A shortage of directors?

I trust everyone had an enjoyable Christmas and is looking forward to the new year! I got some shiny presents from friends and family as well as some cash to spend the next time I get 5 minutes to wander near HMV.

This morning I posted a job advert on mandy.com for a short film I thought of on Boxing Day. It was one of those ideas where everything comes at once - the story, the characters, the theme, the message etc. It's also on a subject I feel very strongly about:

War Stories is a 20-30 minute film following a British Army regiment on an assignment in Afghanistan. As they carry out their mission, their stories are told through flashbacks to their previous lives. Every soldier is a person. Every soldier has someone at home who cares about them. And every soldier has a story to tell.

The first thing you'll notice is that for a short film, it's rather long (up to 30 minutes!). Nevertheless, i think the story justifies this length. Biting the bullet, I posted on mandy.com looking for a director. Now for some reason I thought this would be a fairly longshot. I thought I might get two, maybe three responses in the few weeks it was up. But within an hour I'd received 3 messages and as things stand at the moment, 13 directors have been in touch! UPDATE: make that 14 since posting this blog 2 minutes ago :S

So I think it's fair to say there's definitely not a shortage of directors out there. Problem #1 is choosing the "best" director. First they have to like my script (that is yet to be written) and secondly, we have to agree on what should be done. I'm in no rush to jump in and agree to work with a director before exploring every possible angle, which is why I intend to send the script to each of them and see what notes they make.

Problem #2 is the budget. Money isn't my strong suit - I'm not even sure how much money is sitting in my current account at the moment! But what I do know is that a 20-30 minute film set in 4 locations (one being Afghanistan) and featuring gunfire, military movements and an RPG (that's a rocket launcher for the pacifists out there) isn't going to come cheap! So I'm currently doing things the old fashioned way - emailing production companies and personal producers asking them if they'd be remotely interested.

So far......I have one possible lead. But it's early days yet and I'm not giving up. So if there's anyone out there who has an urge fork up £10,000 to produce a non-profit short film that pays tribute to the soldiers out in Afghanistan*, do let me know.

Over and out!

*See how I play on your feelings
towards people who die so you
can live? No? Not working?
Ok, you cold-hearted bastard!

2009 in film

2009 is gone and done with now (unless the apocalypse starts tomorrow). As a lot of bloggers will be doing, I thought I'd run through some my movie highs (and lows) of 2009, based solely on the films I went to see:

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT
'X-Men Origins: Wolverine'
Falling off the back of the horrible mess that was 'X-Men 3: The Last Stand' (which was preceded by two great X-Men movies), the story of Wolverine had the potential to be amazing, with years and years of source material to play with, including a deep origin story in comic form. But what we got was a CGI-filled, car crash with stupidly unrealistic and unjustified action and one of the worst endings in cinema history.

MOST UNEXPECTEDLY AWESOME FILM
'Watchmen'
I knew nothing about the graphic novel before going to the movie. All I'd heard is that it was "the greatest graphic novel of all time." So while I had high expectations, I wasn't holding my breath - movies of great comic books rarely happen.* I assumed it would be a visually stunning action-fest; it was. But what we also got was an incredibly deep story and characters you were really able to get involved with and love (for all the wrong reasons!)

MOST UNEXPECTEDLY AWESOME FILM (runner up)
'District 9'
I couldn't not mention Neill Blomkamp's outstanding sci-fi / political film set in South Africa. I expected it to be quite good (based on the trailers, marketing and my love of sci-fi). What we seemed to get was a sci-fi film written by a non-sci-fi fan. Maybe that's what made it so good - it didn't fall down on the usual elements. It's not a film I'd watch over and over but I'm very glad I've seen it - it's made me think about my own writing very differenlty. I look forward to everything else Blomkamp produces!

FILM EVERYONE SAYS IS GREAT BUT ISN'T!
'Star Trek'
I went in being a semi-fan of the Star Trek world (really down to my love of the Next Generation movies) but the whole thing was never amazing. I expected this to be a lot better than the original series and it was. However, there were some clear problems with the whole thing: our inability to care that Spock's planet gets blown up, the villain Nero's complete absence - resulting in him coming off as very 2D - and bloody Jar Jar Binks Pavel Chekov!

