Change Media – Culture Shock

Culture Shock is a great discussion starter for teachers, social and youth workers working with new arrivals and young refugees

Change Media worked with 15 new arrivals and young refugees as well as Australian Refugee Association and Port Adelaide Enfield Council staff, to create a peer-produced, fun documentary about their lives and the challenges of coming to Australia: Culture Shock!

Have a look at the DVD here.

Order your copy now by email or buy it online in our web-shop.

Pinnaroo Surfer – the Series!
‘I don’t reckon you can see Pinnaroo in one day, unless you’re driving through.’ In 10 episodes, Kade shares his wisdom about bush life, local landmarks and stuff…

As seen on ABC TV in January – February 2009 – Now the Complete Pinnaroo Surfer Series is available on DVD for $29.00.

Have a look at the 10 episodes here.

Short Synopsis (Find a full series overview per episode below)

Pinnaroo Surfer is a fun, laconic series of mini docs about the exploits of Kade, who grew up in Pinnaroo, a tiny rural town in the Mallee scrub. Kade has dubious bush skills, a kooky philosophy on life and he loves exploring. Kade along with other locals occasionally surfs just out of town at the Rifle Butts, which is about 300 kilometers from the nearest beach. 
Welcome to Kade’s world, a blip on the map, hidden behind the endless Mallee scrub on your trip to somewhere else. Should you make the turn-off, Kade has some special tips about the secrets of Pinnaroo waiting for the adventurous tourist. 
Kade’s Pinnaroo has lots to offer; time travel, shoe polishing competitions, the infamous dead mongoose nailed to a tree, Big Things proclaiming the passion of tiny towns, secret fishing spots, and much more…

Below you can find out more about the show, how it got made and who was involved.

About the Series:
Pinnaroo Surfer was made by teenagers living in regional South Australia during a Hero Project workshop. 

Pinnaroo Surfer is a laconic documentary about the exploits of Kade, who grew up in Pinnaroo, a tiny town in the Mallee scrub. Kade has dubious bush skills, a kooky philosophy on life and he loves exploring. Kade along with other locals occasionally surfs just out of town at the Rifle Butts, which is about 300 kilometers from the nearest beach.

Kade Richardson is 17 and a half – going on 20…. He has lived in the Mallee area of Pinnaroo most of his life with his three brothers and has a slight case of middle child syndrome. Although he has undertaken the ‘traditional’ activities typical for smaller rural communities he always had a knack for finding ways to beat the boredom as a child. He loves playing kooky instruments, visual art fascinate him, but he loves film most of all because it give him the chance to marry sound and pictures.
Kade is now studying Screen Studies at Flinders University on the back of the Hero Project training.
Sam Long is 16. For many years Sam slaved at a fast food chain in Murray Bridge to buy his own HDV camera. Now his camera lives by his side. Sam received a series of camera master classes from Carl Kuddell during the Hero workshops and has already got work as a HDV camera operator for a major broadcaster.

Johanis Lyons-Reid, 18 and Mitch Stapleton-Coory, 17, are from Adelaide. They created the off beat music. They joined the team after meeting Kade and Sam at Document Your World 2007, a teenage pitching competition held at the Australian International Documentary Conference.

Comments from the youth team

Kade:

I wanted to make a film that challenges the stereotypes about country people and also show a bit about Pinnaroo. In 2005 over a couple of days Jen and Carl from the Hero team took us through all the steps to create our first film, Pinnaroo Surfer and now it has won an award in Hollywood! 
After this feedback we figured why not make a series with ‘Kade’ not just surfing in the bush, but thinking, or on safari hunting Big Things or just trying to win something at the Pinnaroo Show.

I teamed up with Sam from Murray Bridge, because he’s ace with the camera and we pitched the idea at Document Your World, the teenage pitching competition at the Australian International Documentary Conference. JTV were interested and through another series of workshops with the Hero Project we developed the scripts and storyboards, harassed locals in Pinnaroo with our cameras and then went to Adelaide to edit the series.

