Kakadu Man

WS partial sun behind dark cloud bank

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Colour archival footage of Aboriginal people walking in the outback. Aboriginal women digging in red earth for yams, one using a dish and the other using a stick. King brown snake through brown grass

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CU on earth moving equipment and WS of Ranger open cut uranium mine. Large flock of jabirustake off in flight from a waterhole. Earth moving tractor and ledges protruding from rock formations. Large explosion on side of red earth hill in open cut mining. Green coloured CU of drilling machines at work. Very quick shot of lightning strike in the sky. Sparks coming from a furnace in silhouette.

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CU on Bill Neidjie. Titles. WS dark sky with thin lines of sunlight filtering through very dark clouds. Time-lapse pull back to show fuller sky with some purple coloured clouds.

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Time-lapse of traffic along city street, York Street behind Queen Victoria Building and low angle time-lapse of passing city skyscrapers. Exterior of The Rocks Theatre in George St The Rocks. VS inside theatre with stage and set designers at work spray painting and VS of wardrobe and make up.

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Aerial over lush green escarpment of Kakadu National Park escarpment . Blue map of Australia identifying home of Gagudju people. Sequence of the introduction to the puppet play Kakadu Man

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WS of rising sun behind a wall of burning grass, heat haze and smoke and flames rising into sky, all in red and orange colours. WS of pandanus palms in silhouette against red burning background. Reflections of the bush in water in dark brown and orange colours. Pan across a lagoon of waterlilies, possibly Yellow Waters. High angle shot of a crocodile head in the still water, crocodile disappears underwater. CU on a spider in a web. Monitor lizard or goanna slowly walks through thick green grass then stops and lifts its head. CU then pull back of sandstone pillar near Obiri (Ubirr) Rock in Kakadu

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Two black and white bellied sea eagles take off in flight from treetop. Aerial over top of waterfall and gorge. Ground to air shot of helicopter in flight over Kakadu with pandanus fronds in foreground. MS of water buffalo running. CU of wheels of 4WD though Kakadu plateau, pull back to show chasing water buffalo. CU of barramundi head, underwater. CU of goanna head protruding from water. Toyota 4WD through muddy creek bed.

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Segment of 4WD and frilled necked lizard puppets from the puppet play, Kakadu Man. Writer, Vivienne Walker talks about Bill Neidjie's concerns that sacred material was being portrayed comically in the play. She explains the play is adapted for children and they need it to be humorous. Very quick CU of dead kangaroo on road. CU of 4WD wheels through spindly grass. CU on lizard. Army style jeep towards camera. ECU of waterlily flowers, then WS of billabong or lagoon, could be Yellow Waters. Vivienne Walker explains the puppet play is the best way to spread the message of the Gagudju people. Pages and stills from the book, Kakadu Man, finishing on the cover.

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Pan across a flat plateau in Kakadu which is home of the Bunitje clan. CU of Bill Neidjie.

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Segment from puppet play, Kakadu Man, featuring Michael Johnson and female actor reading from script and wearing headphones. CU of Bill Neidjie. Behind the scenes shots of the puppet play with actor practicing the manouvering of the puppet of the invisible man. Sequence from the play with the invisible man. Vivienne Walker talks of seeking approval from Bill Neidjie before performing the play. Michael Johnson and Madi Slavaju drive through the outback in 4WD to meet Bill Neidjie at his home

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CU of Bill Neidjie to camera talking about the history of his people and the paintings in the rocks around Kakadu. VS of x-ray art paintings on rock, one of the Tasmanian Tiger, Ubirr. Pan across gallery of x-ray artwork featuring fish at Ubirr.

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Pan across Kakadu National Park from rock formation to flood plain with escarpment in distance.

