Gin Wigmore - If Only

Production Company: Blacklab International

Director: Sean Gilligan

Production Designer: Alex Podger

This project called for an eerie silhouetted forest appearing through a post-apocalyptic fog, with abandoned cars & luggage and a mysterious black stallion. 

INGREDIENTS: 

22 handmade corflute trees

3 fog machines

20kgs dry ice

1 black stallion

British India - Precious

Production Company: Oh Yeah Wow

Director: Darcy Prendergast

Production Designer: Alex Podger

Nice colours and also fire. 

Nature's Own - Joints

Production Company: Blacklab International

Director: Grant Marshall

Production Designer: Alex Podger

A giant staircase set.

Husky - Drunk

Production Company: Oh Yeah Wow

Director: Josh Thomas

Production Designer: Alex Podger

A week of carving, building and making miniature trees with some wonderful makers.

Nature's Own - Sleep

Production Company: Blacklab International

Director: Grant Marshall

Production Designer: Alex Podger

A world of stylised theatre sets.

Kate Miller-Heidke ft Passenger - Share Your Air

Production Company: Oh Yeah Wow & Pixelframe

Directors: Darcy Prendergast & Andrew Goldsmith

Production Designer: Alex Podger

This was a whirlwind interstate collaboration with a lot of painting and subtle VFX trickery, and a bit too much fun.

Golden Casket - Discovery

Production Company: Accomplice

Agency: GPY&R

Director: Grey Rogers

A suburban newsagency became a multi-cultural curiosity shop for the day.

INGREDIENTS

7 cupboards 

15 lanterns

1 truck load of props & dressings

6 packets of incense

Brendan Maclean - Practically Wasted

Production Company: The Production Room

Director: Peter Ireland

Production Designer: Alex Podger

This was my first ever design gig. Somehow, we managed to build 8 set-ups in an indoor basketball court with no time and no money. Straw solved the floor, and an old circus tent was hung from the ceiling to frame the set. Maclean's wild energy and a cast of wild performers did the rest. 

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Practically Wasted won Best Music Video at QNFA and was nominated for Best Design.

Brendan Maclean - Cold and Happy

Production Company: The Production Room

Director: Peter Ireland

Production Designer: Alex Podger

Another messy Peter Ireland shoot. 80L of jelly, tweaked to be as colourful and bouncy as possible, plus the challenge of turning a purple and green basketball court into a tired old bingo hall.

Spending the day throwing jelly as grandparents was definitely a highlight. This shoot took longer to clean up than to shoot, but it was worth every second.

Darren Hayes - Blackout The Sun

Production Company: Blacklab International

Director: Grant Marshall

Production Designer: Alex Podger

This shoot was wild. The set was backed with a massive rear projection screen, to add stunning video elements.

A truckload of sand, several shovels and a bit of sand-sculpting made the two surfaces blend together - and a few fans and fog machines added the post-apocalyptic winds.

Lisa Crawley - Elizabeth

Production Company: Fantome

Director: Sean Gilligan

Production Designer: Alex Podger

When Sean Gilligan said the words '60' B-Grade Horror' I was on-board. And so were the obligatory bubbling test tubes and strange medical paraphernalia.

INGREDIENTS

4 kgs of dry ice

10 flats

Assorted glassware

1 table

1 trailer load of medical equipment

Lisa Crawley - Best Friend

Production Company: Fantome

Director: Sean Gilligan

Production Designer: Alex Podger

Part II of the Lisa Crawley series - this time the talk show with the stars of the previous B-Grade horror. 

There's something delicious about red curtains.

Gin Wigmore - Black Sheep

Production Company: Blacklab International

Director: Sean Gilligan

Production Designer: Alex Podger

A rear projection shoot for Gin Wigmore's rather popular tune, featuring a variety of vintage wonders we found in strange places.

Cub Scouts - Evie

Production Company: Blacklab Digital

Director: Peter Ireland

Production Designer: Alex Podger

A messy, messy shoot in a disused medical facility. One of those days when you find yourself throwing things at people and wondering what other people do at work. 

I tried to find colours that worked well together, but also worked as a powder - harder than I thought.

The puzzle was assembled in every spare moment in the days before and between takes - a one-shot wonder if ever there was one!

Fatty Gets A Stylist - Are You Ready

Production Company: Blacklab Digital

Director: Peter Ireland

Production Designer: Alex Podger

We shot this one in a house removalists estate, so a lot of the work was already done. The challenge, of course, was the sheer distance and number of sets - and dressing and grotting hundreds of kids. 

Gold Lotto - Bath

Production Company: Blacklab International

Agency: GPY&R

Director: Grant Marshall

Two days of dragging a clawfoot bath around Brisbane and liberally covering our talent in foam. The bathroom was a set built on another location to minimise location moves. 

No fish were harmed in the making of this TVC - but a tackle shop was missing it's fibreglass marlin for half a day.

Energex - Community Safety

Production Company: Blacklab International

Agency: GPY&R

Director: Grant Marshall

A lot of research into car crashes went into this shoot, the final solution being the appropriation of the best ruined parts of two cars to make the final vehicle. 

One short crash course in powerline physics required.

INGREDIENTS

0.5 Mazdas

0.5 Toyotas

1 fog machine

30 metres power cable

Breathless

Production Company: The Production Room

Director: Peter Ireland

Production Designer: Alex Podger

This was a poignant short drama about a child drowning, and a mother obsessed with staying underwater for as long as possible. 

Emma Louise - Jungle

Production Company: Silverscreen Pictures

Director: Jeff Andersen

Production Designer: Alex Podger

Shot in the Old Museum, Brisbane for it's lovely floorboards, and featuring the spoils of several kerbside pickup raids. 

Suncorp - Home Loan Hero

Production Company: Blacklab International

Agency: GPY&R

Director: Grant Marshall.

This shoot was a complete dress in an empty building, and a bit of trickery to get some shelves on the wall without drilling any holes...