Movie Meme

I saw this movie meme on Catherine's blog and thought I'd take part - go on, everyone else, do it too.

1.Name a movie that you have seen more than 10 times.
I could name dozens, but my most viewed films are probably:

• as an older child, Grease,
• as a teen, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (I know),
• in general, Star Wars.

2.Name a movie that you’ve seen multiple times in the theater.
It was a struggle to think of one, but I'm sure I saw the last Harry Potter film twice (not sure why), and I also think I saw the Fellowship of the Rings a couple of times. I'm not much of one for repeat cinema viewings though - I'd rather buy a DVD and watch it endlessly.

3.Name an actor that would make you more inclined to see a movie.
That's very difficult. I went to see Sunshine Cleaning because Amy Adams was in it, and I'd be drawn to films with Tilda Swinton or Maggie Smith in them. My brother and I used to watch any film that Bill Paxton was in as we thought he was flippin' hilarious, but that was a long time ago.

4.Name an actor that would make you less likely to see a movie.
Uh, Paris Hilton. Actor is possibly not the right word, though.

5.Name a movie that you can and do quote from.
Pfft, too many. I'll say Ghostbusters as it's my favourite to quote from.

6.Name a movie musical that you know all of the lyrics to all of the songs.
Grease, hands down. Even the rubbish songs that I used to fast forward (Stranded in the Drive In and Hopelessly Devoted, blah). I confess that I know the lyrics to many more films than Grease though.

7.Name a movie that you have been known to sing along with.
Pfft again. I'll sing along to anything with lyrics. I like doing silly voices so films like Beauty and the Beast or Seven Brides for Seven Brothers give me ample opportunity to work on my deep manly singing voice.

8.Name a movie that you would recommend everyone see.
In Bruges. We recently watched it and were delighted and surprised by it. Such fantastic characters and dialogue.

9.Name a movie that you own.
For some reason I own 2 different versions of the original Star Wars trilogy, 2 copies of First Knight, and 2 copies of Attack of the Clones. Star Wars makes sense as they are the butchered and un-butchered versions, but I'm not sure why I have the others.

10.Name an actor that launched his/her entertainment career in another medium but who has surprised you with his/her acting chops.
David Bowie, but only because I fancied him in Labyrinth when I was a child.

11.Have you ever seen a movie in a drive-in? If so, what?
If only Edinburgh was equipped with a drive-in! No.

12.Name a movie that you keep meaning to see but just haven’t yet gotten around to it.
Nosferatu.

13.Ever walked out of a movie?
No, but I wanted to leave during Oceans Twelve. It was one of the worst things I've ever seen in the cinema, ever (and I've seen a lot of pap). Attractive, big name stars and fancy shooting do not a good film make. Ugh.

14.Name a movie that made you cry in the theater.
I cry at everything, I'm very easily manipulated by film. I was surprised by my tears at Wall:E - a soon as he packed himself up on his little shelf and rocked himself to sleep I welled up.

15.What’s the last movie you saw in the theater?
Moon - fab stuff.

16.What’s your favorite/preferred genre of movie?
I like everything, I honestly can't choose one.

17.What’s the first movie you remember seeing in the theater?
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, on re-release, for my third birthday.

18.What movie do you wish you had never seen?
The Matrix Sequels. They were so, so bad. Actually I almost walked out of them too.

19.What is the weirdest movie you enjoyed?
The Singing Ringing Tree. Oh my, but it's amazing. Saw this as part of the Ballerina Ballroom festival last year and it immediately because one of my favourite cinema experiences. The giant fish, the nasty princess, the ropy narration and that creepy magical dwarf - brilliantly weird.

20.What is the scariest movie you’ve seen?
I am easily terrified and rarely watch horror (although I want to write it). This fear stems from a Robert Powell film called The Asphyx, which I saw when I was tiny and which completely freaked me out and still does if I think about it too much. It is probably not scary at all. I'm also very scared of Invasion of the Body Snatchers (both the 50's and 70's versions).

21.What is the funniest movie you’ve seen?
Comedy, eh? I dunno. I laugh heartily at Spinal Tap every time I see it, it may be my favourite comedy, but Duck Soup is hilarious too.

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Re The Hush - 1 day down, 18 to go, and 1,000 words happily written.

