FOLLOWING HIS OWN PATH
Since 2003 the Melbourne International Film Festival’s accelerator program – a unique professional development program for directors of short films – has been showcasing tremendous breadth of young Australasian filmmaking talent. Writer and director Nathan Lewis marks himself as a name to watch at this year’s festival.
Nathan Lewis has been fascinated by moving images since childhood, and made his first video at the age of 7. After pursuing a career in commercial film and video, he graduated from Sydney Film School in 2008, going on to work on several short film projects and video clips of his own.
Shortly after graduation, he applied for Screen NSW funding for his short film "Attach Boat to Motor". His first application was not successful but in an unusual set of circumstances was invited to reapply the following year. After receiving some ‘very useful feedback’ about his first application he made sure every aspect of his second application was ‘rock solid’ with as much reference materials as possible. In 2009 he was awarded a grant as part of Screen NSW's Emerging Filmmaker's Fund.
In September this year the film screened at the prestigious Melbourne International Film Festival where Nathan received a special mention for Emerging Australian Film Maker.
“The Sydney Film School graduate distinguished himself from the pack with this beguiling mood piece,” writes the latest METRO Magazine. “It is a mesmerising viewing experience that captures the aimlessness of youth. Nothing momentous or life-changing occurs, and the film’s enigmatic synopsis – ‘The events of one day in the country lead a young man to follow his own path’ – really sums it up. Much of its charm comes from its look and feel.”
The film was shot over two weeks in and around the historical goldmining town of Hill End, just north of Bathurst in NSW, and its scenes of faded, refracted light give it the feel of hazy childhood memory.
“The film was predominately inspired by a number of unplanned excursions that lead me to "Hill End" a remote town north of Bathurst,” explains Nathan about his choice of location and inspiration for the story. “I was so taken by the place that I wrote a short film set in and around Hill End based on my youth. We shot the whole thing there over a week shooting for a couple of hours at dawn and dusk.”
Lewis doubled as the film’s cinematographer, shooting on super 16mm film and using natural and situational light only in order to capture “the reality of the place as I saw it.”
“16mm also helped keep the film neutral in terms of time and place - digital can be too contrasty especially in Australia . Before I came to SFS I just made little handy-cam films and documentaries and then I got my hands on the Bolex and became obsessed with the aesthetic of film but continued to shoot as if it was tape.”
His commitment to telling stories through non-traditional narrative structures and unique visual representation lead him to make a film that was ‘as close to reality as possible’, so he chose non professional actors, shot many scenes with a handheld camera and simply followed the characters around “as they explored their environment.”
“The non-traditional narrative is a result of the way I shoot. I still tend to shoot the same way whether it be handy-cam or 35mm. Very observational and free from too much structure which is a lot of fun. Until you realise you have to piece a story together, so the edit often becomes the most creative process of my films.“
In order to avoid ‘a generic feel on screen’ and stay true to the naturalism of events, he decided to work with non-actors and cut out all the dialogue in the editing process.
“I have not worked with a great deal of actors but those that I had worked with seemed to create a similar feel on screen almost a little generic so I decided to work with people I already had a strong relationship with. Tailoring the character to the non-actor made more sense to me.”
“When I first started out with Attach Boat To Motor I thought the dialogue would just write itself in the process, but the end result was that it just sort of felt tacked on and out of place. The story felt better with the dialogue removed letting the visuals, sound design and score take the reins (indie sound of Yo La Tengo, Mum and Liars etc). In saying that, this film could not have held an audience any longer (the film is 15min long) than it did without the addition of dialogue.“
Lewis is currently working on the screenplay Two Punks, which is set in the Flinders Ranges in South Australia, and also centres on the relationship between three young people and the ‘hazy boundaries between friendship, lust and love.”
Asked to describe his path through a filmmaking career so far he says: “Slow but rewarding. At the end of the day, filmmaking is one of the greatest jobs I can think of so I am just happy to be getting by making films that are in the most part on my own terms. Biggest lesson learned? Stick to your guns.”
To check Attach Boat to Motor trailer and screening updates visit www.attachboattomotor.com
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