Teas are good

We shot footage for Venn episode zero (a teaser/promo for the series proper) on Saturday and I started editing it together yesterday. It's very English, but right now I'm trying to get the "Tea and Sympathy" sequence down to a minute.

Technorati tag: Video, Spinneyhead, Venn

A bunch of film-making related links

I've been collecting links for the last week or tow and forgettimng to put them here on the blog so-

Investing in Digital Content I: The Problem with the "Hits" Model and Investing in Digital Content II: When it Actually Does Make Sense. A pair of guides for venture capitalists, via DISContent

Movie making manual on wikibooks.

PVC Fig Rig.

DIY Zeppelin wind shield.

Filmforge, a version of Drupal for video content.

The Manchester Open. Submit proposals for the 2009 and 2011 Manchester International Festivals.

Nuts and Bolts Filmmaking: Practical Techniques for the Guerilla Filmmaker

The Guerilla Film Makers Handbook

Guerilla Film Makers Movie Blueprint

Subscribe to the Spinneyhead podcast

You can now get a RSS feed of Spinneyhead's videos on Revver, so that you don't miss new ones when I add them.

Technorati tag: Video, Spinneyhead

Venn test titles 1

The first of a few rough versions for the title sequence to Venn. It has to be fairly simple because it's going to change every episode so the Venn diagram shows who interacts with who during the episode that follows. Obviously the actor's name will be in the circle as well as the character's.



Arguing with Flash, because I hadn't used it in so long, meant that I only got the one title idea done today. I'll try to get at least one more, and some work on the title, done tomorrow.

Technorati tag: Titles, Venn

Titles

I'm looking for ideas, rules, etc. for title sequences. I've got a strong idea of what I want to do, but no clues on the soundtrack etc. yet. Anyway, some notes and inspirations.

Inventory: 22 TV Opening-Credit Sequences That Fit Their Shows Perfectly

The worst title sequence on TV. Ever.

Fifteen seconds to set a TV show's perfect tone.

Technorati tag: Video, Spinneyhead

1000 film funds

Listed by Netribution after they failed to get funding to set up a list- 1000 film funding options in 45 countries.

Moxie Makers

For too many years talented filmmakers with engaging stories and fresh, distinctive voices have had to fight with public and private financiers for their first feature film to be made - Moxie Makers will change this.

Existing on the cutting edge of technology, with new opportunity and talent development at its core, Moxie will make exciting and original films that will stimulate and entertain both UK and international audiences.

Relationships

Yetsreday I drew up a spider diagram of the relationships of all the characters as they are at the beginning of the first episode. They rapidly change, of course. All future characters should somehow link in to this structure, which shouldn't be too hard. The web will grow outwards as the series goes on and actors come along with ideas for situations and people they'd like to play.

Names in blue are characters I don't have any current plans to use. Julie is most likely to be written into an episode eventually- dropping in, causing chaos and then leaving again. However, if an actor comes along with a compelling reason why they should play That Bastard or Whatsisface then I'll write something for them.

Click on the picture for a larger version.

We have a title!

And the title is Venn!

Technorati tag: Video, Spinneyhead

The independent future?

Over at Kung-Fu Monkey John Rogers has some comments on the coming micro film making revolution. He's confident it'll arrive, just not as fast as others are claiming. The technology to make the films and series cheaply is here, and getting cheaper, but he's not so sure about distribution and the necessary culture shift to go over to getting your television from the Internet.

I'd like to think that countries with a greater penetration of broadband will get the jump on the US in this area. The UK passed the States in percentage of broadband users a few years ago and is likely still ahead. Perhaps there'll be a British invasion of web content in the next few years that will help push the American industry.

I want Short Tales About Love and Sex (whatever it ends up being called) to be part of that invasion.

Technorati tag: Video, Spinneyhead

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