A Journey Through Film by Maya Gurney

Speaker 2
[00.00.00]
Hello, my name is Maya Gurney. I’m 21 years old and I’m from suburban Perth. I have a passion for
movies and filmmaking and I’m an aspiring screenwriter. This podcast is all about my journey and
becoming a screenwriter. Come with me as I interview fellow filmmakers and discuss my favorite
movies and share my thoughts and ideas.
Speaker 1
[00.00.50]
G’day. I’m here today with a special guest, writer, director and producer Shane McNeil to ask him some
simple questions about filmmaking. Hello and welcome, Shane. Thank you for joining me on this
episode.
Speaker 2
[00.01.09]
Hi, Maya. Thank you so much for having me. And all the more so because it’s your first podcast. I feel
very honoured. Thank you.
Speaker 1
[00.01.15]
Thanks. I grew up with a huge love of movies and now I’m studying to become a world famous
screenwriter. What inspired you to be a filmmaker in particular?
Speaker 2
[00.01.30]
Oh good question Maya. Um, a bit like you, I think. I started out first as a writer and then became a
filmmaker by accident. Probably because it’s very hard, as you might know, for writers to get their films
made into films. Um. So my memory was I sort of became an accidental film maker. I never a lot of
people, when they start out like yourself, have a passion because they love movies. Most people do. And
they go, this is what I want to do. But I didn’t discover that till I think I was in my 20s at university. Um,
and I accidentally did a film course and found out I was okay at it and thought, oh, this is all right, and
started doing more and more and made films and sort of accidentally became a filmmaker. So, um, but I
always love movies and it’s always been a passion, like you. So I think that’s what the core is. When you
love what you, you know, do in your spare time. And if you can do it for a career, that’s the best way to
live one’s life. What
Speaker 1
[00.02.28]
movie inspired your filmmaking career the most?
Speaker 2
[00.02.33]
Oh, another very good question. Um, one of my earliest memories involves a film, and I remember
walking out of the Piccadilly Cinema in North Adelaide, in Adelaide with my mother and my
grandmother. And I can remember it. It’s when my walking down the staircase from the upper balcony
into the sunlight. And we’ve just seen 2001 A Space Odyssey, and I must have been very young. I don’t
know why they would take. I think I’m going to spend six or something to see that film. And my mother
says, I asked her as we’re walking outside, how did the baby get in space? I hope that’s not a spoiler. No
it’s not. If you haven’t seen it, it’s a 50 year embargo. If you haven’t seen the film, it’s not spoiling it. Um,
and there’s a very famous scene with that. And my mum said, well, I don’t know, let’s find out. And the
next day she took me to a library. It’s obviously before the internet, and we borrowed some books. And I
think that’s the first time I started inquiring about film. Um, and that film has stayed with me for my
entire life. And when I became a film lecturer, I used to make my students watch it. It’s quite a very
philosophical and engaging film, but it goes for about 2.5 hours. So I had to lock the doors so they
wouldn’t leave. But afterwards, all them and some of them are now famous filmmakers, came up and
thanked me for showing them that film. So I think that about 2001 A Space Odyssey by Stanley Kubrick.
If you haven’t seen it, I recommend it to anyone. It’s a masterpiece. Still is.
Speaker 1
[00.03.58]
I usually get my ideas for screenwriting from other people’s movies. Where do you usually get your ideas
for filmmaking? I
Speaker 2
[00.04.10]
guess it’s different for everyone. Some people sort of just have ideas every day. I’m unfortunately not one
of those, but I think as you get older, you’re right. You start off looking at other films and going, oh, I
like that. I could make something like that. A Western science fiction, a chase film. And then they go,
well, I could do it differently. And I think all filmmakers probably start by imitating other filmmakers,
and that’s fine. And then you get to a point where you start finding your own voice and you say, I’m good
at this, and I want to say this. So I think and then as I got older, I just look at things and I could. For
people to appropriate other cultures. So, um, yeah, that’s a that’s a depend. It generally is a rule of thumb.
