"What inspired you to become a filmmaker?"

In an attempt to answer the above question, I’ve altered and repurposed the famous quote from Goodfellas (1990), a film by one of my favourite directors, Martin Scorcese. His films were instrumental to my creative sensibilities during a time when my household was over saturated by Russian romantic dramas such as Irony of Fate (1975) and Moscow Does Not Believe In Tears (1979).

I feel like because of watching so many Russian dramas, I've subconsciously started developing a taste for character driven films (this may explain why I can't sit through superhero blockbusters). However, I always felt like there was more, I needed more. Well, be careful what you wish for as they say... One faithful evening, when my mum got called in for an evening shift, the TV called me in for an evening screening. That same evening, I knew my career path.

Inspiration is a funny concept. Where does it come from? And more importantly, why does one feel inspired by a particular device? When I grew older, I began thinking about the type of films I wanted to make, so I revisited the one film that I felt was imprinted in my consciousness ever since I watched it that faithful evening. My answers lie within ShutterIsland (2010) by Martin Scorcese.

I was immensely inspired by this film primarily because of how Scorcese directed the story, and how he was able to externalise the internal workings of the protagonist by inviting the viewer to see the world through his eyes via cinematography, editing and sound. This is either overtly expressed - as seen in the hallucinatory episodes involving his family, or so covert that it risks being misinterpreted.

For example, there’s a directorial decision to include an intentional continuity error in a scene where the protagonist interviews a patient. In one shot we see the patient drinking from anon-existing glass of water, and in the next shot, we actually see the glass as it's placed down.

This is because the first shot is from the protagonist’s point of view. He has a consistent aversion to water and therefore mentally blocks it out due to a traumatic event involving water. Allegorical storytelling that's expressed through filmmaking tools made me realise how powerful cinema is in exploring a character’s psyche.

‘As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a filmmaker’.

Further indulgence in Scorcese’s filmography demonstrated how masterful he is at directing narratives that stay true to the character's psychological state and also his willingness to break the traditional form to accurately portray the characters' inner state. For example, in Silence (2016), the protagonist struggles with his faith, his prayers are greeted with silence, and towards the film’s climax when the protagonist is forced to deny his faith by stepping on God, he finally hears his voice, instructing to step on him. Visually, it’s a stone that speaks, symbolically, it's God’s existence confirmed. As the protagonist steps on the stone, what follows is over 30 seconds of silence, digital silence, something films traditionally avoid as it reminds the audience of the artificiality of films and thus breaks the illusion of reality. At this moment, I’ve never experienced silence to be so loud...

Martin Scorcese introduced me to many different ways you can tell a story, and which tools to use when. We know him for voice-overs, freeze frames, breaking the fourth wall, Rolling Stones scores and the exploration of the flawed human. His films and directorial style greatly informed me of my own taste and helped me shape my own voice. I fell in love with this medium to such a degree that I started writing and directing my own short films, and as you may have guessed it, they’re all from a character's perspective and explore internal predicaments visually and aurally.

Notice any parallels?

Scorcese's filmography and narrative philosophy taught me that films don’t need to be intellectually realistic in order to feel real. When you can use the camera and editing to heighten a scene, the impact that it leaves on the audience is much greater. You begin to define what a character is feeling and thus immerse the audience in the story to a greater effect. Ultimately, all of these tools serve one purpose and one purpose only, to tell a story, and as this story concludes, I’m ready to write my next one.