Occupation: Rainfall Interview – Luke Sparke
Since you guys seemed to enjoy our recent post of the trailer for Occupation: Rainfall we reached out to interview Luke Sparke. Luke wrote and directed both Occupation: Rainfall and its predecessor Occupation. He got straight back to us with some wonderful and interesting answers that we hope you will enjoy reading. For the Daniel Gillies fans, you’ll want to read to the end for a little surprise.
FN: First of all, congratulations on the test screenings. It seems like Occupation: Rainfall got a great reception. And thank you for agreeing to answer some questions.
Luke Sparke: Thank you for the questions, and yes, the preview screenings went extremely well!
Was there a specific moment/movie/series that made you start writing in general and in addition made you start writing the movie “Occupation” and if so what was it?
Luke Sparke: I’m going to have to say Star Wars, the original trilogy. They really shaped my childhood and set me on this path. From story telling to the editing, to the characters and mythos – it was such a gift to grow up with them and spark my interest in all of that very early on. I still have my first star wars action figures that were waiting for me when I was born, and a I became an avid collector all more life, which I think really helped my imagination. Playing in the sandbox with G.I Joes, Star Wars and Transformers action figures and telling my own stories, to actually playing out my scripts on a green screen set with actors, extras and stuntman – really brings it full circle and allows you to tap into that daydreaming-child-like-fantasy I think you need on a genre flick like these.
Do you have a specific place where you write/ where the magic happens?
LS: In my office mainly, surrounded by all my collectibles
What was your writing process like on Occupation: Rainfall? Were there any changes compared to the first one?
LS: Yes. I pitched the first one to my team as ‘a small film we’ll go shoot in the woods with some aliens’ and do it cheap. But as it went along, it suddenly grew out to be larger than we thought and I was reshooting parts to make it feel bigger with whatever I could. The first draft was very large and I had to cut a lot out and move locations to fit the budget.
With Rainfall, I said from the get go that I’m going to write what I think it needs, no matter how big it is and then we’ll sit down and figure it out. And what I wrote was huge. A sprawling film with so many action sequences, large locations and set pieces. Then once we started working things out, I kept adding to the script, pulling other parts out, filling more screen time with as much interesting and world building scenes, shots or moments as I could.
I’m happy to say that we’ve pulled off even more than was scripted. Being the writer, director and editor, I have full control over what is seen and heard in the film, so I’ve been able to come up with shots or sequences that may have been one line in my script, but make them come to life in a big way on screen.
Can you talk a little bit about some of the specific production challenges you faced on Occupation and Occupation: Rainfall?
LS: The challenge on Occupation was just getting it done on a small budget and finding ways with the VFX, finding the cast and getting it released.
Rainfall was that times 20. Plus every other issue a film can throw at you.
We’re dealing with scenes that aren’t really attempted in Australia unless you are Baz (Luhrmann) or George Miller. We’re completely indie but filming scenes that feel at home in a Hollywood film. It was nuts. Finding the right team also become paramount and that is a huge sticking point for me moving forward – making sure you have the right crew to back you.
But luckily, every cloud does have a silver lining and when you have to move away from someone if it’s just not gelling, another door opened with someone that really does fit. We had to cut a lot of roles out from behind the scenes so we could spend the money ‘on screen’, which meant the small team took on 10 jobs each just to get it done.
Then covid came along and held up our entire post production process, but that was a global challenge.
How big was your crew and how long did you film?
LS: Because the script was so ambitious, we very early on realized that we’ll have to break the shoot up. So we did some pre and a few weeks shoot in 2018, then into post work, then back into a big pre and the rest of the shoot in 2019, then back into all post. It actually worked out well as I was able to sit with the first few weeks footage and shape it, cut it and know what we need going into the main part of filming.
Crew was into the hundreds some days, with extras and cast on top of that.
Did anything change during those two movies?
LS: Occupation didn’t have the helicopters / military at the end, that was a late addition.
Rainfall has changed a lot throughout the last 2 years. Some scenes i’ve had to cut for time after we’ve filmed it. Some scenes got cut in the Pre visualization stage. And some got cut at the script stage if we just couldn’t fit it in the schedule. Some of Rainfall got re-worked so you can go into it cold with having to see Occupation, and I think that is for the best.
What’s the biggest challenge of shooting an independent film in Australia today?
LS: Time, money, Named cast and Cinema release. It’s a very difficult time for everyone. But I think we need to swing for the fence a bit more. We can make great dramas and comedy, but we should back those up with some great genre or action film. And When I mean great, I mean films destined to be commercially successful – so then we can make more.
More budget, a bigger set and some great people joining the cast. What can people expect from the sequel?
LS: I think the preview audience at Monster Fest had a great time and were blown away, so that gave me the confidence I knew the film had. So I can safely say that you can expect a non stop roller-coaster ride. That expression is very over used, but I think it fits this film to a T.
Which side would you choose to fight for? “Aliens” or Humans?
LS: Tough question knowing what I know as the creator. Especially in this film. A main theme is exactly this question and is forming part of the marketing: Choose Your Side. With so many factions and different perspectives, it’s not as cut and dry as Occupation, or other Alien invasion films I’ve seen.
Describe Occupation: Rainfall in 3 words.
LS: Epic. Fun. Exhilarating
“Perhaps we need some outside universal threat to make us recognize this common bond.” The current reference to the present is important talking about the global pandemic. Do you think people are more likely uniting or dividing when there’s a “threat”?
LS: I would like to think the people unite rather that divide. That is definitely a theme throughout my films. I guess everyone unites on their own point of views, and this year has been tougher than most. But I still believe in the good in everyone when the chips are right down – I’m still an optimist.
What are you working on next?
LS: I’ve announced a few projects I’m working on – a WW2 film, a WW1 film, A comedy/action and a TV series all in different stages. And we’ll see how Rainfall goes as well. Plus I would love to be able to take on a Hollywood franchise like Star Wars, or something in the future!
Thank you so much to Luke for answering my questions, there’s quite a lot of us here at FANdemonium Network who are very excited to see Occupation: Rainfall when it’s released. If you want to check out Luke’s other work, Occupation is available on Netflix in the UK, or to purchase via Amazon Prime. We are keeping our ears open and as soon as we have any more news about Occupation: Rainfall and release dates we will let you know!
Oh and I promised a treat didn’t I? Check out this brand new still from Occupation: Rainfall featuring Jet Tranter as Amelia and Daniel Gillies as Wing Commander Hayes.
Jet Tranter as Amelia and Daniel Gillies as Wing Commander Hayes in Occupation: Rainfall. Image by Vince Valitutti
