Short Tales - some thoughts on tone

I've written one and a bit episodes of Short Tales, and have a few scenarios for future stories. So I've worked out the tone I want to set with the series.

The working title is Short Tales About Love and Sex. The Sex part should give a lot away. There's going to be some adult subject matter, our Tales will be quite dirty.

When I think of an adult/dirty sitcom three titles come to mind. Two of them were brilliant, one was rubbish. This isn't going to be Gimme Gimme Gimme, for example, where screamed swear words passed for humour and the main characters were one dimensional at best. Nor is it going to be Men Behaving Badly, great as that series was. For the first few episodes at least, I think it's going to feel most like Coupling (in fact, the blurb on the Amazon page for Coupling sounds a lot like the way I'd describe Short Tales).

Some of the stories I've got planned drift into, and occasionally beyond, Coupling territory. Without going into complete plot breakdowns there'll be tales about earth shattering orgasm (or the lack of), shopping for sex toys and sexual fantasies. Mostly details are going to be conveyed in conversation, but people are going to end up in bed. I'd like to avoid the L shaped blanket (and as many as possible of the other cliches in the list), but still keep all nudity implied rather than seen. There'll be lots of head and (bare) shoulders shots and the occasional bare back but nothing more (well, male characters can have bare chests exposed I guess). I know it's a visual medium and you're supposed to go for show, not tell, but you can always show that a character has no clothes on without having any nipples on display.

The benefit that Short Tales will have is that it's about a rotating cast of characters, so we don't have to leave the same four or six people in limbo with occasional disturbances. We can go away and concentrate on someone else for a while once it's established that, yes, A and B do end up together and they are happy. There are many reasons for this, the most pragmatic of which is that this is a low/no budget production and I want my actors to go on to better things when they get the chance (and then come back when they're famous to give Short Tales a bit of extra cool). This turn over will allow a greater number of subjects without falling into soap opera-ness.

This isn't the final word on tone and themes by any means, but I hope it serves as an introduction. I shall expand upon it as episodes are written and shot.

Technorati tag: Video, Spinneyhead

Short Tales character sketch- Kate

This character has yet to be cast.

Kate is Mark's fiancee. She seems sweet and innocent, and a little dizzy, but has a keen mind and develops very dirty imagination. Sarah and Kate become friends after meeting at Kate and Mark's engagement party. The friendship is one of the catalysts for Kate's exploration of her naughtier side.

Technorati tag: Video, Spinneyhead

Spinneyhead studios shopping list

I plan to put some applications in for funding, effectively requests for an equipment budget for Spinneyhead Presents. It's always good in those situations to know what you're asking for the money for, so it's time to draw up a shopping list. I've asked Alan to look into sound equipment, so I'll consider some video and software requirements.

We really need a better camera. A good high definition camera like the Canon XH A1, for example. I read a neat suggestion in a review about shooting footage in high definition and using the larger image to simulate pans and close ups in the editing for standard definition output.

To get the steady shots necessary to take advantage of HD in this way we'll need a solid tripod. I'd need to do some more research, but Manfrotto is a name that came up in an initial search.

EBay may be a good place to go for lighting equipment. But I'll look into some of the options suggested in this article first.

Software wise I'd like the latest version of Adobe Premiere Pro, or, even better, the full CS3 production bundle.

I shall expand on this list as I think of new stuff I need.

Technorati tag: Video, Spinneyhead

More thoughts on titles

I've been thinking about titles since reading Alan's suggestions, and I really like his first two suggestions- Connections and Intertwine.

These two words come close to summing up the style of story arcs I want to have in the series, with the focus drifting away from the initial four main characters onto those who start out in the background and then back again. Connections, or Connected, also calls to mind Six Degrees of Separation. And either one would be able to use one of two great early nineties indie hits for a theme if we were rich enough to do that sort of thing (Brownie points if you can name the ones I'm thinking of).

Intertwined is a little more insular than Connections, but would better describe the way storylines wrap around each other. I'm imagining a title sequence of vines wrapping around each other, or the pipes screensaver gone a bit mad.

For myself, I came up with the deliberately obscure Venn as a title suggestion. It's from a similar idea to Connections, calling up the way the characters' lives overlap with each other. It would be a good excuse for a gimmicky title sequence where the interactions of the episode are described graphically. So the title graphic for the first episode would look like this-

That may be a little too geeky, I don't know.

Does anyone have any comments or refined suggestions based upon these three ideas?

Technorati tag: Spinneyhead

Microfilmmaker magazine

An online magazine for the no-to-lo budget filmmaker. I'm particularly going to be checking out the article on revolutionary ways to promote your film.

Technorati tag: Video, Spinneyhead

4Talent - Pilot

PILOT is an opportunity for drama screenwriters to win the chance to have their work produced and screened on Channel 4.

We're inviting exciting, talented writers to submit a treatment for a six-part drama series, an outline for a pilot episode for that series, and a script for a sample scene from that episode.

