Love/Hate

Love/Hate.

There's no other way to say it. My favourite band of all time (along with Slave to the Grind era Skid Row). And I managed to miss them when I was younger, so many, many times.

But then, last week...

Hee hee hee!!!!

I waited 20 years to finally see these fellas. And good god, it was worth it. Bannerman's is a small but important venue in Edinburgh for rock and metal music, especially these days. Sadly, circumstances meant that it wasn't the full original line up playing but lead singer Jizzy Pearl (I love how he's kept that name after all this time) along with a touring line up of Keri Kelli (Alice Cooper, Slash's Snakepit), Robbie Crane (RATT) and Matt Starr (Ace Frehley). And they were fantastic, all of them, really doing justice the originals. I missed a chance to speak to Jizzy (who brushed past me when he entered the pub itself), who was good enough to hang out with the fans for a bit (but we did bump fists during the gig, which made my day) but I did get to speak to Robbie Crane and Matt Starr several times, who were friendly, down to earth and approachable dudes.

Touring bassist Robbie Crane, formerly of RATT.

Love/Hate were one of those bands in the late 80s/early 90s who really weren't appreciated for who they were and what they did. A lot of folks didn't get into them for one reason or another but they completely spoke to me (how wanky, I know) when I was 19. Lumped in with the hair metal movement, they stood out from the rest of that lot for me and actually had something to say about the rock lifestyle of excess; I think a lot of their stuff still stands up and is remains relevant. They've more than their fair share of bad luck but keep at it. Real rock musicians who persevere through good and bad.

 Jizzy's voice is still amazing - after all those presumed years of rock n'roll excess, he looks after himself - and in all the entire band were amazing. I think they were a bit taken back at our response. Jizzy's said himself that the UK always seemed to love them more than anyone else.

And there was very little about the night that seemed nostalgic all that much nor did it seem like faded stars  trying to recapture previous glories. This was balls to the wall music. A bunch of guys still doing what they love and doing it amazingly and with a real passion.

I think Love/Hate's continued existence is an example of one of the beliefs I try to live by; if you love something, do it, no matter how old people say you are. The other way lies darkness, old age and the end.

An amazing and ferociously good night. Here's hoping it's not another 20 years before they come back to Edinburgh.

Working with Aberlour

Had a rather more productive few weeks than usual, with my first couple of bits of freelance filmmaking work.

Several weeks ago saw me shooting a promo for Aberlour Childcare Trust's Woof Walk, a part of annual charity The Kilt Walk. My shoulder rig came in handy for that and did a pretty good job for what it is.



And this morning I was working with Aberlour Childcare Trust again, filming Britain's Got Talent Winner Jai McDowall's good luck and thanks message to all those who will be embarking on the Woof Walk and Kilt Walk in a few weeks time at Hampden Stadium. Jai does a fair bit of promotion and work for Aberlour and it's good to meet someone from BGT who has their feet on the ground. Nice chap.

Hopefully some more work coming up soon as well as my current feature writing gig.

I'd better get on to the rushes, then...

DIY DSLR

I'm sure most if not all of my cinematographer friends would frown upon this, but I'm almost finished making a DSLR shoulder rig. Yes, I would love one of those snazzy Zacuto rigs but they're exhorbitantly expensive and I can barely afford bus fare these days.

I based if on a design found at a blog called kimnkris.com, sticking to 15mm tubing so more conventionally manufactured additions can be attached. Not bad, I suppose. I'm no engineer (my marine engineer dad's skills were barely passed down to me, not my natural forte) but it's sturdy enough. I've managed to successfully attach a Giotto quick release plate to it. Still a bit rough around the edges and a bit more spray paint needed but it ought to do the job for the time being.

Well, whaddayay know? I finished a project.

Promos, reports and deadlines.

Another haitus, another blog entry.

My time's not been my own of late. I tried working at a full time temp job but, sadly, it left me no time at all to get on with the things I'm supposed to be doing professionally. Even after that's ended, I've still loads to be doing.

This weekend I'm directing a promo for a children's charity. All going well with the location, that is. Quite excited to be shooting something again.

The screenplay I'm writing is also in progress (if a little behind, thanks to full time work) and on course for a deadline very soon.

I also completed my first paid script report recently. Happy customer, which made me happy. Need to get more of that going.

