Beats, Outlines & Dreams

Oooh, it's been a strange few days.

Over the weekend, I located my Very Important Pile of research and character notes and was thrilled to find the info I yearned for, but then that old devil, "thinking", kept gnawing away at me and I wondered if the script really needed a re-injection of some of this stuff anyway.  After reading everything from beginning to end, I stuck the files in a drawer, picked up my screenplay and whilst cross referencing, began my new readjusted beat sheet and rough outline. Nine pages of notes later, I felt I knew these characters more than I knew myself.

Having written a lot of stuff yesterday - and obviously with it all playing heavily on my mind - I slept really badly last night. I had a heavy battle of imaginary wills in my dreams and it left me feeling like a tightly wound up coil this morning. I woke up in a very bad mood (yes, I know...it's hard to believe, huh?!?) ready to burn every copy and trace of the story, as I felt as though I didn't even know what it was all about anymore.  A real-life case of losing the plot.

By early mid-morning, I had relegated myself from my desk to the sofa. With my notes from yesterday, a hot drink and some scene-creating music I set about going back to basics.  I reckoned, if I couldn't sum up the flow in six statements then I had some serious sh*t to cover. But I did, and so I didn't. Phew. I have also been taught a rather valuable lesson in finding the median course and not being too hell-bent on ticking every single box. Although all advice and points of view have to be taken into account, the piece still has to have my intrinsic voice and style - otherwise it's not the piece that was commissioned: someone else should be doing it, surely?

All that aside, tonight I managed to print off my new draft from which I had lost, gained, reassessed and redressed. I'll have one last read of it before I go to bed tonight and although I know I'll wake up knackered again tomorrow, I can be sure my subconscious has sorted out a lot sh*t for me during the night. I only hope I haven't lost my voice in it as I'm sure I'll have a zillion re-drafts to go.

I trust your week is shaping up nicely.

Onwards.

Scribo-Meme

I have been memed by both Adaddinsane and Lucy.  It's only the Fourth Day of the New Year and we're on Meme Number One already. It's gonna be a busy year, folks. Here goes:

When it comes to writing, what do you know you're good at, and what aspect of writing are you worst at? (Procrastination is not permitted as either part of the answer.)

In all reality, I find this quite hard to answer, and I have had to really think about it! But here goes...

Generally, I think I am pretty sound at sniffing out a decent premise, plot and creating a solid arena. Researching and creating the whole What, Where, Who, How and When is damn great fun, in my opinion, and therefore, I also love creating characters and their reasoning. Whether I pull that off is another thing - so this aspect lies in both the good and bad camps!  

Stuff I'm not too hot on?  Well, I'll probably be able to divulge far more after my initial script development meeting next week, but I used to have major structural issues with my features, although I *think* I have managed to get better at that with practice and better planning. I also hope I have got better at rounding the raggedy edges of my characters but there's still always going to be room for improvement - ad finitum. However, I still find myself shuffling into the dangers of expositional verbosity at times...especially my thriller stuff, for some reason. There is always SO much to reveal of the past in order to piece together the future. Yes, yes, yes. Show: don't tell...I know. I know.

Anyway, that's it from me. I duly tag Oli, Piers, Phillip and Steve - oh, and while you're here, lads, answer my previous post question if you have a couple of minutes! It has become quite interesting. Cheers! Enjoy.

Ta-ra & Onwards.

Five Minutes of Your Time?

Hello shiny, happy people.  I do hope the new year has started well for you already.

I have been doing loads of research and reading a lot of stuff over the festive period and I have a question for you all out there - yes, you! Whoever you are: a pro, semi-pro or a beginner, it doesn't matter where you are in the world, whether you have written one or ten thousand screenplays for film or TV, I would really appreciate as many answers as possible. Here goes:

Q: When you are writing screenplays, to what extent do you visualize the scenes before, during and after the writing process? 

As the specific camera angles, colour palettes, music, location/set info, lighting, sound etc would never be written into the body of the text unless, for instance, they were crucial aspects of the story (i.e. music), I would be interested to hear "what you see" when writing - if anything, of course!  