Big Push

Why, hello there! Things have been a little quiet for me online for the last week or two because I've been so very busy offline. It's all good, though, and I have some very exciting things in the pipeline because of my efforts. I shall not disclose these exciting things quite yet (sorry) but rest assured that I shall soon - and that I'll have fun things to talk about here because of them.

Anyway, these excitements mean that I essentially have to finish the current draft of The Hush in the next 19 days.

19 days to fill the gaping hole between the chapters I've already rewritten and the chapters at the end which I was happy with, then to polish up the whole manuscript, write a synopsis, and get together a list of places to send it to. It's all do-able, but I don't want to rush it.

Once that's done I will begin the arduous process of pestering agents and publishers who take unsolocited submissions. I'll also be able to move on to writing up my other ideas, as I have found my head awash with stories of late but have felt like writing them up just now would be like cheating on the Hush.

Today's plan, then, is to write at least 1,000 words. Onwards...

Tap tapping away

Yesterday I began to type up my longhand manuscript for The Hush. I'm not finished the redraft yet, but I have a chronic fear that I will drop it in the bath or leave it in a cafe or the like. I realise that the easy way to solve this problem would be to leave the book on my desk at all times, but that's no fun.

The good thing about this is that not only am I redrafting and backing up at the same time, but also that my word counter on this blog will finally start to crawl up once more.

I still have about 20 pages to type up, say about 6,000 words, which I'm aiming to finish by the end of tomorrow. It's taking a little longer than I'd expected, but I am adding or changing a fair amount as I go so it's fine.

After I've typed up this lot, I intend to start backing up and polishing my text like this at the end of every day. This might prove unrealistic, but I like the idea of it so I'm going to give it a shot.

On another note, thanks to Lucy, David, Michelle and Laurence for typing up notes on Adrian Mead's workshop last weekend. I couldn't make it so it was great to see these - very helpful stuff, as always.

Off out now for a meeting and to buy the newest issue of the Pride and Prejudice comic, if I can find it. Joy!

EIFF and Inspiration

The 2009 Edinburgh International Film Festival ended on Sunday, and for the first time in a few years I didn't go as an industry delegate (too pricey this year). I did get tickets for a few films and hung about the Filmhouse, soaking up the atmosphere for a bit. I also met the marvellous Potdoll for a coffee, caught up with some lovely uni friends, and was inspired to rewrite one of my features.

The script is a gothic horror of mine, which a few of you may have read an early draft of. It did ok in the first Red Planet competition and most people liked the synopsis, characters and setting, but I've never been happy with the plot, and my poor baby script has sat on a shelf, withering away, for over a year. I just couldn't think of a way to salvage it, to strengthen it while making it simpler.

Anyway, the first film I saw at this year's EIFF was the Fall of the House of Usher, a Roger Corman film starring Vincent Price. It was creepy, gothic, brilliantly scripted by Richard Matheson and with terrific performances, particularly from Price. It was a good quality print (the best they could find apparently - with French subtitles) but still had that lovely old scratchy noise which makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. I loved it, and came out feeling very inspired.

I ran from the film to a cafe and, armed with a peppermint tea, stripped my script back to its basics. I wrote a new synopsis, a much tighter one with fewer locations and less actually going on, so the horror could be amplified. I then jotted down a list of character motivations, discarded two of my original characters and added three new ones, then got down to the business of a scene breakdown. At the end of the afternoon I had the whole film listed as bulletpoints, and was very happy with it. It's a complete, page one, rewrite, which is my favourite kind. I'm retaining the elements that were strong in the last draft - characters and setting - but changing the plot entirely. I am going old school horror on it, no less.

Next step is to write the script and redraft before the Screenwriters Festival in October, as I have a spot on the 'speed dating' sessions and will be pitching this very idea.

Roger Corman wasn't the only person to inspire me at the EIFF though. I went to see a fantastic selection of Scottish Screen's archive films, and was touched by one directed by Margaret Tait, who we were told was one of only two prominent Scottish female filmmakers. Her short 'Rose Street,' which she described as a 'visual poem,' was so touching that it's also inspired me to look back at my roots for inspiration - which I'm doing to a large extent in the Hush but which I haven't done in film as yet.

