Back to the Bush Auto Festival

18/10/25

I was recently asked to cover a shoot for my friend and fellow animator/filmmaker Danny Stanley, who had accidentally double-booked himself for Barraba’s Back to the Bush Auto Festival and a friend’s wedding. Barraba is a town about two hours from Armidale that I’ve had the pleasure of visiting once before for another shoot, but I never really had the chance to explore the area in a meaningful way, so I was excited to head out there for the night.

The Back to the Bush Auto Festival surprised me, it was absolutely packed earlier in the day, and while things did quiet down as the afternoon went on, by the time the bands and fireworks started, the event was absolutely buzzing. The fireworks show, in particular, was incredible and seemed to go on forever, not what I was expecting from such a small regional town.

The shoot itself was challenging. It was a really hot day, and with all the cars around there was a ton of glare. I could barely see what I was filming through the viewfinder, and I foolishly left my external monitor at home… ah well, I still managed to get some good shots. Speaking of which…

One of my favorite things to do with footage I’ve shot for other people is to put together my own little edits as experiments. It’s a low-stakes opportunity to mess around and master both new and old tools. I’ve been trying to nail an authentic-looking 8mm film simulation with Dehancer for a while now, and I don’t think I’ve cracked it yet, but it seemed appropriate for Barraba’s Back to the Bush Auto Festival.