When I first heard of Baz Luhrmann’s upcoming film Australia, I wasn’t particularly excited. I’ve loved Luhrmann’s previous films but an epic period film about an English aristocrat who inherits a sprawling ranch in northern Australia before World War II didn’t exactly scream “watch me” and surprisingly, the inclusion of Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman, both actors I like, didn’t do any more to build excitement. I’d seen a few pictures from the production, all of which looked beautiful, as I’d expected they would coming from Luhmann, a man with a distinct style, but nothing prepared me for what I saw last week.

After seeing a few people write about it, I finally checked out Apple’s “The Set to Screen Series”, a new educational series from Apple. They’ve teamed up with Luhmann and over the next few months, they’ll be releasing weekly podcasts looking at various aspects of film making. This is both a great tool for Luhmann in that he builds attention for his film but also for film students and fans who want to know more about how films are made.

The first episode is an introduction to the series by Luhmann but it was the second episode on on-set still photography that really floored me. Even on my 3.5″ iPod screen the beauty of the shots was breathtaking. If Luhmann can capture that look on film, which I’m quite certain he can, we’re in for a treat. Be sure to subscribe to the show, or simply check out the various episodes at the official Set to Screen website.

Australia is scheduled to open on November 14th.