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Aboriginal man and woman gathering water at waterhole

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Actors, Michael Johnson and Madi Slavaju walking around the cave that Bill Neidjie's family lived in until the mid 1960s. Michael picks up a rock implement used for grinding food. Zoom in on still photograph of Aboriginal man with dead animal around his shoulders and dissolve to still photograph of group of Aboriginals standing amongst men on horseback with a large dead animal in foreground

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Zoom in on rock art with campfire flames superimposed on bottom of screen. Two shots of Aboriginal and non-Indigenous children in school classroom. CU of Bill Neidjie talking to Michael Johnson and Madi Slavaju about teaching the Dreamtime. Babies held by their mothers and being christened by a cleric in white robes and pouring water over Aboriginal and non-indigenous babies. CU of a bearded Aboriginal man in profile. Bill Neidjie talking about having no-one to pass on the stories of his people., the Gagudju

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MS of Bill Neidjie and his cousin Iyanuk (Felix Holmes), the only men who retain the stories of the Gagudju people. CU of white haired Indigenous woman talks about not knowing the stories. Sequence from the puppet play, Kakadu Man. MS of dead water buffalo. Pan of x-ray rock art with shadow of person on foreground. Michael Johnson discusses the propensity of people to make Aboriginal legend into myth but for the Gagudju people the stories are real.

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CU on x-ray rock art, Namarrgon, the Lightning Man at Nourlangie. Good CU of a specimen of Leichhardt's grasshopper. FS of Namarrgon with man in silhouette explaining the meaning of this rock painting.

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Interior of The Rocks Theatre where puppeteers practice the movements of the puppets as Michael Johnson talks about the Lightning Man.

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VS of cloud bank in pink colours, stormy sky in black and orange colours, lightning , intercut with quick shots of the x-ray rock art, Namarrgon, the Lightning Man at Nourlangie with puppets superimposed. Sequence from the puppet play, Kakadu Man

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Good WS of lagoon, billabong with waterlilies and water bird walking in shallows. Good CU of waterlily flower, crocodile head in water.

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Sequence from puppet play, Kakadu Man about the food in the wet season in Gagudju land. Tilt down waterfall. water on camera lens, to good underwater pan along a Barramundi fish. Good aerial following wide glassy river, East Alligator River, winding through lush green flood plains. CU on barramundi tail as it swims.

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MS Aboriginal man playing didgeridoo in a recording studio. Sequence from puppet play, Kakadu Man about the Gagudju people camping in different places in different seasons. CU on lizard puppet. VS of the different seasonal landscapes of Kakadu intercut with sequences from play. Kakadu in wet season with rain falling on rainforest and fallen tree across creek. WS of billabong in dry season with cracked earth and dry exposed tree roots. CU of actors at microphone reading play intercut with good WS of bushfire burning dry grass and birds flying in panic. Good CU of burning grass. Good distant shot of bushfire with white smoke rising amongst pandanus palms. Aerial over line of burning bushfire.

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Good CUs of frilled necked lizard towards camera as its neck frills. Interior shots of Rocks Theatre as puppeteers prepare puppets for play, Kakadu Man. Set designer painting eyes of puppet lizard. Good CU of frilled necked lizard in profile. Sequence from the play featuring the lizard.

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Time-lapse traffic along Sydney Cahill Expressway, past North Sydney, over the Sydney Harbour Bridge and into the Eastern Distributor tunnel. Good WS of sunlit storm clouds.

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Sepia coloured still photograph of a group of Aboriginal children sitting on the ground. with a man on horseback in the background.

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Sequence from puppet play, Kakadu Man. featuring the lizard. Brown snake moving along ground. Group of Aboriginal walking in grassed area. WS of waterhole, billabong with waterlilies and tilt up to Aboriginal women searching for long necked turtles in the grass. CU of women prodding grass with stick. and tilt up to MS of Aboriginal woman. Two women walk towards camera carrying sticks. Sequence from the play about collecting food. Aboriginal woman finds turtle in the muddy grass and carries it to water to wash. Sequence from play. CU of turtle cooking on open fire. Small Aboriginal child watches from tree. Women gutting turtle and sharing it amongst group and tending open fire.

