December = Film Watching Month

It’s been a long year. A really long year in a lot of ways. So I figure it’s time for a month off to watch a lot of movies. I’m sure I’ll still get some writing done, and know I have some reviews to edit for the YouTube channel so even a month off isn’t like full rest, but it’s time to take it a little easier.

The target I’m setting myself in December is 100 films. Roughly 3 a day. Still have to do my Job job, but think that’s easy enough to achieve if I dedicate myself to not leaving the house much and stay away from TV reruns. (Which considering the temperature and the fact that I’ve already rewatched Modern Family and Californication shouldn’t be too difficult).

Want to mostly watch films that I’ve either not seen before or haven’t seen in ages and can’t remember. Maybe find some to review as well (have some ideas). Already giving myself more work before I’ve even finished the blog about not doing any work but there you go.

Could do with a good mix of English language and world cinema. Want to catch some more animation from around the world too. Couple of classic’s from the golden era. Maybe a silent film or two. Just a good enjoyable mix. Can maybe fill some gaps on my IMDB top 250. There isn’t many,  but are some. Might even be time to watch the last few epics I haven’t seen if I find myself with a spare 5 hours for Ten Commandments.

Have a lot of ambition for 2017 and am getting myself into a position where I can properly have a good go at a lot of that, but want to be fresh and inspired. Can’t think of a better way to feel that than to watch a ton of films. 🙂

Stephen

Want to direct another MV

Really have a strong urge of late to direct a new music video. Is the time of year where the light outside looks awesome (when it’s not pitch black in the middle of the day) and want to take advantage of it. Feeling very creative and energised after a bit of a lean spell and almost finished a draft of my latest script so need something else to do while I take a week or two away from it before going back for the next draft.

Listening to more and more music and have loads of ideas running through my head. Have a few basic concepts I’d like to try but feeling open to any idea. Hasn’t helped that I’ve watched a few music documentaries of late and that’s got me in the mood too.

Am looking to direct a lot more come next year. Feel the work I’ve done behind the camera this year has been a vast improvement on before and really enjoying it. Feel comfortable with the camera in my hand and have worked hard on editing. The many many many many many hours spent on both seem to have allowed the technical stuff to catch up with what’s in my head and has given me the chance to better show my original vision.

Keep thinking about studying Music Video’s more but feel I’m getting a lot from just watching different ones from around the world. Got some real decent constructive feedback on the last one I made from an awesome band and that’s helped too. Am keen to have another crack. Want to learn on the job and have plenty of fun honing my skills while creating some work that I’m proud off.

So here’s hoping I create a chance to shoot another in the not to distant future.

Stephen

My relationship to music while writing

Been listening to a lot of music again of late. Especially when writing. It’s something I’ve always flip-flopped between doing. I guess a lot of the time it depends on the project itself rather than my own process. I’d love to be one of those people who always listen to music while writing, I love the romance of that thought, but I don’t always find it practical.

Anything that’s a very dialogue heavy scene, or project, I never really listen to music while writing. I’ve tried it,  I want to be able to listen to music all the time, but it doesn’t work for me. I prefer to be able to have the conversations in my head and hear my characters. Work out the pace and rhythm of the conversation more naturally. Just struggle with these scenes if I’m listening to music. Breaks my concentration. Wish it didn’t, but the writing has to come first.

None dialogue scenes are where it’s at for me musically. But I tend to listen to something that reflects my mood at the time rather than the mood of the scene (not sure if that’s odd or not although my guess would be it is). I don’t look at music when I’m writing as something that I use to capture the vibe of the scene, or put together a playlist of songs that would fit the project, it’s more about me. How I feel.

I think I use it more to relax or entertainment myself. Keep my spirits high. Express how I’m feeling in my life rather than on the page. The two different arts don’t really mix together as one for me during the writing process. I can easily listen to some chilled out Dashboard Confessional song or something a little folky like Lil’ Ashes while writing some nasty horrific horror scene as much as I can listen to something like Pretty Reckless or Solemn while writing a quiet cute romantic scene. The horror I’m writing at the moment couldn’t be further from the Taiwanese Indie music playing though my headphones but represents my mood perfectly.

I enjoy a great score in a film or a fitting song and there are some soundtracks out there that I’ve listened too a lot, but for me its all about creating the right atmosphere and vibe when I’m writing. When it comes to the future and I’m making films (writing and directing) I often wonder whether I’d approach the writing the same way and use music for myself during the writing process or whether I will go a little more traditional and start thinking about the sound track early and listen to music that fits the scenes.

Either way, hope I get the chance to find out.

Stephen

 

As a side note have started a new YouTube review channel. Here’s the link: I Saw The Movie

 

You Tube Channel Started: I Saw The Movie

So the day has finally arrived that we’ve launched our YouTube Review channel. Has been something that I’ve been meaning to do for some time along with a friend, and now it’s happening.

We will no doubt review a ton of Asian films and world cinema and have plenty of ideas for series of reviews and other playful stuff on the website. Will be loads of American films on there as well.

Have started the channel with my review/love fest for Jason X.

