Independent Filmmaker Records Students on Campus Rallying for a Fictional Protest
A scene for the upcoming feature-length independent film “Poet in a Modern World” was shot using 16 mm film this month in the Illinois Central College courtyard with the college’s students, who were used as extras.
The motion picture centers on two characters: Shane, “a disoriented young filmmaker”, and John, “his grieving art instructor”, according to the film page. They both struggle with their current realities, either through their personal situations or through the state of society.
The snowy scene occurs in the plot after the art instructor has a mental breakdown during class where he yells at one of his students. Another student recorded it on a video which later went viral throughout the college.
“This is a scene involving the central protagonist, a young student who is meandering around the sundial sculpture,” said William Jacobs, director of the film, current Eureka College student, and ICC alumnus. “A music student sits down at the sculpture and begins playing a tune. Then suddenly, a door flings open and a group of students, rallying for a protest against one of the other protagonists of the story, a grieving middle-aged art instructor, come to Shane and ask if he would be interested in joining the protest.”
Some of the extras were given protest papers which had the face of John Romano, the art instructor character, with his eyes crossed out. It has lines on it such as “Fire John Romano” and “End Bigotry! End Racism! End Fascist Teachers!”
In another shot, students walked across the courtyard. They had to pretend to talk so that only the actors could be heard talking during the initial film. Afterward, the film crew recorded audio of these students talking, which will be added to the final cut after the scene has been developed.
“It was a great experience, and the cast and crew treated us really well,” said Teagan Ealey, ICC student and actress. “The way they handled us was really kind because they had food for us, and they let us be inside until we absolutely had to be outside for shooting.”
The film has been in the works for a long time. “This project has been in development since I was 21. I’m currently 27,” says Jacobs.
“The first idea came to me in my early 20s, when someone from the industry advised that I make my first feature film something I could make in my backyard. No, I’ve gone far and beyond that. It’s not just my backyard.”
Instead, he says he wanted to make a film “that could be distinctly told in Central Illinois”. In fact, all of the scenes are shot in Peoria, and the team is mostly local volunteers.
Jacobs says one of the first steps to producing this film after the initial inspiration was finding these local people to work with.
“At the very beginning of this project, I told myself I only want to work ith people whom I love and have rapport with. And this project has consisted solely of friends and other contacts from my immediate network.”
That does not mean that he just cast anyone, however. “Casting required a lot of patience,” says Jacobs. He wanted to cast the right people with the right personalities for the role. In fact, the main characters are not even trained actors, as he is “trying to avoid any fakery or pretense.”
“I try to find people that closely resemble the character they portray so they don’t have to pretend. They can just be who they are in the camera and they don’t have to undergo all this hocus act,” Jacobs says.
One of those friends who ended up getting cast is Wes Brooks, former Harbinger Student Media managing editor, who plays Shane, the “disoriented young filmmaker”. Brooks met Jacobs while they were both students at ICC. He considers himself especially well-aligned with his role.
“I can get stuck in character if I’m not careful,” says Brooks.
Once the plan for the film got together, a budget became perhaps the most important factor in bringing the project to life. Both Brooks and Jacobs agree that it is a “miracle” that the film is in production right now. This is because the film’s production has been almost entirely crowd-funded.
“I hosted an online fundraiser,” says Jacobs. “Through social media, I’ve been able to develop an audience. I’ve developed this ‘inch forward model’, which is essentially me filming a scene and then releasing it online immediately after the footage is developed and scanned.”
He says this has allowed the project to gain its budget slowly. “Initially, I only raised 2% of the budget that was necessary to film. So I took that $800 we raised in January 2023 and shot a scene. As funds trickled in we filmed another scene and released it, and funds trickled in again.”
That popular interest that has given the film enough funds may be due to the countercultural message that the title “A Poet in a Modern World” alludes to: the struggle to choose beauty in the presence of recent societal changes.
Jacobs gave an example of this through John, the art instructor. “Today in our cultural and political climate, educators face a lot of tension. And so does this character in the story. He sees how impervious a lot of his students are to our cultural heritage as Westerners, and is essentially attempting to introduce beauty to a student body who isn’t receptive to that beauty.”
The method of shooting this film is also quite different from most contemporary films. According to Brooks, the camera is from the 1970s and uses 16mm film. This is compared to the more common use of digital cameras, which 92% of the top 100 box office films used in 2017. Digital is also more common in independent filmmaking due to being more cost-effective.
The style of the film’s plot and pace are also quite different compared to most popular modern films.
“A lot of modern filmmaking is all exposition; it’s all handed to you,” says Jacobs.
“Art at its greatest is a participatory thing where you, the spectator, are engaging with it, embodying it, and living it. It should open a door for you to contemplate and connect with it. That is the aesthetic of this project. It is very contemplative, meditative, still, and slow”.
Jacobs expects that due to the countercultural message, this film will not succeed through the film festivals, the most common route for promoting independent films. “You have to fit a certain political ideology and fulfill a checklist. I don’t believe this project nor myself would satisfy in any of these film festivals.”
Instead, he wants to travel to independent theaters and possibly churches throughout the country in a “self-distribution model”.
“I want to have a premiere screening here in Peoria. I also want to book screenings at various independent cinemas throughout the country and take this film on a tour.”
Jacobs says he is about halfway through filming, and “Poet in a Modern World” will hopefully be released by the end of this year.
If you would like to help fund the project, you can donate here.
If you would like to see the scenes that have already been produced, you can see them on their YouTube channel.
You can find more information and check out their other projects on their website.