you are shooting another one.
It's just a concentration thing, you just have to,
just keep up with what's going on.
But it can get very difficult, yeah.
I like it.
The 30 extras are moved into Studio 31.
The same studio with a team, along with four other members,
did two seasons of the highly successful Late Show,
a live Saturday night comedy program.
Thanks very much and welcome to the Late Show,
live around Australia for the final time.
At the end of the Late Show, a couple of the members,
in particular Mick and Tony and Judith,
were very keen to go off and do some stand-up
and just take a break from television for a year or so,
which is exactly what they did.
The four people sitting here are not renowned for their stand-up comic abilities,
so we were left facing the big question of what are we going to do next year?
So Frontline was born out of that exact situation.
Basically the executive producer of this mythical show wants conflict.
He doesn't care what conflict it is, he just wants arguments on screen.
He's planted it at one of our reporters who inflames the whole thing at the end by going,
it's the Serbs' fault.
Rob talks about the motivation television has for forums.
If you've ever been around commercial television,
you know, there's only one commandment.
It's not a 27-page rule book, it's make the programs right.
And what's more interesting, a measured, helpful discussion on ethnic rivalry or fisticuffs?
I mean, what do people slow down for, a guy in a soapbox explaining history
or a guy in an accident?
Action!
In my opinion it was the Serbs' fault.
You're not going anywhere!
Let's not spoil our internet!
Let's not... Hey, hey, no fighting!
Good stuff.
The next scene is to be shot at Michael Hirsch's house,
but first the team break for lunch and catch a glimpse of Spinal Tap,
which stars Harry Shearer.
The National Performance Committee stood by its decision
that the American actor cannot be imported to do the episode of Frontline.
Michael Hirsch will apply to take the matter to arbitration.
Thanks guys, so let's do the bathroom scene 17-8.
And frame, Sanos.
And... you right, Joey?
And... action!
Tomorrow night on Home Sweet Home we go from this to this in just one day.
So next door for the other part for the before bathroom scenes.
She does a segment on Home Sweet Home which is this sort of, you know,
those lifestyles thing that Home Renovators kind of shows,
and she gets a free bathroom out of it.
So this is what her bathroom used to look like.
And action!
Tomorrow night on Home Sweet Home we go from this to this in just one day.
Yes, it's Celebrity Renovator, Brooke Vandenberg's dream bathroom.
Beautiful!
It's back to the office to shoot one more scene.
Jeffrey has a typical sort of weatherman face.
We tend to make him look a bit more distinguished looking, I think.
A bit more credible with the grey on the sides.
There's a bit of dignity about it.
Yeah.
Or it sort of commands respect.
As time goes by though I have to put in less and less grey sometimes.
Helping me out a lot.
As much as I can.
You know what I thought about this, Chill, even before we start,
is that I reckon that Mike and Jeff should be doing something.
I should be helping you staple things.
Is there something inexplicable at the start?
I'll just say, hey, look, all you have to do is just write down the number.
Like it's 1026.
You don't have to write ISO bars. Just write down the number.
And so, like Alfred to Batman.
Ta-da!
Hey, Jeff, do you ever, like, get stuff?
What do you mean?
Well, you know, stuff.
Because you're on the telly.
Oh, yeah, well, I get a calendar from the weather bureau.
Well, there you go. You're not ashamed of that.
Mike is a sort of a complex character.
And people often manipulate him,
and he sort of has his own little world of delusions and everything like that.
And you never actually get to hear him basically speak honestly,
actually to express what really goes on in the mind of Mike Moore.
And that's what happens with Jeff.
He can express all his insecurities and all that kind of stuff.
It's basically him talking to a mirror.
You get my point, I mean?
Yeah, so I was missing it at first, but now I get it.
But you're on the track now.
All right, as far as just as long as you're with me.
Morning, Dave.
Hi, sweetie. How are you?
Doing good in curlers, babe.
Oh, don't I always?
Right next.
Steve?
Yeah.
And scene one, shot one, take one.
All the offer scenes are done on Thursdays, and today there are 20 to shoot.
Cut. That was perfect.
Do you want to check that one, Senna?
Yeah.
Is a tighter shot on Dom and Dom keeping and Marty and Dom.
I got it.
You got it?
I'll do that one.
Please don't do things before I do.
Another advantage of shooting on a home video camera is being able to play it back immediately.
Which I really like because you can sort of gauge how it's going
and how your performance is going and what works and what doesn't.
Woman written a book on the joy of turning 50.
If something's too big or not being heard or whatever,
it's just great to tweak your performance.
You might even fall asleep.
Sneak out and give me a number.
Okay.
I'll throw something out and you'll be surprised.
See you, Sam.
See you, sweetie. See you in about an hour.
Yeah.
