Love On Track

Love On Track is a self-funded short film (4 mins 14 secs), set on the Sydney monorail. Essentially a two-hander, the film was shot on an HDV camera, using natural light and a minimal crew (DOP and sound recordist). It's available for screening (NTSC and PAL) on all the formats you can derive from a Digital Betacam master.

The film was completed in early 2007.

Synopsis
The promise of true love goes temporarily off the rails when a man and woman have a misunderstanding on the Sydney monorail. Hardly a word is spoken, yet passions ignite and feelings fray. The denouement takes place on a station platform, when a pair of buskers help get the romance back on track.

The story behind the film
I have dreamed about making a silent film (or at least a film without dialogue) for some time. The dream began when I heard Stephane Grapelli playing Django Reinhardt's Nuages on the radio - and it triggered the idea for a short film. The music turned out to be way beyond my means (performance and publishing rights), and I abandoned my original story idea. The drive to make something in a similar vein, however, was born.

When I had a new idea late last year, I contacted Melbourne-based Glynn Nicholas (I'd been a fan of his comedy talents for many years) to see if he might be interested in playing the male lead. He agreed, and so the race was on to shoot the film on a morning he would be in Sydney - 2 December. Glynn recommended the female lead, Susanne Hausschmid, also Melbourne-based, who came on board just before the shoot. As the film is a romantic comedy, the dynamics and chemistry had to feel just right - and they do. Glynn and Susanne create some magic on screen.

The chemistry was captured by DOP Bonnie Elliott (mostly on a hand-held camera in natural light) in less-than-ideal conditions. The light was variable, as you'd expect in a train moving through a city, and there were many delays at stations as the clock ticked quickly through the 2 hours I'd hired the carriage.

The day before the shoot, I persuaded two Sydney-based jazz musicians (guitarist John Blenkhorn and violinist Daniel Weltlinger) to play a waltz on the station platform. They subsequently improvised music from which I was able to create a score.

The five-hour shoot was just long enough to capture the essentials of the story.

Granaz Moussavi was in Sydney for just long enough to complete the edit with me before heading off mid-December to work on a project in Iran. Adrian Bilinsky was available for just long enough between feature commitments to work on sound during January. And I had just enough time and energy to finish the film in time to meet a couple of personal deadlines.

And so the dream was nearly fulfilled - but for one line of dialogue at the climax. Sadly, I felt the line was necessary.

Alison Heather