Trivia for
Gabriel (2007)

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• All accents in the film are neutral or 'mid-pacific'
  
  
• Was one of the first features ever to be shot on the JVC HD101 camera.
  
  
• Michael Piccirilli broke his leg two weeks before filming and a stand in was used for most of his walking. A stunt double was also used for his tumble in the hallway.
  
  

• Harry Pavlidis spent 5 days living in a caravan in the bush with no electricity to prepare for the role.
  
  
• Dwaine Stevenson spent months walking the streets of Sydney at night to prepare for the role. He was originally to play Gabriel in earlier versions of the script.
  
  
• Produced on the minuscule budget of $150,000, tiny even by Australian standards. This was achieved by everyone in the production working on deferred payment.
  
  
• The film was mostly funded out of the filmmakers' own pockets. Director Shane Abbess worked as a building laborer, a removalist, at a call center and as a dockyard truck driver simply to raise money for his film. Five weeks into shooting when it looked like the money was about to run out, he was prepared to return to his job as a removalist when his old boss gave him sufficient funds to complete the film.
  
  
• The art department saved money by obtaining all their props and costumes from local thrift stores. In addition, they saved money on dressing sets by using abandoned industrial locations and condemned buildings.
  
  
• Shane Abbess studied other low budget films like "Requiem for a Dream" and "Donnie Darko" to see how other filmmakers worked on such small budgets.
  
  
• For the rain effects, instead of using expensive rain towers, the film's climactic scenes were done simply by using hoses. However, because the water was unheated, production had to be stopped three hours early because lead actor Andy Whitfield became hypothermic, his temperature dropping to 32.5 degrees Celsius.
  
  
• Just before production began, the company who was set to insure the film dropped out and the production team were forced to go with someone twice as expensive. This shrunk their tiny budget considerably, with the result being that the film was almost shelved.
  
  

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