"A Sideline In Vengeance" update #5...

So, here we are, the best part of two months since the last update post on "A Sideline In Vengeance" - and the script is complete! It clocks in at 100 pages (ooh, what a lovely round number).

These last few weeks I have been going back and forth, skimming around the script tweaking specific scenes or characters, or elements of the plotting and overall story, as well as going through it from the first to last page seeking out little changes and improvements to make...

Click "READ MORE" below to continue reading...

"A Sideline In Vengeance" is underway...

After getting the bulk of the planning done during December (and a little bit of last minute tinkering in the first few days of 2016), I've started writing my new screenplay called "A Sideline In Vengeance".

It's a conspiracy thriller inspired by some dark and twisted stories that have been hitting the headlines in the UK over the last couple of years...

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Ethical Theory (2014)

A three part series of short educational films covering Meta-Ethics, Kantian Ethics, and Situation Ethics.

In many ways this was the toughest series to edit in a while. The challenge was to visualise complex philosophical theories - which are relatively straight forward to explain on the page in words - but which are very tricky to illustrate. However, we succeeded, and this time we also used specially commissioned artwork to help us bring these complex ideas to life.

Below you will find more information about the series, including video clips for each film.

Click "READ MORE" below to continue...

Life After Death (2013)

A five part series of educational short films covering the various philosophical theories and perspectives on the subject of Life After Death.

In part it was quite tough to visualise something which, generally speaking, you cannot experience in such a definitive way as to come back and tell everyone about it. Indeed, the nature of life after death - or if it even exists - is the subject of much varied opinion. The most interesting segment to create, for me, was a sequence detailing the story of the 'Enfield Poltergeist'. Similar to the third film in the Problem of Evil series, in which we shot a segment based on "The Brothers Karamazov" by Fydor Dostoyevski, we had to craft a piece in a short time with just what we had around us - and I'm very pleased with how it turned out.

Below you will find more information about the series, including short video clips from each film.

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"The Racket" (2014)

"The Racket", is an independent documentary short film on which I worked as editor, sound designer, and script consultant.

About the film:
Written to mark the centenary of the First World War, exposes the immense profits made during the war -- a war that claimed 20 million lives yet created 21,000 new millionaires and billionaires, in America alone. Adapted from the speeches and writings of Major General Smedley Butler, the most decorated soldier in US history, The Racket combines Butler's intense respect for the ordinary soldier with critical dissent against the growing corporatism he believed to be corrupting the ideals he'd willingly die to protect.

Watch the trailer:

Currently working on "The Racket"...

Over this dingy, dark, winter period, one of the projects I'm currently working on is editing a new documentary called "The Racket". It's kind of a tie-in to this year's 100th anniversary of the start of World War One, but looking at the conflict - arguably the first war to be fought on an industrial scale - from a financial and political perspective. While good men were fighting on the battlefields, who was enabling (and paying for) this endeavour behind the scenes? "The Racket" explores this topic.

Check out the official website HERE, and watch a portion of the film.

"Summer Road" getting re-drafted...

In 2010 I wrote a screenplay called "Summer Road", which was submitted to the BBC Writersroom and got a full read-through. It's important to note that getting a full read-through at the Writersroom is a tough ask in itself. They get 10,000 scripts a year and kick back the vast majority after a mere 10 pages - regardless of whether you agree with their system and approach to vetting unsolicited screenplays or not, those are the breaks when it comes to the Writersroom - so, point being, getting a full read-through is not exactly a common occurrence there.

Anyway - I've returned to this comedy drama to give it a bit of a bashing around to bring it up to my current screenwriting standard - and then put it out to a couple more places and bank it before advancing onto the next screenplay project I have in mind (which won't be feature length, by the by) ... after which I'm planning on seeking out an agent.

So that's future plans, but right now I've just started the re-writing process on Summer Road (Draft 4.1) - I'm at page 20 (of 107, currently) and so far the biggest changes have come to a handful of flashback sequences. In the previous incarnation of the script I was telling more than I was showing, so I'm reversing that situation and re-writing it according to my current standard.

