Artist Spotlight: Tyler Herren

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It’s a pleasure to introduce Tyler Herren, director of the twice nominated ‘Illustration of Courage’, an epic fantasy that actually came in as a student entry. Tyler, thank you for joining us and congratulations on the nominations.

I want to first thank the judges for the nomination and also thank Joshua Allen and the entire Atlantis Awards team for this amazing opportunity.

Tell us a about yourself, growing up and your passions.

I’ve been working with film production since I was 6. Me and my family, namely my grandpa and brother, would make home movies. I started editing on the iMac iMovie application when I was around 10 or 11 and ever since then I had developed a love for production and post production. Another area that I have gained film production experience in is at the different churches that I have attended; I was taught how to run technology, cameras, lights, sound, and editing. Somedays, I was tasked to direct online services, which was such a blast. My passions mostly consists of entertainment and art of all different kinds. I aspire to help people and give them a medium to cheer them up, amuse them, and all together give people a break from the busyness and stress for reality.

Did you have any specific influences growing up that lead you towards the film industry?

Some influences that lead me to the film industry are my family and also the inspiration from seeing other filmmaker’s pieces. My family has helped me and supported my film making aspirations by helping to pay for some productions and also starring and acting in some of my earlier home movies. Seeing and watching how other directors and editors make and shape their films inspired me to make entertaining and lively films myself. Films that inspired me the most were definitely the Marvel movies, I have always wanted to make big, action packed films that entertain and dazzle the audience.

Did you have any specific influences growing up that lead you towards the film industry?

Where are you at in your education? Are you in film classes where you can borrow gear or was everything independently sourced?

Right now, I am working on my film major. While I am going to be in film classes, I am not in any classes right now that source out gear. The gear that I borrowed to create this film was completely free of charge from my church and also from the film’s main cinematographer Samson Samuel. However, the props and costumes were independently sourced.

What is the most important lesson you learned as you worked on The Retrieval and did any of that help prepare you for Illustration of Courage?

While making The Retrieval, my previous film created last year, I learned some very important aspects of filmmaking. Above all, lighting and time-management were the biggest things that I learned. When rewatching The Retrieval, I noticed that the lighting was very dark and hard to see during certain scenes; this revelation made me pay close attention to the lighting during the making of Illustration of Courage. Time management was another big downfall of the previous film. We were only given 2 weeks to create The Retrieval due to a deadline requirement. This time with Illustration of Courage, while we had a deadline to reach, we started much earlier and I also created many documents and spreadsheets to organize and plan out our days.

What were your main responsibilities on this project?

My main responsibilities of the film was the producer, director, and editor. I was tasked with funding the movie, purchasing the costumes and props, catering and supplying food to the crew on certain days, telling the actors and cinematographers what shot to get and how to play out the scene, and then finally bring the film together by editing clips, adding transitions, effects, titles, sound effects, foley, and mixing the score.

How big of a team was involved in the project? What criteria do you use when building your team? Also; can you tell us about your experience in working with your team in this film?

The team was made up of 11 people, most of whom were actors. When building the team, I tried to find local actors from my church’s student ministry to show the talent of students outside of the big film capitals of America. Most of the crew had experience with theater, film, or music; with that being said, however, some of the crew had no experience in any. One of the biggest reasons why I made this film was to give those who hadn’t experienced the filmmaking world before a platform and opportunity for them to try acting, see what it’s like behind the scenes of a film, and overall just have fun with it. Working with my crew was amazing, I loved working with the crew. They were all so hard working and willing to give up other events to help get the film done. I could not have done this film if it had not been for my amazing crew.

What makes a film interesting for you? What are three qualities that you look for in a movie?

When watching a film, the three things that I watch for is the story, the visuals, and the production quality. First and foremost, if you don’t have a cohesive story, you don’t have a good film. Without a plot or a character/group of characters to follow, the film just has no interest or meaning. Visuals are also so important when it comes to films; if what one is looking at isn’t visually pleasing or looks fake, the interest is going to be lost very quick. On average, it takes about 30 minutes for the audience to determine whether they want to continue watching the film or not. Those first 30 minutes need to hook the audiences in, and if what they are watching doesn’t speak interest, they are not going to want to waste their time watching a film they aren’t going to enjoy. Finally, production quality really tells how much the filmmakers thought out and planned their film. If the editing, props, or music doesn’t fit or doesn’t work with the story trying to be told, it’s going to negatively reflect how much love and care was put into the film.

What are you most proud of? Describe your biggest accomplishment to date.

The film that I am the most proud of is my 2021 stop motion film Brawl of the Beasts. This project took up 7 months of hard work. Not only that, but all of the work was done by me. Other than the voice acting, I handled the directing, producing, editing, writing, animating, foley, special effects, and mixing. There were many times when making this film where I almost gave up; but in my head, I kept telling myself “you’ve gone this far, keep going, you’re almost there.” The production lasted from the beginning of February 2021 to the beginning of September 2021. It was a long process, very tedious, and mentally straining. These are all the reasons why this film is among my most proudest and greatest accomplishments.

What advice would you give to someone who is aspiring to enter the film industry, especially as an director?

Some advice that I would give to someone aspiring to get into the film industry would be to be ready for a lot of work and a lot of practice. Most people haven’t gotten the practice that I did when I was younger making home movies, so however and whenever you can, go out and practice the areas you are interested in. You can study filmmaking for years, but until you go out and do it yourself, you won’t know how much of a reward and amazing experience it is bringing your imagination to life.

Where can everyone keep up with you to learn more? (social media links, related websites, etc)

To learn more about me and my film journey, I have both a YouTube channel and an Instagram page. I will attach the links below:

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdEkUKqRzFTXVC8wsUuLpdQ

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gingerstudiosyt/

Thanks so much for joining us for this conversation. We appreciate your participation and wish you the very best on May 20th at the live event! We hope to see some of the team there. Best of luck with everything.

Thank you again for having me!