Lawson Cross is a Brisbane based Director and DOP who specialises in Music Video Production. With his dark and grungy style, Lawson has worked with some of the biggest Australian artists. On top of this, Lawson is also an extremely talented street photographer. Lawson’s work ethic and commitment to learning and improving his skillset inspired me to improve my own abilities. For any up and coming filmmakers, this is a must read.
Beginnings
I just want to go back to where your interest in filmmaking started?
“There wasn’t ever one specific thing. Since I was young, I just knew that creating things made me happy. I remember there was a rap battle in high school and I filmed it on my phone. It kind of went viral in my school overnight because all the teachers were playing it. Class kind of stopped because everyone just wanted to watch it. I kind of realised I wanted to make videos and signed up for Screen Media Production at University.”
I heard you say once that you would post a photo every day to improve your skills. Can you just kind of dive into this mentality?
“The only reason I learnt anything was because I was scared of not being good enough. I came from a small town, and I was the “hot shot” simply because I could use a computer. I took a gap year to save up money for university. I would work 7 days a week in the grocery store from about 6am to 10am and then come home and just watch hours of filmmaking tutorials. I thought I got competent at editing and then I got to film school and they taught us the exposure triangle on the first day. I was honestly rattled by it. I went out and bought a camera and spent a week researching everything about it. I went out every day to take photos and slowly developed a good eye over time.”
Music Video Production
Can you just break down where it starts?
“It starts with an artist messaging me asking for a price. Then I just listen to the song on repeat and try to just imagine what it feels like. Either it is something I have wanted to attempt for a while, or I really like this one visual and I want to try that.”
The production processes.
“The kind of approach I take with my filmmaking is that I am very matter of fact, analytical and methodical. I will pre plan every part of it and communicate the exact lighting with my gaffer. On the day, 90% of the time we won’t change a thing. By doing that it allows you to bite off bigger shots and ideas. I also do all the big shots ‘to a tee’ beforehand just so I don’t fuck it up on the day.”
How do you work with an artist? Do you like complete control or is it more of a collaboration?
“I have a very specific style. Artists see this look and want to collaborate. My ideas are always way bigger than the budget though. The more money, the more streamlined it gets, but the less money results in less ambitious freedom.”
Your photography has these characters that you bring to life. Can you just expand break on this process?
“A lot of my inspiration doesn’t come from people but instead pieces. It’s very inspired by 90s grunge and advertising. Like the old PS2 ads and skater mags that you don’t see anymore. Also, renaissance, and religious paintings. These paintings are aligned geometrically with specific lines and layouts. I became inspired by the composition and a single frame telling a story.”
Who are your biggest inspirations? Filmmakers, writers, directors?
“Greg Fraser definitely. I saw the Creator twice in cinemas and it was incredible. Greg only started out being the DOP, but the Batman is my favourite looking film of all time. It is my exact style, the teal and orange rainy cityscape. I love a dark pitch-black image. He is just doing what I do but at the highest degree.”
Your advice to up-and-coming filmmakers / creatives in Brisbane / Australia?
“I would say the biggest thing is knowing when you are being fucked with. A big issue for a lot of people is being led astray. There is a lot of motivational content that is good up to a certain degree. Eventually you must realise when it is time to stop watching self-affirming content. You just must start making your own mistakes and learning on your own. Honestly, just fuck up in private.”
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Jack Clark and Jim Weir are Australian filmmakers who recently created their debut feature film – Birdeater. The film has won awards at festivals around Australia and is now going international. After months waiting to see it, I was finally able to watch it at the Brisbane International Film Festival. Birdeater was one of my most anticipated movies of the year and it did not disappoint. It was a harrowing and hilarious experience that perfectly encapsulated young Australians. Read on for my conversation with Jack Clark and Jim Weir.
FRAZIER: “I have read about how challenging the shooting was with weather, actors changing and funds running out so I wanted to ask how you maintain motivation when all things feel hopeless and over in production?”
JACK: “You really must rely on each other. We had our worst moments when we were in ourselves and not communicating. To establish the tone of a set is such a big part of being a director that is often overlooked. We realised that if we established the tone on set it would spread across everyone. Ultimately, the crew and cast were the biggest support for us. Especially people like Roger Stonehouse (Director of Photography) who were shooting every single day.”
JIM: “For upcoming filmmakers, follow through is important. Doing the entire life cycle of a project is where you really learn. It’s a common trap we saw at film school where when you start a project and it gets tough, they would throw in the towel. Another one is when you have a project that might get made, people will just start thinking of the next thing. Just having the discipline to ride the life cycle of a film.”
FRAZIER: The paranoia game, these men always wearing masks in front of their partners, it all felt like I was watching people I knew. Can you talk about creating these very specific but relatable moments and characters for an Australian audience?