I guess we shouldn’t write about things we don’t know about.
Speaker 1
[00.07.56]
What are some of the things that a screenwriter gets to do on the set of a film? Because I would like to
know what else I would get to do as a screenwriter besides the actual writing.
Speaker 2
[00.08.14]
Well, there are many, many horror stories in Hollywood mire about writers who write scripts and then
have fights, and then the director or the producer bans them from the set, and they don’t even get to see
their own movie until it’s actually on the screen. That’s the worst case scenario. But the best case scenario
is a writer has a good relationship with the. What happens is a writer will write a script and a producer
will option it. They’ll say, I like your script, Maya. We’re going to make it, and they pay you money to
buy the rights. And then they get a director who says, I’m going to make this film. So it goes from writer
to producer director. If the writer has a good relationship with the producer or the director, they would
probably say, come on set, you know, have a look, give some advice. And sometimes in Hollywood, if
they have a good relationship, they will get the writer on set to do rewrites. If things aren’t working,
they’ll ask them. Can you just go away and fix this scene? Because they’re looking at what’s going on. So
they’ve got knowledge. Generally in Hollywood, they probably wouldn’t let the writer on set, which is
why a lot of writers, and this is my advice to you as an emerging screenwriter filmmaker, is to think
about because you’ve made films as well. Think about how you could actually become a writer director
and then you can control your own film. So in Hollywood, a lot of writers on TV end up becoming
producers so they can run their own TV series called showrunners. So that’s a way that a lot of writers
have got more power. And a lot of writers in Hollywood have decided, I’m sick of what directors are
doing to my films. I’m going to direct them myself so I can write and direct, and I know exactly what I
want, and I make sure it’s on the screen. How
Speaker 1
[00.09.48]
is making South Australian movies different from making Western Australian ones?
Speaker 2
[00.09.56]
Well, I probably get in trouble for answering this question, but, um, I originally came from South
Australia and spent most of my life making films there, and I’ve only been WA for about a year and a
half. But, um, I’m going to say one word. It’s probably money. Um, films cost a lot of money, and
Western Australia seems to have a lot of money to support filmmaking. And a lot of filmmakers, um, are
making great films over here. And so in South Australia was a bit harder. There wasn’t a lot of money, it
was more competitive. But over here, I think it’s a much more fertile and creative environment. I, I guess,
you know, money helps make films, but also creativity, I find. And again, this is just my opinion. I find
that there’s a lot of creativity here. I’m very impressed by the number of people I meet every day,
including yourself. Right now, every day I meet someone and go, wow, really impressing me with your
ability to make films and find ways to explore your creative potential. And so that that makes me want to
stay here. So yes, in the short term, it’s both. I say money and creativity and I’ll probably get in trouble
for that.

Speaker 1
[00.00.00]
Hello, my name is Maya Gurney. I’m 21 years old and I’m from suburban Perth. I have a passion for
movies and filmmaking and I’m an aspiring screenwriter. This podcast is all about my journey and
becoming a screenwriter. Come with me as I interview fellow filmmakers and discuss my favorite
movies and share my thoughts and ideas. Thank you, Matteo for joining me in this podcast episode.
Speaker 2
[00.00.54]
Oh you’re welcome. Any time
Speaker 1
[00.00.57]
when you were drawing Spike and Kiki on your computer, which celebrity animators drawings did you
decide to base your drawings on?
Speaker 2
[00.01.13]
Oh, I’ll tell you what. I didn’t have a celebrity drawing in mind when I was drawing it. I was drawing it
based off photographs of echidnas. Um, but I’ll tell you where my influences started from drawing. It was
actually watching Tim Burton movies. Mhm. Have you seen any Tim Burton movies? Well,
Speaker 1
[00.01.36]
I’ve seen Charlie and the Chocolate Factory a lot of times. And, um, I’ve seen Alice in Wonderland, um, a
few times. I’m not really making it to the end.
