by Dov Kornits
Can you discuss what inspired you to write this short film?
Stephen Packer: “I came across this guy who’d developed an AI app that lets you speak to people who’ve passed away, using your voice memo conversation history. It generates their personality in real time, and he demonstrated it by talking to his dead father. It was extremely convincing and I found myself terrified and fascinated at the same time. So, that got me thinking… what if we used the same technology to solve murders? We could interview the deceased and ask them point blank who might have wanted them dead. The film really grew from that idea, but I wanted it to also be a critique of startup culture and how we as a species will inevitably pervert a power like that and use it for personal gain.”
Big fan of Black Mirror?
“Black Mirror is great. Very dark, but so often prescient and almost always entertaining. I’ve definitely had people say this short reminds them of Black Mirror, and hell, I’d be over the moon to make something at that scale! So, Charlie Brooker if you’re reading this, consider Alpha Test as my audition tape to direct an episode.”
Is Alpha Test a proof of concept for something bigger or was it always a stand-alone short?
“We’ve been working on the feature script for a while, and this is designed to be an example of the kind of genre and tone we’re going for. Naturally, the feature is a lot more ambitious. The murder victim is the estranged father of the detective trying to solve the case, so we get to have a lot of fun exploring how one might respond to a simulation of a deceased loved one.”
How was the film financed, and what did The Mercury have to do with it?
“In South Australia, The Mercury runs an incredible initiative called Quicksilver which supports emerging filmmakers with funding for a short or web series. It’s supported by the South Australian Film Corporation and it’s fantastic because there aren’t many funding initiatives for shorts these days, but they’re so fundamentally important for filmmakers working towards a feature. There’s no better way to practice the craft. So yeah, the majority of the funding came from them. We were very lucky to be selected!”
Australia doesn’t do much sci-fi, why do you think that is?
“Sci-fi is really tricky, because so often, high concept ideas come with ambitious production design and VFX, so it gets expensive. For that reason, I think people are a little wary because without the resources to nail a high concept, sci-fi can feel really tacky. There’s also possibly some cultural cringe that can come with Australians making a genre typically associated with Hollywood. But to me, sci-fi really boils down to ‘something happening that’s not currently possible’, and that could be so many things. A simple discussion of an idea can be sci-fi. Something like The Vast of Night is a brilliant sci-fi that’s essentially just people talking to each other over a switchboard in the ‘50s. I want to play in that sandbox, and I know I’m going to have limited resources, so I necessarily need to be smart with how I construct the world of my film. With this short, I set myself the challenge of keeping people on the edge of their seats using only dialogue. Whether or not I succeeded is up to the viewer, but love it or hate it, it’s definitely sci-fi.”
What are your thoughts around the ethics of using AI in filmmaking?
“I think it’s a shame that like so many new technologies at their conception, AI will be adopted in filmmaking whether we like it or not because it makes things cheaper and easier. The majority of people that use AI will either not think about how it’s stealing from existing works or they won’t care. Of course, I think it’s unethical etc etc (it’s hard to have any kind of new take on AI in film) but ultimately, I just think it’s a bit tragic that humans are switching off the part of their brain that makes them unique because thinking deeply and intentionally about something is hard work.”
Had you been to Flickerfest before, and how was this year’s festival and the win for Best Screenplay?
“I’ve been lucky enough to play at Flickerfest with all three of my short films. It’s such a fantastic festival that fills rooms each year with audiences hungry for short films, which is rare! As a filmmaker, showing your film to a large audience is SO valuable and it’s not often that you get the opportunity. Flickerfest does a brilliant job of fostering the next generation… The profiles of some of the alumni are wild. Australian filmmaking royalty. So, Bronwyn and Shane and the team are doing something really important.
“Winning an award was very unexpected and overwhelming. It’s not why we make stuff, but awards can help get a bit of a leg up for future projects, and to be recognised for my writing amongst an insanely stacked lineup of brilliant films was crazy.”
What’s next?
“Feature or bust! It’s time baby.”
