latest features
Air Jordan
Michael B. Jordan is flying high on the recent success of found footage/super-powered action thriller Chronicle. He took some time out to chat with FilmInk about the adventure so far.
Creative Excess
Triple threat actress/writer/director Anya Beyersdorf stars in the provocative new film ‘Black and White and Sex’ and has a handful of other artistic pursuits on the horizon.
Cruise Control
Director Rob Sitch and actors Josh Lawson and Christian Clark give us the lowdown on ‘Any Questions For Ben?’, a comedy about those with everything – except the things that matter...
The Bit In Between
Actor Ryan Johnson gives us the lowdown on his web series ‘One Step Closer To Home’ which hilariously follows two newlyweds wondering, ‘What comes next?’
search the site
newsletter
Enter your email address below to receive the weekly Filmink newsletter
Marathon Man
Filmink chats to British filmmaker and lecturer James Fair about 72-Hour Film, a moviemaking project where you shoot and edit a feature film over 3 days.
As cast and crew ready themselves for an exhaustive, 3-day shoot and post-production period in Melbourne, writer-director James Fair took time out to discuss The Ballad of Des and Mo, an audacious filmmaking project that will begin shooting on August 4 for an ACMI screening on August 8, as part of the Melbourne International Film Festival [MIFF] program. Fair - who has already directed another 72-Hour Film project in Watching and Waiting (which premiered at the Irish festival, the Galway Film Fleadh, in 2008) - talks about the state of the independent film industry, the darkness of Australian humour and other pertinent issues.
You have described your process as a "punk" approach to filmmaking. Can you elaborate?
I get a little frustrated, actually, by words such as "punk" and "guerrilla" because they have been hijacked by a team of people who are basically talking about independent cinema in general: that guerrilla filmmaking is anything which is not Hollywood filmmaking. But really the idea is just picking up these cameras and using them. Getting out there and making it. It is the action of making a film which is what I believe in. I do not believe in just standing around and theorising about film. I believe it is a discussion that we need to actually have with the technology itself. The punk movement to music was that anyone can pick up a guitar and make music. It did not have to be exclusive to those who manufacture pop. Well, now, we can afford that to filmmaking too. These cameras are not the size of a house anymore and cost twice as much as your house.
You have also talked about another production approach, which is less linear, less top-down. Is that something that you try and impart upon your students in teaching them, as well?
As a lecturer, I am bound by making sure that there is a balance. I can't just peddle my own ideology, but I do get frustrated at a lot of filmmaking teaching, which is conventional and taught by people who aren't particularly questioning it. From an academic point of view, film theorists should be doing more to help the industry out. We operate in isolation as just watching cinema and commenting on it as opposed to questioning how it really can be improved. So, I suppose, my argument about linearity is that people, for years, have taught this unquestionable shape that must take place: You must have a director. You must have a producer. You must make it this way. The story always starts at the script. I can't believe that nobody is actually questioning the actual fundamentals. It is very closed, I think it is bizarre.
You have also completed another 72-Hour project. Can you talk about what you learnt and what lessons you hope to apply this time around?
Well, the first time around, we had no idea whether it would work one bit. We operated under the radar. This time around a lot of people think it is going to be a given that it is going to happen. I would say I am about 80% certain that it will work. What happens this time around is we're doing it on a much bigger technology. We are shooting on Red, which I would consider to be a film technology as opposed to a television technology. Last time we used P2 which is like a Panasonic video camera. That's the major technological element. But the main difference, storyline-wise, was last time around there was really only one lead. So, it was quite a linear story without any sub-plots which was because I did not want the editor to have to wrestle with two storylines. But we ended up putting an incredible amount of pressure on our actress. So, this time around, we created two protagonists, hence the title The Ballad of Des and Mo. But that then means that we have scope to split the units and have two teams filming different sub-plots at the same time. That's the main difference.
Let's talk about the film on a script level. It is a romantic comedy. Are you trying to get that Australian humour and, if so, how do you do that?
Well, I have always been fond of Australian cinema anyway. I think it has got a unique darkness; I don't know if anyone from Australia would agree. But I always find it bizarre, to use an example, when something like Muriel's Wedding is described as a comedy in the UK. I think that it is a tremendous piece of drama, regardless that it has funny moments. But yeah, sort of Strictly Ballroom, Priscilla. I could go on - Chopper. That comedy is so dark that I would not even attempt to try and emulate it. My reason for choosing comedy is that firstly it helps our crew, because it is fun to make and secondly, it connects with our audience. I think if it was edgy and dark, we would run the risk of not connecting with people when we screen it.
You have said that other filmmakers have responded with some hostility to what you are trying to do. How do you respond to that?
Well, I am not surprised by that, if I am honest, because that is where we have found ourselves. We're in an industry, a competitive field. I think that is just the nature of everything to do with Machiavellian politics. Any time when you innovate, or show innovation, the people above you and the industry get jumpy because you are basically attacking their routes and the order in which they got there.
The Ballad of Des and Mo will screen at ACMI on August 8 (tickets can be booked on the MIFF website) and more information on the project can be seen on the 72-Hour Movie website.