There's a lot of filming in the air. Besides Splendid launching this week, master-blogger Danny Stack is on the verge of lensing his short film, Origin, "a supernatural drama about a woman who tries to keep her family together when her son falls ill after he's bitten by a mysterious creature." Sounds good? Hell yeah! And you can help ensure it gets completed.
Rather than just sitting back and holding out a tin-pot, Danny's offering various incentives to donate, including credits and some fun video diaries. Still, I say this to you (if you haven't already given generously): how many times have you absorbed the great man's advice for free, and become a better, more well-rounded writer as a result? The Stackster is the gift that keeps on giving, all year around, established 2005. So it'd be tremendous if you could hand over whatever you can afford, and get yourself an Associate Producer credit, or a Special Thanks, or whatever.
Danny also seems to still need a Sound Recordist & Boom Op for Origin. Click here for details.
Showing posts with label blogging. Show all posts
Showing posts with label blogging. Show all posts
When Bloggers Attack The Bar
God, I love writers. Weirdly, when you introduce two directors to each other, they'll often look distinctly wary. Why, you might as well place a cat next to a dog. Writers, however, are a different matter. We love to share our stories of pain, delight and displacement. Why, you might as well place a cat next to a cat, then throw in some cream.
Some stalwart members of the blogosphere post pictures of themselves. Some don't. So you may occasionally be left wondering what the latter bunch look like - and will therefore enjoy the following photos. Yes, a load of bloggers got together for a Christmas booze-fest the other day, and I captured some of their souls with a modern-day device. It was a truly overwhelming night - everywhere you looked, there was a brilliant person. Really hard to know who to talk to next. A few of the attendees who somehow managed to escape my roving lens of doom were David Lemon and his good lady Rachel, Katharine Way and Sarah Olley. The crafty geese.
First up, here's master Oli, all the way from Devon. Oli's looking justifiably delighted, because he's just had a very good day in London. Which he still hasn't revealed the details of on his blog, so I shan't here.
The early part of the evening was sadly marred by an angry debate about exactly how big the average adult baboon's head might be. Here's Stevyn throwing in his two penn'orth, as Piers and Janet look on, disgruntled and positively itching to have their say:
The delightful Lara spent much of the night at a 45-degree angle, which was initially a shock, but we soon made allowances. Here, we see Lord Perry manfully stepping up to the plate and keeping the good lady propped.
Next, we see a sad example of the kind of bitching which is rife in the scribosphere. The evil Baron Von Barronhausen and The Stack Attack are quite literally talking behind Paul's back here, calling him a greedy bastard for having both an EastEnders and a Holby airing on April 21, 2009. Paul's fully aware of what they're saying and maintains a brave face, but the pain is all too evident:
Ultimately, however, it's all too much. When his fellow writers start slagging off his "silly writing shed", Paul moves over to talk to Piers and Janice about Phill and Danny, while furiously necking a pint like it's mere orange juice.
Ahhhhh, the lovely Michelle! The Brighton-based scribe has a remarkable idiosyncrasy - whenever she consumes her 27th pint, she starts to hallucinate ants. Here, we see her happily pointing out two of them, while Phill pretends not to hear and attempts to keep a straight face...
... but ultimately fails.
Here's cheeky Lara again (and Nick, loitering), still at 45-degrees after consuming everything on this table. Shortly after this picture was taken, she did a little 45-degrees dance for us. I've never seen the like in all my born days:
All ludicrous things must sadly come to an end. Here's Stevyn, waving goodbye to you. He's only going to the Gents, but he likes to wave.
And here's Lara again, magically upright thanks to an elaborate pulley system suspended from the ceiling. The landlord helped us rig it up, fearing that if she never left, he might run out of gin. She's waving goodbye too! Oh, and look: there's the tops of the David and Rachel's craniums.
But hold on, Stevyn and Lara: we can't let you get away that easily. Come on, just one last pose - perhaps with just a soupcon of camp thrown in? Could you? Indulge us. It's Christmas! Ah, there we go. That's the business:
Piers, however, is not amused:
Some stalwart members of the blogosphere post pictures of themselves. Some don't. So you may occasionally be left wondering what the latter bunch look like - and will therefore enjoy the following photos. Yes, a load of bloggers got together for a Christmas booze-fest the other day, and I captured some of their souls with a modern-day device. It was a truly overwhelming night - everywhere you looked, there was a brilliant person. Really hard to know who to talk to next. A few of the attendees who somehow managed to escape my roving lens of doom were David Lemon and his good lady Rachel, Katharine Way and Sarah Olley. The crafty geese.
First up, here's master Oli, all the way from Devon. Oli's looking justifiably delighted, because he's just had a very good day in London. Which he still hasn't revealed the details of on his blog, so I shan't here.