Speaker 2
[00.01.50]
Oh, yeah, I’ve seen those movies too. They’re all right. They’re all right. But then have you ever, with
those movies, like, have you ever watched, like, behind the scenes of
Speaker 1
[00.01.59]
them? Well, yeah, a lot of times.
Speaker 2
[00.02.03]
Yeah. So what Tim Burton will do because he didn’t really write those movies. He’s not really much of a
writer, but he’s an artist. He’s an illustrator. Yeah, his artwork always has these big eyes, and they’re kind
of kind of spooky, kind of mysterious. And when I started drawing maybe 10 or 15 years ago, it was like
mid high school or something, I started drawing. He was who I was trying to emulate. I thought he was
real rock star, real cool. I don’t think about him that much these days. Um, like I, I will go see the
Beetlejuice movie when it comes out, like I’m quite excited for that. But in terms of the celebrity that I
was. Emily. Whether I like it or not, I still in some ways draw, um, these big eyed characters that are a bit
kooky or strange. Now, I wouldn’t say I know Spike or Kiki look weird or strange. I try my best to really
emulate, uh, what they, uh, what an echidna would look like. And I’m sure we’ll talk more about that as
we go along, but, um, yeah, weirdly enough, it was Tim Burton. So there’s a bit of Tim Burton inspiration
really in the spike short film, that’s for sure. Yes.
Speaker 1
[00.03.18]
Why in particular did you get chosen as the animator of spike?
Speaker 2
[00.03.27]
I. Would look, it’s I wish this wasn’t true, but I think it’s true. I think I’m the only animator here in a sense
that I’ve had a a long experience, uh, animating. So when I say here, I mean here in Dada, the art center
organization that, um, that I work at and, um, that you yourself are a participant of. So when you were
talking to the old arts worker, you had Astrid about making an animation. I was kind of it. That’s how it
felt to me. Um, I guess I’m quite lucky in that sense. I got to work with you, uh, for that short film, um, to
see how we could even make a animated production within data. There’s a lot of new things. New
boundaries were pushing. Well, at least since I’ve been here, I’ve. I’ve loved it.
Speaker 1
[00.04.25]
Why did I have to create all these sound effects? Like that sound of Spike’s tongue flicking out? And why
couldn’t anyone else do it?
Speaker 2
[00.04.39]
Because I wanted you to do it. Because you want to be a screenwriter. Yeah. What we found is that the
script had no. Well, first off, it had no dialogue, and it was animated. It was, um, they were good guides
and good points as to how to tell the story and where the story is going. Um, but it’s an animation, so for
me to work on it, I’d have to just take it home, work on it, and I couldn’t. I wanted to bring you more into
the production process as much as I could. So, uh, I mean, we did a bit of a storyboard. I think I did that
one before, but, um. From there. It was me trying to think, how do I, you know, give you more of the
experience of being on a production when most of the time it’s just me sitting at home on a computer,
making these keyframes go from one point to another. And um, once all the visuals are done. So the
artwork and the animation and it was all edited together in one piece, it was like a silent film. And um, so
even though there’s no dialogue that still needed to be sound because these characters are like running,
they’re going to spinifex. They’re, you know, rolling around. There’s all these different sounds we don’t
think about when, you know, until you start analyzing the film, do you start saying, oh, this character
does this, that should make this kind of sound. And we know what sounds are because we live in a world.
We hear sounds all the time. Um, like, you know, knock on a table. It sounds like knocking on wood.
Um, but if you animate a character doing that, it’s just silence. Now you have to think, oh, I need a
record. Someone knocking on wood. Um. And I thought it would be fun to do together. Yeah. Is the
closest we got to bring you into the actual production side because.
Speaker 1
[00.08.01]
Um. Well, um. Sorry. Um. Well, it’s just that, um, the real thing I want to be. Besides, a screenwriter is a
script supervisor.
