Filming of Chain Reaction is now done and dusted and the raw product is now in the hands of the very capable Roger who will edit and colour grade it ready for our sound designer and composer to add their touches.
This second day of filming went well. I wish sometimes that there was a do-over button so I could go back and have the first day again but I was new and unsure then about what I was supposed to be doing behind the camera. This time I knew exactly what I wanted and got it.
We got some great shots of our bossy angel and even our God behaved and did what I needed him to do.
I feel a lot more confident about it. Roger worked his magic by putting the pre-filmed chicken into the shot with the actors and it looks pretty seamless, as if she's there with them. They are even looking at the right spot! Miracle! Seeing this was the turning point of my feelings towards filming my own stuff. Up to then I was doubtful about it and wished I hadn't started. I know what the problem is - I'm impatient and I want everything to be perfect. Now. Directing this film has made me realise that this is a process. Up to now, I've been involved in my process - the writing of scripts. This process involves other people and lots of pieces that once they fit together make the whole.
So, does this mean I'll do it again - I'm not sure. The week before last would have been a definite 'no' - but now, if the right script and the right moment arrive together then 'maybe'.
In other news I'm having my first short story (2000 words) published on the Knowonder! site. This is a great resource for parents with small children. They download the story of the day to read to the children with a sort of Q&A at the end to engage with the story and the child's recall ability and to promote discussion.
"The Grasshoppers who Learned How to Sing" will appear on the site on 20th February and will also feature in the printed addition of the third volume of stories available from Amazon sometime early in February.
So, interesting times. I will probably have a crack at a few more shorts for the site and hopefully they will get accepted.
In the meantime I'm editing my novel - Since You've Been Gone - and will be formatting it for uploading onto Smashwords, probably late February. Mainly set in my home town of Dover, I'm aiming to market it by word of mouth through my friends and Facebook. Probably not a great marketing move but I'm hoping if they share on their page it'll gain a bit of momentum.
I'll let you know when it's up and available.
Sunday, 27 January 2013
Tuesday, 27 November 2012
Chain Reaction Part Two
Saturday 24th November saw me attempt to direct my first short film. It's taken a couple of days to process the experience and to assess how I feel about it all.
Firstly, the team were fabulous. That goes without saying. They worked well together and were easy to direct. I think I could have had a little bit more authority on set; there were moments when I was battling a little to be heard.
It was a massive learning curve and my cameraman was a total superstar who got me through it. It was definitely all hands to the pump - my eldest daughter ended up doing sound - and she was only coming along for a few hours support! She was incredible!
There were a few hiccups - of course there were. Lines mangled and fluffing of lines. It's to be expected and it wasn't a big deal.
The rough edit is coming together and early indications are looking good though my DP said that a couple of things were out though he thinks they may be worked out in edit.
The interesting part of the process was that I've only ever written scripts and the scripts that I write have always been done with the intention that they will be (hopefully) taken up by professional production companies with the resources to do them justice. We had no resources but ourselves and the props that I made or borrowed. So, what I learned from this was that whilst the script looked great and had some good things in it - it would have worked had there been the money behind it. To that end, we have to go back in and re-shoot one or two pieces that were totally lost in translation. But, the good thing is, we have no deadline so we can, providing I can get the cast back together! I think, what this is telling me, is that if I want to work on a local level then I have to simplify the story, tell it differently.
Would I do it again? I'm not sure. Directing was something that I wanted to have a go at, like making my medieval costume or my Victorian costume - I did them because the desire to make them was there. The desire to direct was there. Not sure I'm cut out for it but for a bucket list thing - well, I can tick it off.
The post-production process isn't finished yet. Our sound designer has to get his hands on it yet and our composer needs to finish off her work on it.
I'm anxious - it's like waiting for something to cook. It needs all the right ingredients. I suppose that I asked people to be involved and they did so and gave their time and talent freely because we have such a vibrant and proactive film making culture in my neck of the woods. Yet...I don't want to have wasted their time with a crap effort.
I think I'm probably never going to be satisfied with the outcome. I think I will be like George Lucas, always believing that I can make it better. I do that with my scripts. Even when they are finished and redrafted to within an inch of their lives, I pick at them.