GUILTY PLEASURE
'Underworld: Rise of the Lycans'
A huge improvement on the original films, but not great by anyone's standards. Running at less that an hour and a half, you're left wanting more, which is a good and a bad thing. It doesn't try to be anything it's not - you get a straightforward (slightly unrealistic) story with basic characters, but also some smashing action and brilliant performances from the cast. Great cinematography too!

MOST "UP ITSELF" FILM
'The Imaginirium of Doctor Parnassus'
This wasn't a bad film. But it could have been so much better! Terry Gilliam had a vision and, to be fair to the guy, he stuck to it. The problem is - his vision was half-cocked. The movie has some great ideas and stunning visuals but it's all at the expense of story and characterisation. Nevertheless, a great performance from the late Heath Ledger - not even Johnny Depp is capable of filling his shoes in this one!

MOST IMPROVED FILM (based on previous films in the series)
'Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince'
I'm no fan of the 'Potter' franchise, mainly because I don't feel JK Rowling has any clue how teenage boys behave. That problem is still evident in 'The Half-Blood Prince' but everything else has improved - comedy, action, story. If you can overlook the anti-climax (the absence of the book's action-filled school-battle finale was a big mistake!), it's an all-round heart-warming film.....apart from that moment!

MOST POINTLESS FILM
'Angels & Demons'
Just like 'The Da Vinci Code' this film has a very basic formula (heads-up anyone wanting to write a film like this!) Threat to the establishment > expert uncovers clues > expert explains clues to audience > expert finds more clues > explains to audience > more clues > explains > clues > explains > shocking revelation > final showdown > catharsis restored. It's painfully obvious who the 'villain' of the piece is as well. Hint: it's the only actor apart from Tom Hanks you've heard of!!!

FILM THAT SEEMED AMAZING AT FIRST.....
'Inglourious Basterds'
As I watched Tarantino's latest romp, I laughed heartily as baseball bats obliterated faces. I expected it to be on the level of 'Pulp Fiction', which blurred my judgement. I left the cinema very happy, praising it like mad. Then I stopped and thought "there's a whole subplot in this film that could easily be removed!" Tarantino is a master of suspense (there's an amazing opening scene) but had this movie come from anyone else, I'd be slating it as much as 'Twilight'! [Note: this was a strong contender for Most "Up-Itself" Film]

WORST FILM
'X-Men Origins: Wolverine'
As I've already said - horrible! For a more detailed insight into my utter hatred of this movie, try this link. In an attempt to please everyone, the film ends up pissing us all off! I hate this movie so much that I recently had a dream where I was actually in the film. From there, I provided a critical commentary to Hugh Jackman as to why Gambit can't fall 50 feet why the action is painfully terrible why Blob belongs in cartoons only why adamantium bullets through skulls are never that convenient why his career is over!

FAVOURITE CHARACTER
The Comedian - 'Watchmen'
Here's a character who rapes people whenever he feels like it and guns down the woman carrying his baby without a second thought. He's an all-round bastard and we hate him. But somehow I love this character! There's a certain "bad-ass" appeal to him, but it's more than that; he's a vital part of the story, seeing the world in a unique way. And for a guy called "The Comedian," he ain't that funny! Maybe the stunning opening action scene is what did it, or the merely the fact that he's played by Jeffrey Dean Morgan. Either way, he's my top character of 2009!

FAVOURITE ACTION SEQUENCE
"Just a matter of time, I suppose" - 'Watchmen'
As mentioned above, the opening to 'Watchmen' is amazing. Brutal, significant and at the same time loving and realistic (just not...y'know....really realistic!) Enhanced ten-fold by the presence of a Nat King Cole song, this scene is truly unforgettable. Take a look at the scene on youtube [SPOILERS FOR THE FIRST 10 MINUTES OF THE FILM]

FAVOURITE FILM
'Avatar'
I prepared this blog before seeing Cameron's 'Avatar.' My previous top film of 2009 was (unsurprisingly) 'Watchmen.' James Cameron had a lot to live up to, having produced one of the greatest action/sci-fi films of all time and practically rocketing Arnold Schwarzenegger's career. So I went in expecting greatness, though a part of me felt certain I'd already played the story out in my head and it was boring, cliched and corny. But alas - James Cameron didn't disappoint.

