Making "Upside Down"

In December, I had the privilege of shooting my second music video for the talented, Kylie Gale; “Upside Down”. It’s an upbeat country banger that showcases both Kylie’s brilliant vocals and song writing talents. It’s always lovely shooting a second clip for an artist, there’s unspoken trust in each other. I adored working with Kylie the first time, and the second time was even better. Plus, I wasn’t a week or two from recovering from a hernia operation this time! I love the result we achieved and am so glad that CMT (Country Music Television) has been playing the video.

We had such a great day filming. The schedule was very full getting it all done in one day, but we managed to do it, we worked so well we even finished early. Almost unheard of. That’s how good the team were.

The day started early. We shot around the Blacktown area and began with Kylie’s performance shots. There is a nature reserve very close to my house. I had shot two scenes for my web series, “After Nightfall” there before. During lockdown, I took a lot of walks in there and explored it further, really falling in love with the place and was keen to shoot a clip there. Kylie’s was the perfect vehicle. Director of Photography, Christine Anderson, did such an amazing job. She has a beautiful eye and it’s amazing to work with her. Kylie is at ease when she straps on a guitar and I loved watching her perform. The shots were done quickly with a lot of gold to choose from.

Next, we moved to my parent’s house. Got to work with my great mate, Emma Louise, as we played a fighting couple. I love working with Emma, after all these years we work together seamlessly. Kylie brought some friends and we got them to drink wine before midday. Acting is hard!

We had an early lunch and then headed to the other side of Blacktown to my lovely friend’s house, thanks Carolyn Griffiths. We had a ball shooting the wedding stuff. The ladies, Jade, Henri, Tayah and Annie, were all incredible. The improvisation from the performances was so funny, and a character called “Shit faced Simone” was born. She was the one who hilariously spilt wine on our very expensive looking Salvos wedding dress. We had one take to do it, so there were a lot of nerves. But the scene was nailed and is one of my favourite in the clip.

Then we moved to the nearby park, the interestingly titled, Nang Park. We were joined by my great mate, Suz and my nephew (and God son), Connor. We also had some great wedding extras. Quick shoot, but fun.

The day was going great and I was having the best time. Though the last scene had me nervous, I thought it was going to be difficult; we had several children doing a choreographed dance. I needn’t have worried. The kids were brilliant and our amazing dance teacher, and choreographer, Lisa Ancilleri, had rehearsed them perfectly before we arrived. A special shout out to the students and owners of Constant Groove for being in the clip and letting us shoot there. Also, to my great acting students, Imogen, Lucia and Madison. These girls were so wonderful and acted the story out beautifully. Amazingly, we raced through these shots. The dancing looked great and we finished early with me a happy man.

Shout out to these crew members, Dean Strothers, Jasmine Suivi and Abbie Gallagher; plus my amazing post production team, Paul Anthony Nelson and Thomas Wood. And thank you to Kylie for trusting me to bring her beautiful song to life with visuals. Please watch and share with friends, it is meant for enjoying.