It has been a good 18 months since I touched this screenplay and I'm able to weed out bits that no longer work, or which feel too 'on-the-nose', while adding a few more flourishes here and there. A key aim will be to re-work the entire second act - re-aiming the focus of the plot - and hopefully bring the page count down. 90 pages would be lovely, but I don't think I can tell this story quite that tightly (you don't want to hack and slash at the expense of your script after all) - but I'll be looking to try and get closer to that figure, even if the page count has - for the moment - packed on a couple of pages up front.

I think it will take a good couple of deep passes to do everything to it that I want to do, but it's kind of nice to head back to this script after spending so long on Allen Bridge, which I'm immensely proud of, but it's a good change of pace. That said, I'm also really looking forward to what I have planned for my next new screenplay and what will come after that - as I've aluded to above.

Ethics Online's 2012 Promo Reel...

Check out the new promo reel that I cut together for the educational DVDs of Ethics Online - this video covers the range of topics currently on offer: War & Peace, Gaia & Genesis, Sex & Ethics, and Abortion: Ancient & Modern.

Abortion: Ancient & Modern (2011)...

This project (three films between 15 and 20 minutes each) was a chance to further build upon my previous experience with educational DVDs, and what I've done with them in the past. Being on the topic of abortion, which is a difficult thing to represent on-screen, due to its controversial nature but also in terms of a concept - it's incredibly hard to be literal about it (due to a lack of footage, but also not wanting to get exploitative and visceral), so I had to develop a more metaphorical and ambient approach to the visuals.


On previous educational DVDs we used a lot more Public Domain 'Public Information Films' (PIFs), but here it wouldn't have worked, so combining modern day stock footage and photos with more ethereal elements such as water, smoke, and light, in our own established style ("video collage" as I often put it), proved to be a successful way to present the subject - both visually and as a topic of discussion and information for Sixth Form students.


Below are some examples of feedback that we have gained, as well as sample video clips. Visit www.ethicsonline.net for more information about Abortion: Ancient & Modern.

"I congratulate you warmly on this production, well balanced and full of fascinating history. Well worth screening outside classrooms too."
Lord David Steel, Architect of the 1967 Abortion Act

"A brilliant resource. All three films are extremely thought provoking and material is presented in a sensitive manner."
Sarah Hopkins, Religious Studies Subject Leader, Bishop Hedley High School

"These films are of an exceptionally high standard. They are well-researched and ideal for discussion. Highly recommended."
Tina Hollingsworth, Westminster College

"Very insightful and challenging.... really good."
Beth Aston, A Level RS Student

More info and clips for Abortion: Ancient & Modern...

Saunter over this way - to the official Ethics Online website - to see three new clips from Abortion: Ancient & Modern, as well as further information about the films that comprise the DVD. You can also purchase a copy of any of the DVD sets featured on the website.

The first response is in too:
“I congratulate you warmly on this production, well balanced and full of interesting history. Well worth screening outside classrooms too.” - Lord David Steel, Architect of the 1967 Abortion Act

Abortion: Ancient & Modern clips...

The new educational DVD - Abortion: Ancient & Modern - is now complete, and below you can view a clip from each of the three films that make up the disc.

Part One:

Part Two:

Part Three:

DeadShed Showreel 2011...

I've been meaning to do this for a little while now, but I finally got around to it - a new showreel for the year 2011 (the last one I did was in 2009). Check it out on my YouTube Channel.

Abortion: Ancient & Modern - Part 3 Screenshots...

The new educational DVD - Abortion: Ancient & Modern - is complete, and below are some screenshots from the third film in the three part series. This third film was the most complex of the lot, on a project that proved to be quite the editing challenge - the find a way to not only maintain our visually arresting style, but to wrestle with a topic as controversial and tricky to visualise as abortion.

Abortion: Ancient & Modern screenshots...

Film Two is now at the 'Beta Edit' stage - as I like to call it - the penultimate stage where the only thing left to do is make any final tweaks, stick on the credits, and render the final file.

As promised a couple of weeks back, here are some screenshots to get an idea of the visual style of these films that I've been working on recently.

