Ray Argall
Ray Argall | |
---|---|
Born | Box Hill, Victoria,Australia | 31 May 1957
Nationality | Australian |
Alma mater | Australian Film, Television and Radio School |
Occupation(s) | Film and television director, cinematographer, screenwriter, editor |
Years active | 1975–present |
Employer | Piccolo Films |
Spouse | Lucinda Clutterbuck |
Raymond Charles ArgallAM(born 31 May 1957) is best known as a cinematographer and director for both film and television. He has also worked as an editor. His multi-award-winning feature filmReturn Home(1990) is regarded by many critics as an Australian cinema classic. Argall served on the board of theAustralian Directors Guild(ADG) for sixteen years, holding the position of president from 2006 to 2015 and secretary from 2015 to 2017. In 2016, Argall launched a business restoring archival films through his production company Piccolo Films. In 2018 the ADG presented him with its prestigiousCecil HolmesAward.[1]
Early life
[edit]Ray Argall was born on 31 May 1957, at Box Hill District Hospital, Melbourne, Australia. His parents were both musicians: violinist Barbara Argall and clarinetist John Argall[2]who was with theMelbourne Symphony Orchestra.His sister Janet Argall has had a long career as a television director with theAustralian Broadcasting Corporation.[3][4]As a teenager Argall attended the state-run alternative high schoolBrinsley Road Community Schoolin the Melbourne suburb of Camberwell. There he became involved in photography and super-8 filmmaking and in 1975 received support for his first 16mm short film entitledMorning Ritefrom theAustralian Film Institute’s Experimental Film and Television Fund.[5]He continued making short films, includingComa(1975)[6]andParnassus(1977),[7]while working as a boom swinger and assistant on other film productions and TV commercials. At this time, he also became a member of the Melbourne Filmmakers Cooperative.
Career
[edit]1980s
[edit]In 1979 Argall received a Diploma in Editing from Sydney's Australian Film & Television School (later theAustralian Film Television and Radio School),[8]and in 1980 returned to Melbourne to join theAustralian Broadcasting Corporation(ABC) as a sound editor. A year later, he left the ABC to form Musical Films with fellow film school graduate, producer John Cruthers.[9]Encompassing a group of young Melbourne filmmakers, including Elisa Argenzio,[10]Cristina Pozzan,[11]and Daniel Scharf,[12]Musical Films concentrated on the Australian music video scene which in this era became a fertile ground for visual experimentation as well as a way for young filmmakers to earn a living.
During the 1980s Argall made over 40 music videos for many of Australia's leading rock artists includingMidnight Oil,Crowded House,Renee Geyer,Hoodoo Gurus,Split Enz,Models,Black Sorrows/Joe Camillerias well as feature-length music documentaries/concert films.[9][13][14][15]He worked as a cinematographer on many other music videos, including those forHunters and Collectors,I'm Talking,Cold Chisel,andMen at Workand as an editor and cinematographer for independent filmmakers on shorts, documentaries and feature films, while continuing to make his own short dramas.[16]
Argall's most notable collaborations in this period were with directors Brian McKenzie andIan Pringle.In a working relationship with McKenzie which has continued for over thirty years, Argall has taken various roles on both McKenzie's documentaries and his dramas.[17]Argall was cinematographer on all of Pringle's distinctive feature films which were well received at prestigious European Film Festivals, includingCannesandBerlin.[18]Argall's work on these films garnered him a number of cinematography awards, most notably from theAustralian Cinematographers Societywhich honoured him with accreditation in 1989.[19][20]In this same year, Argall wrote and directed his first feature filmReturn Home.
1990s
[edit]On its release in 1990,Return Homewas met with widespread critical acclaim, receiving that year's Best Director award from theAustralian Film Instituteand the awards for Best Director and Best Film from theFilm Critics Circle of Australia.[21][9]It screened atBerlin,Edinburgh,Seattle and other international Festivals.[22]Return Homewhich was dubbed a “gem” of the Australian cinema was remastered in 2002 for theNational Film & Sound Archive’s Kodak/Atlab Cinema Collection of Australian classics.[23][24]It was the first feature photographed by 25 year-old cinematographerMandy WalkerACS ASC who had been assisting and operating for Argall and working as Director of Photography on his shorter directing projects.[25][26]Exceptionally, this film had four other women heads of department along with Walker: production designer, costume designer, sound and producer.[27]
During the 1990s Argall continued to work as a cinematographer while also directing for film and television, including as a set-up director for the popular 1997 ABC drama seriesSeaChange.[28]He made a second feature filmEight Ballin 1991.[29]With the birth of his children in 1990 and 1994, Argall opted for working closer to home, sharing his time between raising children and work as an independent filmmaker In this period he began to be increasingly involved in theAustralian Directors Guild(ADG), joining its Board in 2001.