Speaker 2
[00.08.16]
Yeah. So that’s when you’re on set, uh, particularly on live action productions and the, you know, make
sure that the script is going all ahead. What does a script supervisor actually do? Well, they first they
supervise the script. Um, I’m trying to make my own interpretation of it. I’ve been I have been on a set
with script supervisors. I’ve just never been in that role. What do they do? They. Yeah, they they make
sure. I’m pretty sure they just make sure that, uh, we’re filming everything we need to do, and it’s all kind
of. Yeah, well, it’s not continuity, but in a sense, it kind of is like continuity. Person would make sure that
visually things are matching up to their watching. Like the setup is script supervisor. Oh my goodness, I
think I have to google the damn definition of script supervisor. Do you know the the definition of it?
Speaker 1
[00.09.07]
Yeah. Well, I think I heard this right, but, um, a script supervisor is someone who, um, makes sure that
the same things are being done in a film as in the script.
Speaker 2
[00.09.26]
Yeah, I’ll believe that. That’s true. Yeah. Productions, particularly live action productions, uh, can be
pretty wild. Each one is different. That’s why you got some people that can, uh, get quite emotional
during it. Uh, because it’s, uh, it’s pretty much living in the moment. So, you know, you do need all hands
on deck and to make sure people are following the script and not having too much fun, you can have fun,
but then some people can get carried away and be like, oh, let’s do any random idea. And the script
supervisor says, oh no, we’re doing this. It’s on the script. Um, particularly some directors, they can get
lost in the moment. Yeah. What’s your next question, Maya?
Speaker 1
[00.10.12]
Have you any idea how many people at Dadar? Both students and staff members became fans of spike
when it was showing at the Open Real Film Festival.
Speaker 2
[00.10.31]
I think a lot of people, I don’t know if they’re like fans is a is a big word because it’s. But they liked it.
You know why? It’s because it was probably the most well-produced production out of everything from
that festival. And I say that because I produced every single one of those, um, shorts that, uh, that we
screened that had other participants make them and, um, and I helped them out with it. Uh, all that, I
mean, it was all funny stuff, but it was pretty low budget. We sort of set up a camera and have one
microphone, one lapel mic, and, uh, capture as much as we can and edit it. But spike, um, was a very
well thought out production. It we had a lot more time to work on it because I think we worked on it for
many months, actually. Um, and, uh. And it responded well to a point where it actually went to, you
know, more film festivals than just open reel. It won awards. Um, it’s, uh, all right. How many festivals
we sent to. We didn’t send it a tremendous amount, but it went out quite far. Um, well, so people gave it a
round of applause at our festival, and then, um, went over to Melbourne and it won. Audience favorite.
And, um, it’s a good short film. You’ve done. Well, um, but, uh, I don’t know how many people would
say that they’re fans of it because I, I just haven’t had a word with them since then. But it’s it’s good.
That’s for sure.
Speaker 1
[00.12.09]
If you could choose either Spike or Kiki to be your favorite character from the film, which echidna would
it be?
Speaker 2
[00.12.21]
Uh, it’s, uh. Spike. I relate to him more. Um, like, I get it. Uh, but, um, I had the most fun working with
with spike, too, because, um, uh, I don’t know, I was just following his journey a lot more. Um. Uh, yeah,
it would have to be spike, that’s for sure.
Speaker 1
[00.12.46]
If you. Sorry. Do you have a favorite part of the story line from our film? I mean, the storyline of our
film.
Speaker 2
[00.13.00]
Favorite part? Um. I think was the ending. I quite liked how that came about. Um, because it, it had a lot
more like the day faded to night, and then the ants started coming out and doing these spirals and, um,
uh, which I think had a death spiral about that in the film that we just made it off is quite sweet and nice.
It was a very poetic sort of ending. Um, yeah. I, I, I’m quite impressed about how we pulled off that
ending. Yeah.
Speaker 1
[00.13.40]
If you had suggested that I make a feature length version of this short film, what ideas could I use for the
storyline?
