Thomas Charles Hyland: 'Don't Fuck with Eyes'
Thomas Charles Hyland鈥檚 groundbreaking film has been captivating audiences worldwide, last week taking out the Best Feature Documentary award at AIDC, marking his ascent as a director to watch. Esteemed by both critics and audiences alike, his heartfelt film tackles themes of disability and acceptance with remarkable finesse. Drawing upon his foundation in commercial work, Thomas demonstrates a unique ability to handle nuanced storytelling. Now, as a proud addition to the Truce roster, we delve into the archives to uncover the origins of his extraordinary talent.
Subject matter probably doesn鈥檛 get much more difficult to handle than still-birth, what do you remember about your 鈥楽till Six Lives鈥 project?
Thomas> Yeah, that鈥檚 true. If you鈥檙e not giving respect to these kinds of projects, you can really do some damage. I know that by the time this project came to me, my confidence as a director was brimming. I felt like I knew how to create and hold tone, how to work with actors and make the most of a challenging budget.
This job is a favourite of mine because it turned out exactly how I pictured it. I designed the shots to get the most out of the tiny space we had to use. We shot on long lenses and with a controlled colour palette because we had a very limited budget for art department. But what I always knew was that the real key was the tone and connection shared between the actors.
To help with the chemistry on set, I started giving the two actors little mischievous missions that were a secret to the other. I wanted to capture them laughing at silly things as that would help sell them as a couple. This kind of play is really fun. It鈥檚 one of those tools you deploy to take the pressure off the actors. After that, they can do their best work.
But before all that, when dealing with sensitive material, I always dive deep into research before locking things down. For me, this means a lot of reading, listening, and watching, but also a lot of practical, heart-to-heart interviews and conversations. I know that in order for me to do the best job I can, I have to find an emotional thread that ties me directly to the story/theme/subject. In the throws of production, things happen quickly, so if you don鈥檛 understand the subject matter instinctively then you won鈥檛 know what鈥檚 important when decisions have to be made quickly. In other words, it doesn鈥檛 matter how cool your shots, your scene or your story is if you don鈥檛 know what tone is right.
I love it when you can make an "object" in a spot, symbolic of the whole story. For this ad, the 鈥渙bject鈥 is the couple's hands. That close-up shot of the hands has it all. They start nervous, then they鈥檙e happy, playful, and loving, but then they鈥檙e tense and they squeeze tight until the tension gives way to relief and excitement. That鈥檚 the entire story, right there in their grip!
That helps us segway into 鈥楾he Hands That Bind Us鈥 which explores queer acceptance, how does your approach differ in dealing with subject matter like that?
Thomas> Once again, it started from a personal place. The script for this one was already amazing, and so for the big piece was the tone. For these kinds of projects, my mantra tends to be: what do you want the audience to know and how do you want them to feel when they hear it? All decisions come from these two elements.
So related to that, I was thinking about perspective. In other words: who are we with when we鈥檙e watching the ad? Which character is connected to the tone of the story. Both sound and camera should be informed by the answer. Here, we're in the shoes of the young woman who is stepping into her family BBQ. The emotional rollercoaster is all hers. The filmmaking moves are there to support that.
But these kinds of multi-character stories are deceptively hard. On the surface, the story is very simple but the amount of characters involved adds quite a lot of story pressure. There ends up being a lot of information you're needing to put across about what characters know what and at what time.
Blocking becomes extremely important because if you've designed your shot list wrong and then for whatever reason you have to drop a shot, or if in the edit you need to cut things down for time, you'll find your story no longer makes sense.
You work out the most important thing and make sure you鈥檙e supporting that.
What do you mean by that?
Thomas> I guess I find that every project, problem or question hinges on finding its lynchpin: the core element that everything else revolves around. I mean this for every part of the process, be it editing, casting, or scheduling etc. It鈥檚 everything. There鈥檚 always an infinite number of ways you can go, and so to not be paralyzed, you need to work out what鈥檚 the first puzzle piece to lay down. If you do that, you ensure that everything else falls into place around it.
For The Hands that Bind Us, the emotion of the story (and therefore the music and the camera angles) was tied to the young woman, but in terms of the actual action - the way the story moves, and how we structure on set - we鈥檙e following the Dad. So in the reality of the story (and therefore the practicality of the shooting day) he was the lynchpin. He鈥檚 the one who marked the pace that all the other actors follow.
The campaign for Women鈥檚 Legal Service Victoria was inspired by real stories. What considerations did you have to keep in mind when blurring the lines between reality and fiction? And what鈥檚 your approach for capturing such an emotional performance on set?
Thomas> Mixing real stories with visual fiction can be pretty fraught. Particularly when dealing with sensitive material. If it feels like an episode of Nightline or A Current Affair then we are in serious trouble. It鈥檒l feel like you don鈥檛 understand your own message, the audience will feel insulted and the whole thing will fail.
