3rd Draft written, camera case finished.

In the end that foam packaging wasn't such a dogs dinner after all. Pretty proud of it. Certainly better than paying a few hundred quid for some bell-end to do the same job.
I am however, massively depressed by what looks like a crumb inside the 16x lens that comes with the Canon XL1s. It's on one of the inner lenses, I don't know how on earth anything could get in there. It doesn't look like condensation or mould, which would be awful but explainable, it looks like a solid object. The lens is the most expensive part of the whole camera. I need to do some tests to see if it ever comes up on film. If it does I don't know what I'm going to do but I'm confident weeping will be on the agenda. I never saw it when inspecting the gear from the seller, so I don't know if it's new or old. Fuck a duck.

Today I finished the redraft of the Toilet Circuit script, combining all my readthrough notes with electronic suggestions from some of the team too while listening to Chopin and Beethoven. On my lunch hour. Don't think I'll email the script to the boys just yet, I think I'll give it to them at the next readthrough so they don't have a chance to pre-prepare, or get specific line readings stuck in their heads. I've only made small changes, but I think it works, I need to hear them say it all first before I'll know for sure. Hopefully Frazer and Mark (who wrote the script) won't stare at me like a man who just butchered their child.

Yesterday some new miniDV tapes arrived along with a DV tape cleaner, I thought it would be good to spruce up the insides before putting my tapes in. I don't know what tapes the previous owner used but I read that using different makes of DV tape can cause problems because of the subtle accumulation of the different types of goop that each tape uses. I don't recall the specifics but I remember reading several people saying "find a tape brand and stick to it, you idiot" and I took their advice on board. There was more to it than that, and I used to understand better, but there's only so much room in my head so I've had to simplify certain knowledge so it takes up less space. Either way a tape cleaner could do no harm. Maybe I can start using this camera to film things with rather than having it locked away in a case, and only getting it out to fawn over it and stroke it and then putting it back very carefully.

I also think I will start carrying the camera around for ten minutes a day just to strengthen my arm and wrists. It's not huge, but it's no featherweight, and if I jump straight into filming for several days straight then I will probably give myself some horrendous RSI. My goodness, I'm not very butch, am I?

Kitchen knives and packing foam

I bought a slab of foam to sit inside my camera flightcase. I've marked all the shapes out that I need to cut out of the foam. Took a while getting all the gear to fit nicely. But the foam is blunting all my craft knives and is actually a real bitch to cut with any accuracy (it is 75mm thick). Tonight I'm going to continue my assault using a kitchen knife. I'm worried I'm going to make a right dogs dinner out of it. I got some quotes online for some professional foam cutting warehouses who specialise in this kind of thing and the prices range from £180 to £350.

You can fuck right off!! But thanks for getting back to me so quickly.

Update and a great website

I can't believe I've not stumbled across this website before, it is exactly the kind of thing I have been looking for. Something written by a guerilla film maker with genuine tips and enthusiasm.

Lots of great articles and features and advice!

http://www.filmsensei.com/

I did a bit more work on the new draft for Surviving The Toilet Circuit today, trying to pull in 3 separate scripts, rewrites, and lots of notes.

Slow progress! Screenwriting is so painful sometimes, you can agonise over every word!

I still haven't written anything beyond an outline for my own future project, but I look forward to writing my own one! Although it's also a terrifying prospect. One project at a time though, otherwise I'll burn out!

The Canon XL1s

Picked up the camera on Monday. It's in great condition!

Oh so excited.

Wish I had more time to experiment with it. These days I have no free time in the evenings at all.

Will get a dv head cleaner before I do anything. Got to look after this camera. Also thinking about getting insurance. Mark rightly said if the camera goes crash, so does our project.

New Draft, New Camera!

The "Surviving The Toilet Circuit" short film project is moving ahead at full steam. We collaborated on a rewrite  just this week and I have a highly scribbled on script and some files on the computer that will all tie together to a brand new draft.