Jack Bannister as Charlie, Mackenzie Fearnley as Louie, Clementine Anderson as Grace, Ben Hunter as Dylan, Shabana Azeez as Irene, Alfie Gledhill as Murph, Harley Wilson as Sam.
JACK: “It was all about bringing an audience to the bucks night. Irene and Grace come to the party which is something that girls aren’t usually present for. We felt like that was enough for the characters to panic and reveal their paranoias and insecurities. The paranoia game just plays into all this.”
JIM: “Something we used as a rule of thumb is start with an archetype where the audience will instantly form an opinion of them. Then, add dramatic contradiction that opens them up to being more interesting. Like Dylan, he is this party animal and antagonist that is desperate to have a good time but also is deeply lonely and sad.”
FRAZIER: What did the writing process look like for both of you?
Clayton D Moss and Jim Weir
JACK: “We are both writers since film school. It has taken a while to build up a regularity with writing. They always said it at film school that you need to write everyday, and it felt very daunting but slowly it did become a regularity. It is a lot of shit ideas I feed Jim that sometimes work and are exciting. We were always writing. We were writing on the day; we were writing narration on the last day in case we needed it. It is just a constant thing. Then you get the actors on board and if they are good, they will have their own opinions.”
JIM: “Actors will see something in their character that is there but is usually a small part of the character that they latch onto. Most of my day-to-day job is being available for conversation and being able to talk through ideas and try to work out what we are trying to say. I will just sift through 1000 ideas Jack throws at me and I will just say what is good”.
FRAZIER: So the core focus is just on chipping away everyday together at it?
JACK: “It is definitely hard. I remember I used to get nice notebooks. A big change for me was getting really shit notebooks because then they aren’t precious about what is on the page. I also like the process of writing it because you are already editing it from physical to digital.”
FRAZIER: “So you don’t do the first draft by hand? It is just writing all your ideas down first and then bringing it onto the electronic document.”
JACK: “If my writing was more legible, I would trust myself. But honestly I would just focus on not being too precious.”
FRAZIER: “I won’t ask you again about Wake in Fright but I did hear you both talk about the Celebration, Nashville and Mishima, but more specifically this period of watching just the weirdest films you could in AFTRS. How important do you think this period was and its effect on you as filmmakers?”
Clementine Anderson and Jack Bannister
JACK: “A lot of the movies we watched in film school were probably above my paygrade. I probably latched onto a cool dolly. It’s more the process of realising how many different and unique perspectives are out there. It is realising that if you want to make something that is cutting you have to overwhelm yourself with content. There are still so many areas I haven’t even scratched yet.”
JIM: “It is crucial. Slowly building up that film literacy is important because when you are stuck you will have a catalogue of great movies in your brain. An example would be we have seen so many movies with a character having a quiet moment reflecting in a bathroom mirror. We had the idea that in this bathroom there is no mirror because it denies the girls a moment of reflection.”
JACK: “You will come to a scene and shooting its coverage and straight away you will think “I know how to shoot this scene.” You have to forcibly stop yourself and realise you have taken that movement or shot from something else. You just have to be aware that you have taken it from something else.”
JIM: “Something we are quite conscious of is having as many references as we can outside of the genre and especially not taking references from recent films that are doing the same thing. That is when you have work that feels derivative. You have to go further back. People say Birdeater feels original but that is because so much of it is stolen from films people haven’t seen.”
FRAZIER: “Yeah I remember you saying Jim that if you just watch enough films you will shoot in the way you watch.”
JACK: “It is tough as well and a question people in film school need to ask themselves. If you want to make narrative content, do you like movies and do you watch them.”
FRAZIER: “I know Jim you have said that the best advice is to just keep making shorts and eventually they will look like what you watch, but I was wondering if you both had any specific advice on the ability to keep the film dream alive when it doesn’t feel like anyone cares and what your making isn’t receiving attention?”
Shabana Azeez and Mackenzie Fearnley
JACK: “It comes down to a method thing. There will be a day when it looks like what you want to make or maybe even better. But then another questions arises which is do I really care about this? Now that you can do it is it something you truly want to say. When you are young you can focus on learning how to make films but then be aware that the harder challenge is what to do with that.”
JIM: “From a more practical perspective it is easy to get caught up in the trap of the filmmaking success being where you get your joy in life. I think the challenge is what can I do to be happy in my life as a struggling filmmaker. If you aren’t happy struggling, you won’t be happy successful. Getting good reception to a movie, everyone is surprised by how little that does for you on self-perception and how happy you are in life.”
JACK: “There was a big trap in film school where people thought their third-year film was going to be “it” and the best thing they have made. But it should just be a process where you are looking ahead.”
FRAZIER: “There has been this recent shift in the last 5 years with Australian films and the direction they are moving. I was just wondering your perspective on where it’s going and where you want the film scene to move and explore?”
JIM: “I am feeling very optimistic. I have met a lot of aspiring filmmakers and directors who have such interesting things to say. There is a trend of filmmakers playing with different genres which is something I definitely want to see continue.”
