Ahead of the third edition of Melbourne WebFest, we are profiling all the official selections that will be screening 10-12 July at Deakin Edge. 

The Film Lab introduces a comedic culture of knowledge that scientifically tests components in web series, films and genres. Blending these two concepts presents a specialised genre of web series while offering intelligence and entertainment in a short episode.

How long did you want to make this series before you got started?

The Film Lab has been a passion project for Swingtime for a few years now. Originally it started as a trailer, but has been something that we’ve continued to develop whenever we have spare time.

As a content creator, where do you go to find information about other film-makers and web series?

The Internet is obviously a great source of information when investigating what else is happening out there in the global creative work space. And especially when looking at what else is happening in the web series medium. Plus, we love movies, absolutely love them. So for our specific research for ‘The Film Lab’, films were such an important source of information & inspiration, as we looked to poke fun at the common film tropes that we’re all so used to seeing in popular movies.

How do you finance your series?

We funded ‘The Film Lab’ through a combination of self-funding, and crowd funding on Indiegogo. The crowd-funding process was an interesting experience, and we’re very thankful of the generosity of our contributors as we wouldn’t have been able to accomplish what we did with the series without their backing.

Why do you use the concept of the ‘the lab’ in your series?

The use of the concept of ‘the lab’ in our web series has two meanings. First of all; the connotation of ‘The Film Lab’ as being a place that was so integral to the film-making process in the past, prior to the digital revolution. And secondly; ‘the lab’ being a place of science, where experimentation takes place.

Would you like to try making any other genres of web series?

We’d love to make more episodes of The Film Lab first and foremost. We wrote heaps more scripts but only managed to finance three. But otherwise we’d like to try our hand at another comedy web series at some point. Maybe a mock-umentary of sorts – definitely something that requires less art direction & production value. We have a schlocky horror series written too that would be a lot of fun to make – but again with the art direction/production values!!!! It’s just the way our brains are wired when it comes to stories. Sigh.

Would you say creating web series is a hobby or would you like to make this a full time job?

At the moment, web series production is definitely a hobby. A passion project to sink our creative teeth into when we can get away from our day jobs. But we’re passionate about storytelling, so would love to be able to make it our standard day to day work.

When are you completely satisfied with your work?

As creative people, it’s sometimes hard to be completely satisfied with something. You can always find things to change or continue working on. So it’s incredibly important to set yourself a deadline and stick to it, otherwise you can keep working on something forever.

What’s the magic formula for a successful web series?

Make what you know, and what you like. Stick to your guns, don’t get distracted. Oh, and get people to watch it… That would probably help it to be a success.

The Film Lab on the web:
Watch The Film Lab
The Film Lab on Facebook

Keep up to date with Melbourne Web Fest on twitter: @MelbWebFest.

La Trobe University is Melbourne WebFest’s exclusive learning partner.