DRIFT | Behind The Film
Earlier in the year my friend Colby Lesko was invited to feature in The Film Invitational competition. The TFI is a film competition where teams attempt to create, over a twelve week period, an exciting twenty minute film of a fishing adventure of their choosing which gets voted on by the public. The team with the most votes receives a life changing $70K. I was honoured when Colby invited me to capture and create the twenty minute film. The moment I agreed, the nerves kicked in. I was fearful that my work would not stack up against the other talented nine teams.
Colby had an idea in mind for the film, he wanted to capture a film showcasing his passion for catching big top water murray cod on the mighty murray river. Choosing this trip was a gamble because top water cod are extremely difficult to get a bite out of and it wouldn't be as action packed as a reef trip up north, a drift along the mighty murray river is more of a tranquil pursuit. This challenge would not deter us, we were really excited to see what the week long drift could produce.
Although there was a slight chance of rain later in the week, we really lucked out on conditions for drift, the river greeted us clear and there was little to no wind. There were surface bites on the first afternoon and as we slept on a remote sandbar, excitement levels were amplified, sleep didn’t come easy because the mind was racing.
They aren't lying when they say Murray cod are the fish of a thousand casts.This was the first time I had experienced a drift and I honestly didn’t realise what it takes to get a giant cod to eat off the surface. Colby was a machine on the rod, he didn’t stop casting during daylight hours. While the sun was low in the sky and shadows were on the river he would cast big top water paddlers. When the shade had disappeared and the sun high enough to hit the water he would change to subsurface barely stopping to eat. This was repeated everyday until the clouds rolled in. When cloudy, Colby would cast surface all day.
It was difficult to stay focused behind the camera while the current peacefully moved the boat downstream. A surface blow up could happen at any moment and we didn't want to miss it on the main camera. Batteries were constantly drained and charged back up, memory cards were filled and in the end, footage that did not progress the story was deleted. Throw in a huge downpour of rain plus drizzle for over a day and you have the makings of an adventure not to be forgotten.
Colby put a lot of pressure on himself to get a big fish to bite. He was chasing the magical meter mark. With bad weather on the horizon the doubt started to set in. He mentioned that you can’t let the fish break your spirit, you need to trust the process and keep casting at timber until you find that hungry fish. We did find hungry fish but you’ll have to watch the films to get the full story!
Accepting this challenge wasn’t about the prize money. It was about jumping in the deep end to see if my skill set was good enough to match it with other talented creators. To get outside of my comfort zone and create a film that hopefully captures the essence of a Murray River drift. Even if Colby & I don't win the competition, this experience has been extremely rewarding on a personal level. It’s always amazing to spend a week in the great outdoors, doing what we love. I consider myself lucky to live in a country where opportunities like this are available to those who are keen to seek them out. I feel like my film style really came through on this project and I am extremely proud of the final cut. If you guys sign up and spend twenty minutes watching the official film, thank you. I hope you get lost in the DRIFT.
The official TFI film DRIFT can be viewed at www.thefilminvitational.com and a secondary film DRIFT - Beyond The Film can be seen on YouTube. If you search Colby Lesko on YouTube you should be able to find it.
