Cane Toads - Should they be Gassed?

Interesting recent article in the news about outlawing the use of CO2 gas to kill cane toads - along with many comments from readers. People really get fired up about these toads. A scene featuring the 'humane' gassing of toads by the 'Kimberley Toads Busters' volunteer group is part of 'Cane Toads - The Conquest 3D' film due to be released in 2010.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/12/31/2783184.htm

Rigs used on 'Cane Toads - the Conquest 3D'

Left is the main rig we used with two SI2K cameras in the P+S Technik mirror box with Canon zoom lenses and a separate (non 3D) monitor, shooting at Fogg Dam in the Northern Territory; right is the 300mm side-by-side rig for a long shot of approaching vehicle down a dusty road shot near Kununurra in the Kimberley.

'Cane Toads - The Conquest 3D' to Premiere at Sundance 2010

The comic-doco 'Cane Toads - the Conquest', the first Australian feature film shot entirely in digital 3D has been selected to screen in the Premieres section of the Sundance Film Festival in January 2010, the most prestigious festival in the US. Click here for Sundance page.

The shoot was spread over a 4 to 5 month period from late 2008. I was cinematographer on the film for prep period and the Northern Territory block, alongside the other cinematographers Kathryn Millis (QLD block) and Paul Nichola (Studio and VFX shoots and Stereographer).

Written and directed by Mark Lewis, the film is the follow up to his hit 1988 documentary 'Cane Toads - An Unnatural History' and brings the story of the toad up to the present day with it's almost total conquest of Northern Australia, told with trademark quirky humour and presented in stunning 3D.

The film was shot on the Silicon Imaging SI2K digital camera system with a variety of custom made 3D rigs designed by Paul Nichola, to allow 3D shooting in all sorts of situations from macro tadpoles, to close up toads at ground level, to interviews and majestic landscapes.

http://www.canetoadstheconquest.com