'There wasn’t a lot to do in a tiny town in the middle of nowhere so we had to make our own fun. As any criminal knows, boredom is a dangerous thing.'__THAN NILES
He's right, so our advice to you at this time is that you find out who ISO is... before anyone else does!
Check out our exclusive interview, below, with the talented Than Niles & Chris Brucks, directors to the great indie short film.
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EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW * INDEPENDENT CINEMA
(Top image) From left to right: Than Niles, Chris Brucks, Zachary Weaver
WONDERLANCE: Than, Chris, many thanks for taking part in this interview, we’re excited about the completion of ISO! Than, we met you when you were living here, in the UK, whilst attending a gathering of script writers with some of the team from ‘Moon’ (starring the both great Chris Rockwell and Kevin Spacey, directed by Duncan Jones).
You were doing a year course at the University of the Arts, in London. Please, tell us a bit about your experience learning in the UK in contrast to learning in the US.
THAN NILES: I definitely felt like the youngest kid in the room, but that is the way I felt, practically, the whole time I was working in the UK. I didn’t really know what to expect when I moved to London because I hadn’t decided to go until about 3 months before.
I got the idea in my head that it would be cool to travel and then the planets aligned, luckily. It was an amazing experience, because I pretty much, exclusively, got to create and work on cool projects the entire time I was there.
WONDERLANCE: For instance, working with Paul Williams in his acclaimed ‘The Furred Man’?
THAN NILES: Yes, 'Furred' was one of the main experiences that made me want to write ISO. I am really grateful for all the guys at Evil Hypnotist, they have helped us out a lot. I would have never been able to be a part of something that awesome at my University in the States. I feel like the typical US education system has you stuck doing mountains of crap that you do not care about so you can continue doing more crap you don’t care about, but I guess life’s full of that.
WONDERLANCE: In 2008, you both formed, along with, composer, Zachary Weaver, the production company BigBalloon, which is based in Texas, US. What’s been the bulk of the work for the team at Big so far?
CHRIS BRUCKS:Mainly, focusing on getting our name out there and working with local companies and on low budget projects to try to further our reach.
THAN NILES: The three of us have been playing with cameras and musical instruments since we were twelve and we’ve known each other a lot longer than that. It has always been our friends and us trying to make stuff that’s fun to look at and listen to. There wasn’t a lot to do in a tiny town in the middle of nowhere so we had to make our own fun. As any criminal knows, boredom is a dangerous thing. Now, we’re doing, mostly, commercial work in central Texas to make the bread and butter.
WONDERLANCE: When did you start to plan and write for ISO? What can you tell us about it?
THAN NILES: After being in Europe for six months, busting my butt on every production that would have me, my friend from our hometown that lives on a giant 1,500-acre ranch, if you can believe it, started telling me how creepy his house could be.We decided that nothing would be more appropriate than making a movie about a guy losing his mind, stranded in the Texas hill country, like we all had done growing up. I called Chris and said, “Lets do this thing for real,” so we wrote the script over Skype and when I came home we hit the ground running.
WONDERLANCE: So, Chris, I know you are currently working on an Electrical Engineering degree at the University of Texas at San Antonio.
What’s the creed of a professional electrical engineer when it comes to low-budget projects and how does it compromise with a director’s perspective?
CHRIS BRUCKS: Well, we had to make do with what we had, when we had it. Ideally, I would be able to spend a month or two on each little camera rig or special effects set up but, given the time constraints and money constraints none of that was really possible. I ended up scrounging for anything laying around the house that might work for the particular project I was working on just so I could get it together and tested in time for the shoot.
WONDERLANCE: Have you found yourself in any ‘MacGyver situation’ when working in ISO and if so what did you do?
(Bottom image): Filming scene with actress & model Ashley Jacobs
(Top image): Lead actor Rio Van Dyke
CHRIS BRUCKS:Oh, absolutely. We had one shot where the camera needed to pan 180 degrees inside a car multiple times at a constant speed so that we could achieve a seamless overlay in post. To do this I put together a gearbox made of “Kinex,” an old Lego like toy. This drove a pivoting camera mount I built with some scrap wood and a Lazy Susan bearing. The finished shot turned out amazing despite the rushed camera rig.
WONDERLANCE: That's what we call a 'MacGyver to the rescue'!.How do you think people will react to the film?
THAN NILES: (Laughter) Well, we hope they love it, big time.
CHRIS BRUCKS: I think those that see the film will be walking away with their own unique interpretations of the character, his back-story, and the ending of the story. Our approach was to lead you through a small part of ISO’s life that would leave you craving more.
THAN NILES:We want to build a world for this character that exceeds just one means of consuming entertainment. We want the film to stand by itself but, if one is interested, they can go to our website and investigate deeper into the character’s psyche and his past. We will be releasing more content for the web after the film comes out in September. We’re really excited about how it’s coming together, even though it is all done by a bunch of flaky twenty-somethings from Bandera, Texas.
WONDERLANCE:Not bad, to say the least. Thank you, both, again for your time and we are looking forward to all the terror and suspense the hill country has to offer.
THAN NILES:Thanks for letting us blabber a bit.
CHRIS BRUCKS:Ya, thanks a lot.
WONDERLANCE:ISO hits the festival circuit this September, so don't miss it, Wonderlancers. Get to know who ISO is, before anybody else does...
ISO - OFFICIAL TEASER TRAILER
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