Rewrites. A word that sends a shiver down the spine of most writers. Not me. But I’m a bit weird like that. I’ve just done what I hope is the final rewrite on With A Little Help From Our Friends. I’m not planning on doing any more until I’ve locked in what’s actually happening with …
Short Film Structure: Pace
The unsung hero of short films is pace. Pace does not mean that everything races along at a million miles per hour. In the instance of film, pace does not mean speed. In the instance of film, pace means the rhythm of the story. You’re watching a horror movie. The main character is watching television. …
Things I Learnt This Weekend – Guerilla Filmmakers’ Masterclass 2011
Hola! It’s Tuesday and I’m currently in the aftermath of a jam-packed weekend following the Guerilla Filmmakers’ Masterclass. I find that after big events like these, it always takes a few days to get back into the swing of things, email all those people whose business cards you snagged and deal with reality which has …
The Changing of the Guard
How lucky are you guys? You get TWO blog posts this week! This one is a bit of a sad post, really. After chatting to Oli, my producer as to whether or not Friends would actually be able to go ahead in July/August with me at the helm and him keeping me on track, he …
Opportunity Knocks.
The tricky thing about filmmaking is getting things made. Yep, I can already hear your derisive snort, quickly followed by ‘Well, duh.’ After all, if it was easy, everyone would be doing it. Arguably, it is easier now than it’s ever been before and thus the tricky thing becomes making things of quality to stand …
The Writing Of It: Restrictions
Most of the short film writing I’ve done of late has been for competitions. I’ve had a pretty good hit rate so far – out of the three I’ve entered, two have been shortlisted. No first place ribbons as yet, but in a backwards way, I’m kind of glad about it because it pushes me …
A Bit of a Speed Bump
It’s been a bit quiet on the blogging front for the past week or so due to lack of internet access and other various bits and pieces that are bubbling away in the real world which keep getting in the way of my virtual world. I hope that you’re all having wonderful fun whichever world …
You Know What You’re Trying To Say? Say The Opposite.
As Ronan Keating once put it ‘You say it best when you say nothing at all.’ Perhaps not the best way to start off a new blog post, but I’m going to stick with it. The flashback to the nineties aside, I went and saw Thor on Tuesday night. I was looking forward to it …
Short Film Structure: Story Models
When I was at uni and I told a friend and fellow student that I wanted to be a writer, his eyes lit up. ‘I have the perfect book for you,’ he said. It wasn’t until a few months later when we were at his house shooting a short film, that he thrust it into my …
Short Film Structure: The Story
I’ve been thinking about this post for awhile and I could bang on for days and days and days about stories in short films, but it’s easier just to bold it in an attempt to make it stick in your mind. There’s really only one thing you need to know about writing stories for short …