Film One:

Film Two:

It's certainly proving to be an interesting and enjoyable creative challenge. With each new educational DVD project, I get to try out new visual ideas that help produce a visually arresting series of films that have proven popular with students and teachers alike nationwide.

What have I been up to lately?

Editing - that's what. A new educational DVD, this time on the topic of Abortion. It'll be three films, and the first is pretty much done - what I'd call a 'penultimate draft' (so there's just a tiny bit of tinkering left to do, whack on the credits, and do the final render).

And it looks a bit like this ... on the edit timeline anyway.

I'll post some screenshots in due course, but suffice to say I'm quite chuffed with the first film, and what's more it doesn't drag - it moves along at a nice swift pace, and it's never boring to look at - something I'd always aimed to achieve with these educational films we've done, because I remember watching such films when I was in school and they were always so dry, dull and ever-so-earnest in their presentation. What we do, on the other hand, is much more interesting - and we've been told just that by the students themselves (and indeed their teachers).

Flavours of the Month: May 2011...

LOOKS:

Treevenge - after their contest-winning Hobo With A Shotgun grindhouse trailer, Jason Eisner & Co sought to make a short film to prove they could handle a narrative, and they did just so quite nicely with a witty little short that could have sat nicely amongst all those themed horror movies you used to see as a kid scaled high up against the wall in the video shop entitled "Horror". Knowingly over-the-top, this takes the notion of getting a genuine Christmas tree for Christmas in a whole new gore-ific direction. If you're easily offended though, you might want to skip the last five minutes, otherwise get yourself onto YouTube and have a look for yourself.

Scream 1-3 - the original movie was a decided breath of fresh air for the genre which, in the mid 1990s, had descended into the torturously dull. It's a shame therefore that Wes Craven & Kevin Williamson's meta-thriller with a horror outlook was picked upon like a vulture's roadkill lunch in the proceeding years with a series of self-aware 'slasher thrillers' which dispensed with scares and, ironically, originality and smarts, in favour of sub-Scream copycatting.

The first sequel had something to say, commenting on both itself and the first movie simultaneously. There was still life and ideas in the franchise, particularly in Williamson's scripting (although the line in Aliens is most definitely "Get away from her, you bitch!"), and while it lost momentum in the final act, it was a solid entry.

Sadly, the second sequel - a Hollywood-set trilogy-closer - royally jumped the shark. Williamson was fed up, and it shows painfully in the quality of the final script, which contains none of the crafted 'who dunnit' intrigue, nor the sexy and playful self awareness. Dull, boring, lame, witless, with little in the way of redeeming features - at least they gave Neve Campbell something of substance to bite into, mind.

This all coming on the heels of seeing Scream 4 at the cinema last month, my thoughts on which you can find HERE.

The Losers - not as enjoyable the second time around, but still softcore action fun nonetheless. Chris Evans remains the highlight of the movie for me. His tech guy Jensen was easily the best character out of the lot.

Get Him To The Greek - I had a mixed response to it in the cinema (I much preferred Forgetting Sarah Marshall, from which this was a spin-off), and I must say that the second time around wasn't much cop. A few funny bits here and there, but for me it was a damp squib this time.

Jean Claude Van Damme: Behind Closed Doors - I don't really 'do' reality TV, but I ended up watching this show about The Muscles From Brussels, and it was curiously intriguing. On the one hand it's a bit strange in a good way, and on the other the makers turn every minor incident into an epic drama when they say apprehensively "coming up next" as dramatic music and editing works it's magic (kinda).

Campus - I never got into Green Wing. I tried to initially, but I was at uni at the time and had a hard enough time remembering what day it was (because they all blended together, not because of booze or whatever, you cheeky monkeys), let alone when the show was airing. Now though, thanks to the wonder of the Hard-Disk-Recorder, I made sure I cued up the entire series of this follow-up from the makers of Green Wing. It's essentially the same show, but at a university, with the same brand of askew humour and general sense of oddity.