This may be down to a lack of belief or self-confidence. I don't know. The thing is, if it's not a 100% then I guess, in reality, that's fine, we can go back and re-do anything that didn't work out. I suppose that's the beauty of not being involved with deadlines, release dates and investors. I don't know how real directors do it but I can kind of see why they get ulcers.
EDITED: Since posting this the group have had a really productive chat online and thrown around ideas. And, for my part, I think this is what it's all about. This started out as my script and my desire to direct it, to see it come alive but as we've gone on this has become OUR script. Filming isn't about just one person's vision or dream it's a collective. It really is a truly collaborative event.
Firstly, the team were fabulous. That goes without saying. They worked well together and were easy to direct. I think I could have had a little bit more authority on set; there were moments when I was battling a little to be heard.
It was a massive learning curve and my cameraman was a total superstar who got me through it. It was definitely all hands to the pump - my eldest daughter ended up doing sound - and she was only coming along for a few hours support! She was incredible!
There were a few hiccups - of course there were. Lines mangled and fluffing of lines. It's to be expected and it wasn't a big deal.
The rough edit is coming together and early indications are looking good though my DP said that a couple of things were out though he thinks they may be worked out in edit.
The interesting part of the process was that I've only ever written scripts and the scripts that I write have always been done with the intention that they will be (hopefully) taken up by professional production companies with the resources to do them justice. We had no resources but ourselves and the props that I made or borrowed. So, what I learned from this was that whilst the script looked great and had some good things in it - it would have worked had there been the money behind it. To that end, we have to go back in and re-shoot one or two pieces that were totally lost in translation. But, the good thing is, we have no deadline so we can, providing I can get the cast back together! I think, what this is telling me, is that if I want to work on a local level then I have to simplify the story, tell it differently.
Would I do it again? I'm not sure. Directing was something that I wanted to have a go at, like making my medieval costume or my Victorian costume - I did them because the desire to make them was there. The desire to direct was there. Not sure I'm cut out for it but for a bucket list thing - well, I can tick it off.
The post-production process isn't finished yet. Our sound designer has to get his hands on it yet and our composer needs to finish off her work on it.
I'm anxious - it's like waiting for something to cook. It needs all the right ingredients. I suppose that I asked people to be involved and they did so and gave their time and talent freely because we have such a vibrant and proactive film making culture in my neck of the woods. Yet...I don't want to have wasted their time with a crap effort.
I think I'm probably never going to be satisfied with the outcome. I think I will be like George Lucas, always believing that I can make it better. I do that with my scripts. Even when they are finished and redrafted to within an inch of their lives, I pick at them.
This may be down to a lack of belief or self-confidence. I don't know. The thing is, if it's not a 100% then I guess, in reality, that's fine, we can go back and re-do anything that didn't work out. I suppose that's the beauty of not being involved with deadlines, release dates and investors. I don't know how real directors do it but I can kind of see why they get ulcers.
EDITED: Since posting this the group have had a really productive chat online and thrown around ideas. And, for my part, I think this is what it's all about. This started out as my script and my desire to direct it, to see it come alive but as we've gone on this has become OUR script. Filming isn't about just one person's vision or dream it's a collective. It really is a truly collaborative event.
Sunday, 28 October 2012
Chain Reaction
I'm incredibly excited about my first shot at directing. So far there has been much in the way of prep work being done and trying to tie everything up so we can get on with filming. It'll be done under Tickle Belly Alley Productions (naturally) with, hopefully, an association with the DOP's outfit. I'm in the process of setting up a webpage for TBA Productions so I can showcase the actors/crew work and links to their portfolios etc.
Once we get down to filming then I'm hoping to get stills from the set to put up as well to catalogue the process.
So far, I'm enjoying it all and I've got the bug.
Watch This Space!!!
Once we get down to filming then I'm hoping to get stills from the set to put up as well to catalogue the process.
So far, I'm enjoying it all and I've got the bug.
Watch This Space!!!
