Studio 3 |
Surviving Northbridge

This documentary delves into the Perth suburb of, Northbridge. Jake Williams goes around and interviews a variety of people, all of who frequent Northbridge, to find out if its negative stigma is true or an over-exaggeration.

The idea first came to me while sitting in class brainstorming documentary concepts. It is something that, the more I thought about, the more achievable it became. Because I live in Northbridge, I felt like I had a unique viewpoint on the suburb and would be a good surrogate to guide the viewer on the journey. After pitching the idea and getting the green light, it was time to properly explore the suburb in the most realistic light possible.

Finding people to interview who were not only closely involved with Northbridge but were willing to be interviewed by a novice of the craft was the most challenging part. Once we got our first interviewee aboard, Kayty Banks, everything really fell into place. Interviewing David Edwards at The Court has to be one of the highlights of my SAE journey as it was such a cool unique experience.

The final act of the documentary was the most nerve-racking. Since the inception of the idea, I knew it would end with the crew and I heading out on a Saturday night to interview people on the street. At first, I was freaking out that I had wasted everyone's time and no one was going to want to be interviewed by some random strangers in Hi-Vis but it was like a wave, after the first interviewee, it was a nonstop stream of people wanting their face on camera. After an exhausting 3 hours, we finally wrapped and walked away with more than what we needed. Unfortunately due to ethical concerns, a majority of the best interviews we got will never see the light of day, due to either the person being visibly under the influence of alcohol or more nefarious substances.

Overall I am really happy with what the crew and I have created. I think it gets the message across in an entertaining way, that doesn’t feel long and dragged out. As for my career as a Louis Theroux-esque documentarian? I think I will bench the idea for the foreseeable future but you never know what the future has in store for me!

- Jake Williams

It's safe to say the idea for this project captured everyone from the very start, for a few first-time documentary filmmakers what could be better than diving head first into the speculatively dangerous, unknown territory of Northbridge with the attempt to show the suburb in a truthful light, so that's what we did. When we started out on this project I think the overall tone of the film was expected to be a little bit different, but just as Northbridge changes and morphs its shape throughout the day, so did we.

Spearheaded by Jake Williams, our enthusiastic director, we wanted to place ourselves firmly in the heart of what Northbridge has to offer, talking with some of the locals and other key members of its community who frequent the suburb.

Given the subject matter, the production process wasn't all smooth sailing though and did come with its fair share of challenges and obstacles. It's not every day I would recommend a small film crew going out to one of the most popular places in Perth on a weekend and filming, you're bound to run into a fair share of characters, some of which we aren't able to show in the final film. But then you also get the opportunity to gain first-hand experiences with one of the biggest aspects the suburb puts on offer, which you wouldn't find without putting yourself out there.

With Jake and the rest of the crew at the heart of the documentary, I think we've been able to show a truthful representation of the different aspects and environments Northbridge offers to people who visit.

- Cade Nieves