Chunky Shrapnel

“Having worked with Gizzard on various projects before and being close with them personally, it made sense that this film naturally occurred. Every time I’d go see them play I would be constantly awestruck and lost for words, so it was something I always had in the back of my mind. Having said that, there is a certain amount of mediocrity and self congratulatory behaviour around a band making a “behind the scenes'' tour film. It rarely feels like the film-makers are friends with the band or even understand them in any type of articulate or insightful way. Gizzard were always hesitant about making a live film for these reasons. They didn’t see the point in it unless it was offering something new and fresh. In the end this is why we decided to set a few guidelines before starting out. The first was to keep the band at somewhat of an arm's length, it was important for the film to be about their music and not necessarily about the everyday minutia of their lives and opinions. We wanted to put you in the room with them and let you observe as you would anyone else, and not resort to “big brother”, diary style talking head interviews. The second was the technical approach, to shoot songs in single takes on 16mm motion picture film. The reason being, we wanted to abandon the cookie cutter approach of using multiple cameras set up in the obvious places and coldly cut between them - so no cutting during songs. And finally, we wanted to shoot it on stage, literally constantly moving around each member to the point of being in the way (which happened multiple times). The results exceeded our expectations, the band felt it was the most accurate version of live music photography they had ever seen. It clearly depicts the excitement, the nerves and the extreme disorientation of being onstage. Playing at the energy level that they do, it’s really something to see. We wanted it to make you feel something and take you somewhere, be a trip, not just an offering. Stu and I worked back and forth finishing the film, passing song choices, musical ideas, edit notes and tonal shifts.  It would have been almost impossible if we didn’t share a studio or either of us had regular sleep patterns. Stu’s score elevates our contention and really turns it into a voyage. We wanted it to feel like Gizzard’s “Fantasia”.”

John Angus Stewart, Director of CHUNKY SHRAPNEL