Sunday, 21 October 2012
Changes
It's funny how things change so quickly. One minute you're plodding along thinking that its all going no-where then the next you're in the middle of a whirlpool.
As you know I write and I've been tring to break into writing for a long time. My successes in competitions have been bitty - some amazingly awesome, like the Red Planet Prize, Prequel to Cannes and BAFTA/Rocliffe New Writers Forum and some have been less than stellar - no second rounds etc. The rest have been of the 'close but no cigar' variety i.e. second round or long listed but no further. I guess this goes with the territory and it can be hard. Really, really hard. You're told not to take it personally. That the reader who didn't progress you had hard choices to make and had to make them else the competition would never end. I guess they do. I don't know, I can only go on what I read. For me, the writer, though, I find it very hard. I suppose most writers do - in fact, I know they do because some vent their spleen very openly on the pages of Facebook and Twitter and I totally understand that (I've done it myself and it's not dignified I can tell you and it makes you look like a knob). Why? Because someone dissed your baby. You spent weeks or months or maybe years creating this script and someone said it wasn't up to the cut. I don't have advice on how you handle that. It's too trite to say, don't take it personally - of course you will. My only advice I suppose is have your rant out in private, put the script away and when you're feeling more objective peek at the feedback (if you got any for it from a contest) and act upon it if you feel that it is a genuine attempt to improve your script and not just a value judgement based on personal opinion. Only you know if which one it may be.
Anyway, this wasn't meant to be a post on feedback. Everyone handles that differently and it's a personal thing in my opinion.
No, this was about change and this is my change. I decided that I wanted to have a go at directing. And I am. I'm fortunate to live in an area which has a thriving filmmaking community and so, after stepping up to the mark and walking away from it a number of times, I finally plucked up the courage to say it out loud. I WANT TO DIRECT. Luckily my first port of call, to a young actor, hit the mark and he came on board with enthusiasm. He set me up a page on Facebook for the film and it's just snowballed from there. So, now me and my team are making a short movie.
What shall we do with it when it's finished? Who knows. Maybe, just maybe, if it's good enough we shall enter it into a some festivals. See how it goes. And then its a whole new rejection to contend with!!!
I guess I've been sitting here, churning out spec scripts, waiting for someone else to kick start my dreams. This way, even if nothing else comes of it, I can say 'I did that'. I made that film. I worked with some brilliant people and we did this together.
So I'm in a whirl of prop making and aquiring. Location scouting. Casting. And hopefully having some fun along the way.
If you have a dream. If you're waiting for someone else to make it happen....then don't give up on it but if you can do it yourself....GO FOR IT!
As you know I write and I've been tring to break into writing for a long time. My successes in competitions have been bitty - some amazingly awesome, like the Red Planet Prize, Prequel to Cannes and BAFTA/Rocliffe New Writers Forum and some have been less than stellar - no second rounds etc. The rest have been of the 'close but no cigar' variety i.e. second round or long listed but no further. I guess this goes with the territory and it can be hard. Really, really hard. You're told not to take it personally. That the reader who didn't progress you had hard choices to make and had to make them else the competition would never end. I guess they do. I don't know, I can only go on what I read. For me, the writer, though, I find it very hard. I suppose most writers do - in fact, I know they do because some vent their spleen very openly on the pages of Facebook and Twitter and I totally understand that (I've done it myself and it's not dignified I can tell you and it makes you look like a knob). Why? Because someone dissed your baby. You spent weeks or months or maybe years creating this script and someone said it wasn't up to the cut. I don't have advice on how you handle that. It's too trite to say, don't take it personally - of course you will. My only advice I suppose is have your rant out in private, put the script away and when you're feeling more objective peek at the feedback (if you got any for it from a contest) and act upon it if you feel that it is a genuine attempt to improve your script and not just a value judgement based on personal opinion. Only you know if which one it may be.
Anyway, this wasn't meant to be a post on feedback. Everyone handles that differently and it's a personal thing in my opinion.