We also went and bought a camera that will we use on the shoot, the Canon XL1s, the little brother of the benchmark (and pricey) Canon XL2.

Here it is:

It is a prosumer camera that you can pick up these days for about £750, despite a couple thousand when it first came out. They used these bad boys to film the deserted London scenes in 28 Days Later, and if they are good enough for Danny Boyle, then they are good enough for me!

Very exciting times. I can't wait to get my hands on it.

Been beavering away on the film project since the last update, have read through the highly recommended book "Directing Actors" by Judith Weston.

(Amazon link)

Directing Actors: Creating Memorable Performances for Film and Television

I echo the praise this book has already received, it was incredibly enlightening and has honestly changed my perception of not only acting and actors but also on the role of the director. I feel like I've been re-educated.

There were almost too many important pages to bookmark! Every second paragraph was practically a gem.

I'm also reading On Film Making, by Alexander McKendrick, another seminal and highly regarded book aimed at directors. I can confirm that it after a lengthy introduction, it gets really good, but I almost feel like my brain has reached saturation point and I don't want to waste the knowledge imparted, so I've picked up a fiction novel for the first time in months and I am claiming back my lunch hours and train journeys for relaxation rather than education! Maybe I can take a week or two off from learning just to wind down. I look forward to picking McKendrick up again once I can fit more knowledge in!

(Amazon link)

On Film-making

A friend of the family imparted a useful quote to me recently, it wasn't in the context of film-making, but he said "knowledge without experience is just information".

All this knowledge I've been gathering from so many texts, it really is just words until I put it into practice. I really need to get in there and get my hands dirty and get practical. The Directing Actors book has already made a difference to the way I run rehearsals, and it's allowed me to open up and penetrate the script and gain a new understanding of what is going. I'm working with non-actors, so not everything in the book is going to be of use, but reading the whole thing was honestly invaluable.

I'm doing my best to take notes, read actively and not let all this golden information just seep away.

As for the current project, I've cast a few more characters with non actors, again asking friends and people we know. We're meeting this week with the principles to work on backstory, get the new character in, and do another draft of the script. I've also created a few tables to help me break down the plot and the flow and the character relationships.

I made a lot of progress recently on a music video I've been working on for months now, it's one I've mentioned before and I've taken lots and lots of footage of things and places to make a video without people in it. I basically threw edits and effects at one another until things started to stick, it was very experimental and highly satisfying. It's the most progress I've ever made on it and the first half of the video is pretty much done. I would like to finish this one soon as I have a large workload, I have another non-film related creative project outside of all this as well as a full time job and a wonderful partner whom I want to spend more time with and a big, demanding dog and a lazy cat. To be honest that last one takes up nearly none of my time, he don't do nuffin!

But I think it's getting to me, my left eyelid has been twitching for a month now and it's driving me crazy. Stress related apparently. I don't feel stressed, but I know I am stretched pretty thin. I think things will be better when I get the music video finished, although I'm really enjoying working on it and learning a lot, not only about visuals, but also about Final Cut and the whole editing process.

Plus I haven't played more than 15 minutes on the Xbox for weeks. Shocking!

Will post more soon

x

First work of the new year

It's been a quiet time since before Christmas, with not much happening as everyone has been too busy and the snow had thwarted any opportunities we had to get together to discuss the next step in the "Surviving The Toilet Circuit" short film project we're doing, based on a script written by members of the Explorer's Collective.

Last week I met up with two of the project members in a pub in West Croydon called the Indian Elephant - a good opportunity to promote my good friend Amerish's fledgling pub, if you're ever in Croydon check it out and give one of the nicest and hardest working men I've ever known some of your business because damn, he deserves it. We had a good night and discussed the project a little, but mostly it was great to catch up with the guys.

We met up again two days ago with all the principles and did a read through, followed by some script editing and analysis and talked about how to "act" as none of us are actors. I've been reading some books on the subject and I'm halfway through Directing Actors by Judith Weston which is a deservedly seminal book on the topic, a real horizon expander which gave me a lot more confidence to talk to my non-actors and find ways to deliver the lines more truthfully. It's written mainly for working with professional actors but the book tells you so much about the craft of acting and how to overcome hurdles that I think it would be useful to anyone. Acting well is a lot more difficult than many people realise, including myself.

