Producer Wes O Duinn of Heavy Man Films writes about the making of Samhlú Croí Cruthaitheach, TG4's new season of abstract short films featuring Irish artists and creatives - watch them here.
As a producer, you are always hoping to get a brief that's a little different, a little challenging, a little adventurous, and the Croí Cruthaitheach project was different from anything we'd seen before.
The challenge of the approach outlined by Creative Ireland and TG4; "to create visual poems", resonated strongly with us. We’ve always strived to tell visual stories with flow and expression, colour, movement, speed, angles, contrast and depth.
I got on to our director, Tomek, who happened to be in Poland getting married at the time and even though he’d taken that week off, he knew this was special and so he got online and worked with me on the proposal right up until his wedding day.
For the proposal, I had to gather some of the main crew members. I called Burschi Wojnar, a multi award-winning legend of a DOP (director of photography), a man I’d worked with many times, who loves an arty shoot, he jumped at the chance. Next was the DJ, Daithi - as a composer, he is not afraid to push boundaries and that is exactly what was being sought.
We were all buzzing but also very nervous, we wanted it badly, we could see it. I sent the proposal and sure enough, TG4 and Creative Ireland loved our vision and knowing Heavy Man Films' previous work, they trusted us to deliver.
I had two weeks to get our ducks in a row and get the team and equipment together and on the road. Producing can be challenging, but during a pandemic, it was particularly so. Hotels and catering options around the country were limited in the extreme, and even then we had very strict guidelines to adhere to.
Another challenge was getting the artists selected and lined up. There was a list flying between TG4, Creative Ireland and Heavy Man Films - we wanted to strike a balance between craft, art, spoken word, diversity and location. Some artists don’t do phones very well, I don’t mind saying. Sean Cathal Ó Coileáin in TG4, was amazing, though, he was with us every step of the way.
On the road, we took to the project with gusto. Tomek and Burschi gelled from day one, they were inseparable, constantly finding new angles, new lighting, always fresh with ideas, it was infectious to everyone.
#Samhlú Croí Cruthaitheach - 12 art short-films on the TG4 player.
— TG4TV (@TG4TV) January 10, 2021
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File Gaeilge í Ceaití Ní Bheildiúin a bhfuil gradaim buaite aici.
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As for the artists, they loved having us. They’d struggled like we all had over the pandemic, and a chance to do something different and creative was very welcome.
It became a very collaborative process. Rather than a director telling everyone just how things should be, it was more of an ongoing conversation. Every day was different, we had a van break down in the middle of the night, one contributor contracted Covid so we had to find a replacement and ended up having to drive five hours that night to get to a new location - there were a few grumpy faces that evening, but it was all worth it. The team, the artists, the experience, TG4 and Creative Ireland, everyone went above and beyond.
The Samhlú Croí Cruthaitheach films are now available to view on the TG4 player.
