In 1922 my grandfather, Raymond Gibson Carlton, was born in Victoria. Not more than 17 years later he went on to fight on behalf of the Allied troops in World War II. Just last month Ray turned 90.

I, along with Jimmy and Shyam, have begun filming a documentary about his time in the war and the subsequent impact it had on his life. I am very excited to bring my grandfather’s story to screen- to give him the opportunity to talk in depth about his experiences and to share them with not only our family but with a new audience.

This is a special project- something I’ve never done before. The film is being made in an organic and improvisational way. We are letting Ray tell his story. I’m looking forward to sharing it with you all.

Me Likey

In January I directed my first music video for Noize Bunny/Bombshizz Records, for the pop-track ‘Me Likey’. It was an epic and insane shoot – we ran 2 units (shooting RED Epic & Scarlet simultaneously), with James Lawler directing 2nd Unit and Shyam Ediriweera shooting for both. I’ve never had so much fun on a shoot in my life! I’m really stoked to unveil, ‘Me Likey’, which launched last week.

Big M/Masters/Moove

I’ve also been running around interstate, shooting and directing a series of spots for Big M/Masters/Moove (Agency: AJF, Client: Lion, Prod. Company: Dougal McDougal). The spots were part of the new campaign from the company centered around an impressively giant set of headphones made out of milk cartons. The shoot was across Melbourne, Sydney and Perth. Here are two of the spots I made:

Finally, I can reveal what we’ve been working on the last 2 months! Big thanks to everyone who worked so hard on the project. Check out the three spots for Hyundai here.

Directed and Produced by Nicholas Carlton & Shaun Crawford
Executive Producer – Mark Campbell
Production Company – RedLever
Agency – Innocean
Director of Photography – Shyam Ediriweera
Editor/Color Grader – James Lawler
Music/Sound Design & Mix by Dmitri Golovko
Production Manager – Shaun McAlpine
Production Assistant – Marie Mauron
Gaffer/Camera Assistant/Data Wrangler – Marcus Alleman
Narrator – Jeremy Kewley
Assistant Editor – Daniel Kerr
Sound – Keith Bottomley
Make-Up Artist – Eloise Loxton
Runner – Lisa Kappel
Special Thanks to Cail Young

The three spots can be seen online including on Hyundai’s Facebook Page and YouTube.

A film is – or should be – more like music than like fiction. It should be a progression of moods and feelings. The theme, what’s behind the emotion, the meaning, all that comes later.

To me, the greatest films are lyrical and visceral. I’m talking about the films of Michael Mann, Wong Kar Wai, Terrence Malick and John Woo. My belief is that film at its most powerful is ultimately an emotional experience, everything else – plot and character are intellectual experiences and consequently are not as important. The best filmmakers, in my opinion, are the ones who are editors, and the best editors have a keen sense of rhythm, more often than not they may have a musical background.

My past week has been heavily focused on working with the various people involved in creating and designing everything you hear in Transmission. Dmitri Golovko did the fabulous and sophisticated score, Leon East enhanced the environment through his sound design and Neill Bell brought it all together in the sound mix. They all did a brilliant job and I couldn’t be happier! The result is a hyper-stylized, and hopefully emotionally engaging film that should be enjoyed as a piece of style, rhythm and emotion. I can’t wait to release it!