The readthrough and analysis, which was a couple of hours in Mark's basement music rehearsal space, was really constructive, and rather than degenerating into the usual beer and spliffs and giggles, we covered a lot of ground and are in the process of making some large changes to the script including a possible new character in the fictional band, which would solve our logistical problems of having four musicians playing what currently is a three piece band, but done so in a way that won't hurt or mutilate the script. Everyone is getting better and more professional already and I think we're beginning to focus. We've got a long road ahead though and so much still to organise.

Until recently I've not had a problem with the workload of producing, directing, shooting, recording, editing, organising, location-securing and lighting this movie all by myself but the last few nights have been a bit sleepless as the weight of the project begins to make itself felt. Every now and then during a tranquil train ride or a quiet moment at home an abyss of apprehension will open up and swallow me whole for a few seconds, but the key is staying optimistic. Not everyone gets a chance to indulge themselves and learn like this, and I am grateful for the opportunity. The key is to stay calm and in control, not something I have a great track record of, but this is where I need to rise to the ocassion. Preperation is my ally, and I've made some mistakes and learned a lot on my last few projects. As long as I can do this on my terms, then I should be able to stay in control.

It's a special, intoxicating and fun kind of terror.

Merry Christmas!! Almost.

Not posted in a while, because I haven't been doing much relevant since we had our read through. We planned another read through but we were thwarted by the snowstorms, plus everyone seems really busy this time of year!

I am currently between jobs, starting a new job in January, doing the same old stuff, but for a little more money and Mon-Fri hours.

Hoping to get together for another read through soon, we've also managed to cast another character.

Looking forward to get back into it. It's tough, doing everything piecemeal, but with a full time job, what else can ya do, eh?

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE.

Our first read through of "Surviving The Toilet Circuit"

So we gathered at Mark's place to have our first official read-through, with all principal cast members present. That is, Mark, Frazer, Neil and Pablo. The usual suspects!!

It went surprisingly well. We rehearsed a few run throughs while lounging across sofas and sipping icy beers and then practiced an "acted" version of the first scene which also gave me the opportunity to try staging the scene and seeing how the actors would move, turn, emote. It was a lot of fun and very relaxed. We managed to identify a few lines that didn't quite work or might need rewriting and we took notes. Everyone got better at delivering the lines with each read through, and honestly, although no-one is an actor, some of the line delivery was almost perfect. I was expecting there to be nerves, and everything feeling a little wooden, but a lot of the lines were done with real gusto. Everyone is really keen and it feels good!!

Mark's two year old son Oliver joined us for some of the later read throughs, having awoken from his slumber upstairs. He pottered around with his plastic helicopter and was wearing Mark's sunglasses, being ridiculously adorable. I hope the coarse language of the script won't cause too much embarassing mimicry.

We headed out for some indian food in Greenwich to celebrate a great start to the project.

Now that is all sorted, I shall plough on with work. Yeah I'm at work on a Sunday. Gotta bring home the bacon.

Surviving The Toilet Circuit

I like this new background. Think I'll keep it.

Going to do our first read-through of the script with the band members on Friday. I might bring my camera, just to get everyone used to being filmed as they rehearse.

The script is titled "Surviving The Toilet Circuit".

Mark, one of the co-writers from the script, has just had his second little boy born a few days ago! I wonder where he finds the time to work on the script as well! Frazer, the other writer, was very recently married, so they are both becoming "real people"!

Looking forward to Friday. This will be my first real experience of prepping a narrative with story and dialogue. My first experience since I acted in the school play 15 years ago at least. I actually remember it incredibly fondly, several months of after school rehearsals were by far some of my happiest memories.

I really hope we can have the same easy going, totally laid back atmosphere here. Who wouldn't want that?

I'll let you know how it goes!!