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.

Plodding Onwards

 I'm still around. Got another deadline at the end of this week for a project I'm collaborating on. A lot to do. Also trying to squeeze in a few films as well. There's some good stuff coming out now; I plan to take in Silver Linings Playbook, End of Watch and Ray Harryhausen: Special Effects Titan all later this week as well as watching films and TV relevant to the project I'm working on.

Rotten news last week on two counts; my lovely in-laws lost their neighbour of about 40 years suddenly. A shame. Only met him once or twice but he was a good man.

And someone I knew only briefly at university, but who several close friends were much closer to, sadly took his own life last week as well. Very sad. He was a memorable character from those days and a specific night at La Belle Angele in Edinburgh's Cowgate sprang to mind when I heard of his passing: A jumper. A smart ass Indie arsehole (not the chap in question). A smirk. A glass. A fight. Another friend tossed down the stairs (the last person I'd have expected that to happen to). And a bloodied demand to the bouncers for said jumper back. And the night ended with laughter. RIP Olly Lassman.

But there is also good news. Looks like, all going to plan, I'll be an uncle next May. I'm ecstatic about this.

Back to the bloody mess on the page.

I Am Breathing - Trailer

Anyone who's read this blog for the last few years will likely be aware of the loss of my good friend, Neil Platt, in 2009 to Motor Neurone Disease (known as ALS in the US), an appalling affliction that has robbed his family of several loved ones. Another good friend, filmmaker Morag MacKinnon and her comrade in arms, Emma Davie, were asked by Neil to document his final few months. They did and after several years the film will receive it's premiere on Saturday 17th November in Amsterdam at the International Documentary Film Festival.

A new trailer for the film has been released.


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More information about Neil, MND and the film can be found at the official website - I Am Breathing.

I still miss that no-nonsense Yorkshireman and our Saturday pissups at Edinburgh rock clubs. Some people leave the deepest impressions and Platt was no exception.

8 Sequences - The Last Crusade.

I've recently been using the 8 Sequence theory, made popular by the late screenwriting tutor, Frank Daniel. While I never like to adhere to one train of though on these matters, I've been finding it incredibly useful and is a real boost when dealing with the dangers of Act 2. My current project, which I'm expanding from outline to longer treatment right now, has benefited from it and I thought I'd try a simple experiment of applying the 8 Act structure to a film I know well. I have to emphasise that this is a very simple application.

If you're using a 3 act structure, this can be applied. Each of your 3 acts is broken down, Act 1 into 2 sequences; Act 2 into 4 sequences; Act 3 into 2 sequences.

Essentially, it boils down to a problem, or want/desire, gives us a complication to get in the way of achieving that goal and then resolves the problem. Screenwriting 101, frankly. But the most important thing is that the resolution must propel the story further on. It has to not only solve what has gone before (or not, as the case may be) but also serve to set up more complications. To quote a screenwriter (Aline Brosh McKenna) I recently read on writing, "you want your movies to have a 'because' between each of your scenes and not an 'and then' between them".

In short, each bit of a story has to set up the next; a logical progression of flow. Of course, this story propulsion must be applied to any technique of screenwriting (or dramatic writing of any type) unless you deliberately want to go for an episodic structure. From 3 Act to anything else, but even then I try to let things become organic in my head and not stick slavishly to a template. Some people complain about screenwriting theory and say it is damaging to true creativity but I disagree. Just don't let it rule what you right.

I picked Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade as its structure has stood out to me, even when I was a kid. One of the things I discovered is that it tends to shift location with each new sequence. I think it's an easy way to start making sense of the theory.

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade in Eight Sequences

Sequence 1 – Young Indy

Problem: Young Indy steals the Cross of Coronado from treasure thieves.

Complicated by: Indy must escape from the pursuing thieves.

Resolution: The thieves retain the Cross of Coronado. Indy gets his hat and scar and his path in life is set.

Sequence 2 – Donovan and The Grail Quest

Problem:  Walter Donovan wants Indy to help him find the Holy Grail.

Complicated by: Indy’s father, Henry, has disappeared looking for the Grail.

Resolution: Indy goes in search of Henry.

Sequence 3 - Venice

Problem: Indy, Marcus and Elsa look for the second marker on the trail of the Grail.

Complicated by: The Brotherhood of the Cruciform Sword, led by Kazim, tries to kill Indy.

Resolution: The second marker is found and Kazim tells Indy where Henry is being held.

Sequence 4 - Austria

Problem: Indy searches the castle for his Dad.

Complicated by: Elsa is a traitor, the Grail diary is taken and Indy is captured.

Resolution: Indy escapes the castle with Henry via motorbike chase.

Sequence 5 - Germany

Problem: Indy and Henry must find Marcus as he has the map.

Complicated by: They still need the Grail Diary, now in the hands of the Nazis in Berlin.

Resolution: Indy and Henry escape Germany with the Diary aboard a zeppelin.

Sequence 6 – Keeping up with the Joneses / Turkey

Problem: Indy and Henry have been detected aboard the zeppelin and must get to Sallah in Iskenderun.

Complicated by: German fighter planes are pursuing them and Indy has no bullets left.

Resolution: Indy watches his father defeat the planes and sees value in his Father's knowledge.

Sequence 7 – Hatay / Tank Chase

Problem: Indy must beat the Nazis to the location of the Grail using the map.

Complicated by: The Nazis have the map and Indy’s father is captured.

Resolution: Indy rescues Henry and Marcus. Henry realises he loves his son.

Sequence 8 – The Grail Temple

Problem: Donovan and the Nazis have reached the final stage in the search for the Grail.

Complicated by: Donovan shoots Henry, forcing Indy to endure the final tests of the Grail.

Resolution:  Indy finds the Grail and heals his father (relationship is also healed) and finally Henry lets the Grail go.

Many of the sequences, especially the latter ones, also end with an emotional beat as well, demonstrating one of the reasons Last Crusade is well regarded; it's not just a treasure hunt but a story about a father and son reconciling.

Like I said, simple stuff but it helps tremendously in the planning and outline stages, which is important to me.I may try this with other films and recommend it to others as a way of trying to make things a bit more ordered and coherent. And, like I also said, it's just one of many tools out there.

Increase your writing toolbox!

Back from the ether...

Bimey. 2 and a half months.

A few nights ago, a friend a fellow blogger, Conan the Librarian, asked if I'd stopped my blog. The simple answer was no but I understood what he meant. It's been a long while since I last posted and before then I had all sorts of things I wanted to post about (and still do).

What have I been doing? Well, for the bulk of that time I had been writing an outline for a new feature project I'm collaborating on with some friends. That went down well and so now I'm working on a longer treatment document before we go to a first draft. I was also working full time for a while but that job ended (the hazards of temping) and I'm still looking for more work (the hazards of relying on temping). And sometimes it's just so easy to let something like this blog slip away. That, and trying to get through the episodes of Mad Men, Boardwalk Empire, The Thick of It and Dallas (yes, Dallas, so sue me; I'm a child of the 70s & 80s) that are dominating our DVR right now.

I've also joined a gym. Been quite disgusted at my appearance of late so I'm bidding farewell to a few stone (one stone is 14 llbs, to my US friends). Getting fitter ought to help with the old motivation and general demeanour.

So, it's back on with the blog. There was a tiny wee news story about Star Wars last week I might just have something to say about.

In the meantime, this is brilliant and is a good shot in the arm when needing reminded about the ultimate goal in filmmaking (for me, anyway).


Good, no? See you at the movies.