Doctor Who - the latest series is underway, and it's a mixed bag for me. They continue to 'do' the Doctor well, but some of the episode plots are a bit underwhelming - not least this Island-esque two parter about some sort of white gloop that can generate clones. Plus, for goodness sake, if you're going to keep referring back to a developing series-long plotline (the Postive/Negative thing, the appearing/disappearing slide window thing), actually develop it each time we see it. At least they finally gave us something more at the arse-end of that rubbish two-parter.

The Sopranos - I'm now into the second season, having totally missed this show the first time around, and I continue to thoroughly enjoy my weekly dose of New Jersey mafia business.

Machete - a second viewing of Robert Rodriguez's Grindhouse spin-off has elevated my opinion of it. Not that I didn't have a blast with it at the cinema, it's just that I was so insanely looking forward to it that I could only end up feeling a twinge of disappointment. However, a few months down the line and I could enjoy it on its own terms, and it was damn enjoyable - even if it remains about 10 minutes flabby around the edges.

Scary Movie - I gave this spoof another spin as it was on one night and it's okay. It's no Airplane by any means (but the scattergun pattern of gags and parodies is decidedly similar), but then it's no Scary Movie 3/4/Meet The Spartans/Disaster Movie/whatever load of old utter-and-total crap either.

Wild At Heart - I haven't seen David Lynch's incendiary road trip flick since I was a teenager, but I think now that I'm much more familiar with his work (and cinema in general) that I 'got it' much more than I did way back when. The tale of two young runaways (Nicolas Cage and Laura Dern) seeking a better life is a typically dark and twisted offering from Lynch - most notably in its clash of 1950s Americana and the era in which it was made (1990).

U-Turn - it's been years since I've watched Oliver Stone's telling of Sean Penn's indebted loser having the worst day of his entire life, but it's still good. It's what I'd call "an everything just keeps getting worse" movie. It just goes to show what Stone can do with the right script, but it also makes me wonder what on earth has happened to him of late with the likes of World Trade Center, and W.

The Black Dahlia - working the homicide desk in Team Bondi/Rockstar's L.A. Noire got me in the mood to re-watch Brian De Palma's novelistic film adaptation. It's impressively stylish and the stuff closest to the titular case is the most interesting, but it's when it strays from that central path and attempts to explore various interconnected sideplots and back stories within its two hour running time that it runs into trouble.

Short Circuit 1 & 2 - I had a bit of a nostalgia trip with these two flicks. I used to watch these constantly as a little kid, and they've not lost their charm. I dearly hope they don't do a remake, and quite frankly, with WALL.E essentially being a re-incarnation of Johnny 5, what would be the point?

SOUNDS:

The Black Angels "Directions To See A Ghost"

Daft Punk "Tron Legacy"

Moby "First Cool Hive", Dillon Dixon "I Don't Care", Birdbrain "Youth America", SoHo "Whisper To A Scream" (from the soundtrack to Scream)

HIM "Venus Doom"

White Zombie "Super Sexy Swingin' Sounds"

Rob Zombie "American Made Music To Strip By"

45 Grace "Partytime" (as heard in Return of the Living Dead)

Airborne "Runnin' Wild" and "No Guts, No Glory"

VIBES & FLAVOURS:

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? - I finished Philip K. Dick's book, which later became Blade Runner, which was a decidedly different telling of basically the same story in mostly the same sort of world (bar the distinct difference in population numbers from one to the other). I really enjoyed it.

New educational DVD - the editing cap is back on for a new DVD project, this time on the issue of Abortion. Considering the topic we've had to think a bit harder about how to approach it visually, and so far some of it is moving in a more metaphorical, even mystical, direction which has proven successful so far. Finding footage and photographs has even extended to me digging through all my old sketch pads from my days of GCSE and A-Level art for any drawings, paintings or photographs that could possibly be of use somewhere. Plus, when talking about things like when does "life" truly begin, I've been able to get a little bit 'out there' with some of the visuals too - so this should prove to be a good creative opportunity.