My character has an interesting take on life, you might think he’s slow, but he’s really a worldly philosopher at heart. He knows how to have fun with what’s available. A big percentage is me, that’s the documentary, but reality and fiction are always blurred, so I needed to hone my character, especially the unco bits…It was great to work with Jen to learn more about the hidden work of the director/ puppet master. And sitting with David Banbury in the edit was like watching a wizard at work. It was incredible to discuss the cuts and learn the tricks to tweek the emotions in the story. The Hero Project mentors really helped us to learn hands-on filmmaking and encouraged us to push beyond the home movie style.

Sam:

Living in a country town I really got with Kade’s idea. I thought Murray Bridge was small until I spent time in Pinnaroo. It’s cool that Kade knew everyone and there are so many great places just down the road, like the water holes or the mongoose nailed to the tree.
It’s just fun to go out and shoot and each time I learnt so much. Carl always had a new angle for me to check out. My main focus was to capture what was in the script or storyboards. I felt confident because I had a mentor at my side the whole time, which meant I could experiment a lot. I’m not bad doing steadycam work so I was keen to try the documentary shots.
It’s amazing how much you can miss but when you’re in the zone the camera is in the right place. 

The great part is that the Hero Project keep asking me back to do more camera work on other projects so I am really improving my skills.

Credits:
Pinnaroo Surfer: Kade Richardson 
Series
Director: Jennifer Lyons-Reid
Series Producer: Carl Kuddell
Youth director: Kade Richardson
Youth DOP: Sam Long
Youth supporter: Alison Walker, Mallee Health Service Inc
2nd camera: Carl Kuddell, Simone Mazengarb
Editors: David Banbury, Carly Turner
Music: Johanis Lyons-Reid, Mitch Stapleton-Coory
Animation: Jason Lau, ABC
Mastering facility: The Cutting Room, Adelaide
ABC jtv commissioning editors: Amanda Duthie, Jennifer Collins, Kath Earle

Thanks to everyone in Pinnaroo, the Mallee region and Adelaide who supported the project

©2008 tallstoreez productionz pty ltd

Pinnaroo Surfer – Episode Synopsis

1. My Watering Hole
Kade grabs his swag and heads to The Woolshed, the best country pub in town. It’s super real, like a giant scrapbook full of Pinnaroo landmarks, bush nostalgia and a mechanical bull.

After a hot day Kade takes his swag and heads to the best country pub in the region, the Woolshed. Full of nostalgia, Pinnaroo landmarks and Country music, Kade salutes this national icon! 
It’s a long walk through the bush but when he arrives and tosses his swag in the corner, he knows it’s worth the effort. The pub is quintessentially rural: from the corrugated iron walls to the mechanical bull.

Kade loves to soak up the nostalgia and great music while he sips on his lemonade. 
Surrounded by country values Kade admires the memorabilia; road signs from ‘Rifle Butt Road’ to ‘Chapman’s Bore’ these are special places. And the ‘Pinnaroo’ sign with a ‘t’ scrawled at the end is good for a laugh. He soaks up the atmosphere, day dreaming about the local Pinnaroo locations.

Kade can’t resist and hops on the mechanical bull and when he’s satiated, Kade leaves the pub, and heads down Hindley Street, a garish red light district in Adelaide. 

As Kade sets off on the 300 km trip back to Pinnaroo he salutes this national icon. ‘You can take the pub from the country, but you can’t take the country from the pub.’
2. High Noon

‘This town ain’t big enough for the two of us.’ Or is it? In the name of Country AND Western, Kade and Tommie settle a score, Pinnaroo style. 

Pinnaroo is a town of saga and vendettas. You can have a tummy ache at the post office but you’ll be pregnant by the time you get to the pub. 

At one of the two ‘real’ country pubs in Pinnaroo Kade and Tommie have a showdown over one of the regulars, Duke, he’s a real character. Tommie’s a straight shooter, but she’s pressed the Dukes buttons one too many times. 

After a scuffle at the entrance Kade orders his lemonade, with a straw, but can’t relax because he feels Tommie is eyeballing him. The music signals it is time and the showdown begins by the pool table. With calculated tension, they both draw, Tommie darts forward and Kade punches his arm out but Tommie gets her dollar into the Duke first. She picks a Country song. 

Kade concedes defeat and they agree to play pool, but after a particularly good shot, Tommie eyeballs Kade yet again. In Pinnaroo, country feuds can take some time to get settled. 
Tommie became the sheriff of Pinnaroo. Kade raises an eyebrow, he is NOT pregnant with two kids – and the Duke now plays Country AND Western.

