Short Post

Poignant and powerful song from Once, recommended by Mr Macina.

That’s all I’ve got tonight.

Look Up.

I love multi-storey car parks.

Not because they are overloaded with visual aesthetics, or because they’re just handy when I’m in a parking pickle. No. I love them because, when in a neural pickle, I can walk (or catch a lift, depending) right to the top of one and look out into the distance without a care in the world. For such a public facility it’s incredibly private up there, and there are obvious reasons for this. No-one likes to use the very top floor of a car park (unless its the Watford Harlequin) because its just too damn far to walk to get back to a car. That and if its cold/raining/snowing etc, then obviously people want to keep the car warm and dry.

One of the things that gets me about humanity, as I was discussing with a friend the other day, is that no-one takes the time out of their lives to look up and see whats up there. I know it sounds ridiculous, but take it from someone who has spent a long time in high places, being as tall as I am. Not to mention having spent alot of time people watching from high up. The general public seems to be too involved in their own life to just look up at the sky, out into the distance and just enjoy the view. You’re missing out, people.

For instance, back in Hatfield when I went to Uni there, it was pretty much an industrial wasteland. Motorway here, factory there, Uni building over there. And yet above all of it, was this:

 

Yet still, people complained about how messy the place is and how dank, dirty and rotten. I’ll agree, Hatfield is a shithole, but for the love of god people, look up now and then. You’ll find things you didn’t know were there.

Like yourself.

I go up to car parks for a number of reasons. To people watch, because its the best place to watch people (for the aforementioned reason that the necks of the general public don’t usually tilt past tall person pitch). I also go up there to clear my head, to be alone (because who else is crazy enough to go up to the top of a car park to get away from a bad day?) and to inspire myself. Alot of times it depends on the weather, other times I can just stand there, look out and dream. Haven’t actually been to a car park in a while. Hell, maybe thats why I’m blogging about it instead of actually doing it.

Anyway, back to my chipper self. Today is library day, so its off to get stuck in to the books!

…But I’ve Only Got One Widget…

Woken to the sound of what still sounds like builders (not out of bed yet, and haven’t opened the curtains either, so my hearing will have to suffice). To be fair, I did get a fair bit of sleep, so tis not as bad as first thought.

Work, I have decided, is going to be awesome. Why? One, because last night was pretty shit and we had extra work to do. Two, Because I’m on with a couple of good friends who help the day go faster. Three, because there is a possibility I might be doing something after work with Kerry. So, awesome today shall be. I’ve got a working iPod to prove it!

So, on the Screenwriting front, now that Compartment 9 is in the hands of others, I need some other work to turn my attention to. Enter my adaptation of The Horus Heresy, for Adapting for the Screen. A thought occurs to me:

“Dear christ man, why choose a book/story that is so fucking vast!?“

Simple answer? I like a challenge. Not that adapting a bog standard novel is a bad thing, because alot of the class are doing that and I’m sure their work will be fantastic. But for me, the challenge of adapting a novel isn’t quite enough. I needed something that added a little more to my workload. Granted I’m not actually getting marked for this one, I’m doing it out of choice, so if I complain about my workload later on anyone reading this has an excuse to clip me round the ear.

Anyway, the adaptation itself is fairly tricky. The book doesn’t give a great deal of detail to any given scene from the history of the Heresy, so I’m having to look at what little there is and insert the rest from my imagination. Now, this is all well and good. The problem is, how do you visually tell the story of a god and his twenty sons, when in the books based on them, these men are so godly that normal man can’t bear to look at them or be looked upon by them?

Simple. You get a glass of cream soda, a song on the Media Player, and a friend to natter to while your hands do the storytelling.

Yeah. Today is going to be a good day. Now, to get out of bed and have soup.

Ending the Day on a Chilled Out Note…

 

Yeah, I’ve probably blogged it before, but its revelant again. The best chillout song I have ever heard.

Until tomorrow, world.

To Work Jeeves, and Don’t Spare the Horses!

Right, only a short one today, for as my thesp-laden title denotes, I shall soon be off to that treasure trove of delights known as Cineworld.

Neural hamster is now back on the wheel after tripping over a peanut on Thursday night.

Compartment 9 is finished and awaits feedback from the many (i.e. 2) people who have kindly offered to read it. Personally I think it needs a good bit of tweaking, but we shall see. Glad to be shot of it for a few days, one can only listen to depressing Russian funeral marches for so long before folding my arms in front of me and kicking my legs out like a twat.

Not really a great deal else to report. Not had any refreshing new script ideas yet. Hopefully ‘Ungry will be ready soon, but assignments are beginning to get in the way. The other script for Messr’s Greenwell, Macina, Coates and myself is having to wait even longer, which is a shame, because even though its appearance and appeal do seem quite far fetched, I’m interested to see how that goes. Still need to talk to bus companies about how we could shoot Serenade as well, looking forward to that once we get a green light.

Right, that be all. Off I be to make sandwiches and to prepare for a Neil Diamond/Fleetwood Mac driven walk to work.

LIGHTBULB!!!!

Yeah, okay, okay, I was using the wrong switch. These things happen…

 

…Okay, no they don’t. I feel so ashamed!

 

Anyway. Life continues in the weird and well travelled world. Still trying to get some test footage to capture in Adobe Premiere, but thats not exactly going smoothly thus far. Not sure why, I have all the relevant equipment, transfer space etc etc. T’will work. I will make it.