2000s
[edit]Despite increasing demands on Argall's time from the Australian Directors Guild of which he became president in 2006,[30]he continued his screen work into the 2000s, both as a director and a cinematographer. Most notably, he was a set-up director for the ABC television seriesMDA(2002-2003)[31]and as a cinematographer photographed the widely acclaimed feature filmLook Both Ways(2005), written and directed bySarah Watt.He also continued to work in documentary and music films and with his wife, animator Lucinda Clutterbuck.[32]
During Argall's nine-year presidency and two-years as secretary of the Australian Directors Guild, he was deeply involved in its registration as an Australian trade union under theFair Work (registered Organisations) Act 2009,a goal finally achieved in 2015 after several years of effort.[33][34]In line with the ADG's understanding of the increasing impact on Australian screen of globalisation, Argall officially represented Australia in the founding of the International Federation of Coalitions for Cultural Diversity in Seville in 2007 and became the Asia Pacific member of the Federation Board.[35][36]During Argall's presidency the ADG maintained relationships with overseas directors’ organisations, notably through the International Association of English Speaking Directors Organisations (IAESDO).[33]These organisations included, among others, theDirectors Guild of America,theDirectors Guild of Canada,and theScreen Directors Guild of New Zealand.[37]Discussions about collaborations and events were also held with European guilds and theFederation of European Film Directors(FERA but the ADG came to believe that it did not have the resources to realise these ambitions.[38]
Argall and his wife Lucinda Clutterbuck continue to run their production company Piccolo Films, with Argall specialising in the digital scanning and restoration of archival films along with the continuation of production for the screen. The couple have two children, Lewis Argall and producer Rachel Argall who worked with her father onMidnight Oil: 1984,released byMadman Entertainmentand screened theatrically in Australian Cinemas in 2018.
Favourite films
[edit]In 2022, Argall participated in theSight & Soundfilm polls of that year. It is held every ten years to select the greatest films of all time, by asking contemporary directors to select ten films of their choice.[39]
Argall selections were:
- American Graffiti(1973)
- Two-lane Blacktop(1971)
- Pickpocket(1959)
- Proof(1991)
- The Truman Show(1998)
- The Rider(2017)
- Samson & Delilah(2009)
- Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure(1989)
- Exotica(1994)
- Malcolm(1986)
References
[edit]- ^"ADG - Australian Directors' Guild News & Media Releases".adg.org.au.
- ^John Graham Argall 834
- ^"Compass: Why Christianity Must Change (rpt) - ABC TV".www.abc.net.au.16 December 2001.
- ^"Dolly"(PDF).www.countdownmemories.com.
- ^"NFSA - Title Details".Colsearch.nfsa.gov.au.Retrieved13 May2018.
- ^"NFSA - Title Details".Colsearch.nfsa.gov.au.Retrieved13 May2018.
- ^"NFSA - Title Details".colsearch.nfsa.gov.au.
- ^"Ray Argall".www.aftrs.edu.au.
- ^abc"Ray Argall".www.innersense.com.au.
- ^"Elisa Argenzio - The Screen Guide".Screen Australia.Retrieved13 May2018.
- ^"Cristina Pozzan - The Screen Guide".Screen Australia.Retrieved13 May2018.
- ^"Search".Screen Australia.
- ^Hawker, Philippa (22 May 2013)."Rewind! Video clips thrilled the radio stars".The Sydney Morning Herald.
- ^"CINEMA - « Rock des Antipodes » de Ray Argall, le 23 Octobre 2013 à l'Ambassade d'Australie, Paris 15ème - Association France Australie".www.france-australie.org.
- ^"Cinéma: 10.Good Morning Australia!".
- ^[1][dead link]
- ^"Brian McKenzie - The Screen Guide".Screen Australia. 16 March 2018.Retrieved13 May2018.
- ^Australian Writers Guild."An Evening with Ian Pringle".AWG.Retrieved13 May2018.
- ^"ACS Accredited Member List - Australian Cinematographers Society".www.cinematographer.org.au.
- ^"ACS Accreditation - Australian Cinematographers Society".www.cinematographer.org.au.
- ^"Return Home"– via www.imdb.com.
- ^"Return Home (1990) - The Screen Guide".Screen Australia. 16 March 2018.Retrieved13 May2018.
- ^"Return Home film review • Ray Argall • Senses of Cinema".sensesofcinema.com.26 July 2020.
- ^adam.blackshaw (29 November 2010)."75 classic films preserved".www.nfsa.gov.au.
- ^"MANDY WALKER".www.cinematographers.nl.
- ^"Mandy Walker".IMDb.
- ^"Return Home (1990)"– via www.imdb.com.
- ^"Australian Television: SeaChange: episode guide: series 1".www.australiantelevision.net.
- ^THORBURN, KATE; Media, Australian Community Media-Fairfax (27 May 2015)."A fish called Arnold".The Guardian.
- ^"Australian Directors' Guild names Samantha Lang as president".30 November 2015.
- ^"The Official Story".31 May 1998 – via www.imdb.com.
- ^"Midnight Oil 1984 - A movie by Ray Argall".www.piccolofilms.com.au.
- ^ab"ADG - Australian Directors' Guild Industrial".adg.org.au.
- ^"ADG confirms union status".24 February 2015.
- ^"Archived copy"(PDF).Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 1 April 2019.Retrieved14 April2018.
{{cite web}}
:CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^"International Federation Of Coalitions For Cultural Diversity".UNESCO.
- ^"DGA Participates in International Meeting of English Speaking Directors' Organizations in New Zealand -".www.dga.org.
- ^personal communication with Australian Directors Guild
- ^"Ray Argall | BFI".www.bfi.org.uk.Retrieved29 April2024.