The Art of Film Making

From the movie Rabbit-Proof Fence, I have learned many facts about film making. Phillip Noyce, the witty director of Rabbit Proof Fence, shows how he picks his actors for the movie. He wanted his characters to be convincing, so he chose three girls from the area who not only looked the part, but could also play the part. To make Noyce’s three immature actors more comfortably with acting, Phillip brought in a real Aborigine actor who could relate to the girls culturally. Noyce was a perfect fit to direct this movie. He was described as “an excellent director and an Australian who understood the material” (Walkabout to Freedom). Film making is not always manageable. For instance: when the hair dresser cut the actor who plays Molly’s hair, she became furious. She stormed off and ran away from the set. Noyce had to cooperate with her and comfort her to get her to regain her self-confidence.

Film making can be used to raise awareness about a certain issue. For example: Invisible Children uses their movies as a way to educate people of the issue in Uganda. Rabbit-Proof Fence educates people on the half-caste Aborigines being removed from their native lands. Typically, more people tend to watch movies, rather than read a book or a magazine. So film making is a popular to raise awareness. The story of these children in the “stolen generation” outraged critics. The country of Australia wanted to apologize to its indigenous people. “Sir Ronald Wilson, president of Human Rights Commission, should be the one apologizing, not to Aboriginals but to all Australians for the falsehoods contained in his report” (Walkabout to Freedom). The art of film making is an important way to share the knowledge of an unknown culture.