I also went to see Moon, which I'd definitely recommend. Unfortunately I read a review somewhere - might have been the Evening News - which completely spoiled the twists in it, but it looked and sounded fantastic and I always love Sam Rockwell. Saw some short films too, but the less said the better about them.

So, while I didn't go for the whole shebang this year, the EIFF was still worth attending, and has once again spurred me into further action.

Scotland Writes - Launch Event

Yesterday I went along to the launch event for Scotland Writes, a new initiative from BBC Scotland intended to change the way BBC Scotland engage with new talent, find and develop new writers, and celebrate writing in Scotland.

The first event for Scotland Writes will be the Scotland Writes Competition, which is open to all new writers. The competition will be to write a 60 minute pilot episode for a series that the writer would like to see on TV and which also reflects Modern Scotland. There's £2000 on offer for the winner and there will be workshops for 20 finalists. There's no URL with full details yet but I'll post it when it comes. I know the competition is due to launch this month and close in October, so it won't hurt to get thinking about an idea now!

As well as the Scotland Writes competition, there will be Writersroom Roadshows (Sept), BBC Scotland Open Days (Oct, Feb and May), the Radio Lab (Sept & Oct), and a Writersroom Residential. The Residential sounds interesting - 8 writers who have stood out over the year will be invited to a week long residential course on writing for television. There are also going to be writing masterclasses on a range of different mediums, but I'm not sure of the dates of these as yet. Keep an eye on the Writersroom for details.

After a brief chat about the schemes, there was a panel event hosted by Kate Rowland, Creative Director of New Writing at the BBC. On the panel were Annie Griffin, Ann McManus and Gregory Burke. It was mainly a discussion of how they got into writing, and any advice they would offer to writers. Here are some of the highlights:

On the differences between film and TV:
AG: it is much more accepted in America now that the 'talent' is writing TV, where here TV often feels ignored, and more kudos and money is given to film, which can have a much smaller audience.
KR: the TV audience is quite sophisticated .
AG: in TV there can be an acceleration of storytelling. You don't need to see everything a character does. (She cited ER - a doctor spotting someone who needed treatment before an ad break, then afterwards coming right to the person chatting in hospital, treated and well. You should know the characters well enough to know what they would do and to fill the gaps sometimes.)

On what makes a script stand out:
AM: I immediately look for character voices: that is that each character has an individual voice. Heart is important in a script, but it comes back to strong dialogue and bold characters.
GB: a script that establishes the world quickly and helps you get into it. The writers voice must be genuine and understand what it is talking about.
AG: again, unique character voices. In something like Dawson's Creek every character spoke the same, in literary references. Women are also always underwritten, even by other women. They are often relegated to the girlfriend or wife role. We don't see enough women working in their jobs or fully engaging with their careers in TV. (She recommended watching the September Issue, a documentary, as the female subjects are very strong.)

On what they would like to see on TV:
GB: just more. We have lots of actors, but we need more scripts for them to work with (in Scotland).
AG: the talent base in Scotland is extraordinary, but there are lots of actors and not enough scripts because writers here tend to focus on features and shorts. TV commissioners are crying out for drama ideas.
KR: in a few years 50% of all BBC content has to be made outside London, and must have authenticity, so regional drama is going to become important.

On writing for TV:
AM: authenticity is great but you must put yourself in the commissioners shoes when writing. Trust that they know what they are talking about when they want a particular thing.
KR: the priority for the BBC is long running series, balanced with serials and one-offs. There are at least 16 drama singles produced by the BBC each year. (She then mentioned Occupation doing very well.)
AM: avoid writing for a particular demographic. Write for yourself first. People jump on the bandwagon and write dramas similar to those they have already seen on television - avoid this.
AG: if you feel strongly about something, people are looking for that passion.
AM: if you have a voice and a passion for your idea, keep bugging them (execs).
AG: if you spend a month writing a script, say to yourself: if something thinks it is rubbish will I argue for it or give up? You need to stick by it, or someone else will fill that slot.
AM: BBC Scotland really do embrace new talent. Use these schemes, they are great.

My favourite quote came from Gregory (or rather, from Gregory's agent to Gregory, then to us):
TV is all about the long game.

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From the day I took away this: if you have an idea, work at it, submit it to schemes, and use opportunities like this to promote it and yourself. Don't give up on it.

My problem just now is that I have no ideas suitable to a drama series. Must get the thinking cap on.