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CU of rubbish tip with abandoned car, then pull back to WS. CU on group of Aboriginal children sitting and eating. Sequence from puppet play, Kakadu Man about cooking fish in the bush and the laws of nature.

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Low angle WS of sandstone pillar near Obiri (Ubirr) Rock in Kakadu National Park. Smokey, hazy bushfire atmosphere with birds in flight, then jeep along bitumen road through the haze. Pan following a tree root growing along a rock ledge to a LS of the gum tree growing on rock. Sequence from puppet play, Kakadu Man. Good low angle LS of aerial roots hanging from a tree. Low angle time-lapse of white clouds across a blue sky in the outback. Good aerial of Kakadu escarpment. Dark FS of rippling water with orange reflections. Sequence from play. Trees reflected in water, then pull back to show the trees and the water. Good time-lapse air to air white clouds.

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Good aerial of Jim Jim Falls. Sequence from the puppet play, Kakadu Man. Time-lapse traffic down York St Sydney. Low angle time-lapse travelling shot of high rise buildings. Group of high school students giving their opinions on the play. LS time-lapse of train towards and from the Sydney Harbour Bridge and traffic on Cahill Expressway. Time-lapse commuters on escalators in green colour at Wynyard Railway Station. Time-lapse LS of pedestrians on busy city street. Students comment on the way Aboriginals have adapted to the land rather than making the land adapt to them as has happened in the cities. Low angle WS of building site with bulldozer in time-lapse. Time-lapse feet walking on tiled flooring and CU on a magazine with heading ÒWhat in the world can we do?Ó

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Sequence from puppet play, Kakadu Man, featuring the Mimi. Bill Neidjie pointing out a secret location for the Gagudju people. LS of rock formation in green waterlily covered area. Good CU on pink waterlily. Zoom into waterfall and aerial over the top. Time-lapse low angle travelling shots through city showing high rise buildings. Low angle LS of flowing river

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Archival sequence of Aboriginal women and children digging for yams. Brown snake through grass.

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Aerial over Mount Brockman. Aerial over Ranger open cut uranium mine and VS of the mine structures. Intercut with brown snake in grass. WS of stepped open cut mine with bulldozers driving around mine. Lightning strike in sky, palm fronds or grasses blowing in wind, rain falling in swollen creek with fallen tree, wet season. Two Aboriginal women waist deep in swamp land water collecting roots. CU of small child eating. WS of water birds or ducks, taking off in flight from waterhole, billabong. Aerial over flood plain.

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Sequence from puppet play, Kakadu Man. Fire flames in foreground and zoom into rock art on rock wall in background from Burrungguy Art gallery at Nourlangie Rock. Good CU on full screen fire flames. CU of Iyanuk (Felix Holmes) performing Aboriginal song. Sequence from play about Bill dying to avenge the spirits. Felix sits by fire at night and talks about rituals executed when a Gagudju person dies. CU of an owl in dark night light. Michael Johnson and Madi Slavaju walk in Warri-ung-el, the last resting place of Bill Neidjie's ancestors. Bill points to three ridges in rock wall created by the sacred owl. Michael Johnson and Madi Slavaju climb into burial cave. CU of bones and skull in burial cave.

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Pan across red sky. Pandanus palm in silhouette against red sky. CU of full moon against black sky. Sequence from puppet play, Kakadu Man, featuring the Mother spirit and living in harmony with the environment. CU of full moon. CU of Bill Neidjie. WS of flood plain and pan of rock caves with a person's shadow. MS of Felix and Bill and two small children. Good aerial over Kakadu escarpment and waterfalls. Aerial over mining plant with smoke rising from chimneys and CU of smelter with yellow fire around blast furnace. Good CU of rushing water over rocks. Good CU of molten metal flowing. Good high angle shot of flowing shallow water over smooth rocks. pooling into waterhole at bottom of small waterfall.

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Unusual rock formations in silhouette against a yellow sunrise.

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Title Details

Kakadu Man

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