Video transcript
ARTEXPRESS 2020 - Student interview - 09. Zak Kalivas

[music playing]

ZAK KALIVAS: Hi. My name's Zak Kalivas. I studied visual arts in Dulwich High School of Visual Arts and Design in NSW. My body of work, it's in time-based form, titled 'Control C.' It's an appropriation of the Greek myth of 'Narcissus and Echo' and a critique of modern society.

It's inspired by films such as 'Black Mirror,' music videos, pop culture. And, it follows the account of a protagonist trying to find love in a digital futuristic world, where there's a company, a giant company called Echo, which is basically the metaphorical appropriation of the character in Ovid's version of 'Narcissus and Echo.'

It basically follows the protagonist of the film, a female version of Narcissus, where she stumbles upon an online version of basically Tinder, where it digitally creates an artificial version, an artificial companion, a lover, in a digital world based on your DNA and your personality test results. This is where the psychological aspect of narcissism comes in.

I was inspired by definitely pop culture. I'm always inspired by music videos, hence why in the film there's a lot of disco tracks, Donna Summers and all that. And, I was also very inspired by my heritage. Greek mythology has always been a fascination of mine, especially Roman mythology. So, appropriating mythology, in a sense, created a lot of substance for my body of work, especially that the film is quite provocative, and quite bold, and out there in your face. I feel like the mythology aspect of it definitely created a solid base, to say the least.

I filmed my body of work using Final Cut Pro, Photoshop, and Garageband. They were the 3 softwares that basically helped create this whole film. The protagonist of the film is one of my close friends. So, I definitely asked her because I felt like she fit the role so well. And, the majority of the film was filmed in one room, the drama room, and also in Newtown for a few scenes.

After filming all the scenes that were necessary, I brought it back to the studio, refined it, edited it in Final Cut Pro. This is where my art teacher's advice was definitely needed, because I knew from the beginning, when I was planning my body of work, that it wasn't going to be a traditional film - traditional meaning purely camera and acting and editing.

It was going to be kind of like a collage art come to life in a way. Artists like Joan Ross do do this, as well as Fritz Lang's 'Metropolis,' which is something that English students will know what I'm talking about. This is where they use photography, and cut it up in Photoshop, and then transport that media into Final Cut Pro.

The audio that was used for my body of work was disco tracks, pop culture inspired music. The reason why I chose those songs - there's actually a song in there by Stevie Nicks called 'Edge of Seventeen,' a remix, because the protagonist is 17 years old.

The reason why I chose that song is because one of my main critiques by people watching it said, 'Why is she 17 years old, clubbing in this like psychedelic futuristic world?' And I said, 'Well, it is like the futuristic world. Who knows where moral corruption might come into play?' So, it was kind of a tongue in cheek moment.

What I've learned about myself in this process is basically the type of filmmaker that I am. I'm quite the director type. I like it my way, or no way. And, I know that in the creative industry, especially, I've been told a lot, and through experience, is you work a lot within a team. So, you need to kind of step out of that mentality, and hear other people's ideas, and what they want to offer.

That's not only helped me be much more of an open minded artist, but it's also helped me refine and gather what type of ideas from other people I want to take on board. Because, not every piece of advice is beneficial. So, you need to understand what type of direction, A, you want to go and, B, the execution and final product.