Perhaps you just 'feel' the characters, their environment, dialogue and drama and would never even consider what a particular scene would look like on screen?  Perhaps you visualize the opening sequence and that then sets the tone for the whole piece?  Or maybe you tick every box on an imaginary pre-production list as you write?

Answers in the comments section please - and just remember there is no right or wrong answer here, just your preference.

I look forward to hearing from you all, as this will be really interesting for me.  Thanks in advance!

***Update*** 

The answers I have received so far are brilliant so I'll keep this post open until early next week to allow as many contributions as possible.  Thank you! x

Check, Check, Check

Four completed Outlines - check

Four 25WOL - check

Four Publicity Poster mock-ups - check

Three completed Screenplays - check

One Showreel - check

One Biography - check

Four Completed Application & Monitoring forms (one per film) - check

One full printer cartridge ready for 'The Mass Print' next week - check

Envelope (sturdy) - check

Minor adjustments aside: Weekend Off - check

Wish cyberpeeps a good weekend - check

x

No Test Tube Required...

Yesterday, I spent the day with Lucy at her ICA Lab which is excellently organised by Deva Palmier. It was an interesting day (spent without wearing white lab coats) and I was fascinated to hear other actors' understanding of the screenplay, characters and structure.  It was really a very enjoyable day and I for one would definitely consider taking a script there for a read-through in order to both develop and 'test the water'.  

It was lovely to catch up with Lucy as we haven't seen each other for such a long time - apparently last time was Adrian Mead's course - but it was also great to finally meet Nun with a Gun Elinor!  The fact we just "picked up from where we left off", knew each other's business like old mates and in Elinor's case - had never met - was probably a bit too much for a some peeps whose vision of "cyber geeks" was obviously something other than us lot.

All that fun aside, I'm glad to say I fully utilised The Kid-free tube travel time there and back by hammering at my Mac keyboard,  rejigging one of my Screen East subs and rewriting my biography. Again. 

Apart from a few tweaks here and there, I thought I was pretty much done on my Screen East submission - wrong. On Friday, I re-read one of the outlines I had written and decided it was total and utter cr*p.  In fact, I was so furious with my lame effort, not only did I hand shred the outline into teeny, tiny pieces whilst shouting loudly at it, I then deleted the whole damn file from Mac.  

So I started again, and it's much better this time - although I'm still not finished, but I am on my way.  

I am going to fill out the actual application form and print everything off this week, then I shall put into play my very own personal OCD (Obsessive Checking Disorder).  Very soon, I'll carry the package to the Post Office like a swaddled baby - wondering all the while if everything is included - and place it carefully into the woven, grey, plastic large letter/parcels bag. But not before Wednesday. No sireeeee, not in a zillion years.  

You see, Mercury moves forward again on Wednesday after being retrograde for ages. Wondering where those "lost in the post" things have gone?  Why THAT email hasn't been responded to? When THEY'LL call back?  I guarantee after Wednesday things will start moving again. And the stock markets too. Mark my words.* 

Ta-ra for now.

x

*The Don't Blame Me If I'm Wrong Waiver: 

The value of your investments can go down as well as up and you may get back less than you originally invested. Therefore, you should avoid investing more than you can afford to lose.

To Infinity and Beyond?

Today I had my meeting with Sam Burton, New Talent Executive for Screen East.  We had a really good chat about Screen East's DigiBytes (a.k.a. Digital Shorts) and Digital Nation (previously Digital Shorts Plus) Schemes, had a chance to run through the application and selection process, as well as a general chat about my aims going forward - it was quite a lot to pack into a half hour meeting but well worth it.  Screen East have now uploaded all the info you require to submit your application - so if you fall under the Screen East area, go here to take a look.

However, behind the cool, creative exterior I presented today (!) lay a mere catalogue of disasters which, at one point, almost convinced me fate was steering me away from filmmaking forever - well, the meeting at Screen East anyway.