12 writers will be selected to take part in a packed weekend of industry workshops and masterclasses. They will then be hot-housed in one of three Scottish independent production companies, where mentoring producers and Channel 4 script editors will help them develop their series idea and complete a first draft script. After eight weeks of paid training, each writer will pitch to a selection panel. Only one idea from each production team will be selected. These three writers, along with their producers, will hotfoot it down to Channel 4's HQ in London to pitch to 4Talent and the Channel's Commissioning Editor for Drama, Sophie Gardiner.

One creative team will head home with a £90,000 commission to produce a pilot episode of their drama series, including a fee for the winning writer to complete a final draft script.

Technorati tag: Video, Spinneyhead

60 seconds of fame

BAFTA and Orange have teamed up to organise a 60 second film competition. Upload your one minute masterpiece, have it voted on and possibly win yourself a place at the BAFTA awards ceremony.

Technorati tag: Video, Spinneyhead

Open Source video editing alternatives

I'm going to try to do the next Presents project on open source software as far as possible. Here's a list of open source video editors that could be useful.

Technorati tag: Video, Spinneyhead

What's in a name?

Technorati tag: Video, Spinneyhead


Let's get this started with some ideas for names for the Short Tales project:

Connections
Intertwine
Reflections
Falling Apart
Drifted
Finger
The Ian Seat (by the way Mojo now has an Ian Seat, well, actually it's called Ian's Chair)
Cheats
Infidelity
Just Three Words
Confused
Three Second Rule

Short Tales - an update

I haven't had much to report on the project for a few weeks, but it's been moving forward. Whilst in America I got some footage of myself on Times Square and under Niagara for what might become a running joke involving Robert. I've extended the script for part one, but I'd like to add more to take it nearer to fifteen minutes (at the moment it's just over ten). I've also authored the dvd for Memory. When I've had it tested on a few different systems and I've designed packaging I'll look into selling it through Lulu, Spinneyworld and local shops such as Magma.

The next step is to match actors to characters. There are four speaking parts in part one- Sarah, Paul, Gareth and Mark. I'd also like to have Mark's fiancee and possibly Vicky appear in a scene, even if they don't say anything. If there are more than six actors interested in the project then we'll put them in the background in the pub and party scenes of part one and bring their characters in later.

Other stuff worth thinking about-

Funding

To do this properly I think we need a sponsor. However, the best way to get a sponsor is to present them with an example of what they'll be paying for. So we should produce the first episode and then start shopping it around, online and off, to see who'll give us money.

Locations

The first episode has scenes in Paul's house, a pub, somewhere where an engagement party is held and Gareth's bedroom. I think I have somewhere for Paul's house, but need to find locations for all the others. It would be nice, with domestic locations in particular, if we can find places we can use again.

Title

We still need a better title than "Short Tales About Love and Sex".

Meeting

I'll arrange a meeting in the next couple of weeks. If you'd like to be kept informed of the plans send me an email or leave a message in the comments.

Technorati tag: Video, Spinneyhead

Memory- the dvd

I've spent the day exporting, converting and compressing the five episodes of Memory and the trailer to get them into a format suitable for use on a dvd. Tomorrow I'll practice with DVDStyler and start thinking about extras to put on it. There are quite a few pictures taken on the various shoots and I could compile the outtakes and create a before and after demonstration of colour correction and sound dubbing.

The dvd will be for cast and crew initially, but once I've got the files in place I'll be able to make more copies and sell them through Spinneyworld.

Technorati tag: Video, Spinneyhead, DVD

Short tales character sketch- Vicky

This character has been cast. These notes are rough and will be tidied up as the character develops within the script and further as an actor fleshes them out.

Early to mid 30s. Vicky works with Paul and has recently moved to Manchester. He's one of the few people in town she knows and she's a potential romantic interest for him.

Vicky was married for a while, leaving her husband after he cheated on her. She's obviously a bit touchy about infidelity. There's a story in there about her going on a date with someone from work only to find out he is married.

Technorati tag: Video, Spinneyhead

Short Tales- first draft

I'm working on the second draft, but in the mean time, here's the first draft of episode one.

Technorati tag: Video, Spinneyhead

Short tales character sketch- Robert

This character has been cast.

I'm going to be visiting America soon, so I thought it would be neat to get some footage to incorporate into the story. From that idea came the character of Robert.

Mid to late 30s. Robert is Gareth's step brother. He keeps getting phone calls from his little brother, but is rarely in the same city and sometimes not even the same country. I'll try to play him as non-geeky, even though that would be completely against type.

Technorati tag: Video, Spinneyhead

Short Tales character sketch- Julie

This character is yet to be cast. If you're interested please get in touch. These notes are rough and will be tidied up as the character develops within the script and further as an actor fleshes them out.

Early 30s. Julie is Sarah's sister and Paul's ex. She lives in another city, possibly even another country, and doesn't turn up that often. When she does I'm sure chaos would follow.

