Your film The Inside became Finalist our film festival. How was
the film inspired?
Film was inspired by
place where I study because a lot of young people around me claim
that their lives were meaningless. However, I think that there are a
lot of reasons for them to be happy. Next, I put my experienced
emotions in the short movie "The Inside" such as mental
overload, new friendship, hatred in the family. The only real thing
is a bad mark from physics. I was also inspired by the work of people
who screened the film only with a point of view shot. Therefore, I
have decided to portray Daniel's memories in the point of view shots
to distinguish the time of the story and emphasize the flashback
moment.
Tell us about
your background and when did you decide to become a filmmaker?
My name is Benjamín
Haverla, I live in Martin, Slovakia. I have been studying Information
and Digital Technologies studies for four years at Private Secondary
Technical School in Poprad founded by the Tatra Academy n. o. I am
especially interested in filmmaking. I love video editing, creating
VFX, writing new stories, and bringing them to the screen. I also
like working with people because without them beautiful works of art
could not be created. My way to filmmaking was strange. When I was
young I played a lot of computer games. Later at the age of 12, I
suffered from epilepsy and I had to stop playing computer games. I
lost something that I loved. But after a bad period of my life, my
mum brought the first iPad 4 to our family. I was curious and I found
there the app iMovie. iMovie was my first video editing software. So
this is the point where my film career started. At the age of 12. I
asked my friends to cooperate and we created a lot of film series,
however as we were little they were not that professional. Later,
thanks to my teacher I became successful in film competitions for
youth and children in Slovakia. As an actor, I cooperated on
advertising for an ISIC company in Slovakia.
Films that inspired you to become a filmmaker?
When I was young,
films that inspired me were The Hobbit directed by Peter Jackson and
Robin Hood directed by Ridley Scott. As a child, I admired how they
could bring unrealistic things or characters to reality. These films
gave me the desire to do the same. Later I realized that movie is not
only about the visual effects. In my opinion, it is also about a
strong story. Story with a deep meaning. So later, films that
inspired me to become a filmmaker are Schindler's list directed by
Steven Spielberg, Forrest Gump directed by Robert Zemeckis, Silence
directed by Martin Scorsese, Avatar and Titanic directed by James
Cameron.
Who is your
biggest influence?
Well, I think it is
Peter Jackson. I like his films The Hobbit and The Lord of the rings
very much. Thanks to the internet I know that Peter Jackson made his
first film as a child on an 8mm camera he had got from his parents.
From the beginning, he did film directing, screenwriting, creating
camera shots and tricks. I was surprised by his story. Mainly his
film career. I also started as a 12-year-old child. My first camera
was an iPad 4 and I was also doing film directing, screenwriting,
creating camera shots and tricks. I hope that once I will create some
fantasy feature film with a message.
Do you have a
favorite genre to work in? Why is it your favorite?
Now I don't have a
favourite genre to work in because I love fantasy and this genre is
difficult for a film budget. However, I created some short fantasy
projects. Unfortunately I finished named Magical Flute which was sent
to a film competition in Slovakia. I always have unrealistic stories
and characters in my head. And I like to bring them to the screen a
lot. So that is the reason why I like the fantasy genre. Now I am
working with any genre which is realistic for the film budget.
What's your all-time favorite movie and why?
My all-time
favourite movie is The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. I love this
story by J.R.R Tolkien and this movie has very nice parts created by
visual effects. The characters are depicted wonderfully both mentally
and visually and I also like singing scenes there.
If you could work
with anyone in the world, who would that person be?
I think it would be
Peter Jackson again. He has a lot of experience. Maybe I could learn
a lot during the project.
The one person
who has truly believed in you throughout your career.
In my opinion, it is
my friend Róbert Hanuliak. He supported me from the very beginning.
And he is helping me also now. Whenever I need his help with a film
project, he comes and I think he has always believed in me.
What was the most
important lesson you had to learn as filmmaker?
The most important
lesson for me was to stop creating stories that were unrealistic for
the film budget.
What keeps you
motivated?
I love filmmaking so
this keeps me motivated. When I have some film project I always felt
great after finishing any of my film projects.
How has your
style evolved?
First, my main focus
was to create good video editing and effects. Later I realized that
good story and good actors are as important as perfect visual editing
to create a good movie. So then I learned from YouTube how to write a
short film. After that, I read a lot of books about filmmaking and
how to work with actors, how important is lighting, what is the
180-degree rule in film. I am trying to apply all the knowledge and
experience from books and videos in my work.
On set, the most important thing is…
To have a
screenplay, storyboard, notes, and be prepared. The organization is
difficult so you have to be prepared. Also, you have to be focused on
every detail. But don't be strictly stuck to your screenplay.
Sometimes anything may happen while working and it might be even
better than your screenplay. But of course, it depends on the
situation.
The project(s)
you're most proud of…
I am most proud of
my film project The Inside. It is the latest short movie which I have
created. I can see progress if comparing to my previous projects. The
funny thing is that The Inside is my first movie which I have sent to
other countries. Thanks to you and other film festivals I've got
positive feedback and I want to keep improving and creating new
films.
The most
challenging project you worked on. And why?
The most
challenging project that I worked on was a Magical Flute. I worked on
that project for one year. We filmed that with iPhone 6s Plus in the
winter. It was cold outside and mobile sometimes turned off. But we
did it! The next big deal was visual effects. But we did it again!
Magical Flute is 20 minutes long.
What are your
short term and long term career goals?
My short term career
goal is to enter a film university and study film directing of
feature films and my long term career goal is to direct feature films
and work for film production.
Your next
projects?
I am working on 3
projects. I finished screenplays and storyboards. The first project
will have the biggest cast in my whole life and the second project
will be about true friendship at the period of coronavirus. But I
think that my third project has the biggest chance to succeed. The
third project will be about love between a boy and a girl, about
today/this generation and old generation. Half of the scenes was
filmed on a green screen. It's because it's going to be an unusual
short movie.