1) What got you into filmmaking and what do you love about film?
A few years ago I became interested in CGI and visual effects, and I was curious about how it all worked. I started to learn how to use a few visual effects and animation programs. I've always loved writing stories and now that I had a visual medium to project my ideas on, my interest in filmmaking grew. I used my knowledge with this software together with my vision and ideas to create my first animated film, 'Journey' which found success internationally. Since then I've fallen in love with animation and creating films, and I'm looking to pursue this as a career path. 2) Why did you choose to make a horror film? I love the horror genre - watching horror films is a pleasure of mine. And I always find myself drawn to dark, creepy stories so naturally making a horror film felt right to me. 3) What are some of the challenges of making a horror film? Well, with a horror film the main emotion that you'd want your audience to feel is fear, and I suppose that can be challenging at times - to make them immersed, engaged and to feel the same fear that the characters are experiencing in the film. 4) What's your definition of 'artist'? You're a poet, as well as a filmmaker - do you consider yourself an 'artist'? I do consider myself an artist, as I think the term 'artist' is quite broad - in my opinion, if you are a creator of any form of art or media, you are an artist. It doesn't matter how good it is or if people like your work or not, because art is so subjective and everyone will have their own opinions. So I say everyone should embrace that - we all can be artists. 5) What's your proudest career achievement or experience so far? I'd say my proudest career achievement so far would be getting nominated for an AACTA award (for short animation), as the AACTAs are the Australian equivalent of the Academy Awards. This ties in to an experience, as I was actually able to attend the award ceremony and it was just so extraordinary. I'm incredibly grateful to have been nominated and to have experienced it in person. 6) Do you have any films in the pipeline? Yes, I do - right now my current project is my next animated film, which is titled 'The Quiet'. Without giving too much away, it's to do with space, silence and siblings. I hope that sounds intriguing enough. 7) What advice do you give filmmakers just starting out? Definitely to make the most of the resources that are available to you. There are so many resources available online! I didn't have an animation class or even a film subject in high school when I started making my films, but I watched tutorials to learn how to use programs and started from there. There's just so much to learn. |