Downstairs, Tom continues on scripts accompanied by a newly born son, Sam,
who's already made his screen debut.
We needed, in episode two, I think we needed a young child
that Brooke was supposed to be holding rather uncomfortably.
And unfortunately he just behaved like an angel.
They had the bottle stuck in his mouth and sort of sticking him with a pin
or maybe some battery terminals.
We couldn't get him to cry, which was a pity, so he blew his first roll.
A what?
A brawl in the car park after the show.
That's really bad.
I'll tell you what's bad.
The fact we didn't get it on tape.
Dammit.
Sam's got to be in the shot.
Santo describes Frontline's shooting style as like a documentary.
It's naivety, really.
It's a camera person who doesn't really know what's going on
or what's about to happen.
Every time I look into the camera, I block my mind out
so that I don't really know what's about to happen
and I just try and discover the story or discover the joke
as if I've never heard it before,
because that's what a documentary is like.
A documentary, you just roll up there and you don't know what's about to happen.
You just want to keep it in that same style.
At the moment, are you holding so Santo can capture what the hell happened to you?
Don't worry about it.
Directing their own material is not just an advantage to the producers.
Often in a script, there'll be something that you might not understand
in the context that perhaps you should.
So you can immediately have something explained to you if you need it.
It helps the others and doesn't apply to me so much.
Yeah, there's no hierarchy and there's none of this authority,
I'm director and I'm producer and you guys are just the thespians.
There's none of that sort of stuff.
So it's very, very down to earth
and the energy I think on the set is quite united.
Okay, see you later.
Well, that was easy.
Did you know there was a fight in the cow park last night?
You're kidding.
Actor Kevin J. Wilson took on the role of EP at the start of Series 2.
He had watched the first series of Frontline back home in New Zealand.
I thought it would be a lot less disciplined.
Well, when you watch the series, when I watched the first series,
that was dialogue running over each other's cues and that sort of thing.
You get the feeling that it's really like that.
I thought it would be chaos, but it's not.
I think it's quite quiet and quite disciplined really.
Quite enjoyable.
The scenes shot yesterday have already been transferred to VHS
and the preferred takes are logged.
At 26, Deb Choate is one of the youngest series producers
working in Australian TV.
She can do a million things at once and she doesn't posture or pose
and I think it's very rare.
She could run NASA or something with those sort of skills.
She could have spaceships in the air and 40 technicians on the ground.
I'm learning, I'm watching her.
I have tapes of her.
For sheer inanity and obscenity, the new Frontline program cannot be beaten.
Over lunch, cast and crew watched last night's back chat.
I don't think that represents one big family with all that swearing.
We've put the swearing and the blasphemy in the program
because it's a natural part of language today.
And a lot of my friends go,
I didn't even know that there's swearing in the show.
It's a problem for television though, isn't it, because the audience is so broad.
The ABC, a large part of its audience is over 40.
Now for our generation, it's totally natural, but it does offend people.
It's just a very natural part of language for people today
and we're trying to do a natural show.
Frame cameras.
For scenes that require two cameras,
Santo has an assistant who comes from a conventional film background.
It's been really good because you actually become aware of another way of shooting things
and you're not so confronted with technical,
you actually start paying more attention to the acting.
Just for once, with Frontline we had a prevailing philosophy,
we said just for once, let's put the creative at the front.
Let's not let technical rule creative.
And so often in the past in television that is the case
that we used to find when we were making sketch comedy back in the mid-80s at the ABC,
the guys would do seven or eight takes of a sketch.
The first one or two takes, wonderful performances,
but there would be a boom shadow or the lighting wasn't perfect
or there was some tiny flicker on the screen.
And so in the end they'd end up using take seven or take eight
because it was technically perfect, but the performance was just shot to pieces.
The emphasis is on performance and the emphasis is on the written word
and that's because obviously the guys that are making the show are writers and performers.
I've been looking at these two girls.
How old are they?
About late 20s.
We don't have a casting director appointed to do the show
and one of the reasons is because we write the program ourselves
we have a very clear idea in our head what that character would be,
what that person would be like.
It's cutting out a middle person if you like to be able to do that job
and a luxury for us as writers to be able to cast people ourselves.
Whatever we do we're going to have to go quickly
because I'm going to have to go in about 20 minutes.
It's the last scene of the day,
but Rob has to catch a plane to Sydney to appear on the Denton program.
Good show, mate.
Thanks mate, sorry about that debate.
I mean I got a bit out of hand earlier, I had to really step in.
Quickly pick that up.
Another clap in.
Action.
And they'll keep those lessons.
They will.
Yeah, that'll be learning them.
Thanks Brooke.
And action.
Good show, mate.
Thanks, sorry about that debate.
I started to get out of hand, I had to step in.
I stopped it dead though, didn't I?
You certainly did, mate.