No, this was about change and this is my change. I decided that I wanted to have a go at directing. And I am. I'm fortunate to live in an area which has a thriving filmmaking community and so, after stepping up to the mark and walking away from it a number of times, I finally plucked up the courage to say it out loud. I WANT TO DIRECT. Luckily my first port of call, to a young actor, hit the mark and he came on board with enthusiasm. He set me up a page on Facebook for the film and it's just snowballed from there. So, now me and my team are making a short movie.
What shall we do with it when it's finished? Who knows. Maybe, just maybe, if it's good enough we shall enter it into a some festivals. See how it goes. And then its a whole new rejection to contend with!!!
I guess I've been sitting here, churning out spec scripts, waiting for someone else to kick start my dreams. This way, even if nothing else comes of it, I can say 'I did that'. I made that film. I worked with some brilliant people and we did this together.
So I'm in a whirl of prop making and aquiring. Location scouting. Casting. And hopefully having some fun along the way.
If you have a dream. If you're waiting for someone else to make it happen....then don't give up on it but if you can do it yourself....GO FOR IT!
Saturday, 11 August 2012
New Look
So, what's been going on around here. Well, firstly my two minute short The Walk To Goodbye succeeded in making the long list of the London Screenwriters Festival initiative 50 Kisses. There was an original field of 1870 entries and the long list cut that down to around 503. The short list of 100 was announced last Friday closely followed by the list of 50 shorts that would make up the movie 50 Kisses. Sadly I didn't make the second cut. It was tough. I thought the script was lovely and I hoped that being a more reflective piece it would play out well agains the inevitable high concept ones. Disappointing but I have to think that I beat around 1367 other people to the first cut and that's great going!
Currently I'm working on a reverse adaptation of my award winning script Since You've Been Gone - appropriately set, for the most part, in Dover. Reverse adaptation is interesting as the plot and the beats are already there. What has been great is that I have discovered deeper layers to my characters and have been, naturally, able to explore their thoughts and motivations at greater length. I've been highlighting new dialogue and new scenes so that I can transfer them back into the original screenplay. This should give it better depth. I'm aiming for around 62,000 words and I'm currently on 43,245 so a little way to go yet.
I also discovered a fabulous page on Facebook called Dover (Kent) History Page which has been a little goldmine of inspiration for my novel. Shops I'd forgotten or street scenes that had gone out of memory but which are relevant to the story I'm telling. The contributors are knowledgable about my hometown and recall things with wonderful clarity.
Hopefully, fingers crossed another short of mine will be filmed soon by the off shoot of the Colchester Filmmakers Club - the Colchester History Project. So, all in all I'm feeling positive about the writing so far.
Friday, 13 April 2012
Beating it out.
I'm just coming to the end of ten days away from work so I've managed to get into a proper groove with my life and its given me some much needed writing time. A while ago I purchased a copy of "Save the Cat" Blake Snyder. I probably went through the same process as most people do when they come across this book which is A) to wonder how you ever structured a screenplay without it to B)Yay, let's make a beat sheet to C) Let's put it all into practice to D) Crap that's really limited my work.
Of course structure is really important but insisting that each beat must be made, without exception on this page, this page, this page etc, is really, really limiting. Well, I found that at least. I'm sure someone will jump all over me and say I'm wrong. Hell, who's allowed an opinion these days? However, what I did find is that whilst constructing a script from scratch using the Blake Snyder Beat Sheet (c) was creatively limiting for me, when I checked already written scripts those beats had been hit anyway.
So, this is how I use a beat sheet now. I write the first draft like one big word vomit then I write out the beat sheet and say exactly where the beats hit home. I also add a few sections of ideas and action points and colour code them for my attention. I guess it's the same as some writers who use a spread sheet or colour cards they pin on boards etc. Whatever floats your boat. Once I've established where the plotholes lie and weeded out the problems I can use the beat sheet to pare down the bloated script to something more manageable and pull those beats together.
Blake Snyder's right, the beats are important; they give structure to the script and structure is everything but I think structure should come after you've worked out the plot and the characters not before. After all, that's what rewriting is for, isn't it?
