Main Course Films' Dark Noise screening at Regent Richmond

Hawkesbury's bushland and soundscape were integral to the atmosphere of the indie Main Course Films production, Dark Noise, which is being promoted with a tagline: some sounds are not meant to be heard.

The storyline follows Abigail 'Jack' McFadden - played by Imogen Sage - who is sent audio recordings from her frog biologist father when he goes missing in a remote rainforest. She uses his audio clues to try to find him, but inadvertently stumbles into a dangerous organised crime operation.

Dark Noise was one of the first feature films to shoot after Screen Australia opened the film industry back-up, under strict guidelines, post-COVID.

Writer and director Clara Chong said the valley in which they were filming the forest scenes had no phone reception, and the crew would "come out and get all these messages that Melbourne was shutting down" - a challenge when one of their actors was Victorian.

One of Ms Chong's biggest challenges was directing a love scene, as well as an emotional farewell, with social distancing. She said many scenes benefitted from the COVID guidelines, allowing the cast to step-up their acting.

Producer and cinematographer Ben Allan said the pandemic allowed the film to secure actors of a calibre they might not have otherwise, including Ms Sage who plays Jack, as well as Callan Colley, Steve Le Marquand and David E Woodley.

He said it was "a pretty crazy time but also pretty special" because the cast and crew - whose schedule was staggered to fit in with COVID guidelines - felt like they were "in this safe little bubble".

"We all stayed together in this big house outside North Richmond and we'd go to the forest each day. We were having this beautiful collaborative time and we'd go out and see the world is falling apart," Mr Allan said.

In the Hawkesbury, Dark Noise was shot in Lilburndale (a historic, family-operated working cattle farm in Sackville), a private residence in North Richmond, Bazz's Whine Bar in Windsor, and Bosworth St Community Centre in Richmond. Scenes were also shot in Sydney, Blue Mountains, Armidale, Berrima and Northern Rivers.

The cast and crew were regular patrons at Crazies Cafe, Richmond where they picked-up their bacon-and-egg rolls and coffee each morning.

Mr Allan said it had always been important to the filmmakers to host a screening in Hawkesbury - almost as a 'thankyou' to locals who made the shoot possible.

"It's been one of the top priorities to get a screening in the Hawkesbury organised to share this film with the community who were so welcoming and supportive," Mr Allan said.

"It really was such a fantastic place to shoot a film. So accessible to Sydney, and yet so easy compared to shooting in Sydney."

The fictional town in the film, called Birra, is an amalgamation of Windsor, Richmond and surrounds. Mr Allan said Hawkesbury locals might recognise not only local sights, but also local sounds.

"One of the things about sound is that it often affects people on a gut level. It's something we often don't think about consciously, but they become a part of our world," he said.

"I think one of the things Australian audiences have been responding to with this film is they feel like it's instantly-recognisable - this fictional place where it's set, it feels so real."

The fun, suspense thriller has "an undercurrent of an environmental message" and has been receiving positive feedback from screenings, including at The National Film & Sound Archives in Canberra.

"Other feedback was that the Australian landscape is a major presence in the film, almost like another character in the film, and an epic score from composer Carlo Giacco is amazing in its own right," Mr Allan said.

A special Dark Noise Q&A screening with writer and director Clara Chong, film composer Carlo Giacco and producer and cinematographer Ben Allan, will take place at the Regent Richmond on Wednesday, November 16 at 6pm. Locals can watch the film and ask questions of the filmmakers afterwards.

Buy tickets here: https://www.theregentrichmond.com.au/movie/dark-noise---premiere-screening

Watch the film trailer here: https://www.darknoisemovie.com/w2/a-homepage-section/trailer-2/