Hamilton’s Superhero ‘Lapwing’ has entered the building

Press release: Hamilton’s Superhero ‘Lapwing’ has entered the building – via the roof.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
By Fiona Jackson

Hamilton, NZ - On November 24-25 the production team responsible for the upcoming New Zealand feature film ‘Penny Black’ will be filming a short film ‘Lapwing’ in Hamilton. Lapwing is a 70s television superhero who uses his enhanced bird-like senses to fight the evil ‘Dr. Curem’ who is trying to take control of the world.

Throughout the feature film Penny Black’s sister, ‘Alex’ idolizes a TV superhero, so the creative team decided to invent a new superhero, complete with costume and quotes for Alex to reference. As pieces of the fictional show Lapwing were needed for the feature making a short film to introduce the character seemed like a logical, and fun, step.

The Lapwing Superhero film crew has given themselves 48 hours to shoot the 12-minute project. “We don’t want a polished modern show with fancy camera moves and visual effects” says director Joe Hitchcock, “Lapwing is a fictional show from the 70’s, with quickly made props on a limited budget. To create the retro look we’re shooting Lapwing on a cinema zoom lens from the 1970’s, but on a Red digital camera similar to what they’re using on The Hobbit. We want to show the technical imperfections of filmmaking that were around in that era, but Lapwing is still going to be a kick-ass superhero.”

The feature film Penny Black began filming in July with a two-week road trip from Auckland down to Wellington, and then several weekends filming around the Waikato and Auckland. Producer Fiona Jackson says, “Filming in New Zealand is an amazing experience. Making films in Hollywood easily cost ten times the amount and are ten times as difficult dealing with permits and guilds and funding. Filming Penny Black was a uniquely New Zealand experience, and it’s been great to move on to the Lapwing short film. I think everyone at some stage wishes they had superpowers, it’s almost like we’re living that dream.”

Lapwing will be played by local actor sash Nixon, who took out the Best Acting award in the Lucasfilms Star Wars film competition for his short film ‘Hunter’ in 2011. Lapwing’s acrobatic side kick ‘Mouse’ will be played by ex-Hamiltonian Aimee Cooper, and the evil wealth obsessed ‘Dr. Curem’ will be played by Hamilton Operatic Society President, Paul Mitchell.

The project has received funding through the WINTEC Alumni Development Scholarship and the Creative Community Scheme.

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