Wolf Creek (2005)

PRODUCTION NOTES

SCRIPT DEVELOPMENT - Greg McLean
"The idea behind Wolf Creek has been around for about six years, when I wrote the first treatment for the film. It started with the notion of a terrifying, lone character inhabiting the Australian Outback. A character that reverses all of the clichés about the classic Australian bushman type, exemplified by Crocodile Dundee and Steve Irwin. Wholesome, bush skilled Larrikins with a naïve charm and childlike view of the world. These are two of our most popular cultural exports – but what if we created a character who exemplified the darkest, most sinister and monstrous aspects of this essential Australian archetype. Essentially creating a uniquely Australian 'Boogieman'. As the script has developed a number of 'real' Aussie Boogiemen appeared. Figures that were so horrific it was as if they and their crimes sprang directly from the imagination of some writer whose object was to scare us witless, and make certain those Sunday afternoon drives out into the Australian country-side stopped altogether.”

Ivan Milat (the Backpacker Killer), Bradley Murdoch (the Peter Falconio Killer) and the Snowtown serial killers stunned Australians and terrified International onlookers. They committed crimes characterised by unparalleled violence, brutality and chilling, cold-blooded planning. Australia, once the world’s favourite beach suddenly became a place where lonely, deranged men with murder on their minds stalked empty highways. Looking for vulnerable tourists a long way from home. And while Wolf Creek is not based on any one story or case, Mick Taylor is the bastard child of all of these men and their hideous crimes.

"It was my intention to make Wolf Creek an unforgettable, shocking and genuinely scary movie that is also distinctly Australian. In terms of producing the film, the breakthrough on a way to make it came with the advent of Dogma 95 – the group of Danish filmmakers led by Lars Von Trier, who created a digital revolution by liberating themselves from the burden of huge production budgets. No built sets, limited lighting and sound, shooting on digital video, and focussing all their energy into telling great stories innovatively with compelling performances. I truly admired their original and daring cinema: Breaking The Waves, The Idiots, The Celebration and Dancer In The Dark among them. And even though many of their original ideas were cast aside as they became more successful, the original concepts served to prove that shooting in this way re-focuses a film on it’s essential elements, and re-asks the question; what do you need to make a good movie? Their answer was - a great idea, excellent actors and a digital camera. (Wolf Creek was shot on Hi-Definition cameras and lenses, also used on Star Wars Episode II, III and Once Upon A Time In Mexico.)

"So this formed the basis of my approach to making Wolf Creek. I was influenced by certain elements of Dogma 95 (economy, focus on script and performance for cinematic effects) and my favourite elements of the classic horror movies (strong central storyline, few characters, an isolated setting, a unique and unforgettable monster) and decided (probably subconsciously) to mesh them together to create Wolf Creek.

"In addition to this I’ve always loved Horror / Sci-fi / Fantasy comics and movies since childhood. I was going to be a painter and studied painting and drawing my whole life, constantly filling up sketchbooks with monsters from Conan the Barbarian, Marvel Superheroes, Star Wars characters and Tales From the Crypt creatures. My mother used to let me watch all the old Hammer Horror films; I think she liked them a lot and I was just blown away by them. So I guess, in retrospect, you could call the directorial technique finally devised for Wolf Creek a real meeting of high and low art – a classic boogie man story using the techniques of 'art' cinema to create an original cinematic experience.

"The reaction to the film so far has been intense and fascinating. No-one has been completely 'unmoved' by the film, which is great because I feel that anything is better than a neutral or lacklustre reaction to your film. Movies should, I believe, be explosive, slightly sensational, magical and, primarily, an unforgettable experience (and I don't just mean being shocking for the sake of it – stillness and silence can be as powerful as violence and action). Movies of this nature have changed and enriched my life so much so that my life now seems too short to sit through boring movies! So Wolf Creek is definitely a movie I’ve attempted to make into a cinematic hand grenade. I’m very excited about bringing the film to life and witness what kind of life it has once it and the 'boogieman' it contains is 'out there.'"

The film does contain some confronting sequences of violence. McLean is quick to point out that the use of violence in the film was carefully thought through. "The movie does contain explicit and intense scenes, they are disturbing. However the film does explore the dull, mundane nature of violence, as the film is in some ways a voyeuristic journey into a world of pure evil. I believe it’s the artist's job in some form to 'not look away' from our world and the human experience: both in its blackest elements of suffering and it’s brightest moments of joy. And while it may be confronting at times, I feel it is important to expand the audience beyond what they would experience in their everyday lives. And cinema is a great medium in which to do that, as the audience is never actually in danger. We get to look into the horror with the reassurance in the end that, 'it's only a movie'."