Guardian Short Story Competition

Just saw this on the Guardian website and thought it might be of interest:

"we're inviting readers to submit their stories to our annual summer fiction issue. We've asked authors William Boyd and Julie Myerson to judge your submissions, and they will be looking for the most original, gripping and well-crafted pieces of writing. Their favourite story will be published in the [Guardian's Weekend] magazine; the five runners-up will have their stories published on guardian.co.uk/books.

All you need to do is send us a story of no more than 2,000 words by 10 July. It can be on any theme, but it must be previously unpublished and we can only accept one story per entrant."

See the Guardian Books website for the full terms and conditions.

I wrote a short story whilst travelling a couple of weeks ago which I might just polish up and send in. Anyone else going in for this?

Edinburgh Book Festival 2009 - Programme Launch

The 2009 Edinburgh International Book Festival programme launched today.

An interesting collection of authors and illustrators are going to be there: Will Self, Richard Dawkins, Tracy Chevalier, Margaret Atwood, Kate Atkinson, Nicholson Baker, Terry Deary, Irvine Welsh, Neil Gaiman, Alexander McCall Smith, Ian Rankin, Douglas Coupland, Cornelia Funke to name a few.

Looks like even more writing events than normal (though I could be wrong) with some topical discussions on writing in the recession, making your living as a writer, and the usual talks on structure, publishing, short stories, graphic novels et al. Much as I love all the author talks, it's these workshops and discussions I tend to favour, so it's good to see that there are so many.

Tickets go on sale at 8.30am on Monday 22 June.

Wonder if I will embarrass myself in front of anyone this year?

All you need is love...

...and a bit of funding, to make a film.*

If you haven't seen their blogs already, then I would like to point you in the direction of a couple of worthy souls who you will be able to help out in the funding capacity.

Lucy at Bang2write is raising funds for a seven minute horror/comedy short called Slash. "Slash follows the fates of mismatched couple Tom and Kimberley and their disastrous weekend camping trip in the woods." In return for your donation (any amount), Lucy will send you a helpful 19 page PDF called "Secrets of Script Reading" - written by her good self. Check out her blog for more details and a link to the payment page.

You can also assist Mr Danny Stack in his Twitter short film fund, and help him to raise £1,000 to complete his latest short. You can choose a different amount to donate: you can donate enough to be credited as 'thanks,' 'associate producer,' or even as an executive producer, or you can donate a few quid to help the fund. Either way you get his great booklet 'Get Your Movie Made' which lists the contact details & personnel of the leading UK film companies.

So there you go. I look forward to seeing the final results of both films, and I have my lovely guides printed out and ready to pour over. Go the independent producers, says I.


*Alright, so you need more than just these two things, but they certainly help.

Holiday, Celebrate

Hello there! I'm a little under the weather at the moment, so thought I'd post a few snaps from a recent mini-break.
I love the seaside. One day I will have a house overlooking a nice beach... Perhaps.




I am also a big fan of strolling around the countryside to find sites of archaeological interest.


And, of course, I do like to walk on the sand.

Normal service will resume next week!

Pen and ink

I have been re-writing the Hush longhand for the last few weeks.

It was unintentional at first. I always carry a notebook these days in case 'inspiration hits' - which it thankfully does, on occasion. However, I never write anything more than a few sketchy pages at most, having always preferred to type. I was caught in some rain after an appointment a few weeks ago, so grabbed a coffee and opened the notepad, ready to sketch a few ideas. Within an hour I had about 1,000 shiny words and a completely new start to the Hush - and one which I really liked.

I continued to write in the notepad for the next few days until I had re-written chapter one, then spent a few hours typing it up. In typing it up I gave the chapter another polish, but in what felt like a very organic way.

Since then, I've dedicated a notepad to the project, and have been merrily scribbling away in it. I treated myself to a fountain pen (just a cheap one) which feels like it glides over the paper - so much fun.

I do have a vague fear that I will lose the norebook and all my work, but I'm going to make sure I type up each chapter as it is rewritte, so hopefully that will not be as devastating as it could. Of course, I could just make sure I do NOT lose it...

While I can't see pen and paper beating Final Draft for my screenwriting, I'll definitely be writing more prose fiction on paper. Does anyone else write longhand?