BBFF2022 Meet the Filmmaker: Paul Ashton
Shallow
Paul Ashton takes us on a journey deep in a forest, where two friends Barry and Larry indulge in conversation that is by turns light-hearted and extremely topical, revealing surprising revelations, both good and bad, along the way.
We had a chat to Paul Ashton about the making of ‘Shallow’ and his process of brining a story to life.
Screening at Palace Cinemas Byron Bay
Saturday 22 October at 1:30pm
Buy tickets
How did the story in this film that you have created come from?
I was looking for another short to make while finishing off a few other scripts. The idea came about in part from a conversation that the two actors (who are friends) once had that features in the first part of the short. From here we developed the idea further to become a 10 minute continuous conversation between the two leads.
Have you always wanted to be a filmmaker?
I became interested in film and filmmaking when I was very young and always considered I'd be involved in a creative industry. It wasn't until my late teens that I decided to pursue a career in film.
As a filmmaker what is your favourite memory and challenge you had in the process of creating this film?
The rehearsal period where we all reworked the script again and again until we felt it worked the best it could. And the shoot day which was a lot of fun and thankfully went extremely well.
Apart from the location change and the delay due to lockdown, trying to shoot this short in one day was a challenge, especially as we had to contend with the sun going in and out and some short showers. This was made that bit harder when the short takes place in real-time so everything needs to slot together seamlessly.
Why do you think short films are an important medium to explore creativity through?
It's a great challenge to try and make something that tells a succinct story in a short space of time while hopefully not over staying its welcome. And from here, the natural progression is the longer form of features. Some of the things I learnt on this short was how difficult it can be to shoot a story outside that takes place in real-time, how important rehearsals are and to stick to your guns if you feel something can be improved upon, rather than risk regretting it further down the line when its too late.
What is next for you in the future?
I'm hoping to shoot a few more shorts that were written in lockdown while also writing a few features.
What is your biggest creative influence on your filmmaking style?
The biggest influence on me as a filmmaker growing up was Spielberg. That still applies now as well as directors such as Fincher, Villeneuve and Nolan to name a few. But it changes all the time as there are so many styles of filmmaking I enjoy and so many genres that interest me.
What is a piece of advice you can give to all aspiring filmmakers?
Develop your own unique ideas rather than make what you think will be successful. Also, find a team of people who you work well with and can hopefully take from project to project.
I love the fact that BBFF highlights Australian filmmakers as much as you do and select works that appeal to you and the area. Festivals are a great testing ground for films. It's been an amazing experience to see the film with an audience at festivals and how different audiences react to different things. The fact that the film will now be seen in Australia will open it up to a whole other audience halfway round the world which is amazing.
Every festival is different and each has a different selection criteria so to be selected for any festival from the huge numbers than enter is a great honour. To know that our film somehow stood out from others is very humbling and makes the whole process worthwhile while also encouraging me to make the next one. It's also extremely inspiring to watch the other shorts and learn from them as well.