The story contains nothing original - it's very formulaic and predictable. Even from the trailers I was able to predict what would happen. But the way that story is executed is what makes it so great to watch. I'm not just talking about the special effects either - which are easily the best I've ever seen; the incredibly real feel to the whole film is done by true emotion from the CGI characters and superb interaction from the environment. Cameron is a master of storytelling and action-driven plots, which means 'Avatar' never leaves you bored during its 2hr 45min run-time. You find yourself uncontrollably smiling at times and seconds from crying at others. 'Avatar' is a roller-coaster ride of emotion, action and visual beauty.


So there we have it - another year of film gone and a very good year with 'Avatar' and 'Watchmen' alone. There are some films I'm really looking forward to next year. Here's a list, with hopeful realease dates:

'Daybreakers' (January)
'Legion' (January)
'The Wolf Man' (February)
'Alice in Wonderland' (March)
'Clash of the Titans' (March)
'Iron Man 2' (May)
'Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time' (May)
'Toy Story 3' (June)
'Predators' (July)
'The Expendables' (August)
'Conan' (unknown)

Everyone have a shiny Christmas and great New Year!!!

*Apart from 'Batman Begins,' 'The Dark Knight,'
'X-Men,' 'V for Vendetta,' 'Daredevil,'
'From Hell,' 'Constantine,' 'Blade,' 'Sin City.'
Ok....so quite a few good comic book translations.

Wednesday's Whedonism

-- Mal Reynolds (Nathan Fillion), 'Firefly'

December Film Blog Round-Up

This week, Kid asked me to do the film blog round-up for this facebook page. So here it is - some classic bloggers and some others:

"This month's blog round-up is brought to you by little old me, just in time for Christmas. So here's a line-up of the blogs, posts etc I think all film peeps should take a look at:

CREATIVE SCREENWRITING MAGAZINE
The Creative Screenwriting blog posts regular Q&A sessions with the hottest writers around, including the scribes for 'The Road,' 'Zombie Land,' 'Watchmen,' 'District 9' et al. Definitely a brilliant source for writing interviews - http://creativescreenwritingmagazine.blogspot.com/

GO INTO THE STORY
Scott Myers' blog has multiple posts every day and this discussion is particularly interesting, discussing detailed scene description - http://www.gointothestory.com/2009/12/visual-grammar-vs.html. Another great post is from last month - what makes a great opening? - http://www.gointothestory.com/2009/11/question-what-are-keys-to-great-opening.html

DAN'S MEDIA DIGEST
Dan is a TV fanatic, writer and reviewer. He reviews all the hottest shows in the UK and the States. It really pays to read the reviews and get a discussion going - just why did a particular episode of TV work so well? - http://danowen.blogspot.com/

KID IN THE FRONT ROW
Kid recently posted an inspiring blog about how to talk to those film industry professionals. We've all been in a situation where we feel we should have watched a certain film (usually 'The Shawshank Redemption') in order to call ourselves writers. Kid explains that's not always the case - http://kidinthefrontrow.blogspot.com/2009/12/polarity-of-pretentiousness-talking.html

NIGH JOURNAL
I was particularly interested in John's post about character introductions. He makes some great point using some unexpected films as examples. There's also a good discussion in the comments section - http://www.theendisnigel.com/john/?p=1357

SOFLUID
Michelle's post about expositional dialogue is definitely one to read. The ability to hide expo is something a lot of writers overlook and sometimes it pays to revisit that skill - http://michellegoode.blogspot.com/2009/12/how-to-avoid-expositional-dialogue.html On a side-note, one of the best ways to learn about hiding exposition is to re-watch James Cameron's 'Terminator.'

MEMOIRS OF A WORD NERD
Manda talks about the role of film characters in everyday life. Can they be role models? Should they be? She pays particular attention to Disney women and their responsibility for children's development - http://memoirsofawordnerd.blogspot.com/2009/12/fictional-characters-as-role-models.html

PROJECTOR FILMS
Tim talks about what it takes to write a great short script (check comments for further ideas) - http://projectorfilms.blogspot.com/2009/11/what-goes-into-great-short-script.html

WRITING IS A SCIENTIFIC ART
I recently commented on Alex Epstein's point about episodic vs serial television which prompted a few comments with conflicting views. Discussion from the UK, to Canada and the States - http://writewithhonour.blogspot.com/2009/12/episodic-vs-serial.html

SCRIPT COLLECTOR
Finally, this awesome dude find and collects screenplays for people like us. They're all on his site and there for PDF download completely free and completely safe. All the latest releases, from comedies to action. Also a collection of old films. Take a look around and get reading - http://scriptcollector.blogspot.com/


Thanks for reading, and if you have any other blogs or posts etc you'd like to share, feel free to let us know on the group.