Yeah, you know what they did that much, night?
Well.
Did you know that?
Rolling, rolling.
We're recording, here we go.
Guys, what time is it?
Okay, it's alright, we'll get it.
And action.
You know what they did that much, night?
Playing that footage again.
Got everyone heated up, I don't think we thought that through.
Can we pick it up again?
Okay.
Pick it up.
There was just some diction.
Guys, concentrating, here we go.
Let's roll up.
I have to go in about eight minutes.
And action.
I stopped it dead though, didn't I?
You certainly did, mate.
You know what did the damage?
Did the damage.
Damn.
Keep recording.
The scene is shot one more time.
And it's not just Rob who is relieved.
Cut, thanks.
You want to check those?
Just check it.
19 past, Robbie.
Quick, because I'm pissed.
You're a chick, Rob.
Guys, big quiet thanks.
Showing that footage again.
Got everyone heated up, I don't think we thought that through.
Happy?
Chookers, Robbie.
You know what's going on.
Thank you.
I'm going on a set of news for you.
And beep, beep, beep.
Oh for God's sake, Smartie.
That's just like a disease here.
Guys, guys.
The selected scenes have been transferred onto a computer for editing.
One of us always tries to get to the editing because it's vitally important.
It's our, we call it our final draft, our final writing draft really.
We spend so many of the drafts as we're writing, sort of improving it
and changing the order and everything.
And the most important one is when we edit, and especially now that we edit offline.
So it's basically like, you know, working on a work process.
You're basically rearranging scenes and getting rid of stuff that doesn't work.
We've been with it from go to woe, so it's still not woe time.
And you got any?
Yeah.
Tom, um, do you have four?
Thank you.
Got one?
Tommy.
Fine, how are you going?
Tommy's calling about episode eight to be shot next week.
See you soon, Tommy.
See you.
And Tom's coming around, so.
To talk about keeping up appearances.
Yeah, just a couple, just, just order things, so we're not going to like be writing or anything like that.
Yeah, we'll be there.
Yeah, we'll be there.
Here, the vision from the two cameras is synchronised.
Yeah, the way we cut is a little unconventional, often in dramas or soaps, the way that they would edit.
If there's a conversation between two people shot with two cameras,
the cuts would come slightly before any person is talking.
Whereas the way we edit, you tend to do the edit just after the person has started talking,
more in that sense of a documentary style.
Because otherwise it's like if you cut to somebody before they talk,
it's telegraphing the fact that they're about to talk, so.
You're pre-empting the action.
That's right.
Keep looking.
Got a one?
I can extend this shot.
I can extend.
Tommy's calling.
Well, I think that Ray's hair is beautifully quaffed all the time.
I don't think it's a wig and I think he's very lucky to have that much hair.
Back at the office, Jane is doing a radio interview.
Michael Moore doesn't wear a wig.
What are you talking about?
That should be Sam leaving.
Sam goes, Dom, you're a genius.
But I'm not entirely sure what's the problem.
I mean, yeah, maybe it is real time.
Okay, Mike, I'll send you on the free show.
No spoken section?
Yeah, no problems.
So walking...
Editing a half hour drama or soap normally takes around two days.
Frontline usually takes six hours or less.
The fewer scenes shot on two cameras, the quicker it is.
But saving time is not the only advantage of using one camera.
When you shoot a scene with a single camera,
it gives you more of an impression that what you're seeing
is behind the scenes of a real current affairs show
because the camera follows that action rather than cutting back and forth.
A lot of people have compared Frontline with Murphy Brown or Drop the Dead Donkey.
But in those shows, and particularly Murphy Brown,
the actors tend to stand around the camera or congregate around the camera
and deliver funny lines.
Whereas in Frontline, the camera is more an observer,
as if you're actually standing there unnoticed watching what's going on.
So it's more voyeuristic.
Thanks for that, guys. Nice to talk. Good luck with everything.
Okay, cheers. Bye-bye.
That was a 2CA camera.
And it's the Brecky guys there.
And it was a pre-record.
This was a sort of a more wackier kind of breakfast type of program,
so I didn't actually get to talk about Frontline much at all, really.
But at least all they say at the end is that,
oh, well, that's Jane Kenny from Frontline,
and it's on tonight at 8pm on ABC TV,
and that's basically all we want in the end.
Hershey spent all day trying to actually get the Department of Communications
to actually agree for us that we're actually allowed to get arbitration.
The matter regarding Harry Shearer will be put before arbitration next week.
And bang, music and credits. That's it? Okay.
All right, well, I'll do a dub of that.
And drop it off in Jane's letterbox? Yeah.
Well done, John. Okay, have a good weekend.
You too. I'll see you on Monday.
Good work. We'll fix it up on Monday. Did I bring my bag?
No, you just got stripped.