Speaker 2
[00.13.55]
Okay, this is big. Um, well, first you’d keep them all silent again, and then you’d have to have human
characters in. And then maybe you don’t see, like, the human characters faces. And maybe you don’t
understand what they’re saying, like, they’re speaking English, but they’re like, just jargon English. So
even though you know that they’re from here, but you don’t understand a word and, um, I’ll probably put
in more stakes. Bigger stakes like, uh, conflicts. Um, so it’s a well, it’s just a chase film. It’s just like, uh,
like a pursuit for love kind of thing. And which is like, really one of the oldest stories in the world. If,
um, for keen listeners who know the story of the Seven sisters, if you don’t just Google and you realize,
oh my God, we’ve been talking about pursuit of love for for thousands of years. But then, um, most of the
best films are about that. And then. So with two of kidneys, uh, I mean, like, well, for starters, I’d let
them run through a mine site. That’s what I do. Or one of those, um, big industrial sort of where you are.
What have you got? Your gas, you got coal, you’ve got nickel, you’ve got all sorts that, um. Well, we
mine here in this state. I know we base it in New South. Uh, sorry. Um, uh, Northern Territory, um. But I
mean, that was just a background, like literally it could be anywhere in the central desert. So you could
actually have them traveling fast. So you have one shot where they definitely go to Uluru. Maybe they’re
travelling from east to west or west to east. Um, and look, we know how it ends. It’s like that story, but
just expanded bigger. I haven’t travelling through mine sites and all these familiar locations because still,
for kids you don’t want to make it complicated. But what we like about it is that we can explore
landscapes and environments that are relatable to us. Um, because you just don’t get that in American or
European films because they’re filmed in America, in Europe. Um, well, we like, are the sort of stories
that everyone can relate to on a global sense, but have it based at home, have it based on like, yeah, the
the landscapes of Australia or like the places that we are familiar with. Um, and uh, when I think about
places out, you know, Bush, you’ve got small towns and communities definitely have them running
through there. Um, that’s what I’d do. Okay. So you’d have, um, pick or the main sort of icons or
locations that exist out in the, in the desert. So you got towns like Kalgoorlie or Meekatharra, then you’ve
got mine sites, coals and gas and and iron and that. Um. What else? That you just have him going
through these locations and sort of getting into some sort of conflict. But at the ultimately, it’s like the
chase of the pursuit of love at the end of the day. Uh, yeah. Yeah. For me, it’s all about location, location,
location. Expand. How many locations these are kidneys can go through, uh, to just drag that story out to
at least 70 minutes. Um, I don’t think it’s a 2 hour or 3 hour story you’ve got, but at very least, you’ve got
a a 70 minute, 75 minute sort of, uh, tale of these kidneys on a chase. And, um, but they’re going through
all these different places. Um, and, um. Oh, of course. And there’s different animals and wildlife, too.
That can cause conflict, too. Um, because they’ve got the spikes, and that’s meant to be a defense against,
uh, predators like, uh, wildlife predators. So, yes, um, crocodiles, dingoes, um, all sorts. And that’s
something we never actually did that I think about. It is like, yeah, spike put his spikes up once, but that
was just like, you know, oh, bashful embarrassment or like, um, just all threatened. Just general threat.
Like, who is this Kiki? Uh, echidna? What is she doing? You realize? Oh, she’s just sharing the answer.
Oh, okay. It’s fine, but, um, there wasn’t really any massive threat or stakes that, uh, antagonized the
echidnas. And that’s actually what spikes are for. So yeah, there could be a scene where we really get to
see these spikes being used to evade some real danger. Um, my dad hidden a kidnap once in his van, and
it popped the tire.
Speaker 1
[00.18.31]
Yeah. Wow. That’s a good story, but you see what I mean? Like we didn’t. There’s a lot we can actually
explore with the, um, the element of spikes just in general. Like, uh, because we know his name is spike,
but, um. Yeah, there’s a lot we could actually do with that. Yes. Um, when Denis Collins or whoever was
writing the music for our film, how in particular did he come up with the composition?