But having said that, when used right, I think the whole idea of dramatically interpreting non-fiction is incredible. Honestly, I鈥檇 say it鈥檚 underused.
In terms of capturing the performance, it鈥檚 absolutely essential to set the right tone on set. Ultimately, filmmaking is a collective effort, with everyone from the client to craft services being part of the atmosphere. Everyone should be in harmony, truly on the same wavelength, and aware of what鈥檚 required to make something great.
Open and respectful communication plays a pivotal role 鈥 it's arguably the most crucial ingredient. Everyone is at their best when they understand the goal, and when they know what it means to do good work. You know? The Gaffer shines when they're aware the DP digs the lighting. Actors feel safe when the director understands how they like to work and assures them when they've nailed it. And then for a director, my confidence soars when I know the client and agency are really, really happy with the progress. It's a big web!
Your Incolink spot is truly compelling, offering a rare glimpse into the vulnerability experienced by male tradespeople. Could you elaborate on the challenges you faced while working within the constraints of a single character and single location concept?
Thomas> Thank you! I think chamber ads are a cool little subgenre. Their challenge is always: how do you keep them from being boring and lame? I think you want an intriguing tone, some kind of 鈥渞eveal鈥 that makes the information interesting, and above all else: a killer performance.
For this one, I go back to what I was saying about creating the right tone on set. If you just leave it to the wind, a set can easily feel like an anxious environment. Or more often, they鈥檒l feel like active construction sites. You know? There鈥檚 stands and cables everywhere. Giant equipment is being wheeled off trucks. People buzzing around the perimeter, fixing a light here, a monitor there.
It鈥檚 all necessary stuff but you gotta make sure you鈥檙e not getting in your own way. Like, you can鈥檛 be barking like a mad pirate one minute and then expecting an actor to effortlessly slip into some other emotional space. You鈥檙e just making it hard for yourself. So my advice is: if you want your actor to cry or be vulnerable in some other way on set 鈥 while a whole crew is standing around evaluating everything 鈥 you have to create an environment that makes them comfortable to do that.
This isn鈥檛 me saying that actors can鈥檛 act, it鈥檚 me saying: if you really wanna go for gold, get rid of anything and everything that isn鈥檛 supporting them and their performance. Like if you鈥檙e after something tender, you should try to make the environment feel that way.
No, that makes total sense. So tell me about "See What鈥檚 Possible", how did you work with the actors in this one?
Thomas> Well this one was awesome as we had a mixture of professional and non-professional actors. I don鈥檛 think there鈥檚 a hard or fast rule, but sometimes a "real" person is the only one who can bring truth to a story. It鈥檚 not always the case, but it鈥檚 always obvious when it is.
Working with actors is probably my favourite part of the filmmaking process, and there鈥檚 a unique kind of thrill I get when working with 鈥渞eal鈥 people. I find that it sharpens my directing skills in ways that are hard to explain. It鈥檚 not so much that it means I need to do 鈥渕ore directing鈥 or 鈥渂etter directing鈥, but it demands you to focus on empathy 鈥 which is always a good thing to do. I鈥檓 not sure how else to explain it.
The spot was written by Alex Wadelton - who is a star. His knack for simplicity and nuance is incredible. Like, this ad would be terrible if the hiring managers felt like Bond Villains. It might be entertaining but it wouldn't work as an ad. If you make the bad guys look like complete arseholes then no one will actually see themself in it 鈥 which will defeat the purpose.
But what else can I say about this one?
I guess it鈥檚 another with a few characters, and so eyelines come into play. There鈥檚 a great book by Walter Murch called 鈥淚n the Blink of an Eye鈥 that I read when I was young. It鈥檚 amazing. It鈥檚 all about film language, character psychology and editing, basically how big a deal eyes are in determining where and when to cut. I鈥檓 a believer.
Eyelines will make or break your scene. You fuck em up and you鈥檙e done. But I鈥檓 proud of how they work in this one. They hand off from one character to another, whilst also adding story and character detail.
In short: eyes are AMAZING! They鈥檙e so powerful. They鈥檙e everything. Don鈥檛 fuck with eyes!
We won鈥檛 fuck with the eyes! So what鈥檚 next for you Thomas?
Thomas> Honestly, I really love making things, so hopefully a bunch of commercials 鈥 I love the economy of them; how succinct the storytelling has to be; how each new one is its own world and so warrants its own ideas. And unlike feature films or tv, you also get to complete them quite quickly, so it鈥檚 a really satisfying ride.
Aside from that, I am still on the festival circuit for This Is Going to Be Big, which is taking me all over the world, so that鈥檚 been very fun and inspiring. I have some other feature films in the works and so there鈥檚 development going on there, but really, right now I鈥檓 just keen to pick up the camera.
