'Inside Story' featurette
See the 'Inside story' featurette that takes you behind-the-scenes of the making of
McLeod's
Daughters on the
Series 1 DVD or VHS available NOW.
More about the DVD or VHS
About the location...
McLeod's Daughters is filmed on a working property located in the Light Regional
District, between the townships of Gawler and Freeling, one hour north of
Adelaide.
The property, Kingsford, is surrounded by 135 acres (55ha) of
farming land, which Posie Graeme-Evans refers to as "our very own
backlot".
Although originally part of a 30,000-acre (12,245ha) property,
Kingsford has been used in recent years by the South Australian Government as a
wheat research station. The Nine Network purchased the property in 1999.
The historical house was built from Edinburgh sandstone, transported to
Australia as ship ballast. It took over 30 years to build and was finished in
1856.
Production Designer Tony Cronin (Shine, Innocence) says the
position of the property is perfect for filming. "It is isolated among the hills
and gives a clear 360 degree view."
Although Kingsford was a grand property in its day, it is now quite run
down - a look that was important for the production design of the series, as the
McLeod family has no money for maintenance.
"The character is something
you would spend a million dollars trying to re-create. The old buildings have
warm orange colours in the stone from years of dust and red dirt," Cronin
said.
The interior scenes set at Drovers Run are all filmed inside the
house. Not only does this add to the authenticity of the production, it is also
convenient, as the large rooms and high ceilings are ideal for filming.
Additional buildings on the property are used for Meg's cottage and
Becky's quarters. The property also includes a machinery shed, shearing shed and
stockyards.
Kingsford was a working farm in its day. "Everything on the
site was purpose-built for farming and adds an authenticity which would be hard
to emulate on a set," said Cronin.
The yards and paddocks at Kingsford house the stock needed to create
McLeod's Daughters. The property currently has 150 sheep, 100 cattle, 15 horses,
working dogs and a team of stockmen headed by master animal wrangler Bill
Willoughby.
Bill is resident at Kingsford with brother Jim and two other
stockmen. The wranglers maintain the stock, double for stunts and teach the
actors farming skills including riding, shearing, drenching and
mustering.
"We know every aspect of station life," said Willoughby, who
has worked in films for over 20 years. He worked on the telemovie of
McLeod's
Daughters in 1996 and plays an important role in authenticating the animal
sequences in the series.
He says that keeping the stock on the property
at Kingsford works well and helps the horses "to look like farm
horses."
Although the actors had little riding experience before the
series began, Bill is happy with their progress, noting that Lisa Chappell and
Bridie Carter are doing particularly well with their riding skills and other
farming abilities.
McLeod's Daughters is shot on Super 16mm film, and was the first
Australian drama series to be delivered in HDTV format. The show uses three
cameras, two on main unit and a third on second unit.
The cinematography
for
McLeod's Daughters is vast and the composition is beautiful. Director
of Photography, Roger Dowling has masterfully created the illusion that the
series is shot on a 20,000 acre property in the Australian bush, instead of on a
heritage estate, the size of a hobby farm, just one hour north of Adelaide.
The production team
- Executive Producer — Karl Zwicky
- Co Producer — Vikki Barr
- Creator — Posie Graeme-Evans
- Production Executive — Andrew Blaxland, Millennium Television
- Script producer — Alexa Wyatt
- Directors — Arnie Custo, Steve Jodrell, Richard Jasek, Declan Eames, Grant Brown and Andrew Prowse
Click here for more
background information on
McLeod's Daughters.