Speaker 2
[00.19.07]
Yeah. So. Well, it was based off my edit, really. Like, um, we animated everything. It was, um, edited to
a point where I felt that there was a good flow and Denis had to watch it, and, um. Feel it. Understand it
and then jam with it. So you would have had to have picked up his guitar and just started playing around
with it first, probably. And then, um, match the tone. So like, it’s not like if you were to take away the
video and then just listen to his music. I don’t think it would be a, it might be a well put out song, but I
don’t I’m not sure how much it makes sense because I haven’t tried doing that yet, but um, uh, he would
have had to sit and feel what creation did we make and then jam to it. And so he’s it’s sort of an
improvisational sort of role. But then, um, he’s his task would be to have what his music, what music he
creates match the visuals. So there’s almost like you’re going in with no plan until there is one. When you
you’re jamming, you realize, oh, this don’t know why it works, but it fits. Sometimes it’s not about
perfection. Sometimes it’s a lot of the times it’s actually about does it work? Because you we all know
when something doesn’t work, it’s like, oh, it makes you cringe or it makes you feel like, ah, this is boring
or something. It’s just like, need something else? Um. But then a lot of people do have this pursuit of
perfectionism where it has to be perfected. Right. To make me the genius and the the most famous person
ever. Uh, but a lot of times it doesn’t work. That can actually take a lot of time. And, um, and if you’re
pursuing perfectionism without knowing what that actually looks like, you, you could fall down a black
hole. But if you stick with what works, um, things get done, like, efficiently, like from the time, because
there is a deadline for a lot of these projects. And, um, you then allow yourself to have more time to work
on other projects where the final line is, yep, this is good. That works. I’m not, I guess, like, I’m not too
much of a perfectionist. I’m I’m someone who enjoys getting the job done and having everyone happy
with it. Um, that to me, I guess, is a form of perfectionism, but, um, uh, but I don’t know. It’s, uh, artists
are weird. Uh,
Speaker 1
[00.21.41]
when we were making this short film. Did you think it was a good idea to start my screenwriting career
with a short film set in my native country? The way I thought so.
Speaker 2
[00.22.00]
Yeah. Um, write what you know. Uh, but. It’s it’s it’s. Yeah. Like Australia is, uh, our our our home. And,
um, my goal is to help boost, uh, a renaissance of storytelling that, uh, is about us and about where we
live and what our culture is. Um, uh, we have a we have quite a conflicting culture, um, uh, of who what
what’s the word it’s like. What what what is our identity, I guess. So for you to start your screenwriting,
uh, journey, uh, with stories about us or places that we are familiar with is a very, very good thing. Um,
uh. Because we’re familiar with it, we we enjoy stories that we’re familiar with. I think these days there is
a lot of, um, stories that we do like, and they are good stories, but, um, they’re not really about us. And
then. Ah. I could go on, I, I, I could go real political with this. I don’t want to, but I will say that, um,
when I did move over to Melbourne many years ago, I found a lot more people, um, half sort of talking
with an American accent. Um, and this I can attribute to the amount of TV and movies these people are
watching that are all coming out of America. And so there’s a big influence on that American culture.
Um, like, I myself, I’m like Italian, Burmese. I’ve got Irish and Scottish ancestry in me, but I’m born here.
I’m born in Perth. Um, so I’m already kind of a mixture of all sorts of cultures. Uh, but I do identify more
with Australia because I’ve spent more of my life here. Um, and, um, it’s it’s kind of a shame. I mean, I
think, oh, well, we could easily be as in, influence ourselves to do these things, but, um. And but also part
of our culture. Almost doesn’t recognize its own talent here, particularly WA. And I figured out why. It’s
because we import almost everything we export. Minerals like iron and gold and all the things we find
out of the ground. But we are so used to the fact that other good things that we enjoy, like things we like
to buy or rent or or things we like to watch or listen to. Majority of the cases don’t. They’re not from wa.
