HOW DID YOU GET INTO FILM?

I was very young, like 8 maybe when my best friend was over at my house and we were super bored with nothing to do, he was just like “want to make a movie?” and I was like “hell yeah” and we just went and did it. We let the ideas run wild and we came up with some of the weirdest story lines you’ve probably ever seen but we just did it, we got whatever camera we could get our hands on and we just filmed it. I learnt a lot about editing from those days back on windows movie maker and slowly taught myself from trial and error. Ever since then I’ve fallen in love with film making and haven’t stopped since.

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WHAT INFLUENCES THE FILMS YOU CREATE? WHERE DO YOU DRAW

INFORMATION FROM?

I don’t have a single source of inspiration. Usually, an idea will pop into my head and I will just keep building on it, brainstorming everything I possibly can out of that idea until I have something you could call a script. I don’t necessarily like to seek inspiration from other creators, I do enjoy watching other people’s work and I can really appreciate some of the amazing content that people create, but I like doing my own thing and experimenting with my own ideas until I find something I can work with.

 

WHAT DO YOU THINK IS MORE IMPORTANT; STORY TELLING OR AESTHETICS?

Definitely Storytelling. For me, the purpose of the film is to tell a story, and take your audience on a journey through what you, the filmmaker, have created for them. An aesthetically pleasing film that just confuses its audience hasn’t really fulfilled its purpose. It's your job as a filmmaker to create beautiful work, but to do so in a way which communicates a story line to the audience that you have worked so hard to express, and the way you go about showing them that is equally as important.

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WHAT PART OF FILM MAKING DO YOU ENJOY THE MOST?

I love the process, from start to finish, it can be tiring and difficult and some days you think its altogether too hard and you want to give up, but my favourite thing ever is premiering what you have literally devoted your life to for however many months you spent creating it, and seeing the audience react to what you have made. Watching their faces in the dramatic moments, watching the sad parts get to them, and seeing them walk away as the credits roll through, hearing them talk to each other about what that story meant to them. It’s the greatest reward of film making and it’s the reason I love what I do

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CAN YOU TALK ABOUT SOME OF YOUR PAST PRODUCTIONS?

My two most major films were also my two most recent films which we created back in 2015 and 2017 respectively. Our Town (2015)  tells the story story of two brothers trying to survive in a post apocalyptic world, it is a dark story line which flashes back to past and present time to tell the story. This one was written by the same childhood friend who I spoke about earlier and is the whole reason I got into film. It was a blast to make and we had a really fun time over 3 days shooting. It went on to win the Australian Students Film Festival for that year which was one of our greatest achievements.

In 2017 I went out to make a film for my major work as part of my HSC. I wanted to use my craft to express to audiences about a topic that they may not be familiar with. My unnamed filmed was made to describe and express the life of a person living with schizophrenia, telling a story which captivates an audience and shows the hardships someone with that illness may go through. I was really happy with how it turned out and I was so happy with how it was marked too. It was the biggest short film project I had ever undertaken and I was very pleased with the end result.  

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ARE YOU WORKING ON ANY FILMS CURRENTLY?

Right now I am working on my own business, Jacob Beattie Media which specializes in videography for events, small businesses and real estate agents. I’ve recently been building on this business, gaining clients and working on projects. Sadly, I’ve been so busy with this that I haven’t been able to make any proper short films, something I miss so much. But I’m hoping to get this business off the ground and begin working on a new short film project very soon.

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WHAT GOT YOU INVOLVED WITH THIS PROJECT?

I had a motivation to continue creating. I knew this is what I wanted to do for myself and I wanted it to be my job. Started small, just sending emails to every business and real estate agent in the area, just hoping that someone would give me a chance. I knew my chances were slim, seeing as I had hardly any experience in commercial video let alone doing it for real money. Out of all the emails I sent, I got one reply, which I began working for as my only client. I was so thrilled, I was making money doing what I loved! Pretty soon my  client recommended me to another client, so then I had two clients working regularly for. From there, things kept growing, word of mouth is a powerful thing.  I just jumped on every opportunity I got and tried my hardest to make it work. I’ve made many mistakes, but doing this has taught me so much and in just over a year, I have already gained so much experience .

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WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR BEST EXPERIENCE WITH FILM SO FAR?

My best experience was definitely at the premiere of my most recent short film. It was shown at an expo at my school with all the other major works, so the hall was full of different projects from all the students. I was the only project that was a film. I set my little TV up on a table and just played the film on a loop for anyone who’d spare the time to watch it. I wasn’t expecting much, but through the night more and more people began to stop and watch my film, some people watching it twice over even. By the end of the night, I couldn’t believe it, but I had almost everyone who was there crowded around my little TV, telling me to turn the film up so they could hear it. I just sat there in disbelief that this many people would even want to watch my film let alone actually like it. But seeing how they reacted to it and how the story impacted them was one of the most rewarding

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DO YOU HAVE ANY ADVICE FOR YOUNG FILM MAKERS LIKE YOURSELF?

Just do it. Honestly, just go out and make anything and everything you can. The best experience you’ll ever gain is not from any film school, YouTube channel or even university. You’ll gain so much more useful experience by going out and creating. I know literally every filmmaker will tell you this advice, but its true. Honestly, there’s no better advice I could give you. opportunity won’t just come to you, you need to seek it out, go ask around, message businesses, events, charities, your school, whatever it is. Even if you work for free while you start out, at least you’ll be learning. Don’t be afraid to be creative either, play around with your editing, see what works and what doesn’t, the best part about film making is that you can create whatever you want and tell your story however you want to tell it. It is totally up to you, so use that to your advantage and tell your story the way you want it to be told.