Compartment 9 now has 30 pages to its name, so I’m about ready to start throwing the shit at the fan. Getting really excited writing it now. Wish I had the same buzz with Mourners and the Opera, but I’ll take what I can get. I’m sure if I sit down and really plan them out then I’ll feel the high that I did when I started writing them.

On top of that, a small issue of trust has been bugging me. Nothing major and nothing to be revealed, just something that, for those who know of it, shall now be washed away and forgotten. All is well. The cranial hamster is well-fed and enjoying his wheel.

That be all for now.

Aside from that following – The crazy lady in Tekken 6 does awesome things with her head!

DON’T TELL THE ELF!!!

Well, we could have dreamed a time when Brian Blessed played Gimli. Suffice it to say the dwarf tossing wouldn’t have stayed secret for very long.

So, another week begins in the library, pondering over whether to take ‘Social Capital’ out behind the barn and drill it in the face with a chainsaw. I must admit that this particular module is the most challenging I’ve had to tackle since I started at Solent, but it does come with a small sense of frustration that I struggle to get my head past it and actually do it. Well, blogging don’t do too much good does it?

Compartment 9 is still trudging along slowly. Think I’ll have a look at it some time tomorrow afternoon, perhaps try and get it past page 30 and have the shit hit the fan. Once I get there I think my enthusiasm for it will go off the scale and the last 15 pages will be made of adrenaline, cream soda and periodic Tekken 6.

Anyway, now to venture briefly home to see if my tapes have actually arrived. After that, lecture, guest lecture, and more library. Academia wins today.

They stone people in the bible right? Well I’ve got lots of peas!

Hehehe, karaoke with top hats, bloody shirts and Ghostbusters. Including a Ghostbuster who is mean at whackey stick. I think next time I play Justin I should make a bet – I win, he has to wear that outfit at work for a whole day. Not that it’d be a bad thing, he put Harold Ramis to shame.

So, I have returned to the social ‘phenomenon’ that is Facebook. So far I’m not using it as much as I used to, but just in case I have Will on standby ready to change my password again should I need it. I don’t really do an awful lot online. Blog, IMDb, Facebook, Mininova, Play.com, e-mail and MSN, thats really about it. In truth I’d do just as well writing with a typewriter and a cup of tea. Don’t need all this techno malarky.

Karaoke was, as usual, awesome. Got beaten by the whackey stick fiend that is Paul again (and yes, I know you may have predicted the end shot ‘Drunk-Friend-of-Paul’, but I honestly couldn’t give a flying gibbon, I was in it for the fun of playing against such an awesome guy, you nonce!), had a long and welcome talk with a very good friend and learned more about her than I knew, and heard another find a musical niche in rap. Karaoke dark horse.

So, thats pretty much it for today. Aside from me being off to pick up Tekken 6. Might even clean this damn room of mine, it needs it, I am living in self-made claustrophobia.

The Results Are In!

Ah, the Old Fat Cat is a wonderful little haunt. In a way, passed to us by our friends over on the Writing Contemporary Fiction course, the Screenwriters, or at least some of us, seem to have taken to the feline like a fish to water.

The workshop was better attended than I expected. A grand total of 14 people, just more than double last week. So, a good result in terms of what we got done once again. ‘Ungry is ever closer to being finalised and dragging Al and I into a formatting bubble for a while, and there are other ideas and stories floating around.

However, there is something about these workshops that continues to bug me, even though we had an awesome turn out.

There were some that told me they would turn up and proceeded to walk right past and not bother.

Now don’t get me wrong, I understand the arguments. On one side, I am working my arse off to provide this resource for everybody studying Screenwriting – a time and place to meet publically, conveniently and socially to exchange ideas, get some feedback and generally have a laugh while doing what we’re all here to do – learn, improve and write screenplays. On the other, there are some that may not be used to the idea of group meetings and workshops, and I get that. Just one thing, and I have said this before.

For the love of god, don’t lie to me. If you’re not intending to come along, say “no, I’m not coming”. I can deal with that.

People lying to me I cannot f**king stand. Very few things get under my skin, I’ve worked on making it thicker over the years and generally letting most things slide, but lying to me generally makes me react. Badly. I like to think I’m approachable, friendly, and I try to be. Got a problem? Come talk to me. Got a problem with me? Come talk to me. Can’t come to a workshop? Say so. It’s all I ask, and it isn’t much.

 

Workshop Round 2…

Right, the time is almost upon us for the next round of ‘See how many Screenwriters can find their way to a pre-determined watering hole’.

 

At least this time we project there will be more than six,  considering the pub is far more well known. And because Will’s coming, which will make 7.

 

To be fair, maybe its because the first years just don’t know us very well and don’t have the time to waste on us old folk. But then they really should, so screw that, they are going to turn up at some point. Besides, we’ll be at the Fat Cat, which is made of awesome.

 

In other news, Compartment 9 continues to love me, thus I am able to write it with a fair degree of confidence. Looking forward to perhaps one of the most harrowing endings I’ve ever come up with. If anything I wish I had a large water tank and an underwater kit for my camera, I’d love to shoot this scene.

 

There has been a strange development with regards to another idea that a few of us are working on. Can’t really say too much at this point because we’re not too sure whats doing, but will let people know when there is more to say on that.

 

And granny has finally sold her house. How overdue.

 

Right, to the Moggy!!