Drawing

I recently did this illustration on the computer, it has been a while since I had done any kind of drawing so I really got into it. I think it looks kinda cool. some of the line work isn't that well done, its obvious that I'm out of pratice.

A couple of days later I did this one, I don't think the textures quite work with the style though and I may return to it with the intention of colouring it a different way. Probably not.

Shooting Short III

I started doing a second short film, thinking that the script I wrote would be easier... little did I know, once you start something and it builds, twists turns and changes. I have just finished filming a the second project before the first due to location access, though it was a much bigger job. I intended it to be a simpler shoot, only two locations, house/apartment and a restaurant. First I rehears the script (a mate playing the girls part, always good for a laugh if you want one, men playing female roles with other men) out of the rehearsals came script improvements but also more scenes. Well then I got my hands on a brilliant location for the restaurant and I had to fill it, then I wanted a particular look which meant more time setting up for shots.

In the end, it worked out and the film looks good. It just shows, when you do short films you get a sped up, compressed version of the film making process, and it is glorious to witness. A small idea becomes a script, the script is brought to life in mesh of takes. Now you have to bring all the pieces that are floating there, out of order, in the hard drive and piece the best ones together as tightly and neatly as possible.

Here we go... Oh, some stills taken in between takes the middle one is of the crew that stuck around till the end.

Shooting short part II

So, I shot the first half of the short film I've written, it was a great day of shooting too. We started early to get the morning light and ended up having a consistent cloud cover for the rest of the day, so our light stayed even.

We got to work with a couple of actors, who are fairly new in the game, that did a fantastic job at playing their character's. One of which came on board last minute thanks to Mooregrace Acting Studio.

The great thing about shooting digital, we got to watch the "dailies" as soon as we got to a TV. Great fun!

Keeping consistent with my "resolution" to make it a year of film making, I've started production on the next short. As production is halfway done on this I don't want to stay idle for too long.

Next is a call centre scene, still trying to get a location that I'm happy with and a funeral home, same deal, location, I won't have too much of a gap, I am trying to get the film finished before April. A friend from Germany who helped with producing is going back to his motherland at the end of April, I wont to be able to send it with him.

These pics are two stills from the shoots. Rob our guy on camera, in charge of DOP did a great job, with a bit of post work from Chris (also one of the actors) they came up quite cool.

Story Time

OK, so I've been a bit slack and I'm a bit behind in my blog entries. What's the ratio, 28 days to make a good habit, 3 days to break it?Well, I'm not doing too bad.

I've got 5 stories together now, to go in my ebook for publishing, now all I have to do is illustrate them.

Title: The Aretalogus
1. The Prince in the Castle
2. The Heart in the Hand
3. Mirror
4. Brian the Centipede
5. The lady in the Shoe

So my next task in this little project is to do the pictures. I've put some of them up here, in previous posts, well, really those are more like production sketches. I may ad more as time goes depending on how it all goes.

One question: When its all finished, should I offer the ebook for free, ask for donations or charge a normal price?

Let me know what you think?

LA Confidential: Characters with layers

A film that illustrates a good use of character ark and character development throughout the action and story of the film is LA Confidential. The film allows its characters to look at themselves and reflect on their actions and moral standards.

The characters achieve a step by step progression on their journey, with only a gradual change allowing the audience to see the actors perform these subtle changes over the course of the story. The acting in this film is brilliant. When an actor can make the slightest of changes in their eyes and express so much in a scene without saying anything, you know you're watching a great performance.

Good cop, bad cop, postitution, corruption, racism, ethics, personal morals all feature heavily in this mystery. Written by Brian Helgeland and Curtis Hanson (Also the director) and based on the novel by James Ellroy the characters in this film have layers, the story is intelligent and it is beautifuly shot, with a great look and smooth, tight camera work, the cinematography by Dante Spinotti.

Guy Pearce, Russell Crowe and Kevin Spacey are all fantastic in their roles. They blow everyone else out of water in this film. They create so much dramatic tension in their scenes that you can only imagine how brilliant it would have been to work on the film with them. That is to say, that the other actor don't do a great job, because they do. James Cromwell is fantastic in his role as the antagonist which he does do very well. He's the quiet bad guy, who are always the most dangerous.

If you haven't seen this film, add it to your list and enjoy.

On Character

Talking about characters and writing in discussion and contemplating, how much of one character has a small part of the writer in it? How much of the views and opinions of the character are similar to the views and opinions of the writer. Some people my argue that a character is only an apparition of the writer and is based only on the imagination of the writer, their experiences and knowledge of people. Some may Argue that a writer can't help but put part of them selves into each character along with the people they meet and know.

Aren't some of the best characters based on people the writers knew? Or are the best characters ones that have been created with the restrictions of only the mind of the person doing the creating?

When writing a character who may be a lesser liked person by the other characters around them and the audience, is there something of the writer in that person? It has been said that a writer can't help but take from themselves when creating any character. So does that mean that when writing, the mind of the person creating must delve into the areas of their most unsavoury thoughts in order to bring out the most unsavoury character's.

Is a writer then deemed to be unlikable because people know the extent someone has to go through to then put together a fictitious being. Or could they be praised for there ability to create all different kinds of people and imagine there ways of thinking and being, whilst staying separate from their "real life" character.

Many people will love to watch or read about characters that do horrible things yet may be "freaked out" or "disturbed" when a friend may tell them about an idea for a story about a serial killer, saying with distain "how could you think of something like that?"

On characters and there portrayal by an actor, well, this is an art very different to writing. An actor may take a written character and ad to that character. Is the actor in some way inclined to be like the character they play? The actor takes an idea of a character and gives it life with personality and a face.

Actors sometimes give a lot, emotionally, to their roles and can really delve deep into the person they want to become in order to give a brilliant performance. Does that make them actually become the person or is it just someone they have to pretend to be, where they can distinguish from the character and their reality with out taking any of it across, either way.

Character, especially those with a less likable nature are loved and hated by many people. Sometimes they are based on real life people and sometimes they can be completely fictitious, does the writer or the actor put themselves into these types of character? Is there somewhere, deep down inside the actor or writer that is like the character they are designing? Maybe.

Characters can be shallow, indifferent, boring. The best characters have layers, writers and actors give them layers. Weather or not there is some part of the writer or actor in each character, all the time, is hard to say. Characters make a story interesting and make the action in any story mean something. Without anyone caring about the character, the action of the character doesn't mean anything.

Next time you read or watch something think about this discussion and how much of real people may be in the characters. What lengths do writers and actors go to to make a character most interesting?

Shooting short

I've written a few short films over the last year, all with the idea to eventually shoot them. Some are just small stories that wont go past their short film life, others are short films written with the idea that they will be made into feature films.

I've decide that it's been too long between films for me, so I set some dates to shoot one of these stories and I'm aiming to get everything together in time. I have no money for it yet, its never easy to get funding for short films, but if gets shot with no money then at least it gets shot.

A good team of talented, motivated people is the most important part. So far there are some really talented people getting involved in this project which is great!

I'm still looking for cast at this stage, but I have a few people in mind, we'll see how it goes...

The sort will shot at the end of this month and edited, coloured etc by the end of Feb. It'll definitely be up on the net for all to see when done. I look forward to the feed back.