And then, uh, like when I was over in Melbourne, I found a lot more people supportive of talent. But,
um, again, also quite a small pool. Um, this is where we get the whole lot tall poppy syndrome sort of
thing, but, um, uh, have you heard of that
Speaker 1
[00.24.59]
poppy syndrome?
Speaker 2
[00.25.01]
Um, tall poppy syndrome.
Speaker 1
[00.25.02]
Tall poppy syndrome? Not really.
Speaker 2
[00.25.05]
Oh, it’s, um, it’s not a nice thing. It’s sort of when someone is growing in talent and the people around get
jealous and try to cut them down, because that’s what, uh, poppies. Like the flowers. If one flower starts
growing taller than the rest, the others will sort of strangle their vines around and pull it back down again.
So poppies all sort of grow the same height. Um, which, uh, that’s sort of an analogy that, uh, I’ve noticed
been thrown around for for many years. Um, so. In saying that. That is why I would love a resurgence in,
uh, films made in Australia, almost about Australia, and have them be very creative because there’s also
a, an influence, because we do make films. In fact, Australia, unlike America, um, has the government
support making films. Uh, so in America it’s all like, um, sort of independent businesses, all the big
studios, they’re just doing it by themselves. No government support. Um, but the films that we’re
currently making are mostly dramas and thrillers, and they’re fine. Um, but may, you’re not into that at
all. You’re, you’re you’re into animation. You’re into comedy, colour and fun and vibrancy. Musicals, to
which we’ve heard a lot about that. And, you know, we’ve done some good musicals like, uh, uh, like
what? Brand New Day? Um, that was okay. Yes. Have you seen that yet?
Speaker 1
[00.26.34]
Well, I’m actually, I’m, um. I saw part of it when it came on TV at a hotel in Melbourne.
Speaker 2
[00.26.42]
Yeah. So, I mean, that’s just, I guess one topic. Film. I can think of the top of my head with, um, that was
made particularly here in WA. Um, so my, my, my hope and goal and this is to myself, not just for you,
but just in general for all the film makers around here. Is that we. Uh, can hopefully get to tell a a really
cool, vibrant, fun story that can lift the mood a bit. Um, because, yeah, I love Australian films. I always
like looking up on streaming services. What new Australian film has come out? But I also have a a love
hate relationship with it because, um, a lot of them make me feel really bad because they are ultimately
dramas and thrillers. Nothing wrong with it, but I if there’s more dramas and thrillers out there and less
colourful, fun stuff like what you want to make, it doesn’t make it easy on yourself to break into that
industry, if that’s your style. Um, but, uh, the only way to get there is to tell those stories. Um, so, um, but
I don’t know, like, um, like, I, I have my own thoughts and feelings about it, and they will change as, like,
time goes on, I’m sure. Um, that’s kind of how I feel right now. Yeah.
Speaker 1
[00.28.04]
How did you like the way I thought up the romantic ending to spike, where the ants form the kidneys,
names in the sand and Spike and Kiki make that heart with their long tongues.
Speaker 2
[00.28.22]
Well, I think I might have answered that preemptively before, but yeah, definitely one of my favorite
shots to to do that was the theme. Like, it was a lot more effort to put into that shot because we had those
ants running around. And then there was like Kiki and Spike on the same screen, and then the
background had to fade from day to night again. Um, yeah. It was a I like it was a complicated scene to
put together, but then the final product I think I was the most proud of. Absolutely.
Speaker 1
[00.28.58]
Are there. Is that it? Yeah. All ten questions have. Oh, well, have a have a very much like an ending.
Yeah, yeah. Like, let’s wrap it up. Um. All right.
Speaker 2
[00.29.12]
Um,
Speaker 1
[00.29.13]
thank you for listening to this podcast episode, and I’ll see you next time.