Despite what those full-page street press ads for private music schools try to sell you, life as an artist or musician isn't as easy as an $800 trimester.Starring Jack Mannix from bands such as Circle Pit and GLOSS, Jack Off is a short film that documents the reality of a struggling musician. Wandering the streets, chain smoking and eating peanut butter sandwiches, Jack, navigates a daily mundanity that also involves a lot of brooding and looking over his shoulder.Directed by musician and photographer Max Doyle, and starring a cast of non-actors and Sydney musicians including Ela Stiles (The Rangoons , Bushwalking), Douglas Lance Gibson (Bed Wettin Bad Boys), the film also features a great soundtrack includes music from Songs, Liquid Handcuffs and early 80s UK post punk band Section 25.We spoke to Max Doyle and Jack Off co-writer and director of photography Joshua Heath to find out more.Noisey: Was the film written with Jack in mind?
Joshua Heath: Yes. Max put the idea into my head while I was assisting him on a photo shoot. We were both intrigued by Mr. Jack Mannix. Then we got a friend Claire Evans involved to help us make it.
Max Doyle: I’d known Jack for a while and always found him fascinating. I thought he could carry a film just being himself.All the actors are musicians themselves but also writers/photographers. Is the film meant to the restless boredom of musicians or all creative types?
Joshua Heath:I think it covers the plight of artists in general. Often people have a romantic idea of what it means to be a creative type, so I guess Jack Off is an attempt to discuss that idea.Was their much improvisation involved? What about the exchange with Jack and the video store clerk?
Joshua Heath: There was a lot of improvisation. All of Doug's dialogue was improvised. Max and I were amazed (and jealous) at how natural Doug was on camera. The video store scene was based off a real life event. I once saw Jack in the Cleveland Video Easy counting out small change. One piece of silver at a time. So we just got Jack to re-count those coins in front of actor Benedict Samuel's.I really hope that is not a true representation of a Sydney musicians diet!
Joshua Heath: I think that is a true representation of Jack Mannix's diet. I’ve never known anyone to carry a bottle of Coke or Pepsi like a fashion accessory.
Max Doyle: I don't know, I don't eat much with musicians. Plenty of Drinking though.There is a simple realism to the film. Like a Mike Leigh film shot in Newtown. Was there directorial influence?
For me Max was the directorial influence. He was always giving me amazing films to watch. One of my favourites was Rockers, a low budget film where all the main charters were Jamaican reggae musicians. The plot wasn't great but what was amazing was that you got to see how these musicians lived because it was shot in and around their houses. Oh and the music is so good too!!‘Band playing live gig at venue’ is one of the hardest scenes to make look authentic. How did you go?
Joshua Heath: The band scenes were the most rushed of all the scenes. We luckily got a crowd of volunteers there. This part of the script was a little dicey too. Luckily Max scraped some bad ideas on the spot and gave it a good sense of energy. Considering the circumstances, I think it turned out ok.
Max Doyle: We were lucky because they made a pretyy good three piece. I think they jammed together once and then after that we just had to plug them in and film it.
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Joshua Heath: Yes. Max put the idea into my head while I was assisting him on a photo shoot. We were both intrigued by Mr. Jack Mannix. Then we got a friend Claire Evans involved to help us make it.
Max Doyle: I’d known Jack for a while and always found him fascinating. I thought he could carry a film just being himself.All the actors are musicians themselves but also writers/photographers. Is the film meant to the restless boredom of musicians or all creative types?
Joshua Heath:I think it covers the plight of artists in general. Often people have a romantic idea of what it means to be a creative type, so I guess Jack Off is an attempt to discuss that idea.Was their much improvisation involved? What about the exchange with Jack and the video store clerk?
Joshua Heath: There was a lot of improvisation. All of Doug's dialogue was improvised. Max and I were amazed (and jealous) at how natural Doug was on camera. The video store scene was based off a real life event. I once saw Jack in the Cleveland Video Easy counting out small change. One piece of silver at a time. So we just got Jack to re-count those coins in front of actor Benedict Samuel's.I really hope that is not a true representation of a Sydney musicians diet!
Joshua Heath: I think that is a true representation of Jack Mannix's diet. I’ve never known anyone to carry a bottle of Coke or Pepsi like a fashion accessory.
Max Doyle: I don't know, I don't eat much with musicians. Plenty of Drinking though.There is a simple realism to the film. Like a Mike Leigh film shot in Newtown. Was there directorial influence?
For me Max was the directorial influence. He was always giving me amazing films to watch. One of my favourites was Rockers, a low budget film where all the main charters were Jamaican reggae musicians. The plot wasn't great but what was amazing was that you got to see how these musicians lived because it was shot in and around their houses. Oh and the music is so good too!!‘Band playing live gig at venue’ is one of the hardest scenes to make look authentic. How did you go?
Joshua Heath: The band scenes were the most rushed of all the scenes. We luckily got a crowd of volunteers there. This part of the script was a little dicey too. Luckily Max scraped some bad ideas on the spot and gave it a good sense of energy. Considering the circumstances, I think it turned out ok.
Max Doyle: We were lucky because they made a pretyy good three piece. I think they jammed together once and then after that we just had to plug them in and film it.