CHOICES (2006)

Written and Directed by Ben McKenzie
Aged 15

Made during the January school holidays – My first ever attempt at putting what I thought gore was into a home movie. I realise now that there are more shocking things than bloodshed.

The blood was a mix of Ribena, red food colouring and paint.
This was back in the day when “Ben hadn’t done special FX make-up”…

This film was created in a small period of time with only two people.
I was not satisfied with the end result, understandably because it was way before I learned about camera techniques, sound, script work and every single other important factor, which I use in film now.

Rebecca did a good job of holding it together… even after I had cut her to pieces…

View the film now from Youtube

STATIC (2005)

Written and Directed by Ben McKenzie
Aged 15

My first home movie, which attempted to tribute ‘horror styled’ films.
I am able to look back and point out the mistakes I made – and how to avoid them in future projects… The quality and flow of the film resembles that of a Goosebumps episode, however it has enabled me to see what does and what definitely doesn’t work on camera.

The film follows the story of a girl at home by herself, quite cliché – but still a good starting point and basis for this genre to build on.
This film to me is less than a fraction of my current abilities; nevertheless I can appreciate what I have learned from the experience, which might I say was an improvised project which took less than an hour to shoot with only Leah and I working on it. Kudos to Leah for staying awake…

View the film now from Youtube

A MURDER OF CROWS (2007)

Written and Directed by Ben McKenzie
Aged 16

Made during the January school holidays – My first attempt at a feature film. I dove into it quickly and didn’t get what I wanted, but learned ever-so-much about how to film, and how to do long term planning. The imagery wasn’t quite what I wanted it to be – but that was due to my budget, which was basically $0…

I wanted a more surreal and abstract atmosphere with the scarecrow – but wasn’t able to completely create this due to time restrictions… and of course not having as many resources as I would have liked.

Films such as “The Skeleton Key”, and initially, “Jeepers Creepers 2” inspired this, which was a film that motivated me to take a good idea and make it better. The concept of “Jeepers Creepers 2” aggravated me due to its unrealistic mood. The Director took a great idea, and destroyed it by making the scarecrow into an alien freak.
My goal was to consider the idea of a living scarecrow with a completely different approach. There are many ‘Scarecrow’ slasher films out there, but none manage to capture an eerie essence with realism, which I set out to do.

This was an extremely low-budget, Australian, independent feature film. I tackled a difficult project with a small amount of help – and came out with something that I am fairly pleased with. I learned so much about filming techniques during the production of this film particularly lighting and sound. These newfound skills have helped to inspire me for my next film, and motivated me to continue doing what I love.

Post-production on the film has been held up due to my participation in ‘Australian Idol 07’. Coinciding with my departure from the show I had completed a new synopsis which has more depth and potential, ‘Submerged’.

’A Murder of Crows’ is definitely a project that will be completed in due course, but currently my focus has shifted to the development of ‘Submerged’

View the preview trailer for Murder of Crows from from Youtube