AN INTERVIEW ON THE NEW MEDIA FILM FESTIVAL BY XAQUE GRUBER .

XAQUE GRUBER’S QUESTIONS ON THE AMANDA ELIASCH’s FILM

The gun the cake and the butterfly for The New Media Film Festival.

1.    How did new media/new approaches in filmmaking play a part in the creation of The Gun, The Cake & The Butterfly?

The new approach to film equipment made the film possible. If I had completely known everything it would have made it much cheaper and I could almost have done the whole production side on my own at home.
I did not.  I have used many cameras but shooting digitally has made the

Film making world come alive with a mobile making a film, tiny cameras doing a good job too and in my case the Canon, the beautiful canon, which everybody thinks you are taking photographs when you are in fact shooting a film. Incredible.  There are many other filmmakers able to make films now for next to nothing and this makes the whole cinematic world come alive.  

Also remember after making the film and editing it, the real costs are the same again to sell it..
I made this film to increase the  number of females making films.  If people will not invest in them, then the film has to be as cheap as possible and look as good as possible so the new equipment enables this to happen.

2.    Your trailer is a beautiful snapshot of your feature – talk about the challenges in crafting an effective trailer.  

This was incredible easy in fact. The trailer is a common sense flow of the story. It moves in circles and is beautifully crafted by the production people involved.  I would have originally just done my face looking out of the window. The trailer definitely makes you want to see the film.

3. What advice would you give to a filmmaker who is about to embark on creating a 2 minute trailer of their first feature film?

For first time film makers my advice would be make sure you all get on, make sure that the script is fairly tight, and make sure you understand every aspect of film making so that you do not overspend.  If you do not understand everything, it leaves areas where you can be taken for a ride. It was an incredible experience for me. You do though need to choose carefully when working with people. for me the most important attributes are integrity, loyalty and honesty. These are very difficult to find.

4. What intrigues you most about new media/new approaches in filmmaking?

As a photographer originally the new formats give me huge opportunity to experiment with the medium. It makes everything possible. One of the best films was made on no budget at all on an iPhone. Mine was made on a smallish budget with a Canon. The film simply could not have been made on original cameras. 
I like to follow the advice of Mr McKenna "This is how magic is done. By hurling yourself into the abyss and discovering its a feather bed.”
– Terence McKenna