Of course structure is really important but insisting that each beat must be made, without exception on this page, this page, this page etc, is really, really limiting. Well, I found that at least. I'm sure someone will jump all over me and say I'm wrong. Hell, who's allowed an opinion these days? However, what I did find is that whilst constructing a script from scratch using the Blake Snyder Beat Sheet (c) was creatively limiting for me, when I checked already written scripts those beats had been hit anyway.
So, this is how I use a beat sheet now. I write the first draft like one big word vomit then I write out the beat sheet and say exactly where the beats hit home. I also add a few sections of ideas and action points and colour code them for my attention. I guess it's the same as some writers who use a spread sheet or colour cards they pin on boards etc. Whatever floats your boat. Once I've established where the plotholes lie and weeded out the problems I can use the beat sheet to pare down the bloated script to something more manageable and pull those beats together.
Blake Snyder's right, the beats are important; they give structure to the script and structure is everything but I think structure should come after you've worked out the plot and the characters not before. After all, that's what rewriting is for, isn't it?
Monday, 24 October 2011
Contests
Contests? Do you enter them or not? Do you think they are worth the money or not? I've always had a healthy attitude to them and I've always done well out of them too. To date my successes (and by that I don't mean out and out wins, I mean good places) have been:
Red Planet Prize (2007 announced 2008)
PAGE International Screenwriting Contest.
WriteMovies
CBBC New Writers Contest
WildSound
Prequel to Cannes
and now BAFTA/Rocliffe - which is still on going but I've been placed along with 24 other scripts reading for the final 3 selection.
But what does it all mean and, really, is it worth anything? I mean, none of the scripts involved have been optioned or made. There are writers out there with no contest results to their name making films all the time. Well, I suppose for me it does mean something - else I wouldn't waste my time entering. For me it means that I can populate my writing CV which would otherwise be empty with information that a prospective production company can use. It tells them that my script has been through a detailed process of reading by a professional reader; analysis and feedback; is formatted to industry standard and, finally, is worth another read.
Prequel to Cannes was the turning point for me. So convinced was I that the script was being laughed out of the contest that I threw in the towel. To come second was an enormous boost to my confidence, made me pick up my pen again and the support Rosie has given me has been wonderful and now I'm looking forward with excitement to the network event in March. But what if you don't win? How does that feel? Well, I've been there too and it sucks. You put your heart and soul into a piece and it doesn't make the cut. Don't let that deter you - enter something else but be choosy about your picks. I truly believe some contests are worth more than others.
Like work experience is invaluable to your professional CV - be it paid or voluteering so I truly believe contests are valuable to your writing CV. As I said, it tells potential employers a lot about your work even if they haven't seen it.
https://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/13620745343/
http://www.prequel.biz/
Red Planet Prize (2007 announced 2008)
PAGE International Screenwriting Contest.
WriteMovies
CBBC New Writers Contest
WildSound
Prequel to Cannes
and now BAFTA/Rocliffe - which is still on going but I've been placed along with 24 other scripts reading for the final 3 selection.
But what does it all mean and, really, is it worth anything? I mean, none of the scripts involved have been optioned or made. There are writers out there with no contest results to their name making films all the time. Well, I suppose for me it does mean something - else I wouldn't waste my time entering. For me it means that I can populate my writing CV which would otherwise be empty with information that a prospective production company can use. It tells them that my script has been through a detailed process of reading by a professional reader; analysis and feedback; is formatted to industry standard and, finally, is worth another read.
Prequel to Cannes was the turning point for me. So convinced was I that the script was being laughed out of the contest that I threw in the towel. To come second was an enormous boost to my confidence, made me pick up my pen again and the support Rosie has given me has been wonderful and now I'm looking forward with excitement to the network event in March. But what if you don't win? How does that feel? Well, I've been there too and it sucks. You put your heart and soul into a piece and it doesn't make the cut. Don't let that deter you - enter something else but be choosy about your picks. I truly believe some contests are worth more than others.
Like work experience is invaluable to your professional CV - be it paid or voluteering so I truly believe contests are valuable to your writing CV. As I said, it tells potential employers a lot about your work even if they haven't seen it.
https://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/13620745343/
http://www.prequel.biz/
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