Carcasses of long-discarded machinery lie in overgrown areas behind the main street, testifying to the town’s past. “It’s a land of rust and moss,” remarks Taswegian Winspear. And as a bonus, Dusseldorp says, the need to block off the main street for a large chunk of a weekday was unlikely to cause major disruption. Winspear notes that the main street didn’t require digital alteration to convey the sense of a forgotten pocket: there were no fast-food outlets or discount chemists to conceal. Dusseldorp describes it as “epic-ness without effort”, adding, “We really wanted that westerns feel, like there’s all the time in the world and none at all because the stakes are so high.” For this production, Zeehan was uncannily camera-ready, the main street evoking the impression of a western, which is exactly what the creators were after. In the Apple Isle’s wild west, hulking mountains covered by world-heritage-listed temperate rainforests tower over the town as the soft light, which director Natalie Bailey likens to that in Scotland, makes the colours pop. “I kept imagining the scaffolding behind it.” “It looked like a Hollywood set,” she recalls. She was introduced to Zeehan when the couple was touring with a theatre production and, as Bay of Fires took shape, she knew it was the ideal setting, even though the real Bay of Fires is on the northeast coast. The unexpectedly clear conditions for the outdoor shoot are a relief for Dusseldorp, who created the series with Andrew Knight ( SeaChange, Jack Irish) and Max Dann ( Spotswood), and who, with husband and fellow actor Ben Winspear, is also one of the producers through their company, Archipelago. But no one has told newcomer Stella (Marta Dusseldorp) about the unwritten rules and at the funeral that opens the series’ third episode, she’s unwisely asking pointed questions that are met by shrugs and hostile stares. Although the setting is contemporary, this isolated outpost resembles a town that time forgot and its idiosyncratic community has a firm “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy towards sudden deaths and disappearances. Welcome to Mystery Bay, played by Zeehan in the ABC’s six-part comedy-thriller, Bay of Fires. In the depths of the 2022 winter, a draft horse is pulling a cart holding two men and a wooden coffin down the main street as the townsfolk silently observe the solemn procession. Defying a weather forecast warning of thunderstorms and gale-force winds with 100 per cent chance of rain, the sun is shining on the west Tasmanian town of Zeehan. It’s a surprisingly good day for a funeral.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |