Ben Warner on 20 July at 08:21Report abuse

I’m not sure if this happens to every filmmaker, but for me, I had one film experience that in one big hit re-defined my approach and thinking about making films. That experience was the third feature I made called Parallels.

In looking back at all the films I have made thus far, I can clearly divide the list in to a “Pre-Parallels” and “Post-Parallels” period because in many fundamental ways, my mindset for how to make a film changed quite significantly after the experience of making Parallels, and I think, led to a substantial improvement in the films that followed (although this is ultimately up to the audience to determine!).

What was so special about this film to cause all of this? In short, I clearly discovered everything that I was doing wrong as a filmmaker, and the film suffered as a result.

Going in to this film, I had a strong desire to change my processes, for the simple reason that I did not want to repeat myself and take the quality of what I was making up a notch or two. I wanted to be much more active in seeking input from other collaborators because film is a collaboration and the more good heads you get working on it, the better the film will be. I was also concerned about how to sell the film as my previous film Guardian did not go anywhere because of its apparent lack of marketability, as I was told by a number of sales agents. With Parallels I chose to fuse sci-fi with horror because those genres tend to sell well.

Unfortunately, I took all of this too far and as a result, the script was in no shape to be filmed as it stood, and I have subsequently been told that despite having some good moments and a couple of good individual sequences, the film was a bit of a mess in terms of structure and plot. The more interesting aspects were underwritten, while the least interesting seemed to take up too much screen time. All of this occurred because I did not push for an overall vision of the film, and was more concerned about making a film for a specific market (in this case, sci-fi/horror).

Every day on set, I felt as if I was doing a very average job as a director, although I obviously did not tell any one. I didn’t like the footage I was directing, except for a scene here and there, and this was not anyone’s fault but my own because everyone who worked on the film put in a great effort to make it work. This came home to me when I began editing the film; I butchered the footage to pieces, and I had to really think outside the box to make it work. The script should have produced a 98 minute film, but the rough cut came in at 63 minutes. I calmed down eventually and restored another 11 minutes to the cut to make it play more evenly, but it still highlighted to me that the script was nowhere near good enough that I had to cut so much out of it. Furthermore, there was a crucial change made during filming that substantially affected a 15 minute sequence in the film. I remember panicking during the edit of this sequence because my original intention of the scene was completely turned upside down and inside out. The change demanded a completely different structure for the editing in that sequence. If you look at the scripted sequence versus the one that ended up in the film, you would not be able to match them, but thankfully, the sequence turned out to be far superior to the one in the script, and I have the lead actors to thank for that as they suggested this change to me.

By the time the film premiered in Melbourne, I wanted to disappear and avoid the reaction. I dreaded catching up with everyone involved later because I felt they would be disappointed, and some of them were, particularly as I had built up their expectations in hyping up the film. I even made the mockumentary The Trial Of Film to play before Parallels in an attempt to make fun of the experience. As it turned out, The Trial Of Film was very well received while the main event in Parallels was greeted more with a polite clap.

After all these issues played out, the irony is that Parallels opened up a number of doors I never expected to see open. The film led to some great publicity at the Cannes Film Festival in 2005, with the Asian News Cinema Awards win for Best Sci-Fi and Best Female Newcomer. A few months later, Film Annex contacted me about offering the film for sale through their online platform, which has subsequently led to a fruitful online collaboration for my other films with them, particularly with the webtvs. And the experience of making the film led to a number of new connections and collaborations within the Melbourne filmmaking community, which has in turn led to more films and rewarding experiences.

I have never been able to reconcile the experience of making this film with the film that got made. I think I am much harsher and unfair on it than most people who have watched it, for the simple reason that it reminds me of my failures on it as a director. However, the fact that this all happened was very empowering to me, led me to pay much more attention to script and performance, and never let me take these things for granted in subsequent films. I learnt unequivocally that you should never stop trying to figure out a way to make it better. I learnt never to take an idea for granted, because you, or someone on your team, can come up with a better idea the next day. I learnt that you have to have, and stick to, a specific vision. I learnt you have to know what you want and believe in it all the way. As a result of all this, I believe the films I made after that were far stronger thanks to this hard learning experience.

The experience of making Parallels was not pleasant, but it was the most important and defining filmmaking experience I have had in films so far; I have no regrets that I went through it and am extremely thankful for the experience.

shrishailesh on 09 September at 13:56Report abuse

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Melcsi on 15 August at 16:16Report abuse

This film is an audio-visual adventure, I can't get over it!
The story line carries its audience with it.
These actors are perfect choice, they're awesome. It shows, how many great actors out there! They're great both on the funny and on the scary side.
The construction of the film, the story, the direction and I have to say, the whole project is perfectly made and well thought-out.
The blurry, blue cutpictures, the movement of the camera and the great, powerful sound effects makes the film more scary in its good way and plus if it's spiced with a little love thread, well, I can't tell anything more, it speaks for itself.
I really recommend it to everybody, it's a must see, if you like fun, music and scare things.
So, thank you Ben and the whole team, keep it up!

on 14 August at 04:54Report abuse

That was really good. I was shocked with surprise, at how good it was.
I've watched heaps of indie movies lately and this one kept me interested right to the end and is definitely one fo the better one's I've seen. The ending itself was possibly a little lacklustre but the story is really interesting, truely captivating and well constructed.

Four and half stars from me.

on 25 April at 12:04Report abuse

I really liked this movie, definetively one of the best I saw here on filmannex.