Going to be a hectic weekend. I might relax at some point in the future. But it's all good so far.

Scott Ward - Director of Photography

Scott Ward was simply one of the warmest, nicest folks you were ever likely to meet amongst Scottish filmmakers. I never heard him raise his voice once and the loudest sound to come from him was always laughter. A kind of deep, jolly boom. A tall chap with the most wonderfully curly hair, his bicycle was never far away and he always remembered you, regardless of how brief your previous meeting had been, eyes widening above the crowd in a pub whenever he saw you. He had time for people.

I only worked with him once. An over-eager second year film student, I got a job as Grip on a university graduation film Scott was shooting. I'd worked on a fair amount of shorts by that time but this shoot seemed daunting to me. There were some rather serious people around and I was anxious to get things right. I would be controlling the movement of the camera on several long and slow tracking shots. What if I messed up? The film was being shot on film - way before digital technology swept in - and that's an expensive business, especially for already cash strapped students. A few technical rehearsals - it took a while to get the movement at the right speed and then maintain that speed. And all through it, Scott was calm, patient and encouraging, aware of the less experienced student and whatever anxiety I might have had. Keeping a calm atmosphere on set was important to him and he knew results did not come from tension, even if some of the actors were a little too sharp. He had time for everyone on the shoot, from director and producer to runner.

And then, when packing up the location and chuffed at getting things right, I dropped one of the iron weights used to steady light stands on my foot. A combination of horror and embarrassment from me (it bloody hurt) and amusement and exasperation from some of the other crew. But Scott, admitting the funny side, was first there to help me limp away from the location to knock back a drink after wrapping, making sure I was alright for the rest of the night, accompanied by some gentle jokes.

That's what he was. Calm, gentle, happy and always interested in others. On reflection, even though I didn't know him tremendously well, I'm shocked at how little I knew about him as he was more interested in other people. He was present at some ridiculously fun nights I attended, where all sorts of drunken fun was had at the expense of the dignity of several (often me and deserved, mind you) and I can still hear his laughter amongst the chaos.

I hadn't seen him for a while and the last time we met, which had been after another long while, he was just as welcoming and interested as always. I regret not being able to properly catch up that night as we were both caught up with others in the pub and both reckoned we'd catch up next time. The last meeting is often not the one you expect it to be.

A great cinematographer and a tremendously well loved man, taken long before his time. Rest in peace, sir.

Oscar Nomination Madness

The reaction to some of the nominations, or should I say non-nominations (try it with 4 beers - you'll kill your tongue) is verging on hilarious. Personally, I'm not so bothered. It seems to be between Lincoln and Silver Linings Playbook. Lincoln's not been released in the UK yet and I enjoyed SLB, even if the end descended into something verging on romcom cliche.

But some folks really need to get a grip. Much of the vitriolic back and forth I've seen on some professional film blogs is up there with angry, pished pub arguments about football - pointless and nasty. And folks who don't care also need to back up and just let it be; "Waah! I hate the Oscars! They're irrelevant back-patting!! Waaah!". Well, then shut up, fuck off and stop paying attention to something that's upsetting you. Of course it's back-patting. It's a fucking awards ceremony. Sheesh.

The days of getting upset over these things seem to be happily behind me now. My opinion doesn't matter and neither does yours in the grand scheme of things. I still enjoy the madness around the Oscars, from the embryonic buzz throughout the year which starts to snowball around September to the night itself, which I like to stay up and watch (last year's was particularly memorable as my blog post about that makes clear). And I'm an unashamed Family Guy/Seth McFarlane fan so I'm hoping for a genuinely funny but old style showbiz affair this year. He knows his classic Hollywood and big time music numbers. I even found most (but not all - that deliberately awkward WW2 shtick needs to end) of today's announcement refreshingly funny.

I'm also going to make a point of reading as many of the screenplay nominees as I can. As far as the Best Film nominees go, I've only seen 3 of them so far (Argo, Beasts of the Southern Wild and the afore-mentioned Silver Linings Playbook) as the many of the rest have not been released in the UK yet, apart from Amour, which got a dismal release I feel, and Life of Pi, which I'll see this weekend along with Les Miserables.

Most of the nominated screenplays are out there now. Time to get hunting.

Commencer le projet!

