Thieves - "no budget" Cyberpunk short

[JGBarnes]

Originally Posted by harpsichoid

I really liked it!

The production felt a bit like Doctor Who or Torchwood. Sound and music fitted in well, too.

Hmm? Very interesting perspective. I dig it!

Thanks so much for checking it out!

[JGBarnes]

CyberpunkReview, One of the biggest and most popular cyberpunk review sites in the world just reviewed Thieves and gave it an 8 / 10, stating, "Thieves is set to garner even bigger accolades (like ours), and possibly become the next Blade Runner, or at least The Matrix."

And no, I have no relationship to the reviewers on the site. This kind of praise is certainly flattering, but it feels a little like hyperbole, I'll even admit that. The point is, possibly the biggest cyberpunk review site in the world liked it. So, I'm very happy about that.

Read the full review here.

[8salacious9]

Originally Posted by JGBarnes

I say "no budget" based on the wiki definition of a "no budget film."

In reality, it cost me $300 to make Thieves. I have been promoting it in this thread for several months now. In there you will find posters, articles, interviews, reviews, trailers etc. if you are so inclined.

Just yesterday, Thieves was screened at the Mitten Movie Project in Royal Oak, MI and it won the audience vote by a landslide of 71%. Second place had 7 votes. We had 57. Today we finally put it online.

Watch Thieves here.

as a londoner born and bred, that fake accent he has is annoying, i mean its not that hard to pronounce asshole as arseholes in the london dialect, this is the same problem as green street when a yank tried to be a londoner, doesnt work, never will do...

other than that i liked it

just get a better actor next time who actually can do better accents..

[JGBarnes]

Since its literally the first and only time he's ever acted in his life, I'm quite happy with his performance. This character is someone who has been living in Detroit for a very long time and I didn't want his accent to be 100% pure. There would be a natural degradation of his dialect from being immersed in the culture and society. In fact, I directed him with this and didn't want him to polish the accent.

Otherwise, thank you SO much for watching and I'm glad you liked it!

[JGBarnes]

The 9 track Thieves score is now available for pre-order for $6 and will be released Tuesday August 28th. Yes, the entire album and all bonus content is yours for $6. If you find it in your heart to be extra generous, you actually have the option to PAY MORE for the album when you buy it through PayPal. Please do, if you can afford it.

When you pre-order the album you get an automatic download of the track "This Is Mine" to whet your appetite.

Pre-order here!

What do you get with your purchase?
- 9 tracks total
- 3 bonus tracks (part of the 9 total)
- Full length HD trailer for Thieves featuring the track "Business & Pleasure" by Jeff Goergen
- Print-ready premier poster in three sizes (jpg)
- Promotional flyer (jpg)
- Front and back CD cover (and variant, jpgs)
- Disc label (jpg)
- A little thank you letter from me!

[harpsichoid]

Actually, I was pretty impressed with the accent- he's still done a better job than some top actors.

[JGBarnes]

Originally Posted by harpsichoid

Actually, I was pretty impressed with the accent- he's still done a better job than some top actors.

Ain't that a sad fact. I've seen far worse accents from highly experienced Hollywood actors. Again, for his first time EVER acting, I think he did an exceptional job and I couldn't ask for a better performance.

Thank you so much for watching, harpsichoid!

[8salacious9]

Originally Posted by JGBarnes

Ain't that a sad fact. I've seen far worse accents from highly experienced Hollywood actors. Again, for his first time EVER acting, I think he did an exceptional job and I couldn't ask for a better performance.

Thank you so much for watching, harpsichoid!

Il give credit where it's due, for a first timer he did well, however the accent doesn't reflect a Londoner at all, more like someone from brighton with American tangs every now and again, I'm interested in knowing who he researched to get this accent? Or was it just a self thought process?

[JGBarnes]

Originally Posted by 8salacious9

Il give credit where it's due, for a first timer he did well, however the accent doesn't reflect a Londoner at all, more like someone from brighton with American tangs every now and again, I'm interested in knowing who he researched to get this accent? Or was it just a self thought process?

He took Idris Elba as his biggest inspiration, but with my direction I tended to lean toward a Clive Owen delivery, though I doubt you can see that particular influence. Like I said, though, I didn't want it to be a pure native accent. Even if we tried that, who would we be kidding? It would sound far too comical coming from an American amateur.

I didn't have a specific region or city in mind for where the character came from, but London certainly would not have been my top choice. Maybe if we get the funding to make a feature length I can develop his character and backstory more and decide that kind of detail.

[gorillaonabike]

Originally Posted by 8salacious9

Il give credit where it's due, for a first timer he did well, however the accent doesn't reflect a Londoner at all, more like someone from brighton with American tangs every now and again, I'm interested in knowing who he researched to get this accent? Or was it just a self thought process?

I would challenge that. It was plenty London enough for me and I've lived in the smoke all my life.

[AcespadexXx]

Awesome man really awesome love the whole cyberpunk feel but its not to over bearing.

[8salacious9]

Originally Posted by gorillaonabike

I would challenge that. It was plenty London enough for me and I've lived in the smoke all my life.

?? anyone could tell that it wasnt right listening to it from the start, it was obvious it was a fake accent, why? because it sounded like an imitation of a londoner, also who in london sounds like that anymore? unless your an old time cockney, which he weren't and didnt look like one...

and he sounded like a white english londoner, even worse in my opinion, someone from the films background as his, would never sound like that, its not realistic, all you gotta do is go around and see the people to know, its called racial profiling, theres a certain tone to mix ethnic people in london these days, and it certainly doesnt sound anything like that.

like i said before, it sounds more like a brighton accent, coz they do speak like that there, but not london, not anymore..

[JGBarnes]

Originally Posted by AcespadexXx

Awesome man really awesome love the whole cyberpunk feel but its not to over bearing.

Thank you! I sincerely appreciate that.

"Not overbearing" was planned from the start. I am a fan of subtlety, and though the art of subtlety is rather elusive and challenging for an amateur like me I did my best. Even if I had a reasonable budget for this, I wouldn't make it a whole lot different from an aesthetic standpoint. The cyberpunk elements would not be much heavier -- if at all. For example, the Extractor I would do something a little cooler with his mask, but essentially keep the core simple design.

We actually talked about having a few more overtly cyberpunk elements in the film -- and they are still in the script (we even shot to fill those parts in), but ultimately we decided after getting into the cut that they were distracting and essentially served nothing to the pertinent story. The dialogue admittedly might lean toward the esoteric, so I didn't want to throw all these other unnecessary distractions at the viewer/listener.

The film community/market is saturated with sci-fi/cyberpunk shorts and there are PLENTY of films that lay the cool aesthetics on extra thick if that's what you're into. In my opinion, however, they often sacrifice a thought-provoking story and characters to achieve that. Sure, it might be debatable whether I achieved the latter, but that's what I was going for: substance over aesthetics.