Some Kind Of Wonderful.

It's been longer than a month since my last post mainly because my new work is hectic but this post is not about that.

I was waiting for the train after work and decided it was a nice night for some music. The train came and I took my place. Then I began scrolling through my Ipod wondering what to listen to when I came across the Dirty Dancing soundtrack. It had been a while since I'd listened to it and thought lets try it out and see if I'm in the mood. Then began my creative flow for my latest idea (Previous post) The Saturday Shift. I've decided to change the title to something a little more suggestive and well, sexy. So I'm currently playing around with the word Lipstick. I want there to be something else in the title which gives a little more to the audience. My thoughts: Lipstick And The Beast could be a candidate but I find it a little too fairy tale or worse it gives the idea the film is going to have some scantily clad young female in it, it isn't. So I'm still playing with the idea.

I think, I've also found my opening and I want it to be something unique, different. I thought the idea of opening the film with a scene which is like one of Picasso's paintings. Having a mix of close ups to make a fabricated face of the main character. I want to get across the notion and themes of identity, I thought this would be a colourful and artistic way to show it. I thought of two possible ways this could be achieved. The first was to use a painted background and then I'd garbage matte the close ups and build a face using the iconic shapes Picasso is famous for. The second was to use a shot of the main character applying makeup in the mirror but the mirror would show this abstract Picasso influenced face. I prefer the latter because it feels a little more filmic, instead of full blown artistic/experimental. The issue with garbage mattes are the render times and I'll have to place several images on top of each other and I currently don't have a Mac strong enough to deal with such Rendering issues. The other idea was Aftereffects, this could be easily achieved because it's a simple idea with simple shaping. So I could possibly learn the process easily with enough planning and a step by step layers guide.

My other idea came from a certain Car scene within my plot, which originally wasn't going to show the interior at this particular time in the story but instead remain outside watching from a short distance. (Sorry I can't give much away.) I've thought about adding a medium shot of the radio within the car and basically the main characters hand is supported and whilst being supported the volume is turned up, buttons are pressed. The reason behind this was to play around with diagetic and non diagetic sound as well as give an impacting semi graphical image to the audience.

I eventually came to the ending of my film and was thinking how to make it impacting enough to an audience and I've thought about one particular ending shot, which I think would be disturbing, to finish the film. The shot consists of a sub character and a minor character. The minor character kisses the sub character on the head, leaving a smeared Lipstick mark. This ties in with a reoccurring shot throughout the film as well as the title. this simple message of Lipstick would add dimension to the short.

Coming back to the music now, I enjoyed the style of most of the tracks on the album. Notable ones are: Hungry Eyes - Eric Carmen, These Arms Of Mine - Otis Reading, Cry To Me - Solomon Burke, Will You Love Me Tomorrow - The Shirelles, You Don't Own Me - The Blow Monkeys, In The Still Of The Night - The Five Satins and Some Kind Of Wonderful - The Drifters. There's an obvious style to everyone of these songs and it's that romantic and loved up style I love because it would be so contradictory to the story and the characters. The songs are beautiful songs too. They ooze this script and each one of these's songs owns a particular scene.

The First Words You See Are Just As Important As The Last

I've currently come up with an idea and a simple plot for a short film. I'm hoping it will be impacting and shocking. This latest entry is to do with naming your Script (film). I find this task difficult but not impossible. My working title is 'The Saturday Shift', it's got nothing to do with working in the legal sense. To give you a little input and background the plot follows a Gay Male Prostitute. Already you've probably guessed the reason for the title but there's a reason for the day, Saturday.

I'd love to tell you more but as a rule of thumb I don't like discussing plot/narrative until I've actually finished writing the piece. The reason for this entry is because I hate the title too. I couldn't tell you why because I simply don't know, it's a feeling.

If you ever get this feeling you know somethings not right with what you've done. Change it, tweak it and try something different until you're happy.

You can have more than one 'Working Title' for your film you'll often find they'll even change because your story changes.

I'll be writing the script soon so will post a later blog in the future.

There's An Apple In Pineapple

The hardest issue with writing a script is actually coming up with an idea. I personally try to make an idea out of anything because that way I've got plenty to work and play around with. I've always found reading very helpful and when I mean read I don't mean just scripts I mean everything. Fiction has always been my favorite because I love making up characters and plots but any reading improves writing and creativity.

I've tried to never be afraid to let my mind wonder and create even if the end result is absolutely bollocks. Like I mentioned in my first post (Rule 1) you can always scrap what you've written. Often than not you'll take some piece from what you've written and begin building up from that. So don't be afraid to explore. 

Another technique I've found helpful is to get a copy of a script from a film I like and dissect each scene. Then I'll watch the film each scene at a time, looking at how the scene was written and how it transcoded to the screen. This helped me understand the process of film production and showed how the script is simply a blue print for a film. Give it a try! A good scene to look at is the opening of Alien by Ridley Scott.

If you're thinking I can't afford scripts try: http://www.simplyscripts.com/

This website has many full movie and television scripts to look at for free. 

Dogs Bark And Cats Moo

I'll never be a strong writer. I've always struggled with the English language but have loved making up stories whether it be in those moments I am dreaming just before falling asleep, through badly illustrated drawings or actually trying to use words and sentences.

In my later teens I was introduced to Screen Writing, which I took to a little like a duck in oil infested water. Lets just say I wasn't great but for the first time I enjoyed actual writing. My first Screenplay involved a 'fictional' me in a 'fictional' story it was very 'social realism' and terrible. The story didn't go anywhere and dialogue was too long and over used. It was about a girl, ok. I was very upset and in 'Love', she broke my heart, the bitch. Anyway that was my first script and not very successful.

I eventually decided to take Scriptwriting at the University of Staffordshire. A proud University for it's prowling homeless junkies and half ass'd lecturers. Though I slate the lecturers it was their 'technique' of minimal input which created students whom were independent and could think for themselves. The course's assessments often involved essays, which I was terrible at, as well as minimal Scriptwriting work. This angered a large amount of the Scriptwriting students, six in total, because we'd written only TWO scripts in our first year! This was no were near enough for any writer of any form but who's fault was it, really? It took me another year and a friend to realise nothing stopped the students from writing outside of their university course.

1) The first lesson I learnt was; Write everyday. Whether it be scrapped at a later date or you're not in the mood to write, write something, even if it's a paragraph or a sentence. This also works if you've hit a 'writers block'.

2) The second lesson I'd learnt was; No matter where you are as long as you've got a pen and paper you can write when ever you like.
Two important rules I think are vital for every writer.

This blog is about the way I make films, my story leading up and after each film I produce or even ideas I'm developing but I'd thought I'd give people a little background of me.