Creative Cape Town

We chat to the screenwriter of the short film Sweetheart

CCT : are you satisfied with the team’s composite personal interpretations of your script? (and is it easier to write freely and effectively when you know you can trust the team that will turn it into film?)

Sean : Yes, trust is a big part of the working relationship and we really trust each other as a team, from the point where we’ll conceptualise a story, the guys trust that I’ll write it well, we trust that Mike will direct it well, Shaun will shoot it well, Dan will edit it well, etc… It’s a huge part of the reason we work well together and continue to work together. Film is such a collaborative thing. It’s important not to forget that. It’s never as simple as each one is responsible for their own role alone. It’s not a case of: I come up with a story and write a script, then hand it over to be made. Mike and I spend a long time developing all of our concepts and stories, with others – Benitha Vlok (associate producer) and Willem Grobler (script editor) had good input into this story, as well as Shaun Lee and others – and then we’re all involved most of the whole way through. We had a very strong collective idea of what we wanted to do with the film. Mike and I, and members of the key team, were very hands on through casting, production design and art direction. It helps to be working with good and dedicated crew who really put their all into making a project the best it can be, and it’s a continuous process of refining together – the edit, sound, everything. We’re a collaborative group – the best result is always the cumulative product of the best ideas.  That said, we definitely give each other the space to concentrate on our roles. The film is designed to be a contemporary update of that old 50s style, in every facet, from script though look, feel and everything going into the finished product, so each of us is responsible for nailing it in their own field. It does make it easier to write when I trust that it’s going to translate well onto the screen, that the team know how to really make it play, because it means I can really be creative and ambitious. It also puts the pressure on, because it means I have to deliver really hot scenes that will challenge them and that they can be creative and ambitious with, too. Constantly pushing each other. I think maybe because we’ve worked together so long, we know how each other work, we know what to expect and we don’t often let each other down.

Interpretation-wise, the film is totally written to be open to interpretation, non-prescriptive. I like that. I like that Mike and I don’t have the exact same interpretations of some of what is in the film. I’m sure that applies to most of the cast and crew too. Like I was saying earlier, it’s not meant to be a film to tell you how to think, but it is meant to make you question. The answers to your questions can only come from yourself. You can take out as much as you want to. There are levels and depth in there, and I love chatting to people about what they read into and took out of the film, but if all you got out of it was a riveting, entertaining half hour, that’s great too. No matter how deep your story is, if you aren’t entertaining your audience, you’re missing the point of filmmaking.

CCT : one of the central themes in the film seems to be the changing nature of learned behaviour – animate  creatures carrying out a series of predetermined activities, and coming to consciousness through crisis and conflict. Do you feel a similar automation occupies significant parts of the human psyche?

Sean : Wow, where to start? Long discussions to be had around this, but as a starting point, (and I’m going to try make this as non-pseudo-intellectual/philosophical as I can, I love to debate this kind of stuff and so I go on a bit sometimes, these are just some of my thoughts, I’m not pretending I have any great insight or answers) yes I do think humans have a tendency to slip into a kind of auto-living mode, maybe because it’s the simplest way to live. Do what you’re told to do, live like you’re told to live, obey and don’t question… to the point where a huge majority of people listen to the music that’s on the radio, rather than search out for themselves, they read what’s in the paper and that’s what they hold important as news, they work 9 to 5 to earn money so that they can buy things they’re told to buy, etc… I don’t need to go on more about that, it’s obvious enough I think, and you see it in all facets of life.

My own views on how good and bad it is for humans as a race are pretty complex, so I don’t want to come across now like I’m all ‘it’s bad’… It is definitely the easiest way to live, ignorance is bliss and living by numbers is the simplest way. You’re not really responsible for anything; life is a conveyor belt that you get on, ride along in the same direction with everyone else, and somewhere you get off. You’ve never broken the chain or tried to step outside the flow, and so you’ve never really been challenged. It’s like drone mentality, and it’s always been there I think, it just changes form over time. Once upon a time, faaar back, you did what the religious leaders told you the gods or God wanted you to do. Then it would be you did what the king or equivalent told you to do. Over time it’s become less top-down prescriptive, which is interesting: people over the last century or so have been taking on that approach to living for themselves, and maybe it’s just because the system is so ingrained now. I find it very interesting. We choose to live like that. In the 50s it was a more formal structured version than it is now – housewife has roles, performs, doesn’t challenge, husband has his own roles to perform, doesn’t challenge, etc – now, I think it’s different. We’re encouraged to find our ‘individuality’ and live like individuals, but we’re still drones, just channelled in different ways, and most people don’t realise it, or don’t give it any thought, maybe. We think we’re living our own paths, but brands, technology, media even ‘pressing concerns’ like global warming or the threat of terrorism, they all are means of channelling how people live, whether consciously or not (I’m not necessarily implying that there are big bad men trying to control the world), because we follow them completely, through our own choice. And you’re relatively happier, I think, than a lot of people who go out of their way to challenge the norms. Thinkers, artists, etc – the people who do try break those channels – they are usually the ones who end up frustrated and worn down. It’s ironic.

But this is why my views aren’t black and white. Because I completely believe in the power of being truly an individual and carving your own path, deciding for yourself and breaking out of those pre-programmed channels (hence the journey of Sweetheart) BUT there is a viewpoint that looks at humans not as a collective of individuals, but as a collective organism, like a virus or even like a hive of bees of a nest of ants – and this viewpoint says that it doesn’t matter who YOU are… all that matters is the expansion of the collective being. This view says that in order to really advance the human race, each ‘individual’ needs to serve the purpose laid out for them to the best of their ability, not step outside the lines, and the collective result is best for the whole. This is a whole other discussion, but as social media and technology keep on with the current path they’re on, humans are becoming more and more of a collective consciousness hive-mind (facebook, twitter, etc, are all about constantly sharing, sharing experiences and about being connected to each other all of the time) and in a sense we really are becoming like one being. Now I’m not saying at all that I subscribe to this viewpoint, the thought that none of us matter as individuals is pretty bleak, but I DO find it really interesting, because honestly, taking as objective a view as I can, I do see a lot of truth in it.

So, to sum up this long and probably quite windy answer to your question, Sweetheart is about breaking out of pre-programmed routines and really taking charge for yourself, yes. Of finding your own way and of realising you can be whoever you want to be. Of waking up. And hopefully the result for a lot of people who watch the film is to question the way we live and take a look at their own lives. But it’s not meant to preach and I wouldn’t say that there is any sort of message embedded in it. I would never want someone to watch the film and feel like we were ramming a message down their throats. I don’t think we are. And the issues at play are far more complex than there is time for in a half hour film, or a full length feature even. At the end of the day, the film is there to entertain you. Maybe it spurs you to have discussions like this one. Get people chatting. I’ve had some really cool chats with people who’ve watched the film about all this stuff. Stoked. That’s the best I could hope for.

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We also chatted to the rest of the Sweetheart team. The main story will show you the way.