Alan Lam

Behind The Scenes: Block 04

Apologies for the lack of updates everyone, things have been very hectic over the last few weeks. If you've been following our Facebook page you may have heard that we're now officially 50% through production. This is a huge milestone for us to reach and it feels amazing to make it this far. We have one more night of shooting this year, then we'll be taking a break from shooting over the next couple of months to finish rehearsing and tweaking the remaining scenes, as well as to raise some more funds (more on that in a future post). In the meanwhile, here's some behind the scenes pics from block 04:

The Importance Of Protocol

I never went to film school, so I had to learn all the protocols of filmmaking on my own. I didn’t actually learn some of the basics until about three years into my career as an indie director. By this time I’d already won Best Australian Film at MIAF and been commissioned to direct a short docco for the BBC World Service. But still, I didn’t know the basic protocol of working on a film set. This was because of the way I’d come up - fiercely independent, making up the rules as I went. This approach got me some terrific results, but it also had its limitations.

Inevitably, my (lack of) knowledge was tested, and in quite an embarrassing way. Back in 2008 I had somehow managed to score a roll as First Assistant Director on my friend Alan Lam’s final honours film. I thought I knew enough about filmmaking, indie production, and visual storytelling to be of use, but it was a steep learning curve when it came to working with the crew.