L.A. Noire - Team Bondi's sandbox detective thriller, published by Rockstar, has really grown on me. I've been intrigued by it ever since I saw the very first teaser trailer years ago when the project was first announced, and the last few months have really cranked up the anticipation. While it's imperfect in some respects, the fresh approach is a welcome change of direction - and who wouldn't want to play as a 1947 L.A. detective? Cruising the detailed period streets of Los Angeles, scouring crime scenes for clues, and interrogating suspects to discover the truth has led to some genuinely exciting chase sequences, and genuinely tense interrogations (that piercing note that hovers in the background as you decide whether you do or don't have evidence to prove someone's lying has inspired the odd sweaty palm gripped around the controller, I have to say). It's a bold step in a different direction, and an extremely stylish and involving one to boot. At the time of writing I'm onto the second case of the Vice Desk, situated in the Hollywood Division, and I can't wait to get even deeper into the twisting tales and devious crimes that need deciphering and solving. It's like a videogame version of L.A. Confidential, and what's not to like about that?

"Just War" at the Borderlines Film Festival 2011...

As mentioned in a previous post, Just War (on which I served as editor) will be screening at this year's Borderlines Film Festival - and it will be shown on Saturday 26th March at 1pm at The Courtyard in Hereford - entry is free, and after the screening there will be a discussion chaired by director Joe Jenkins.

"Made with much skill, this timely film explains clearly and succinctly the challenges faced by those who have the terrible responsibility of engaging in a war and how those who are engaged should behave." - General Lord Guthrie, Former Head of the British Army

Contempt of Conscience - full documentary online...

A few years back now I was involved in a documentary project called Contempt of Conscience.

It has now been uploaded in-full to YouTube, and you can watch it via the links (or embedded windows) below - or you can visit Top Documentary Films and see it there.

PART ONE:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2pVngostcs



PART TWO:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCkox_jq9wQ



PART THREE:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yru4-86epCo

Back to the 80s (2010)...

This was a project that was similar in many ways to Hereford's Got Talent (2010). Not only did it also take place the Hereford Courtyard Theatre, but it was also a single camera project - and being single camera, it means you have to be keep as focussed as possible on the camerawork as it's basically going to be two 80 minute takes cut together in the edit.


I've done a few of these sort of demanding shooting gigs now, and they do have their limitations (you are rarely afforded the ideal position from which to film, low light, some audio issues, and you have to treat it like one big take throughout - unless you're working on a two-man-two-camera team), but despite the challenge it is always quite rewarding to do. The only thing that actually bothered me was having to compress the quality of the video to fit onto a DVD - the drop in quality isn't overtly apparent, but was necessary due to the length of the edit, which was 138 minutes!

Back to the 80s was an epic musical set in the American 1980s as performed by the Year 6 pupils of three local primary schools - Year 6 being the final year of primary school; Year 7 being the first year of high school. Like with HGT, the project allowed me to have a good play around when it came to the opening and closing titles, the central conceit being to use various fonts from 80s TV and film (e.g. Blade Runner, Back to the Future, The Terminator, and Teenage Mutant Ninja (Hero) Turtles).


All in all it was a fun (if somewhat limiting) project to do (which came to me at the last minute - on the day of, in fact) and it's a good way to strike a balance between not being overly intrusive into the performance (visually speaking), and maintaining the audible sense of audience participation that those who partook would naturally want to re-experience.

Just War (2010)…

This is an educational film about warfare, from Augustine and Aquinas to Afghanistan and Iraq, covering the history and development of Just War Theory as well as its implications for armed conflict today. I used my experience shooting and editing (especially the latter in this instance) previous educational films extensively on this project, learning from past mistakes or things I’d like to change, both in terms of the edit itself, and how I edit.


Out of all the educational films I’ve put together, I feel this is my best work to date (at the time of writing). I improved my editing style, use of Non-Linear Editing software, and – as always – took care to edit tight from the get-go. I dislike cobbling things together and then doing extensive re-working – I always do a tight edit from the out-set, because if you can see how something should appear on screen straight away, why waste time getting there?


Past educational films I’ve worked on have been praised for their visual style (in addition to content), which has proved engaging to teachers, students, and festival audiences alike – and so with Just War I continued to explore new ways of making the film look (and even sound) striking. I’m very pleased with how the final product has turned out – a film that, for me personally, pushed me to further enhance my editing and organisational skills. The final film is informative, visually and aurally exciting, and sports an efficient pace.