Technorati tag: Video, Spinneyhead

Short Tales character sketch- Mark

This character is yet to be cast. If you're interested please get in touch. These notes are rough and will be tidied up as the character develops within the script and further as an actor fleshes them out.

Mid to late 20s. Mark is an ex-boyfriend of Sarah's. Her University relationship, he is the person she's been with longest to date. At the start of the first episode he has just told Sarah (and Paul and others) that he is engaged. He doesn't play a big role in the first episode, but his engagement party is an important part of the story.

This character is open to development and his own storylines. They don't have to be about his relationship with Sarah, in fact it would be better if they weren't.

Technorati tag: Video, Spinneyhead

Short Tales character sketch- Gareth

This character has been cast. These notes are rough and will be tidied up as the character develops within the script and further as an actor fleshes them out.

Mid 20s. Gareth is a bit like a younger version of Paul, they worked together for a while and became friends. Gareth is actually quite happy in his current job, though he does feel bad that he seems to be the only one of his group of friends who has job satisfaction.

Paul sometimes wonders if Gareth and Sarah would be suited for each other, and wavers between playing matchmaker and leaving well enough alone. Gareth, if he absolutely couldn't avoid the subject, would admit that he thinks he's far too geeky for a girl as hot as Sarah and she'd never think of him that way.

So obviously they're going to sleep together.

Technorati tag: Video, Spinneyhead

Short Tales character sketch- Sarah

This character is yet to be cast. If you're interested please get in touch. These notes are rough and will be tidied up as the character develops within the script and further as an actor fleshes them out.

Early to mid 20s. Sarah is the younger sister of one of Paul's exes, Julie. They got on well when he was seeing her sister and stayed in touch, on and off, until Sarah came to Manchester to study. Secretly (she won't even admit it to herself) Sarah would like Paul and Julie to get back together because she's afraid their friendship might slowly die otherwise.

Sarah has a history of picking the wrong men, often because she has an aversion to taking advice. She has just started her first job and is discovering how dull employment can be.

Technorati tag: Video, Spinneyhead

Short Tales character sketch- Paul

This character is yet to be cast. If you're interested please get in touch. These notes are rough and will be tidied up as the character develops within the script and further as an actor fleshes them out.

Early to mid 30s. Paul works in IT and embodies some of the geek cliches. His house is a mess, but it does hold a large collection of consumer electronics. He's stagnating in his current job, but has yet to do anything about moving on.

Good natured but directionless, Paul always tries to do/say the right thing but feels he's not as wise as he wishes he were. Keeps insisting that his relationship with Sarah is just so she can introduce him to her hot friends, though it's obvious there's a lot of (platonic) love in it.

Technorati tag: Video, Spinneyhead

Short Tales- format and names

I'm going to make production of Spinneyhead's next project as interactive as possible. Until I set up forums and stuff the interactivity will be handled through this blog. I'm going to set up an overall label for Short Tales and secondary labels for character sketches, writing, production issues and any other areas that crop up. Please leave suggestions and start conversations in the comments of the relevant post. There will still be a fair amount of work done by email and by getting together. Please don't leave your emails in the comment thread, but get in touch with me and I'll add you in to messages.

This first production post is to raise two important issues- format of episodes and the little matter of a name.

For internet episodes the big constraint is file size. Based upon the experience of compressing for Memory, I think I could produce ten minute episodes and still have them at a suitable quality whilst staying small enough to fit under Revver's maximum size limit (100mb). However, I also remember reading that the average length of a YouTube video is in the region of two and a half minutes, suggesting that aiming at shorter attention spans works better.

Another, offline, factor I've been considering is the lengths of tv shows. I'm not looking at producing half hour episodes, but fifteen minutes would slot easily into many stations schedules. I'm thinking of marketing the first episode as a pilot, showing a local station like Channel M what we can do with nothing and seeing if they'll fund us to give them something for the late evening.

So I'm writing a fifteen minute script. The first draft is a mere nine pages, which roughly equates to nine minutes, but I wrote it before I started thinking of fifteen minute episodes. However, fifteen minutes is a bit long to compress well for the internet. So I'm thinking of splitting one fifteen minute episode into three five minute acts which each serve as webisodes.

Naming is a big deal. This project is currently called "Short Tales About Love and Sex". It's a working title and really, really needs changing before broadcast. Single word titles are popular- Coupling, Friends, Frasier, Seinfeld (though the last two were named for their central character and we can't do that with this project as it's going to involve an ever changing group of characters). I don't think anything longer than three words is going to work, and if we do go for a phrase rather than a word, it has to sum up some key theme of the series- Men Behaving Badly is the best example I can think of for this.

Of course, it'll be hard to name the series until you know a bit more about it. At the moment I know the most about what I want to do with it and the themes I want to explore, and I can't think of a name. So I'm not expecting miracles from you. I'll post the first draft script and some character sketches and you might begin to get some ideas.

Here's to working together.

Technorati tag: Video, Spinneyhead