JACK: “I want to see something we didn’t do and that is more stuff in cities. Maybe it is a self-defence thing, but we push our movies away where there is nobody else. I saw films shot in Sydney and I was so excited to see films shot here. A good Sydney drama would be nice and I will be happy. But I am very excited because there are so many young filmmakers coming up.
I first heard of Hayden when I was at a filmmaking bootcamp, and someone told me of a short film that was recently made. The film was called “Final Girl” and was about a girl being chased by a killer through the different eras of horror. An incredible idea that instantly made me jealous. Now over a year later, Hayden is in the final stages of creating a revenge horror film called Tommy. After watching this film, I can safely say it has one of the most unique and refreshing styles I have seen in a while. Hearing his passion and love for this project showed me how dedicated he was to filmmaking. Read on for more.
Hayden Teremoana on set
What is Tommy?
“It’s Kill Bill meets Carrie. It’s a 70s style revenge horror about a group of friends who are hunted by someone who they have done wrong. He hunts them down one by one, getting answers about what happened the night before.”
Jordan Stott, Leo Buzac, David Nicolau, Chloe Small
How did this idea come to you?
“I will give you the dark and light version. The dark version is that I thought of this idea about 2-3 years ago. My Mum had passed away when I was about 18. Originally, it was about Tommy going after a group of friends who had something to do with his mother’s death. I wanted to play on the idea of toxic friendships and grief. The idea stemmed from me dealing with the death of my mother and projecting my emotions.
There was also a song I liked called Tommy and there’s an outro where there is a girl screaming an outro. I loved it and combined the two.”
What has been the biggest challenge so far of making an Indie short film?
“The biggest thing for me personally was delegating the tasks to other people and not just doing all the work by myself. I have learnt this year to start trusting other people with my vision. I try to make what I want to do as a filmmaker known to everyone so they can work with me. Also, as a director differentiating your focus towards style and performances. I could have spent more time getting those performances as intense as I wanted them to be.”
When you’re on set is there a specific way you talk with actors?
“Leading up to shoots, I build more of a person relationship with them. I want to make sure they are comfortable with me because there is a big theme of the sexual assault. I am very collaborative in the way that I want the actors to feel like they have written the dialogue. I also like to put more emphasis on their personal experience in their past to come to an agreeance to bring this certain moment to life.”
When you were writing this script, what was your structure and plan writing it?
“The way that I worked through was that I focused on how I wanted each character to die. I had the grand death scene for each character written first and worked backwards from there. It had to feel like a fluid sequence of events.”
Chloe Small
TALKING MOVIES
I can see your love for horror in Final Girl and Tommy. So who are your favourite horror filmmakers and favourite horror films?
“Tommy is a Giallo inspired film. I love films like Suspiria, it is so over the top with colours and becomes this neon nightmare. Also, Mario Bava was a big horror Giallo director – Blood and Black Lace are amazing. More modern horror directors are Mike Flannagan. He is great at making horrifying sequences without sound. Not necessarily a horror filmmaker but Nicholas Wendig Refn for the Neon Demon which is a stunning horror film. Gaspar Noe is a big influence, I have been watching his films a bunch recently. Before I started writing Tommy as well, I watched I Spit on Your Grave. I would also say Wes Craven as well.
“My favourite movie of all time is Brides Maids. I have watched it 100 times.”
The worst thing that people do in the cinema?
“Take off their shoes and socks and put their feet on the seat. It’s absolutely feral. Put the dogs away we don’t want to see it.”
The Future
Where do you want to see the Australian film scene move?
The Tommy Crew
“I love so many old Australian films and TV shows. I just watched the old Heartbreak High. The depiction of Australia was so real back then. We have just had a 20-year gap where we have been a little bit westernised. Our country has so much culture that people just aren’t exploring. We are rapidly modernising everything around us that we are forgetting the stories we need to tell.”
Is there an Australian horror movie that you think needs to be made?
“I would love to do Australian Horror Story. I have actually thought of at least four seasons that could be done and I want to focus on that once I’m finished. Especially the outback and how terrifying it is. Australian Horror Story needs to happen and I’m going to make it happen.”
If a film genie gave you one wish to do anything you want, what would it be?
“I would make a TV show based on Dead by Daylight. One thing it has is their lore. Especially about the characters and the killers. If you made this show it would outweigh all the old horror villains because there is so much depth to these killers.”
What is next for you?
“I am hoping to get into being a first AD to try and get some first-hand experience from directors and on bigger films. Also just writing a heap of shit and hopefully in the next five years I can make another couple of films. Hopefully try to establish Australia as a horror scene. My end goal is to be known as one of the best Australian horror directors.”
“I need to shoutout my entire crew and every other director of all the grad slates. I am so excited to see these new experimental films.”
Jordan Stott as Tommy
Make sure to follow Tommy on Instagram and pay attention for it’s festival release!