3. Big Things

Sometimes ‘Big Things’ reflect what a town’s biggest passion can be, but does size matter?

Kade travels the Mallee region to size up the local ‘Big Things’. 

Every country town has its landmark and they are often very big. Kade goes on a road trip through the Mallee back and forth across the border to track down some iconic local Big Things.

In Murray Bridge he finds a Big Elephant but he warns you shouldn’t use ferocious animals or it might scare the customers away. The snap shots of the Big albino dinosaur in Renmark being a point in fact. 

In Karoonda Kade isn’t afraid to be affectionate to a sheep, because they can give you clothes, they can make you warm at night and they can even give you lamb chops too.

During the long trip Kade also provides some handy hints to avoid deep vain thrombosis. 

In Loxton, he stands in the Big Orange and marvels at the orange groves as the semi-trailers roll past. In Mildura he has a quick sit on the Big Deck Chair and he pays homage to the farmer’s friend, Big Lizzy, a giant tractor plonked in to the middle of town.

Kade is awed by his Big Finds and returns to Pinnaroo, which means Big Man, to visit a prized local landmark. Pinnaroo is renowned for its Potato farming, but the locals know there is more to their town, from the bar tender to the farmer they all agree their landmark is a ripper. Kade reflects that the best Big Things come in small packages. On a dusty road, near the dump there is a stuffed mongoose nailed to a tree.

4. Camping’s the best!

Kade likes to be a tourist in his own backyard and his dad has really taught him how to survive. In the Pinnaroo scrub he uses his primal instincts to guide him.

The Mallee has endless camping opportunities. His dad is a shearer and has taught him a lot about surviving in the bush but the hardest thing for Kade is to remember to pack everything. When he rummages through the garage he checks everywhere for all the camping essentials. He blows the dust off the kettle and grabs an esky, tent and finds the swag outside.

Kade drives to the scrub and takes his gear to a clearing. In this part of Australia people wander off and they don’t come back, but Kade loves testing his abilities out in the bush and is prepared for all dangers from snakes to bull ants. Kade finds the swag is useful when the tent poles get the better of him. After setting up camp he gets kindling for the fire but discovers he has forgotten the matches.

He lets his primal instincts guide him and pushes through the trees out of the bush land in the centre of Pinnaroo. He crosses the road to the super market and gets marshmallows to roast on the fire. Kade’s happy his dad has taught him how to survive anywhere.

5. In Competition

This year Kade wants to win the blue ribbon at Pinnaroo’s most prestigious and oldest Show event, the ‘Best Polished Boot’.

Kade has spent a week preparing for this special event at the Pinnaroo show, for Kade it’s up there with the sheep dog trials. He meticulously works in his dad’s archaic work shed, selecting various tools, sanding, scraping, brushing and returning to the lathe. Finally he is satisfied he can do no more and wipes the sweat off his brow.

At the show Kade tests out the giant tractors and snoops through the hall where all the jams, cross stitch and old lady needle work stuff will go. He is anxious while the hall is closed for judging, but finally the door opens. When he arrives at his entry, a polished and dirty boot sitting side by side, it appears he hasn’t won a prize. On closer inspection he finds a blue Encouragement award inside the polished shoe. He sizes up the other entries and is a bit concerned a mysterious scuff mark has appeared on his boot, but is chuffed to have won a blue ribbon.

6. Painting a Masterpiece

Art isn’t just for snobs, it’s heaps cool.

Kade tries everything to win a prize at the Pinnaroo Show and his ‘Best Decorated Biscuit’ entry is in a class of its own. 

Kade believes good art is all about imagination, or you’ll just end up with another fruit bowl thing or stick figures. As he prepares a tempera egg paint mix and works on his creations he shares his philosophy about his art; Da Vinci wasn’t born in a day.

