From: Richard Szymczuk
Date: Tue, 25 Dec 2001 15:06:54 +1100
To: "Simon K (H)"

Subject: Locations in Geelong

G'day Kirbs,

Happy Christmas Gov!

Here's a couple of locations for us:

1. Nth Geel, (opposite Nth Geel train station)...
Hand painted sign. Late Afternoon/late evening sunlight.

2. City. Petrol Station. Near Geelong Police station.
Mid Arvo/late evening sunlight.

3. Herne Hill. Milk Bar. Arvo/late evening light.

4. East Geel. Milk Bar, Midday/early arvo light.

There might be another one or out there....'Play it by ear'

Check you then.

Dickman.

Our first day of shooting is a very sunny Saturday. In fact, in a couple of hours, the temperature will peak at 35° Celsius (95° Fahrenheit).

Simon Anderson (he will be photographing most of Lost Highways) and I leave Melbourne in the late morning with a car packed with gear and head down the Geelong Road.

An hour later, we are at the industrial outskirts of Geelong and detour off the main road heading straight into the town's industrial outskirts - North Shore.

We drive by and shoot numerous sights, piles of wood-chipped Otway rainforest and the cyclone fenced borders of the Shell Refinery and the Ford Motor Company plants.

We head into town and interviewing Dick in the loungeroom of his South Geelong home.

Then we began what I call an extended session of auto-pornography - as we track & film Dick's Charger driving out to Point Henry.

Along the way we, we do an in-car interview with Dick and then another at Point Henry, with Dick leaning against the bonnet (the hood) of his car.

After this we visit East Geelong, where we shoot footage of Dick outside the "Cornetto Milkbar". Watching Dick self-consciously walk in front of the camera, I begin to understand the phrase "Dead Man Walking". We stop shouting directions at him while we film and this seems to help.

Cornetto Milkbar Lost Highways 1 RS surveying side of milkbar 2001/12/29 17:47:35 LS side RS enters frame surveying

Our next location is a Manifold Heights milk bar ( a general store) that has closed down. I went to a primary school in this neighbourhood and this is a milk bar I used to frequent.

This is where I would go into a trance state – hypnotized by boxes and boxes of lollies lying inside the glass counter - "Can I have five cents of chocolate buddies, 10 cents worth of milk bottles, a set of Teeth, and a Redskin?"

It is amusing to think that many of Dick’s subjects are actually part of my mental backyard. Who would've thought? We get some good footage of Dick of how he took a photo of the Milk Bar and him describing what he was looking for.

We then move onto the "Bad Lady" of North Geelong – some unknown signwriter’s crude painting of a femme fatale. No doubt about it, Dick has a strong curatorial eye for the eccentric.

We record Dick at work as he sets up. He's clearly feeling more comfortable and he moves in an assured "done it a hundred times" way as he sets up his tripod, lines up his camera and takes the shot.

Damn, that Melbourne-Geelong Road is noisy at peak hour. Trucks, trains, buses and cars. How do the locals live with it? It's now 5:30 and we head back to Melbourne.