Bye, John. Bye, Johnny. Okay.
Says there's going to be a bit of trouble at the Serbian consulate.
Is this straight on?
The group watches the first cut of the show.
One of the few times they're all in one room.
A debate. Fantastic.
Yeah, dissolve.
I don't know, guys.
Didn't the cut then bond there?
It's coming straight off the debate. Yeah.
Straight cut. Sorry, John.
See, the papers came out in our favour.
Oh, you read the paper? No.
I find it a bit odd that Sam goes,
have you read the papers? And Mike goes, no, I haven't read the papers.
It sounds a bit stupid.
And I know it's...
It jarred with me on a first viewing.
What if he loses control of the audience?
You want him to lose control.
Okay, that, I reckon, elongate.
Did you take any time out of that?
Did you cut any time out?
That's the real timing.
Is there any way of cheating that it's longer?
What if we can stretch it just on their smile?
No, I would go back to her going, saying,
you don't want them.
It's got to sink in with her.
If you wanted to make the joke clear,
you could cut to ethnic piece and cut to...
Start this with a shot at you and your best...
With ethnic warfare behind you.
So it's just cleaner.
So don't show any of the hiatus.
I like the theme of this.
Cut straight to SP and bam with it behind.
That's going to bring it.
That's probably going to make it at 27.
Maybe the office has perked up a little bit.
While Santo heads off to make the editing changes,
Jane goes over the sound requirements.
At some point the phone has to ring.
Because of the way that we shoot the program
with a hi-ate camera,
we're not obviously relying on the quality of the picture
to drive the show.
The way it's written, the way it's performed
and the sound of the show,
we feel the sound's so important for this program
that we want to spend as much time as we can on it.
My job is to make it sound as natural as possible,
as a documentary more than a drama.
So while we're adding background sound effects
and phones and what have you,
we still have to make it sound natural.
And that might even mean making the sound muddy here and there
so it's not crystal clear like a studio.
Give you the tape.
Alright.
And we'll see you...
We're off to Labsonics.
Off to Lab.
Alright.
Joining us live from Frontline,
it's our old war buddy Tom Gleisner.
All this and more coming up on the program
that's spending its spring break
having its mouth washed out with soap and water,
Martin Malloy.
Episode 7 is sitting at the ABC waiting to go to air tonight.
The team have since shut episodes 8 and 9.
And the arbitration decision regarding Harry Shearer
went in favour of Frontline.
Harry Shearer should fit perfectly into an episode of Frontline
because he has a wonderful naturalistic style of acting.
We really try and achieve it in Frontline.
So Frontline blurs the distinction between reality.
Is it a documentary or is it fiction?
That's a question we like to sort of have thrown up.
And I think Harry will fit in perfectly to our existing Frontline cast.
And you're back with Martin Malloy.
Tom Gleisner's with us.
Tom, what have you been up to on Frontline this week?
What can we look forward to?
Well, it's probably one of our most cumbersome titles.
And I think it's episode 7. I've kind of lost track.
And I believe it's called
Divide the Community, Multiply the Ratings.
Oh, that's very nice.
Is that a credo you guys are living by at the moment, Tommy?
No, no. Thank goodness.
Because I can barely remember it, Mick.
But it's about the whole issue of,
you know when they like to have those forums on current affairs?
They love to get everyone together to flesh out an issue.
And what they're really hoping for is the old...
Bit of Biffo.
Ron Casey...
Who was it?
Normie Rowe?
It was Normie Rowe, I think.
It's gone the old Biffo.
That's what they're hoping for.
And that's what the episode of Frontline is about tonight.
Where they pretend they're trying to sort of resolve a very serious issue.
But in fact they're hoping that it's going to be Mike Tyson and whoever.
And any cameos we should be looking for?
Darren, does he get a look in?
There is a bloke. Watch out for it.
In the forum audience, this is for real, there's a guy on the right.
We asked for like Serbian and Croatian looking actors.
Oh yeah, of course you did.
Not a lot of them in, Belbin.
And there's a guy there that looks like a dead set Croatian George Negus.
I know that conjures up a bizarre mental image,
but when you see him tonight you'll say, I know exactly what you mean.
Alright. And is he related to Helen Demidenko at all, do you know?
Not we all.
In some way we are.
So basically they've dragged all the people into this forum
and they're hoping that it's going to end in ugly, ugly violence.
But you'll have to watch tonight to see exactly what happens.
Well, all the best with the episode, Tom.
And that's Frontline tonight on the ABC.
You'll be a fool to yourself and a burden to others to miss it.
Grab the BTCMSP.
Is that all on the order queue?
This is a great story.
Time for KO5 traffic.
It was here in this small room.
Hello, I'm Mike Moore.
Welcome to Frontline.
Over there.
It's supposed to be Sarajevo.