Going to have a lot of fun with this channel and dedicate plenty of time to it. Looking to upload a couple of reviews a week. Can’t wait.

So… Here’s the link for the site,  Enjoy:

I Saw The Movie

Stephen

 

Writing and Directing Short Films

Been working on a few short film scripts of late and has felt nice. When learning to write I’d write short films all the time and used to enjoy it, even directed a couple and had some play at festivals around the country. Was a great experience going to showings and seeing people enjoying my work up on the screen. Then after a failed short my attention turn to writing feature scripts, after all, that’s where I wanted to be.

I’ve been writing feature scripts and TV pilots for a while now. Have 4 feature scripts completed, another one close and have written countless drafts of others which I’m sure at some stage I’ll go back too (Two are very advanced and probably only one good draft away). Along with this I have 2 pilots ready and have written another ill-fated one a while back which I still love the concept but cringe anytime I read it and stop after the first act.

So shorts have kind of taken a back seat, but are always on my mind. Which is why of late it’s been really good to get back writing them. Writing The Moment a few years back and seeing it take off as part of London Screenwriters Festivals 50 Kisses Project really got me back in love with shorts especially after having some success with one I’d written just before that as well. Since then they’ve been part of my life again never more so than now.

I have a handful of shorts fully written and ready and another couple well on their way and am deciding really what to push forward with and direct. With my aim being to direct a no budget feature in the next few years shorts seem like a great way to get the necessary directing experience especially when I’m enjoying them so much at the moment.

The trouble I had back when I started features was that I’d done so much work on my shorts that they ended up becoming feature scripts or TV shows. Two of the four feature scripts I’ve completed  started life as shorts and the one i’ve almost finished started as a similar concept to the first short I directed. (Unseen short as was a practice shoot with City Eye). Alongside this one of the two pilots was also a short, one that I was very close to directing until I decided that the idea could be a lot bigger. So shorts where constantly being overshadowed by longer formats.

This seems to have changed recently. Now the shorts I’ve been writing have really been ideas more designed to be shorts than anything else. I’m sure I could work and expand the shorts a lot but there’s no real appeal in that when I already have such a long list of feature ideas anyway. Plus they work as shorts so why change that.. I think it’s something missing from my work in recent time and could help me a lot.

I like the idea of having a few shorts I’ve directed once again playing at festivals especially now that I have the feature script work to back it up. It seems like the short and longer format have both been part of my life for the last 10 years or more but have never really co-existed. Now seems to be the right time for that.

So whats the plan…

… The plan is to direct some of the short films I’ve written. To work with some of the people I used to work with and enjoy meeting and working with others. I have a few similar ideas where I might need to choose one or the other, and have a few idea’s that don’t really match the genre I’m working with in the longer format so will need to make some decisions there, but the idea of getting behind the camera and writing, directing and producing shorts gets me really excited.

Simply put, It’s something I feel I need to do for both my future, and something I greatly overlook at times, my present.

 

Stephen

 

(Have several older shorts on a separate page to my blog at the top of the page so feel free to check them out. Or here’s the link if the scroll up seems to far which I totally get after the last two weeks I’ve had)   Old Shorts

Writing Struggles

I’ve never really been one for writers block, mostly because I have way way way to many projects on the go at all times. But every now and then I do stop writing for a brief period of time. It isn’t through lack of ideas, but more a burnout, or struggle of motivation. I let things get a little on top of me and just struggle to write for a bit. Normally this lasts a few days, sometimes a week or two, but it always passes as writing is everything to me and something that i’m always eager to get back too. But as they say, you can’t force it.

It’s the not forcing it bit that i’ve struggled most with over the years because I always do try and force it, and what that tends to lead to is work that isn’t up to the quality I expect of myself. This in turn obviously gets me down more. Vicious circle. One i’ve fallen for more times then I care to admit.

So whats the answer…

Sometimes i’ve tried starting a new project, like a short script or something, but if the quality is still low then that could make a good idea seem bad. Again thats not really ideal. I often think writing myself out of one of these patches should help but in truth it doesn’t. I think taking a brief break from writing with maybe just working on some notes or something is probably a wiser idea. Although i’d always prefer not to have to do this, sometimes its the only way.

The thing i’ve tried this time is just to accept that my mind isn’t going to be able to write at the moment so just to enjoy some films and TV shows. Read up on some stuff and watch editing tutorials. Basically do everything except the writing so the i’m not wasting the time in anyway. Keep myself in the basic area of what i’m trying to do so that when my mood clicks back into place i’m already in the right space. That’s the theory behind it anyway. (My theory that is, maybe I should actually read up on it)

So i’ve spent the last 10 days watching films and shows, writing up some small notes on things that have naturally come to me rather than being forced and trying to enjoy the opportunity to catch up on some stuff i’ve missed. It’s not the perfect solution as really all I want to be doing is writing, but its something, and at the moment that seems a lot better than nothing.

Like I said, it doesn’t happen often, but it seems to me to be a part of my creative life. That these little burn outs and dips will happen. I still don’t think I deal with them well, but i’m working on it, and least I know that when it passes I will make up for the lost time, always do. Can’t stop writing, even when I have to stop writing.

