In one beach scene, the weather looks decidedly grey and brooding. "As written, it was meant to be sunny and glorious but in a way it helped the film," Amelia declares.
Later came the heat, 50ºC on some days. "When we arrived, we got so much grief and the nurse told us it would be the Brits who would be the first to go," reports Amelia, 24. "But the two who passed out with heat exhaustion were both Australians." The safety man on the shoot also swallowed a wasp and was carted off to hospital.
Gone was filmed in November, 2005, which Ledwidge admits may have been a bit stupid. "For Australia, that is the hottest time of the year."
There were no posh hotels, either. "It was more of a motel," says Amelia. "And I had a gekko in my room."
But all this helped the mood of the film, in which the three young backpackers, herself, Shaun (whose TV work has included Teachers and The Project) and American actor Scott Mechlowicz as the creepy American who latches on to the English couple with terrible results, end up in relationship hell.
"It was weird that when nearing the end of the shoot we all went into our corners," says Amelia. "From going out together, I had my headphones on, Scott was running around and Shaun would be in his room reading his Bible. Everyone went really strange."
Although he does not get a writing credit, Ledwidge was rewriting the script right until the final day while Amelia was allowed to make contributions in the rehearsal periods.
There was one scene in which she is bedded by the American. "I really wanted that in the film, it was in the script, out of the script but I did not want my character to be perfect." The scene did end up on screen in the final cut.
The film opens in Australia next week and with half of its £2m budget coming from the Film Finance Corporation Australia, it has already been shown to members of the Australian Parliament. They liked it, according to Ledwidge.
The American distributors are waiting to see how it does here.
For Amelia, it was a tough film to make but worth it in the end. "It was exhausting, mentally and physically," she says."But I am very pleased with it."