Cock-up #1: 

I decided to go to Norwich (Screen East Office location) by train - that way I could get some work done on the way.  I decided this last week and bagged myself a fantastic bargain in the form of an advance ticket. Brilliant.  The whole travel thing had been bugging me though - so I checked my itinerary/tickets on Sunday night only to discover the very helpful lady at my station had given me tickets to IPSWICH. 

Cock-Up #2:

I returned to my station on Monday morning (08:55 to be precise) and was assisted by a very helpful gentleman who informed my that although his colleague had quite possibly given me the incorrect ticket, as it was an advance ticket I was not able to change it - unless I extended it to go to Norwich for an additional charge of £10 per ticket (I had two singles). However, taking that particular train would have meant I was 1.5 hours late for my meeting - not a great start.  So, after no deliberation, I purchased ANOTHER ticket (again 2 singles which were cheaper than a return - wtf?).  When I asked what I should do with the Ipswich ticket the very helpful gentleman suggested I sell it onto someone at Liverpool Street Station.

Cock-Up #3:

Unfortunately, I didn't have time to bootleg my spare tickets this morning as my underground line virtually ground to a halt at every station between Baker Street and Liverpool Street due to bearing the brunt of the Circle line "not working effectively".  When I fought my way off the tube, towards the mainline station, cursing my choice of footwear, I had exactly 3 minutes to get up to the concourse, find the right platform and get on the train to Norwich. In my haste, I nearly broke my arm whilst tripping on the stairs and grabbing the handrail very hard. Didn't drop my iPhone though. Phew.

Cock-Up #4:

The train was late coming into Liverpool Street.  Consoled myself by rubbing my arm better like a five year old. 

Cock-Up #5:

Off we trundled towards Norwich.  Speedily we ran until Chelmsford, where we sat for 20 minutes due to "platform congestion" - don't they have industrial vats of Vicks or Olbas Oil to solve that? At least arm is feeling a bit better now.

Cock-Up #6:

ETA announced as 11:48.  Meeting starts at 12:00 in the city centre - a city I don't know. 

Cock-Up #7:

Arrived at 11:53. Nearly broke my ankle running for a taxi. Cursed my choice of footwear, once again. Rubbed my ankle whilst tearing paperwork out of my file to phone ahead, then realised I hadn't told the driver where I wanted to go. (You mean there are no psychic cabbies in Norfolk?).

Cock-Up #8:

Every single traffic light turned red. Ankle still hurts a lot.

But I did get to the meeting and everything was just fine - and other than someone sitting next to me on the tube eating an orange and spitting out all the the pips, the journey home was slightly less eventful. 

On arriving home I saw the news and a report about the poor Frank McGarahan who had been murdered in Norwich during the early hours of Sunday morning - he ending up dying where I had been dithering over whether to buy lunch from Tesco or just grab a cab from the rank, and head back to the station.

Today's cock-ups were swiftly smacked into perspective.

Mentoring Programme

I have just received an email from Adrian Mead with information on the Scottish Book Trust Mentoring Programme (closing date 8th September).  This is something I was reading last week whilst in Edinburgh at the Festival and it sounds like a good deal to me if you have a great project but need a helping hand to push it forward - and live & work in Scotland.

Here are all the details as per Adrian's email...

The Scottish Book Trust Mentoring Programme

Scottish Book Trust is currently open for applications for our hugely successful mentoring programme.  The mentoring programme is aimed at established and emergent writers, playwrights, screenwriters and illustrators who have a specific project on which they'd like some dedicated support.

Past mentors have included Bernard MacLaverty, Alan Bissett, Tom Leonard, Professor Douglas Gifford, Kathryn Ross of literary agents Fraser Ross Associates, David Ian Neville of BBC Radio Scotland, established screenwriter Adrian Mead, Philip Howard (former Artistic Director of Traverse Theatre) and many more. 

The deadline for applications is Monday 8th September.

For more information and application guidelines please click here.

http://www.scottishbooktrust.com/node/3759