Merry Christmas to all (don't drink too much!),
Neil
http://writewithhonour.blogspot.com/"

Get off your arse and make it happen!

That's an order! You're in control of your own life and only you can make shit happen! So right now, get off your arse and do what needs to be done!

Actually, read this post, then get off your arse.

Far too many writers sit around, waiting for someone to come up to them and say "Hey! I'd like you to write a script for me. And here's a bundle of cash as incentive!" But if you do that, you'll have a long wait. You need to get out there and write and be active in getting that work seen by the right people. The film industry isn't going to come to you. You have to make the effort.

Every established writer has worked to get where they are. It's not luck, it's not fate, it's not chance, it's not Divine Will - it's hard work and dedication. They got off their arses and made stuff happen. For themselves.

I'm at the starting point of my career and I can already see what needs to be done. I'm at university and have been for the last two and a half years. I also have a part time job selling people chocolate. I make time to hang out with friends and family (maybe not as much as I should, but I do.) After Christmas, semester two at uni demands that I read and study 36 books in 4 months. Is that going to happen? I doubt it! I'm not the busiest person in the world, but neither am I the person with the least to do.

I recently spoke to a writer from Portugal. You think it's hard not having a clue how to get into the industry when you live in the UK? Try living in Portugal!

He messaged me asking - what do I have to do? I thought "I don't know, I haven't done it yet myself!" But we all help each other in any way we can. I gave him the advice I could. That advice I receive from other, more experienced writers in the trade.

You have to have the will to work at what you're doing. You have to put up with hours and hours of dealing with people you'd rather avoid. And to do that you have to love the actual writing - the telling of a great story. Without the love of one aspect, you can't tolerate the other. It's not just writing. A teacher has to love shaping children's learning in order to put up with the less enjoyable aspects of the job. It applies to every profession.

You can't beat the system. You can't just wait for someone to come along and hand you a break. Maybe your screenplay is the best ever written, but why should someone pay you for it if you're not prepared to work?

Ok, now I've successfully pissed off the few readers I had, here's the point of the post. Once you get off your arse, how do you make stuff happen?

I'm not the best to answer this question - I don't really know myself. There are bloggers out there who know a hell of a lot more than me about the evil empire industry. But as I mentioned earlier, we play our part. So here are a few things you can do:

• Facebook - network your arse off on facebook. Annoy your 'real' friends to impress the directors you're chummy with. Join film groups for writers etc and post all your projects. Say you're available for work. The first 'break' I got was on facebook.*
• Twitter - do the exact same thing. There are thousands of writers on there and we all tweet about our new blog posts and what we're working on. We're a friendly bunch, always there to offer advice.
• Websites - there are numerous websites available to help you network with other film industry professionals. This one is my new favourite - iFeatures. But why not look here too?
• Get a site - a professional site is a great way to drum up trade. If anyone's remotely interested in you, you can point them to you site where you have a list of projects, credits, testimonials, services etc. Note: get your own domain name for under a fiver to make sure people take you seriously.
• Blogs - get a blog. If you don't want to, read them. Read the musings of all those more experienced writers I mentioned earlier (check the blogroll to the side of this post)
• Get a friend - no doubt you have one or two of these already (three if you're really popular!) but I'm talking about someone you tell everything to. By everything, I mean everything writing related. I'd never consider sending anything off to anyone before letting my best writing bud Michelle have a look first. Having someone there to rip your writing to shreds is always helpful!
  

Those are just a few things you can do once you get off your arse. Now what are you doing sitting around reading this?! Go make shit happen!!!

*The first 'break' I received was amazing fun
for a few months, but then became a
nightmare. Do I wish I'd been wiser? Yes.
Do I regret that it happened? No.

Wednesday's Whedonism

Well they tell you: never hit a man with a closed fist. But it is, on occasion, hilarious!

-- Mal Reynolds (Nathan Fillion), 'Firefly'