The Windwalkers (2007) is an NUIM (National University of Ireland, Maynooth) college project recorded by Media Studies student Evan Heneghan for end of year exams 2007 which met with moderate success and reviews when released to the general audience on YouTube in January 2008 in a two-part format. A gallery of still was also created by photographer Pearse Healy using the actual original film reel.
Contents
Concept and plot
The Windwalkers depicts a day in the life of imaginary wind enthusiasts Crazy Fred, Gustav Vind, Chris Ghostwalker, Jimbo James and Carmen Carbonara as they follow their dreams, follow their rituals and seek to make amends for events of the past. Gustav, for instance, is a tortured soul who lost his wife to the wind many years before the events of the film. The action was largely unscripted and unstunted with most of the final footage been taken in the first take. The Maynooth Media Society provided funding for the project after Heneghan's original proposal was accepted, however the final costs were well below the original estimate.
Proposed sequel
A sequel to The Windwalkers entitled When The Wind Has Blown: Cold Day has been proposed by auteur Heneghan, which follows the lives of Gustav, Carmen and Ghostwalker after they have stopped their fruitless pursuit and returned to their previous lives. As the events of the sequel are scripted years after the original, Heneghan has set a provisional recording date of mid-2012. Apart from Gustav Vind (Pearse Healy) all the cast for the sequel have agreed 'in principle' to return for the sequel and finale. The character of Jimbo (Jamie McHugh) was originally scripted to return in the sequel but was written out due to excessive drug use on the actor's part.
Author reaction
When questioned about the purpose or impact of the project at a wine and cheese release ceremony for Tales From The Script, Heneghan stated, "When I first set out to categorize and summise the final chokes of my childhood I never dreamed I would succeed so completely. I basically shot the thing then realized several days later as I was going through the footage, much to my amazement, what I had achieved. It's all there, and it is perfect. My dear friends, the setting sun, the blue summer's sky, the old oak trees and the green grass, bad hairstyles and some questionable fashion decisions, all present and correct, all perfect. When I watch it alone, which I do a great deal of the time, I close my eyes and still I see it, it breaks my heart".
Proposed spin-offs
A proposed television spin-off in which the entire cast would be replaced with flightless turkeys was shelved as Heneghan believed he had "not found anyone right to play more than one or two of the roles". An all star musical for broadway led by Michelle Heaton and Diane Keaton and directed by Academy Award nominee Ron Howard was also rumored by Heneghan in June 2008 though this has never been independently confirmed by any of the individual parties concerned.