 
PICNIC AT HANGING ROCK
– LIMITED EDITION contains a
selection of over 200 images reproduced
directly from the original motion picture
film, and also includes excerpts from the
screenplay of the film by Cliff Green
– all carefully positioned to
complement the narrative in a special
once-off edition.
Perfect for any literary or film
enthusiast, or as an authentic souvenir
of Hanging Rock and the Macedon Ranges.
The book is of large format design (305mm
high x 235mm wide); 224 pages, printed on
high quality satin art-paper. Two
versions of the book were produced: a
softcover edition and a hardcover
edition.
The book was published completely with
funds from the Hanging Rock Reserve
Committee of Management. It is available
for sale at the Hanging Rock Reserve, the
Macedon Ranges Shire Council Visitor
Information Centres, or by direct request
to the Macedon Ranges Shire Council.
All proceeds from the sale of the books
will be used to continue to care for the
Hanging Rock Reserve for the benefit of
present and future generations.
BACKROUND
INFORMATION
In 2001
the Hanging Rock Development Advisory
Committee and the Macedon Ranges Shire
Council commissioned a special large
format reprint of Joan Lindsay's Picnic
at Hanging Rock illustrated with
images from Peter Weir's film of the
narrative to continue to help promote the
Hanging Rock Reserve.
It was
officially launched on 29 November 2002
at the Hanging Rock Reserve by Anne
Louise Lambert who was cast as Miranda in
the film. The first 10 copies of the
hardcover 'Deluxe Edition' were auctioned
at the launch and contained a selection
of cast signatures. Book No. 1 travelled
around the world and was signed by nearly
all surviving principal members of the
cast and crew.
THE
SEQUENCE THAT STARTED IT ALL
The
narrative of Picnic at Hanging Rock
concludes sharply after the Headmistress
of Appleyard College – Mrs Appleyard
– departs the college in a hurry and
visits the Hanging Rock for the first
time over a month after the ill-fated
school picnic excursion on Saint
Valentine's Day in 1900.
A
sequence was filmed to depict this –
but a decision was made early in
post-production to leave it out of the
final film.
It was the reported existence of this
sequence that began the search to locate
the 'rushes' or daily processed results
of the film's production – which in
turn then led to the creation of this
book.
A reduced crew went back to Hanging Rock
at the end of the production to film this
ending – only to find that part of
the reserve had been burnt by wildfire
while they had been filming at Martindale
Hall and other locations in South
Australia.
On the day they shot this sequence, a
bushfire was burning on Mount Macedon
(you can see this in the background of
the image of Mrs Appleyard approaching
the monolith published in the book) while
simultaneously they worked quickly to
complete the scenes before a thunderstorm
broke overhead.
Fittingly, at the narrative's end –
Joan Lindsay speaks of a bushfire raging
through the district shortly after the
events in the story, and in early drafts
of the screenplay, a spectacular
conclusion was originally written where
Mrs Appleyard ascended the Rock as the
vegetation around it rapidly ignited in a
roaring fire.
The version presented in the book, was
not the only ending filmed on the day,
but is the one that best matches the
text, and hence the one that was included
in the book.
STILLS
AND RUSHES
Typically
books on motion pictures use still images
photographed during the film's
production. This book is illustrated with
reproductions of frames from the motion
picture film.
The guiding design behind this limited
edition was that the images should always
be in sequence with, or support the text.
For this reason images from sections of
the film where the screenplay condensed
or reconfigured situations and characters
from the novel in a major way were
generally left out of the work.
Exceptions were made to this rule, and
the opening sequence of the film
depicting the girls waking and dressing
– is one such example.
An image of Irma Leopold arriving back at
Appleyard College to say goodbye was one
of only three production stills (by David
Kynoch) used in the book. It was included
because it appears to be the only
surviving record of a scene that was not
found in the rushes and is described in
the narrative of the book.
The production of Picnic generated over
491 slates, or 491 different camera
set-ups, each of which typically included
anything between 1 - 8 'takes'. The vast
majority of these shots were examined
during the image selection process for
the book.
RESTORATION
& RE-GRADING
The
images from this book were reproduced
from the original motion picture
work-print that was used during the
editing of the film. With the exception
of only a few, all of the images were
scanned from either brother and sister
'takes' (alternative shots), or from
sections from the head or tail of those
shots used in the completed film.
This means if you study the film closely,
you will notice that the majority of the
images in the book do not appear in the
film, or are subtle variations on what
were actually used!
Over a
month was spent purely on the task of
cleaning off the scratches, grit, and
marks that were on the frames chosen from
the work-print and scanned for inclusion
in the book.
After this work was complete many of the
images had to be colour corrected or
re-graded to compensate for their
degradation in quality over time.
SPIRALLING
AROUND THE ROCK
Many
images chosen for inclusion in the book
depict scenes that were ultimately
dropped from the final cut of the film.
A distinctive rock found halfway up to
the peaks became an unusual recurring
marker that the characters always passed
in their ascents of the Rock in the film.
Miranda, Marion, Irma and Edith spiral
around it - in a scene where Marion
teases Edith - before they pass through
the crevices and catacombs on their way
to the monolith.
Later,
Michael walks around it before setting on
a direction to pursue his solitary search
for Miranda and the other lost girls on
the Rock.
Finally, in a particularly striking shot
– Mrs Appleyard – in near
exhaustion, deliriously paces out a
circle around it before leaving her cloak
and umbrella behind and ascending higher.
SOME
PAGES OF THE BOOK
 PAGE 01
PAGE 02
PAGE 03
PAGE 04
PAGE 05
PAGE 06
PAGE 07
PAGE 08
PAGE 09
PAGE 10
PAGE 11
PAGE 12
PAGE 13
PAGE 14
|
