A life in pictures

Andrew Mathieson
East Geelong’s Rob Baard is certainly no ordinary film buff.
Most enjoy gobbling down popcorn in a cinema.
They don’t ride the roof of a car at top speed.
When the call went out for a real stunt, Rob and old mate, Shaun Trait who first got him hooked on high-risk acts, took turns flying from the roof and running down each other.
“I’ve never broken any bones – ever,” Rob is quick to boast.
High risk is not a term this showman would use.
Now the teacher – he’s developed an instructor’s course for stuntman wannabes – minimises risk with hours of preparation and precision training.
“There are a lot of videos to watch and books to read,” Rob says.
“The key is to realise that, while it looks dangerous and the most terrible thing in the world, it’s the most controlled thing in the world, too.”
Try telling that to onlookers who watched aghast as Rob swung from a crane into Geelong’s streets for the city’s movie premiere of Spider-Man 2.
“You can’t close the road – it’s going to be a disaster and a nightmare,” one wag told Rob.
Lucky Rob was adept at sewing, too, designing a replica skin-tight Spider-man costume worn in the stunt show.
The organised mayhem started out innocently enough as kids jumping off the side of the house and onto a stack of bed mattresses while growing up in Geelong’s northern suburbs.
“It was just boyhood fun,” he grins now.
“When I was a kid we were always out the back with guns and watching action movies.”
Rob performed in school plays and rehearsed home movies despite never owning a camera – even now, he laughs.
Then came writing scripts and planning intricate fight scenes that would make a Hollywood director nod in agreement.
“My earliest memories were running around the playground telling the other kids to pretend cameras were filming us,” Rob says.
Rob remembers riding on the bus, despite feeling ill, from his Norlane home to watch Batman at the Ryrie Street cinemas.
Despite coughing and spluttering throughout the movie, it started a love affair with the big screen.
He started work at Village 11 selling ice cream before rising to manager at just 21.
“I just wanted to be around the place,” he says about the job.
“My mum was worried because she thought I was never going to get a job.
“I worked at a Sizzler restaurant and that lasted a month and I stayed at a few other jobs for a week.
“I kind of do things 110 per cent or not at all and those things just didn’t interest me.”
Rob has been perfecting his acting, producing, directing and writing for 10 years, and had a thirst for everything movies.
From stunt shows to developing a trailer series behind the films, it’s all been a powerful learning curve.
The 28-year-old also has a clear understanding of his vision.
Every sequence is meticulously pieced together “like being a magician,” Rob says, “when I want to reveal it all.”
His first feature flick, which had a cult following among Star Wars fans, was testimony to a hard slog for more than seven years.
“We made the Untold Tale because it involves every element of the industry – special effects, a good story, acting and then everything comes together,” Rob reckons.
“We’d rather do that than shooting a little comedy around Geelong.”
Ron’s latest project will be filmed in Geelong, with Rob and his cohorts taking on a group of deadly ninja rivals in a fight against a corrupt company.
The Ninja had signed Australia actress Tania Zaetta to play a small part until Rob discovered she had a long-time obsession with kickboxing.
Claiming more than 15 years in ninjutsu – the martial arts of unconventional and guerilla warfare – and a high ranking as a ninja warrior, Rob’s also no slouch when it comes to fight scenes.
“There is a lot of The Ninja about me,” he smiles.