At the Show he brings his art work to the entry booth, gets his ticket and even tries to bribe the judges, he is so hungry to win.The four Best Decorated Biscuits are to be adorned with lollies and icing. Kade’s eight biscuits sit separately with a red card stating; ‘please read show book, only four biscuits.’ 
At the glass display case, Kade and his Granny gaze in at his artwork. Gran agrees with him that his artwork looks very good, but points out he was disqualified. He retorts that that puts him in a class of his own, that he is a winner in his own right. Even though Kade is sure creativity is about uniqueness and not just pretty pictures, he’s still embarrassed enough to try and remove his disqualified work from the display.

7. Heavyweight Champion

‘Move over Rocky Balboa, I’ve got you licked.’

Kade trains to become the champion speed ice-cream eater at the Pinnaroo Show. 

This time Kade really wants to win. He knows he is up against tough competition so he begins his training early. He leaves the local super market pumped with tubs of Neapolitan ice cream and practises speed eating against the clock with his hands tied behind his back.

On the Big Day he gets his entry token from the referee and then it’s time for the brain freeze. After a few failed starts, he tries to psych out his opponents early, but as they are all under ten, his scoop is twice the size. Kade spits out the first mouthful, uses his fingers to get an advantage. It is a tight fight to the end. Everyone in the frantic audience hold their breath, as the referee stops the race. Kade is a good sport and shakes hands with a winner. May be next year, there is always next year.
8. The Fish Whisperer

‘If you want to catch a fish you need to think like a fish.’ Kade enjoys the Zen of fishing and has found the secret Pinnaroo spot everyone is raving about. 

Kade likes the great outdoors: fishing is the best! To catch a fish you have to put yourself in the mind of your opponent. And think like a fish.

There is nothing like rummaging through the shed, sorting you fishing rods and head out for the water, past a bunch of kangaroos. 
In the last light he makes it to his secret fishing spot, perfect tranquility – until the bell rings and the little red swimmer dugs under. The Big One, potentially, there is a reason that this a special place. He fights with his pray, a dance to the death and finally reels it in. Its a car mirror. 

Leaving the small waterhole and the kangaroos behind, Kade strides into the dying sunlight. After all, an empty basket makes the walk home muhc easier.

9. Thinking Man

‘I like to call myself a thinker that can think.’ Kade travels through time to a magic billabong to practice the art of deep thought. 

Unsually for this draught, it rains. Kade dons his Wellingtons, Mac and southwester and heads to the best thinking spot in the region. 
It’s a miracle, everything transforms out here when it rains. Kade packs his gear and chair into the car. It’s is a beautiful day to go fishing. He loads his boat into the ute. 

The unsual part of this safari driving through the tight Mallee bush tracks is the time travel. You can’t get to the spot otherwise, it is like a wormhole, hidden in a discountinuity of time. Just across the Victorian border the Mallee opens up and he arrives at a paddock and suddenly it is 30 minutes earlier – extra time to think.

He gets his fishing gear out of the car. His favourite utensil folded out, he sits down to get some serious thinking done. 
He casts the rod and the fishing line swoops through the sky. He casts his net, forgets to hold on to it and runs into the brown, murky waters. Splashing around to his ankles in mud and water, he manages to rescue his gear. 
Sitting on the edge of the mud flat, he wrings water out of his socks.

Thinking and fishing got to be one, so when you are thinking yourare fishing too and this has to work together. It is hard to get this level. It takes time. But all you need is a place like this, something fun to do and a smile.

10. Football Legend

‘You need to be in the right frame of mind if you want to become a legend, like Ben Cousins.’ Kade is arguably the best player on his team, if not second best. 

Kade loves sports, footy’s the best! He and his team mates like to get out and practice as often as they can.

Sometime it is hard to get hold of a ball, but once that is sorted, Kade just needs to get Terri roused, to get started. If you are serious about this all Aussie cultural heritage, you have to get out and train regularly. 
He wriggles into his his guernsey, a lean mean fighting machine ready for some full body action. You need to keep the dream alive. They handball and jump, pass and kick, under a perfect blue sky. One has to be willing to take the bumps and the tackles, its part of the sport.

Kade isn’t too sure about Terri, she is again wearing thongs for practise. Up to her, but it means she get beaten every time. 
And it is a long way to the top if you want to become a legend, like Ben Cousins. 
Kade and his team are ready, he is convinced. A semi trailer thunders past the old oval with its knee-high grass. Anyone is welcome in Kade’s team, if they dare to play here.