The height aspect ratio gradually shrinks throughout the film, symbolising the famous helmet Kelly eventually wears.
In the film, Harry Power is shown to live in an armoured hut. The real Power actually lived in bark mia mia on top of a mountain in Whitfield, Victoria. To protect himself from ambush while asleep, Power would sling a shotgun over him, suspended from the top of the shelter, so he could quickly snap awake and pull the trigger if he was grabbed. However, this idea turned out to be a failure when, in 1870, Power was captured by police as he slept.
True History of the Kelly Gang is the twenty-first on-screen depiction of the Kelly Outbreak. The outbreak has previously been the subject of seven feature films (plus an unfinished film in 1947), two spoof movies, three teleplays, three short films, a miniseries and four major documentaries.
The director Justin said to George Mackay, "I see the Kelly Gang as a punk band. So we've booked you a gig in a bar in Melbourne in three weeks as yourself. You have got to come up with a name, write an album and perform a set." The band formed by George Mackay, Earl Cave, Louis Hewison and Sean Keenan were called Fleshlight and two of the songs made it onto the film soundtrack (Desperate and I Am Everywhere).
For the scene between Ellen and Mary in the padded cell, the Old City Watch House is used. The Watch House was built in 1909 on the site where Melbourne Gaol's south wing used to stand. eerily it was in this wing that the real Ned Kelly spent his last days.