About ECHOES...

"Echoes..." - an early experimental film from Director Ben Warner.

SYNOPSIS:
Strange events are occurring in Mark's life. His life is turning into an unnerving mix of reality and fantasy. What is real and what is imaginary? No one can say where he has gone, or even if he went at all, or if he was in fact destined to take this journey in the first place, but one thing is for certain: his life will never be the same again.

Movie Details

Language: English

Year of production: 1999

Length: 7m:05s

Country: Australia

Original source

Filmmaker's Personal Web TV

Film Annex


  • Directors:
    Ben Warner
  • Producers:
    Ben Warner
    Mara Warner
  • Actors:
    Beau Wellington

Comments

  • Ismaelina on 15 August at 15:37

    Hi friend, the first video: I dont believe that an older woman is o.k. if you push her, he felt at the grass, and she is very happy if you gave her s SNIKER. Perhaps a boy. Bye Isilva

  • Ben Warner on 01 July at 16:46

    The short film Echoes… was the second film I had ever made, and I can remember that I used to worry a lot about whether or not I could pull it off, or even how to physically accomplish the task without wasting everyone’s time, especially as my first short film Territory took over two years to complete. When Echoes… came around, I was determined to make the schedule much shorter, and also, to keep the logistics of production much smaller. It would also prove to be a great testing ground for another, more ambitious film I was scripting at the time that would eventually turn in to my third short film Demon.

    I do not recall a specific idea or spark that set off the story of Echoes… other than that it became a series of disparate dream-like sequences linked together by a host character. I book-ended it with the host character not knowing if he is dreaming or not. In the end, it became quite an art-house and vague film. Someone commented to me later that Echoes… was like going on some spaced-out, drug-induced fantasy trip.

    This was also the first film where I needed an actor. To keep things simple, I cajoled my best friend in to stepping in front of the camera, even though he was not an actor; thankfully he was game and I could boss him around without much recompense due to our friendship!

    Echoes… was the first film where I got to use a digital video camera. In the late 90s, miniDV was a quantum leap forward for the indie filmmaker, although it’s all a bit quaint now. The picture was incredible, at least compared to the Video 8mm camera I had been using, and it worked well in low light conditions, which I used to great extent during filming. I remember asking some friends from my day job to help out on set, and I remember them holding up lights and other things. Remember that scene where a spot light shines through the kitchen window? That’s one of those guys hanging off to the side dangling a powerful torch in to the window while keeping the power cables untangled… this was in the day before I could afford proper lights on stands!

    For post-production, I decided to bite the bullet and spend over $6000 on a shiny new non-linear editing PC, running Adobe Premiere 5.1 and Windows 98… ah, the memories, the personal loan that took me two years to pay off, and the constant blue screen of death whenever that lovely operating system crashed in the middle of an edit. In the end, it proved to be a powerhouse system which post-produced my first six films and may still have been in use today if not for the advent of HDV and iMacs.

    Echoes… was completed in about three months; much quicker than my previous film, but I was still experimenting with how to do shots with lights and in the dark. I got to experiment with some special effects and sound, and in the end, it turned okay for what it was. I hope any one that watches it can get something out of it; with the advent of the internet, it can now be watched by the world and not sit on the shelf collecting dust, which is a thrill!

  • Digicosm TV on 05 April at 00:23

    "ECHOES..." was my second ever film, made in 1999 for no money and the generous understanding of some good friends! It was a great experience and I got to experiment with a lot of techniques, some of which were invaluable to learn.

    We'd love to hear what you think of this film. Your feedback/discussion will assist our team in delivering new films for DIGICOSM TV.

    Regards, Ben Warner, DIGICOSM TV.