Please excuse the wanky title. Or don't.

Today marks the beginning of work on the first draft of my current feature project. Things agreed on with the good folks I'm working with and there is a delivery date.

These things are like babies, y'know; conception of the idea, first scribblings of a zygote of an idea float down and attach themself somewhere, it starts to grow inside you (bleurgh!) and gestates until it bursts forth from your ribcage, eviscerating you in the proce....hang on. No. It's born. And like a human baby, after birth it still has to evolve and grow. God help me if it becomes a teenager.


So, on with it until it's done.

Today's reading: This is 40, by Judd Apatow.

(I love it when Oscar season means these things are freely and legally available to download and read).

Hello 2013

Well, the Earth spins on, regardless of idiotic translations of harmless Meso-American calendars.

Had a nice and quiet Christmas (twice, really, as my sister spent hers with her husband's family in Ireland so we had a second Christmas dinner on their return) but don't really do New Year. So, the decorations are down, the tree is in the back garden awaiting dismemberment and I'm trying to get back to getting up at a sensible time in order to get on with things. And feeling a bit better about that than is normal.

I'm a few days away from beginning the first draft of a current project that has seen several outlines. Rather excited about that and working on it with some great people.

Hope to perhaps earn a little from writing this year as well. We all do, I suppose, but there's no sense in thinking small and never seeing the potential in your skill.

I'm also watching more movies so far this year - last week saw my introduction to Spaghetti Western maestro Sergio Corbucci. I wondered what all the fuss was about with Quentin Tarantino's love of the guy, so I watched 4 of his films over 2 days:
 
His first solo Western, Minnesota Clay (1964), with Cameron Mitchell as a wronged convict out for revenge before his encroaching blindness takes his sight.

Cameron Mitchell shortly before he uses his ears to take out the bad guys.

 The original Django (1966), with the legend that is Franco Nero, which was great and muddy, although I kind of wish we hadn't learned what he kept in that coffin he dragged around, even though it was key to the story.

Django and his "burden" - more mud than McCabe & Nrs Miller could shake a stick at.

 The Great Silence (1968), a fantastic bit of harshness amongst snow with a mute Jean-Louis Tritignant and Klaus Kinski on top form as a bounty killer and one of the bravest endings I've seen to a movie.

One of the genre's greatest SOBs. Still unsure whether Kinski dubbed himself, though.

Finally The Mercenary (1968), a Zapata Western combined with a buddy movie with another great performance from Franco Nero. I enjoyed it a lot also but found it a bit meandering at times. Some great moments, though, particularly when Nero's character is offering his mercenary services one step at a time to Tony Musante's revolutionary during a pitched battle with the Mexican military

Corbucci loved his machine guns...

Jack Palance's amazing perm. Yes, the villain is called Curly.

Possibly my favourite duel scene in a movie.

Corbucci seems to enjoy blowing thumbs away from gunslingers and inflicting physical handicaps to his protagonists, placing him a bit higher in my estimation that Leone it turns out. I hadn't realised that Django was banned in the UK but, amongst all the guhn deaths, forcing a character to eat their own severed ear didn't impress the censors back in the 60s. Who knew?

Also going to read as many scripts as I can as well. It's not just the act of writing that makes you a better writer. The more you read, the more you learn also.

Today's reading: The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel by Ol Parker, adpated from These Foolish Things by Deborah Mogach.

Season's Greeblings

Merry Christmas, folks!

Have a safe and happy day, regardless of your faith. And watch Doctor Who.

I'm off to re-do some failed soup (my conrtibution to this year's Christmas dinner). Pong.

Ray Harryhausen - Effects Titan

 While I'm scribbling away on an outline for a feature project, I found time to squeeze in a review of a documentary I recently watched on Ray Harryhausen, who regular readers of this blog (is there such a person? And why??) will know I consider to be a bit of a special chap.

Geek Chocolate: Ray Harryhausen - Special Effects Titan review.

Honestly, it's not the best review I've written, as my attention is kept by my current feature project.

He's a movie god, as far as I'm concerned and the brief time I met him will always stand out as one of the best in my life so far. I shook the hand that gave life to Mighty Joe Young, Telos, Kali and Medusa. I'm glad he's still with us.

Oh, and it's December and this is my first post of the month. Bugger.