MEET THE FILMMAKERS: KYLE LACEY-JANETZKI

Part 4 of The Sydney Science Fiction Film Festival IN CONVERSATION Series, hosted by Festival Director and Screen-Space Managing Editor, Simon Foster.

MILK (Australia, 5.40 mins) When a young boy is torn away from his pink strawberry milkshake, his world transforms into a video game escapade to reunite him with his beloved sugary drink.

Screening in the AUSTRALIAN SHORT FILM SHOWCASE on Saturday November 21 from 10.30 at Actors Centre Australia. 

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SIMON: What have been the science-fiction works – books, films, art of any kind – that have inspired your work and forged your love for the genre?

KYLE: Milk specifically was inspired by Ready Player One with a focus on its retro aesthetic - taking on influences from classic video games like Mario, Donkey Kong, Pac-Man, Dance Dance Revolution, and Street Fighter. It’s no shock that my love for sci-fi has a huge basis in both books, film, and video games. The most formative of these that forged my love for the genre includes Star Wars (across all 3 mediums), The Matrix, Inception, Doctor Who, and more fantastical/magical realism works of speculative fiction like superhero films and Studio Ghibli.

 

SIMON: How did the original concept for your film take shape? What aspects of your film’s narrative and your protagonist’s journey were most important to you?

KYLE: They say write what you know - and what I know is good milkshakes. I’m a self-appointed connoisseur of strawberry milkshakes, and the desire to have one came as the easy answer to the “want” of my protagonist - all I needed was an interesting mechanism to achieve that want. It was very important to me that this mechanism be entertaining, to create life and energy into a simple desire. This is how I like to connect to my audiences when I create a film: a simple enough premise that they can get on board with easily, but presented in a way that is entertaining and fantastical. 

SIMON: Does the ‘science-fiction’ genre have deep roots in the art and cultural history of your homeland? Were the resources, facilities and talent pool required to bring your film to life easily sourced?

KYLE: I believe science fiction has its roots in cultural history all over the world, and Australia is no exception. To speculate on our world, to wander what-if, to imagine the advances of the human race, and to pose ideological/theological questions through art and culture are inherent to all homelands where human hearts reside. To underestimate Australia in this regard, especially in our ability to craft beautiful science fiction works, would to be blind to a plethora of powerful stories that have been told through our cultural history.

SIMON: Describe for us the very best day you had in the life cycle of your film…

KYLE: I think the first (and only!) day of shooting was truly remarkable. We managed to shoot the entire film over the course of about 10 hours, and each shot, location, and set up flowed and exceeded our expectations on how efficiently a film could be made. Our film was remarkably easy to source - it was created from pen to screen in 9 days as part of a production trip with the Griffith University Film School. Our equipment, crew, our actors (one of our lecturers and the son of another lecturer starring together in the film), and our post-production software were made available to us - and we couldn’t be more thankful! 

SIMON: Having guided your film from idea to completion, what lessons and advice would you offer a young science-fiction filmmaker about to embark on a similar journey?

KYLE: Write what you know and keep it simple. It’s so easy to get caught up in grand ideas and complex narratives, but if you start somewhere simple and keep that concept at the core of your work, then you won’t be led astray. The only limit is your creativity - how will your characters achieve their goal and reflect your original idea and themes in the most fantastic, mysterious, or enjoyable way? Have a strong idea of what you want your story to look like, then dive in!