CRITICAL
OVERVIEW:
It seems a bit misleading to call
Dirty Work (2003) a short because it isn't really condensed
or snappy. My intention was to present an episode in the life
of a teenage male, who while travelling along in a bored and hazy
way, finds himself in a morally confronting situation. So the
length of the film (30 mins) allows events to start off ponderously
and then develop pace as things start to get murky.
Dale (Adam
Scott) has nothing to do with his days until he gets a job gardening
for a married couple in the neighbourhood. Barry (Chris Bidlo)
and Tracey (Louise Steel) seem like a warm, funny and slightly
eccentric pair in comparison to Dale's laconic, reserved character.
Barry initially appears to be a fatherly influence, taking Dale
out to play pool. Their relationship seems less wholesome though
when Barry coerces Dale into having sex with his wife. Even though
events develop quickly from this point I deliberately tried to
maintain the same tone throughout so that the transition from
homely to sinister was not an abrupt one. By doing this I hope
to explain why Adam finds himself an unwilling participant in
something he doesn't feel able to refuse.
Wooden
Heart (2004) can almost be viewed as a companion short to
Dirty Work because both have at their centre a bored male
who becomes involved in a sexual encounter which is negative in
impact. This time the protagnonist is an adult male. David (David
Tulk) is a bored office worker, slouching, shuffling and sighing
through life. He has a girlfriend, Monica (Tatiana Macura) who
attempts to energise David but goes no way towards penetrating
his ennui. David has to travel interstate for work, the prospect
of which he greets with characteristically sarcastic and dejected
humour. While away and in a particularly depressed mood, he calls
up a prostitute (Meredyth Tamsyn). I wanted to portray this exchange
as uncomfortable, unglamorous and ultimately unfulfilling. Not
for any moral motivation, but more to explore a pointless act
intended to excite a person suffering from non specific dissatisfaction.
- Jason
Turley, March 2006.
FILMOGRAPHY:
Holy Toledo!
(2001,
8 mins, DV)
Lemon
Twist (2002, 9 mins, DV)
Scab A
Smoke (2002, 14 mins, DV)
Dirty
Work (2003, 30 mins, DV)
Wooden
Heart (2004, 18 mins, DV)
Welcome
Stranger (2006, 85 mins, DV)
SCREENINGS:
RMIT Creative
Media Awards (01, 02, 03, 04, 05)
Melbourne Underground Film Festival (04, 05, 06, 07) (See - MUFF
website)
Australian Centre for the Moving Image (03, 04) (See - Bleeding
Images program, 03)
Berlin Asia Pacific Film Festival (2005)
Erwin Rado Theatre (2006)
AWARDS:
Lemon
Twist
Best Actress, RMIT Creative Media Awards 2003
Best Supporting Actress, RMIT Creative Media Awards 2003
Scab A
Smoke
Best Short Film, Melbourne Underground Film Festival, 2004.
Best Actor, RMIT Creative Media Awards, 2002.
Dirty
Work
Best Actor, RMIT Creative Media Awards, 2003
Best Actress, RMIT Creative Media Awards 2003
Wooden
Heart
Runner up Best Short Film, Melbourne Underground Film Festival,
2005.
Best Short Drama, RMIT Creative Media Awards, 2005.
Welcome
Stranger
Best Editing, Melbourne Underground Film Festival, 2006
Best Actor, Melbourne Underground Film Festival, 2006
©
Jason Turley, May 2008.
Jason
Turley's MySpace page
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Jason Turley
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