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.