Stephen.

New Page for Old Short Films

Just a quick blog. Been meaning to do this for a little while and now finally have. Have got together a lot of my old DV Mission shorts along with a few other bits including a link to my award-winning 50 kisses film and have created a page for them.

Is located at the top of the blog next to the about page or linked here:

Old Shorts and New MV

Will try in the future to do a blog on each project but that will be over a fair bit of time I imagine and will also see if I can find any other work to add.

Stephen.

(Is hard to believe that my short film Accidental Death is 8 years old.)

Upcoming YouTube channel : I Saw The Movie

Over the space of the last month I’ve been working on setting up a YouTube channel with a friend where we will be reviewing movies both from Asia and the west. The aim is to do reviews, features and extra content eventually like short films or web shows and promote a lot of Asian cinema that we love.

The main reason for the channel is our love of movies and the fact that we spend a vast majority of our time taking about, and watching, films anyway that it seemed like a good idea to actually record some of these conversations. Plenty agreed and encouraged and now I  can’t wait to get it all started. Going to be a blast.

A side reason for making this channel however is more relevant to my writing and where I am in my career at this point. It gets me used to talking. Gets me away from the computer and talking about films which can only be good for my pitching. It might be other peoples films at the moment but a lot of the same skills are there and similar energy levels.

I can see from the early reviews we’ve done that I can bring the excitement and the passion but as i’ve been told by teachers my whole school life, I fidget. I can see it more when i’m in front of the camera and while it’s not to bad it is a little noticeable and something that hopefully I can watch and improve on it over the year.

I think the channel will be good for me for a lot of reasons and am extremely excited by it. But as someone who has work ready to send out into the world and look to build a career on it I know this channel can be positive for my presentations and pitches and thats a big deal in this completive business. Every little helps.

The channel is almost ready to launch, and should be available within the next week but for the moment you can catch us at @Isawthemovieuk both on Twitter and Instagram. Our first feature is on Street fighter (for all of you that remember the film) as we discuss the Van Damme Street Fighter and the Legend of Chun-Li Street Fighter and what we’d do with a reboot of the franchise.

Stephen

 

 

 

Movie Day

Not sure what the correct name is for this but I call it movie day. Basically it means spending my whole day watching films (and normally eating junk food). In order for it to be a movie day for me it has to consist of watching at least 5 films. Anything less than that is pretty much just a normal day… for me.

So why do I want to blog about these lazy days I have where I barely get out of bed and eat to much. Well because of the films… And the fact that I think these type days are important.

If I had to guess how many of these sort of days I’ve had in my life i’d say it could well be in triple figures, probably averaging around 6 movies a time. I always joke to myself when i’m having them that i’m having a lazy day, or not doing anything today just watching films, but the other part of my brain is more interested in calling them research.

As a scriptwriter and film maker, but just as importantly someone who loves movies, I want to watch everything, from all genres, from all countries. There isn’t a movie experience that I don’t want to experience and thats why I find these days so important.

Clearly I can’t have them all the time otherwise A) I wouldn’t have a life outside of my TV B) I wouldn’t be able to spend time on my own creative stuff and C) it would probably just be watching for watching sake rather than taking in as much as possible. But I do like to have them every now and then. Maybe once a month as a minimum although have I drastically exceeded that a few times during lulls.

I believe as a Scriptwriter/Film Maker that watching films is essential. I’ve been to film classes where people there haven’t seen Godfather or Citizen Kane and am dumbfounded by it. I don’t understand how people don’t want to watch all the classics and experience cinema round the whole world and thats what these type of days are for me. A chance to catch up. A time to make sure i’ve seen all the important work. And also the less.

I rarely watch films i’ve seen before on these type of days and if I do its something that I don’t remember very well. Sometimes these movie days may have a bit of a theme be it genre, director, country, sometimes its a bunch of random movies that I put together as a type of movie playlist for me to go through.

Sometimes its catching up on classics or old movies that i’ve missed where other times its watching a bunch of films that I may like, hate or be bored with, Doesn’t matter. Because I want to watch everything and that doesn’t just mean 10 out of 10 rated films. It means the 1’s as well.

Anything can inspire us, the worse movie can have a seed of an idea or a concept that could have been something, or the movie could just be entertaining in a good way, or a bad way. Whatever we get from the film we always get something. I fully believe making any type of film is an achievement and therefore worth watching.

Thats why I will always allow myself these type of days and not really see it as being just lazy. It is research and entertainment at the same time. It’s spending a whole day with something I love and want a career in. Something that drives me and is a massive part of my life. I think everyone who wants to be part or the business, or already is, should enjoy these types of days every now and then.

There are so so many films out there and more come out everyday so why not enjoy as many as you can and hopefully it will help you with learning more about the craft as well as just being entertained for better or worse.

Bottom line if you love films, why not watch as many as humanly possible 🙂

Stephen.

 

I often try to live tweet my movie days at @steve5by5, for the next one I might write a short blog review of the films I saw as well.