IF you’re one of the likely thousands of locals flocking to see Pacific Rim Uprising at the cinema this week, you’ll want to know there’s a little bit of Hawkesbury in this blockbuster film.
Jasmine Newton, 26 years old, spent fourteen months working on-set as a visual effects co-ordinator for the production, wrapping-up on Christmas Eve before heading home to Oakville.
The movie has finally been released worldwide, and now Jasmine can enjoy her handiwork on the big screen at her local cinema.
She planned to see it three times during its opening weekend - with groups of friends and family - and though this wasn’t the first movie she worked on, she said she still got a kick out of seeing her name as the credits rolled.
Pacific Rim Uprising is a fantasy and science fiction film and sequel to the 2013 movie Pacific Rim. Jasmine worked from pre-production through to production in Sydney and China, then post-production in LA, then re-shot in Iceland and back to LA.
“A movie like this is broken down into thousands of visual effects shots. So I was on-set in the office tracking all the visual effects shots, and tracking camera angles,” she told the Gazette.
“We review those every day on loop and get feedback from the supervisor and then we review the shots on loop in the cinema and the director gives us feedback.”
She said the schedule was gruelling: she worked up to fourteen-hour days, five-days-a-week, then six- or seven-days-a-week closer to the movie’s release.
Though Jasmine has only been back in Oakville a few months, next week she’s heading to London for her next big gig: a high-profile movie being produced at Warner Bros Studios. While she couldn’t give away many details due to contractual agreements, she could reveal she would be working on a sequel for a well-known, very popular film.
“I was only offered the job two weeks ago so I haven’t been able to read the script yet!” she said. “That will be one of the first things I do when I get to London.”
Best of both worlds
Jasmine grew up on a five-acre property with her parents, three younger siblings, and a menagerie of animals including horses, dogs, cats and chickens. She studied a Bachelor of Arts majoring in English at Sydney University, then went on to do a Masters in Film Studies.
“I’ve always had a passion for writing and English, and I always knew I wanted to work in movies with a script within a collaborative team. I love being creative,” she said.
“I always loved watching the ‘behind the scenes’ extras on DVDs. They made me realise that this sort of thing is actually a job, and that it could become a career for me.”
She landed her first paying film role straight out of university, at Fox Studios Sydney working on Gods of Egypt (released 2015). Her role was post production assistant within the editorial department.
“That was something completely new. I wasn’t sure what editing really involved, but I was happy to just be a part of it,” she said.
After that, she worked on science fiction film Alien: Covenant with Ridley Scott, the Academy Award-winning director of Thelma & Louise (1992), Gladiator (2001) and Black Hawk Down (2002).
The first time you’re on a movie set and you see the cast called-up to the blue screen for filming, you think ‘Gosh, these are my co-workers!'
In this role, Jasmine was PA to costume designer Janty Yates, who also won an Academy Award for Best Costume Design on Gladiator.
“Not a lot of people get to jump around in roles like that,” Jasmine said, adding she was lucky to have the experience. But now she’s worked in visual effects, that’s where she wants to stay.
“It’s technical as you’re working on a computer, but I’m also working with artists who design flight sequences and the colour of the robots for example, so it’s also creative. You’re in the office, but you’re also on set - it’s the best of both worlds.
“You get to go on location - you’re right there in the midst of film-making with directors and supervisors all day every day. I have fallen down this path and I love it. I’m excited to see where it will take me.”
Two worlds colliding
Jasmine’s next role will take her filming through the UK, USA and Europe for the next eighteen months. Though she’s experienced things some could only dream of in her short career, she is still down to earth about it, and her parents will be visiting her in London so they can all spend Christmas together.
“The first time you’re on a movie set and you see the cast called-up to the blue screen for filming, you think ‘Gosh, these are my co-workers!’” she laughed.
“Then when you’re in the catering hall tent and [star of Alien: Covenant] Michael Fassbender is there driving around on a golf buggy in the Fox lot you just think, ‘Wow, this is real life!’
“The Fox lot is so big that we all drove around in golf buggies. Stars would have their assistants drive them around - I would drive my costume designer around - but Michael Fassbender liked to drive himself and he’d jokingly try to cut me off,” she laughed.
There was also a particular occasion at a film party in Hollywood when she accidentally cut in front of Brad Pitt in line for an icecream truck.
“I wasn’t at work, so to see someone like that at a party - that’s probably my biggest favourite memory!” she said.
“It was just so casual us both going to the icecream truck and it was like seeing two worlds collide. He looks just the same in real life - he was wearing a nice black suit with a white shirt.”
- Pacific Rim Uprising is playing now at the Richmond Regent Twin Cinema, located on Windsor Street. Visit richmondregent.com.au for session times.