Icharus Broken...

[dude]

nice one Tom mate i cant think how i will feel when Stagger is in my own collection of DVDs

PS' i joined up to Mandy.com thanks just what the doc ordered that.

[RydCook]

Awesome Tom, glad you've finally got it!

Thanks for the reply above as well dude. Made for a very interesting read!

[shindig]

Next they'll be calling you back for directors' commentary.

[Tom]

A quick notice for anyone in or around Derby... If you liked the music on Icharus Broken, it was created by Jonny - aka Belly Of The Whale, aka Wanato, aka one half of Trophy Wife, etc. etc. (He's got more pseudonyms than Ol' Dirty Bastard). His band, You Judas, are headlining at the The Royal in Derby tomorrow night, and I seriously recommend you check them out. They're in the midst of recording their third studio album, and I've heard some of the stuff - it's incredible. Check out their music here: www.myspace.com/youjudas

And if you do want to ask them down for soundtrack music, I know the guys would be very much up for it. Find their music on iTunes and in HMV etc. etc.

[jill]

At last I can join in! Came today. Had to watch it on my pc-dvd players buggered-so not ideal, but good enough.

SPOILERS

First thing Tom, I helped out my daughter a couple of weeks back when she was shooting her short (for her degree)-it took us all week, for what will end up being about 10 minutes-and I couldn't believe how long it took to set up shots etc-so absolutely massive kudos to you for shooting this in eight days-a remarkable achievement.

Second, just a couple of tiny criticisms. Like Ryd, I had a bit of a problem hearing the dialogue once or twice, but again if you were sound man as well as writer, director, actor and everything else, it's great credit to you that the majority of the time the sound was good (you must have been near dead at the end of it). Also-and again just a couple of times-I thought the dialogue sounded a bit artificial. But again, it was just a couple of times-and had you had the luxury of time to reshoot, then those few lines would have worked fine I'm sure. For the majority of the time though, I totally believed the characters.

OK, that out of the way...........I really, really liked it. It was tough subject matter-the raw, hard stuff in life, which, like the characters, most of the time we don't want to talk about. So kudos again to you for your bravery and for doing it so well (a film tackling those subjects could be a disaster, even if made by the most experienced and generously funded of directors).

Like everybody else, I loved the structure. I'm pretty chuffed with myself, because I thought I had figured out what was going on with the Ralph character, but wasn't a 100% sure until I looked back on the thread and read what you had to say about it. The film engaged me from 5 minutes in, had me thinking thoughout and kept me thinking afterwards. I loved Laiji (spelling) 4 Ever and I also love the enigmatic character in Dekalog (I know Kieslowski says he isn't an angel, but I think it's better if he is! ), so as you can imagine, I loved that concept and thought it was splendidly executed in the story.

Like everyone too, I loved the music. I liked many of the shots, but mostly I loved the whole mood of the film and the music was central to getting that-so good choice.

I'm certainly going to watch it again pretty soon and, no doubt, will have some more to say then (can't shut me up eh). I hope it gets wide distribution-you deserve it. I'll post a review on Amazon tomorrow-it all helps!

[Tom]

Thank you very much for that Jill.

I've still yet to watch the movie the whole way through - it's been well over a year since I last saw it, and like most film makers, I'm not one for revisiting my work too often. The impact it's had on the careers of everyone involved has been great, and I know that we'll all look back one day in bemusement that it's even done all this.

Ever since Icharus won the award in Detroit, I've had several conversations about the 'wisdom' of shooting such thorny subject matter on a tight budget in just 8 days. Two years ago, like most unknown film makers, I drew blank after blank in trying to get finances and support. So I committed to telling the best story I could, knowing full well that the production values would be miles below that of most festival movies, let alone Hollywood fare.

I concentrated on getting the best actors I could, and focussed on making the best film I could. I'd never shot a short before, just a bloated and bad feature, in which I dropped £6,000 of my hard earned cash, and saw it go nowhere. Doing Icharus was the last roll of the dice (debt was biting), and whilst it was never an easy story (or structure), I thought that if it did work out, it may be the last film I get to make on my own terms. If it went belly up, it just straight would've been my last film.

Of course, we all know how it's turned out, and now that I'm knee-deep in the politics of two features angling for funding, a new theme keeps coming up: why bother with playing by the rules after breaking them the first time around? The simple answer is that back then, I had no other choice. Now, of course, things are a little different, and whilst people aren't signing blank cheques to me, I've cut a definite path to their door.

Whilst I wouldn't recommend shooting a film in your house with one camera and a mini-disc for audio recording, I would encourage anyone with a decent script to just go and shoot it and stop worrying about getting funding or trying to shoot a glossy film. Look at all the first-films of self-made directors, and you'll see them riddled with technical problems. But they work because the story does.

Looking back at Icharus (and for me, it's over 2 years since I finished it), I would do things differently now. But that's what these new films are for. Whether or not they'll have the same impact or (hopefully), be even better, remains to be seen. But as an exercise in beating the odds, Icharus Broken stands as an achievement I will always be proud of. And if it serves as proof and encouragement to other frustrated film makers looking to get their first film shot, well, that means more than the success of the film itself.

Tom.

[shindig]

10 years for your first film is one hell of an endurance.

[jill]

PS. My niece was doing her teacher training at a school in Derby a few years back-it was interrupted on account of some kid burning the school down-must be the same one.

[shindig]

My secondary school burned down before I could even set foot in it.

[jill]

That'd be the teachers. Only joshing

[Tom]

May 16, 2008 10:47:04 GMT jill said:

PS. My niece was doing her teacher training at a school in Derby a few years back-it was interrupted on account of some kid burning the school down-must be the same one.

I think that was it. It was about three or four years ago.

[jill]

Tom, at the risk of sounding like a creep (which I'm not, honest), what you have to say above is truly inspiring. I know sod all about the film making industry, but I suspect that it is self-belief in the face of adversity that ultimately separates the talented who eventually 'make it' from the talented who don't. Good luck to you mate.

[Tom]

May 16, 2008 11:56:09 GMT jill said:

Tom, at the risk of sounding like a creep (which I'm not, honest), what you have to say above is truly inspiring. I know sod all about the film making industry, but I suspect that it is self-belief in the face of adversity that ultimately separates the talented who eventually 'make it' from the talented who don't. Good luck to you mate.

Thanks dude. It is always good when people genuinely respond to years of hard work. Starting out as a film maker, you get laughed at, dismissed and ignored by 99% of people you come across. But the other 1% remind you that it's worth continuing. Of course, of I've been lucky enough to get strong responses for my work, but I always appreciate the honest responses of those that take time out to watch my films, good and bad. Luckily, it's been mostly good

[shindig]

Dude!?

I know my mate usually takes an opportunity he can to get his ideas out there. At very least he can wave his BAFTA nomination about. I really need to start doing that with my scripts. When they're finished. Eventually.

[roger1]

Who's your mate?