Tweets
Fri, Jul 3rd 2009, 17:01
FILMS
FEATURED FILM
You do not have flash player installed - install now
LATEST FROM THE BLOG
While They Slept
Thu, Jul 2nd 2009, 18:37
Great work in progress animation by Michael J Dowswell I just wrote up on Lineboil. Click here to view.
The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust
Thu, Jul 2nd 2009, 09:00
The other night Greg and I had the pleasure of being invited to a private exhibition and meal by The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust in our home town of Stratford upon Avon.
I have to admit to having a preconception that the tour and facilities would be a bit old hat, with nothing much to see. I'm not quite sure where this preconception came from, but it's probably common to people living on top of tourist attractions. I remember visiting Toronto and going up the CN Tower - then chatting with a local policewoman who'd lived in the city all her life and never been up the tower!
In fact, the team running the Trust were really friendly, forward thinking and the pre-tour audio-visual experience was actually very engaging. It was a little like a ghost train (without the train) where you are led through a series of rooms which feature different artefacts, models and mini-films about Shakespeare's life (read by Juliet Stevenson and Patrick Stewart).
The highlight of this had to be the First Folio which they have on display. Wow! We didn't expect that to be there. Without the printed folios Shakespeare's plays would have disappeared into history. Shakespeare himself might have been forgotten. Stratford upon Avon would certainly be a different place and I would never have met my wife (yes Shakespeare was part of the reason we met!). The First Folios originally cost £1. One was sold in 2006 for just under £3million. Not a bad investment if you happen to have lived for 400 years.
We were then given a tour of their exhibition "Shakespeare Found" by Stanley Wells CBE, which features some remarkable portraits of the bard 
himself, including the Cobbe portrait which may represent the closest likeness of the man compared to any other scultpure, engraving or painting.
It also has portraits of Shakespeare's patron The Earl of Southampton - who may also have been the bard's Master-Mistress (sonnet 20) if you know what I mean!
Anyway, if you're in Stratford, I'd certainly recommend to take a visit to the Centre on Henley Street. Well worth it.
Tweets
Wed, Jul 1st 2009, 12:19
More Codswallop at festivals
Wed, Jul 1st 2009, 07:37
Our short animation Codswallop is off to some more festivals - in Portugal, Mexico and New York.
17th Curtas Vila do Conde IFF
Expresión en Corto International Film Festival
Animation Block Party, Brooklyn (Program 4)
Tenacity: Genre Busting workshop
Tue, Jun 30th 2009, 15:55
Last weekend I gave up my Saturday to attend one of the TENacity workshops being run by the West Midlands writers' agency SCRIPT. The title was "GENRE BUSTING: Writing Genre Material that is fresh, ground-breaking and original". The course was run by Red Room Films producer Claire Ingham and also featured a guest spot with Phil Ford, head writer on the Sarah Jane Adventures and writer for Torchwood and Doctor Who.
It was an interesting day and although I felt like I knew quite a lot of what was covered (what a big head I am) it was never boring and I never felt sleepy (as you sometimes do at these events). Both Claire and Phil were full of useful insights into genre and the business of making TV and films.
One takeaway for me was the concept of 'main character' and 'central character'. Main Character being the protagonist, the hero or heroine, someone who has a character arc (oh how everyone hates that phrase!) and the Central Character being someone who doesn't really go through any majors changes, but who is a focal point for the story.
An example given was Silence of the Lambs where Jodie Foster's character Agent Starling is the Main Character, but Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter is the Central Character. I suppose another example would be The Third Man where Holly Martins is the Main Character and Harry Lime (played by Orson Welles) is the Central Character. Like most things you learn about story, it seems blindingly obvious once someone has pointed it out, but it needed someone to point it out in the first place for you to sit up and take notice.
Other useful hints and tips
- In the US if you want to work on a series they like to see a "Shadow Script" of a programme, i.e. if you want to write for CSI, you should write a sample episode and send it to them.
- In the UK "Shadow Scripts" are a big no-no. They don't want to see your script in case they are later accused of nicking your ideas. They want to see something original which shows your "writer's voice" (another phrase you hear a lot).
In other words, taking my Doctor Who script with me wasn't a good idea. Which is why it stayed in its pink plastic covering and came back home with me. Ironically it's been a very useful script to show to everyone except those working on Doctor Who because it shows I can write to a format (plus I learned loads doing it - not least about simplifying plot and being able to tie up lots of loose ends in a satisfying way).
I'd recommend the other TENacity courses based on this one. I'd loved to have gone to the one with Helen Cross in Bromsgrove too, but I'll be in Aberdeen!