and 35mm prime in locked-down shots and the
present scenes are to be filmed with a steadicam
using a 50mm prime in order to make a visual
distinction between the two periods of time.
Another aspect is to make decisions of composition
based on theories found in art history rather than
film theory, because it gives me a more fluid
approach in creating images that themselves have a
balanced cohesion to propel the storytelling process,
along with a sense of visual meaningfulness and
purpose.
The film has a very broken down and dirty look.
How did you achieve this?
The one thing I liked about Star Wars: A New
Hope was that George had the genius to make the
production design based on a worn-out look, and
I’m thinking specifically of the scenes on Tattooine
and the vehicles. So I learnt from that approach and
first selected locations that were dry and dusty, then
took premade gothic costumes and literally dragged
them in dirt and dry-brushed the props so they
looked old and damaged. To me, things that look
worn have more authenticity on film for the
audience to engage with rather than something
shiny and pristine. There’s a lot of beauty in decay,
especially when it’s featured on the big screen.
How have you financed the film to date?
I took out a bank loan and an additional credit card
in the first stage, then Mum gave me some more
money to make up the difference. We had some
great encouragement from Screen Australia to
submit applications for funding, but we didn’t meet
all of the requirements of submission such as
distributor and sales agent pre-commitments. After
years of trying we thought, let’s just fund it
ourselves and use the film to demonstrate that we
can actually make and deliver a feature film as a
proof of concept for others to follow.
What was it like working with a real army tank
on set?
I wanted from the start to use as many real things as
possible, so instead of employing a computergenerated tank I found a working Centurion tank
(that was quite cheap) operating near Melbourne, on
a compound that was like something out of Mad
Max but only better. We filmed for five days in two
shooting periods and if we can raise our target
money we’ll get the tank trucked up to our new
locations for the day. We also used a real Tiger
Moth plane simply because (apart from me getting
the chance to fly in one of course!) it just gives the
story so much more realism, knowing most of the
shots are using real things with real vehicles.
Did you use miniatures in the film?
To save on costs we’ve been using some miniatures
of the tank in forced perspective shots, but it’s only
when you see a corner of the tank with actors
interacting in most of the screen frame. I’ve shown
these scenes to some of my friends who are
filmmakers and they couldn’t tell the difference
between the model and the real thing – simply
because of my ‘less is more’ approach. I watched
what filmmakers did in the 1970s with miniature
vehicles and learnt a lot from optical effects and
forced perspective strategies. In fact, I only recently
found out that the ship in the desert featured in
Close Encounters was actually about a 25 or so foot
long model!
Do you have any advice to other filmmakers
trying to make their own films?
I think a lot of filmmakers give evangelic speeches
about ‘you can do it’ and get caught up in the
technical side of filmmaking but in reality, making
a feature film with little or no budget is about the
most unromantic and diffi cult of tasks you can
possibly undertake. So my only advice for those
who want to do the same is to make or use as many
things as you can, from the costumes to props to
locations to the catering, from what’s already
available within your means, and to not give up
when things fall apart. From my perspective, the
most important people in filmmaking are the
audience, so it’s important to go about telling filmic
stories and not forget about them. I’ve got a great
analogy that’s never served me wrong – a good
story shot in VHS is much better for an audience
than a bland story shot in 4K.
The Last Man in Vegas is currently in
production in Australia and is raising the
completion funds on Indiegogo at:
www.indiegogo/projects/the-last-man-in-vegas
For more information go to:
www.lastmaninvegas.com
or email Shaun at:
[email protected]