On the film being accepted into the Sundance Film Festival, McLean had this to say: "I have always loved the stories I grew up with about weird lights in the sky, UFO's and people who simply 'disappeared' while in the Outback. Australia is a magical country with amazing and yet terrifying qualities, and I really wanted to put a face to the nameless fear of what lurks 'out there' on those long lonely highways. As someone from a small town who grew up watching some of my cinematic heroes arrive at film festivals and begin their careers (Steven Soderbergh - Sex Lies and Videotape, Spike Lee - Do The Right Thing, Quentin Tarantino - Reservoir Dogs), it’s an incredible honour and a dream come true be invited to show our little horror movie in the country that actually invented the horror movie. I still can’t believe it’s happening and I can’t wait to get over there."

CASTING
From the outset Greg advised casting agent Angela Heesom that having big 'name' actors in the film was not a concern. "The only thing that was important was how relaxed and naturalistic they could be as a performer and understand the style of the filmmaking we were doing – which is completely observational of the action. Cassandra, Nathan and Kestie were a godsend as not only are they incredible actors, they absolutely embodied the spirit of this production; which is that everyone involved threw themselves into it completely. And John (Jarratt) as the veteran exuded such command as an actor on set and is a fantastic guy to be around, so the cast were a dream come true. I really believe that great directing is being good at casting and taking time to make the best choices possible. In the end I suppose it's about responding to truth. The truth in a moment being performed by the actor. The way something is said. How well an actor can listen to another performer. When you spot an actor who can live and breathe and react and create in a really truthful way it's incredibly inspiring. And I was inspired by these actors everyday making this movie with them. They give the movie it's organic quality, and it's rhythm, because in the shooting and cutting we were essentially following the lead of the their truthful exchanges throughout a scene. It's like a golden thread that is pretty much the narrative line of the story, and I feel that in great films there is always that thread of truth that leads you through the journey of the characters. The writer is the first person to feel it but then it's up the actors to pick it up and make it 'their' truth. I'm just so glad we had this cast because they completely and truthfully owned their performances. And that is what's on the screen."

DESIGN AND CINEMATOGRAPHY
"The style of Wolf Creek was always intended to be ultra-realistic, semi-documentary. We designed the film to appear to be little more than a 'recreation' of an actual criminal case. The reason for adopting this storytelling technique is that when there's an element of 'truth' to a horror film the audience is more readily able to become complicit. Fact based stories mean it is easier for an audience to suspend their disbelief, thus creating a much more intense reaction. Examples are The Exorcist, The Amityville Horror, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and The Blair With Project. All play with the idea that they are based on or are 'true stories'. All went to great lengths stylistically to convince the audience of the 'reality' of their environment, characters and events. The object being with this kind of movie to generate maximum audience reaction. And have lots of fun doing it – as finally that's what horror movies are for! As Stephen King said, "Without first belief, there can be no fear". This maxim by the master of horror is one we adhered closely to in the preparation, design and construction of Wolf Creek."

POST PRODUCTION / MUSIC / SOUND
The film was post-produced entirely in Adelaide, South Australia at Oasis Post Production. Marty Pepper and Dale Roberts oversaw this process, with Marty personally creating all of the visual digital effects, digital matte paintings and colour grading the entire film. Pete Smith and Pete Best mixed and sound edited the film at Best FX in Adelaide. They collaborated heavily with composer Francois Tetaz in creating the film's textured audio blend of score and sound. Francois says, "We were always thinking about a sparse, electronic score that is quite abstract, and gradually builds so that in the last half of the film it virtually becomes one constant, building piece till the end. The music in the film subtly shifts as the movie dramatically changes gear half way through and becomes a completely different kind of experience. The challenge was in staying true to what was happening in the story and avoid 'horror' clichés. So it was scored much more from a place of, "this is actually taking place, historically, as opposed to trying to scare people with the music. So in that sense the music is simply supporting the storytelling. But it also works on other emotional and poetic levels throughout and suggests the larger themes running through the piece."

(From the Optimum Releasing UK press release)

Last Updated: 15 October, 2008