WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO GET INTO FILM?

I've always been obsessed with animation, it's always been very fascinating to me - the amount of painstaking work to make it pretty, bring it forward and tell someone a story or some kind of narrative

 

DO YOU HAVE A FAVOURITE STYLE OF ANIMATION?

My favourite animation style is definitely 2D hybrid, It doesn't get used in cinema, it's seen more in short film and commercial. 2D hybrid is made using any two forms of technology, paper cut-out, thread, wool, plants of trees, basically anything, and then bringing that material to life by having some kind of motion with it.

 

HOW USEFUL DO YOU THINK A UNIVERSITY EDUCATION IS FOR GETTING INTO FILM?? 

I study a bachelor of design and animation at the University of Technology Sydney and it's so incredible, they treat us like film-makers (rather than students), it's been really helpful for telling stories because that's not something I (previously) thought I would get into, I just wanted to be a better artist, so I think studying animation as a design degree rather than a trade has been really helpful for developing a love for film.

 

DO YOU SEE A FUTURE FOR YOURSELF IN THE FILM INDUSTRY? 

There's something I really like about working in a team and in terms of a future for my career, my films and my animation, it's all going to be about working with a team.

 

CAN YOU TALK ABOUT A PROJECT YOU'VE WORKED ON RECENTLY?

A project that I worked on this past year that was really fun was a short film I did for Uni. We filmed Saint Andrews Cathedral and animated a little candle spirit that tries to sneak its way in to the chapel and is spotted by a gargoyle, who is like the policeman of the church, who catches (the flame) just in time. It's super short and  super sweet  but I was really proud of the completed animation.

 

DO YOU BASE YOUR FILMS OFF REAL LIFE EXPERIENCES?

All of my films and all of the work I've ever done has always centered around a character, there's always some kind of personality that you have to bring forward and showcase and in my practice, there's no such thing as a character that isn't from some element of real life. At the start of almost every project I go out and draw and look at people and observe what they do. There's always usually someone that peaks my interest and often elements of people that you can research, like what they were wearing,  their hairstyle, even their sunglasses; There's always something really personal and that's what builds the story into some kind of animated film.

If you really want to create a film that is personal and is going to reach more people, you need to be, in my opinion, a lot more observant of the people that are around you and the world that you live in. 

 

WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO ANY OTHER ASPIRING FILM-MAKERS?

The only advice I have for film-makers is to really get your camera language on point, it says a lot about a scene, whether a character is coming in from the left or from the right. But really just start, just make something, there's a lot of free software out there that you can jump on and start experimenting with. It's super fun (learning something), you've gotta be super flexible and adapt, that's what film-making is, it's about making and learning new things constantly.