"Allen Bridge" blog #29...

As I near the end of the writing process (I'm ostensibly on the final go-through, on page 87 of 116) I thought it would be interesting to list some of the music that has provided some of the consistent backdrop to the writing process of Allen Bridge - so, without further ado:

Angelo Badalamenti, David Lynch, Julee Cruise, and Blue Bob - various soundtracks and collaborations

The Black Angels "Passover" and "Directions To See A Ghost" (albums)

Daft Punk "Tron Legacy" (album)

Donovan "Hurdy Gurdy Man" (track)

Godspeed You Black Emperor "Moya" (track)

Hans Zimmer "Journey To The Line" (track)

Ingram Marshall "Fog Tropes" (track)

Krzysztof Penderecki "Symphony No.3 Passacaglia - Allegro Moderato" (track)

Max Richter "On The Nature Of Daylight" (track)

Michael Giacchino "Life And Death" (track)

MoozE/Frey Vladimir "STALKER: Shadow of Chernobyl" (album)

Petri Alanko "Alan Wake" (album)

Roy Orbison "In Dreams" (track)

Rob Zombie - various, but particularly "Educated Horses", and "Hellbilly Deluxe 2" (albums)

Tool - "Æenema", "Lateralus", and "10,000 Days" (albums)

Some of these are more recent entries, while others have been frequently played for months, and naturally there will be some other albums and songs that have filled in here and there along the way. Some of the music - such as Rob Zombie or Tool - is suited to powering through the re-drafting process at times, while other stuff - such as Daft Punk's soundtrack to Tron Legacy - can fulfil that requirement, but also act as a good atmospheric inspiration ... and then there are other examples - such as the Badalamenti/Lynch/Cruise stuff, or Petri Alanko's Alan Wake soundtrack, or MoozE's soundtrack to STALKER - that are excellent inspirations for a particular mood.

I found that writing Draft 1.1 and 1.2 were more suited to the music that provided me with a particular atmosphere or mood (sometimes I would play particular tracks at particular points in the script - to write/read along to a specific track). Then when it came to Draft 2.1 and 2.2 it was more about powering through changes and tweaks, but also adding new content, and as such there was a fluid mix between atmospheric stuff and hard rock/metal.

In terms of inspiration for Allen Bridge in general, it was always - from my very first thought - more about capturing a particular type of mood, rather than anything else (well, apart from telling a good mystery that had the potential to chill as well as enthrall). Therefore, music was the perfect inspiration for the script, and while there were certain films that inspired me - it was always from the standpoint of a particular mood that it successfully protrayed, and not the content it offered - and even then all the inspiration was just to get me into a particular head space. Quite quickly I found myself never consciously thinking about any particular film, television show, book, campfire tale, or whatever you fancy.

I was fortunate to find that Allen Bridge itself ended up inspiring Allen Bridge, by which I mean, the established parts of the story (initially scenes from a half-remembered dream) would lead to a new scene, then a new character, then a new backstory, and then new scenes and characters and yet more backstories from there. It was like deciphering a film - or a dream of a film - inside my head, and down on paper, from a jumbled order so that I could discover an organised and complete entity at the end of it all.

Progress wise, as I said, it's tantalisingly close to completion - I've reached the stage where I'm feeling confident that it is ready to be submitted, the point where the story and the plot feel strong like stone ... a point where it flows satisfyingly from one scene to the next and can inspire surprise, chills, and further questions. At this stage I can so vividly see the script inside my head as a film - and even if I do say so myself - I think it'd make a good one.