Im probably a bit scattered but well see how I go.
If you should probably call back some other time because Im not being clear thats totally fine.
Shooting TV shows is difficult as it turns out.
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The scale for this round ofTop of the Lakeis grander yet also somehow more intimate.
Den of Geek: How did you get involved in this year ofTop of the Lake.
You werent a part of the first series, correct?
Germain McMicking: Yeah, I wasnt.
Hard to know how it all came about.
Id had previous relationship with some of the people involved.
Then I think at the time Jane was looking for a DP and a co-director.
So Ariel Kleiman came on and I had worked with him previously on a movie calledPartisan.
It played Sundance in 2015 and won Best Cinematography.
I think she was interested in the team that we offered.
Aesthetically it was a good fit as well.
Shes quite strong and a powerful figure.
She really wanted to bring this new aesthetic toTop of the Lake.
This time around the show didnt have the same landscape.
It didnt have the harsh natural beauty of New Zealand to play a story against.
There are a lot of small rooms this time around.
Somehow thats how I got placed into it.
Had you seen the original Top of theLake?
I had, yeah.
I really loved the way it looked.
Ive always been a bit nervous and individual about the things that I do.
I was a bit apprehensive about taking it on.
I didnt want to just replicate what they had done in season 1.
It felt like an open book.
It was fun to go at it with a new kind of approach.
The change of setting probably helped in that respect then, right?
The original being in New Zealand and China Girl being in Australia.
Its a very different environment.
The first series is incredibly open.
This series features people trapped behind walls both literally and walls of their own making.
Had you done much TV work prior?
There was a show that I did with another director from Melbourne (Glendyn Ivin) calledGallipoli.
Its a really great piece of work, I think.
I did a TV movie calledAn Accidental Solideras well.
And of courseWilfred(the Australian version).
Early in my career I did some documentary work.
A lot of journalistic stuff.
Ive done a bit of a mix between TV and film.
I just came home, did some commercials and was exhausted.
Its pretty full on.
The directors are there and looking at the camera after every shot in the whole series.
More and more its becoming a trend to have one or two directors for the whole thing.
Dealing with the directors is really interesting as well.
One director has a different feel and create a different emotional world on set from the other director.
Even if their aesthetic line is consistent.
It is kind of difficult.
Nailing down the time and staying healthy can be pretty tricky.
What were some of the differences between the two directors on China Girl Jane Campion and Ariel Kleiman?
I think the similarity between them is that theyre both very single-minded.
They know that theyre right.
They have a good, commanding sense of what they want to say.
Their processes are wildly apart though.
The onset work though is different.
Jane was a joy to work it beautiful and inspiring.
The way she communicated that was great and all you needed.
Ariel loves a rolling master shot where you attempt to get everything in a wide.
He loves that sort of choreography.
Its difficult but a really lovely way to approach it.
I often work with casts featuring lots of women.
Do you want me to address each of them specifically?
Elisabeth just won her Emmy so thats a good jumping off point.
I didnt know that.
Shell go from laughing her ass off to adopting a really deep emotional space.
Youd imagine there might be a distrust for that kind of approach like how can it be real?
but it absolutely is.
Shes a generous actress too.
Shes been working since she was like 14.
Gwen is also great.
Shes very, very funny.
I think what you see is what you get with her.
Shes like her character, Miranda onTop of the Lake.
She should be a comedian and do stand-up.
This is also the first time I worked with Nicole.
She won an Emmy too!
I totally fell in love with her.
She was always the first one on set.
And shes got such a warm relationship with Jane.
Shed always help with staging and blocking a scene.
Its just a super fun cast.
David Dencik, he plays Puss.
Sorry Im rabbiting on.
No, its cool.
Thats how interviews work!
I ask a question and you rabbit on.
What drew you to film and cinematography?
My mom was a painter and my dad was an engineer.
Maybe the meeting of those two minds kind of started it all?
When I was a teenager I always drew and took photographs.
I started telling stories and my friends would help me out coming up with characters.
In university I studied cinema.
I just watched films every Monday morning at 9:30.
The rule there at the cinema was that they had to project everything on 35mm.
Ive always been interested in people and listening to them.
Ive always wanted to tell stories.
That kind of graduated in to directing music videos and getting involved with documentaries.
Eventually I started moving more into narrative work.
Im still pretty open to it.
Im still discovering stuff.
Its a passion that I hope will be lifelong.
Its hard to imagine doing anything else.
Its also just so much fun.
What movies or TV shows do you look at as inspiration?
I always find that question very difficult.
So…no I cant.
I dont even start and where I would end.
When someone asks you what your favorite movie is what do you say?
I just say I dont think I can answer that!
No, its impossible!
Could you do it?
Then whats your favorite.
See, thats one of the greats!
Your favorite film is allowed to be good!
Ill have to think some more then.
What are you working on now and what are you working on next?
Right now Im working on some commercials.
Then the next film Im on is calledAcute Misfortune.
Its based on a book by the same title written by Erik Jensen.
The director is Tom Wright who played Johno in the first season of Top of the Lake.
Hes also in the U.S. version ofThe Bridge.
Its a fantastic novel and will be a small film.
Its about a young writer who does an article about this artist from New South Wales.
Its based on a true story.
The artist had some serious drug and alcohol issues and he takes this young journalist under his wing.
He wants the journalist to be his biographer.
But then it turns out its all a lie.