The early part of the evening was sadly marred by an angry debate about exactly how big the average adult baboon's head might be. Here's Stevyn throwing in his two penn'orth, as Piers and Janet look on, disgruntled and positively itching to have their say:
The delightful Lara spent much of the night at a 45-degree angle, which was initially a shock, but we soon made allowances. Here, we see Lord Perry manfully stepping up to the plate and keeping the good lady propped.
Next, we see a sad example of the kind of bitching which is rife in the scribosphere. The evil Baron Von Barronhausen and The Stack Attack are quite literally talking behind Paul's back here, calling him a greedy bastard for having both an EastEnders and a Holby airing on April 21, 2009. Paul's fully aware of what they're saying and maintains a brave face, but the pain is all too evident:
Ultimately, however, it's all too much. When his fellow writers start slagging off his "silly writing shed", Paul moves over to talk to Piers and Janice about Phill and Danny, while furiously necking a pint like it's mere orange juice.
Ahhhhh, the lovely Michelle! The Brighton-based scribe has a remarkable idiosyncrasy - whenever she consumes her 27th pint, she starts to hallucinate ants. Here, we see her happily pointing out two of them, while Phill pretends not to hear and attempts to keep a straight face...
... but ultimately fails.
Here's cheeky Lara again (and Nick, loitering), still at 45-degrees after consuming everything on this table. Shortly after this picture was taken, she did a little 45-degrees dance for us. I've never seen the like in all my born days:
All ludicrous things must sadly come to an end. Here's Stevyn, waving goodbye to you. He's only going to the Gents, but he likes to wave.
And here's Lara again, magically upright thanks to an elaborate pulley system suspended from the ceiling. The landlord helped us rig it up, fearing that if she never left, he might run out of gin. She's waving goodbye too! Oh, and look: there's the tops of the David and Rachel's craniums.
But hold on, Stevyn and Lara: we can't let you get away that easily. Come on, just one last pose - perhaps with just a soupcon of camp thrown in? Could you? Indulge us. It's Christmas! Ah, there we go. That's the business:
Piers, however, is not amused:
Facebook Mystery
There's this new thing on The Book Of Face called Blog Networks, which seem to be another way of getting your blog content to interested eyes and brains. I'm still trying to work out how it works, but I apparently need Facebook folk to go here and confirm that I am the author of Bloggery-Pokery. Thanking you kindly.
Happy Birthday To Me
Why, what with all the excitement of late, I completely forgot that my poor little blog is over one year old! Stuart Perry's latest post reminded me that, yes, it's been something like 400 days since I attended that inspirational Adrian Mead seminar, met a load of nice-people-with-blogs and decided to launch one myself with a post about the event. So I propose a toast to this blog, the people who inspired its existence and the scribosphere as a whole. I'm having fun. And if you're thinking of starting a blog, then do it. Today!
Press Releases, The Blogger & Doctor Who
There's been interesting debate (well, I say interesting... I mean irritating) of late, about screenwriters' blogs being used as "press releases". Or not.
So here's my view. Our blogs are the face we present to the public, and to the industry. It's constantly possible that we will be judged solely on the first snap-shot glance that a net-surfer has of them. So we should constantly bear this in mind.
This doesn't mean that we have to bullshit. No need for bullshit at all. But ideally, we should exude positivity. After reading your latest blog-post, would you want to work with you? An interesting question for blogsters to occasionally ask themselves.
Equally, people who decry certain bloggers as press release merchants - or worse, sycophants - should also ask themselves a few questions. Mainly, why does self-promotion strike you as a bad thing? If it all offends you that much, why are you still reading? And why do people who object to showboating tend to have little worth showboating themselves?
Tonight, it's the launch bash for Doctor Who Series Four, and I'm ludicrously excited. Yes, I write for Doctor Who Magazine. And yes, I fully intend to write for the show, one day. Yet if anyone doubts my excitement about Doctor Who itself, assuming it's "propaganda" or "political positioning" or any of that other cynical crap which gets dribbled in 'net forums, then I shall (a) be gravely insulted and (b) point them in the direction of that four-year-old kid in 1979, who almost keeled over with joy when his mum brought home the first ever issue of Doctor Who Weekly.
There's a hilarious amount of quacking about modern-day Doctor Who from people who hate it. Not content with hating it, though, these quackers feel the need to cast doubt on people who love it, like religious fanatics in reverse. As if we fans know it's really rubbish, but won't admit it. Well, guess what? Maybe we just love it. Maybe it's that simple. Maybe quackers should stop quacking and secure themselves a life.
To sum up, then, our blogs will contain whatever we want them to. And if that includes a lengthy list of our achievements to date, then good for us. Hooray!
So here's my view. Our blogs are the face we present to the public, and to the industry. It's constantly possible that we will be judged solely on the first snap-shot glance that a net-surfer has of them. So we should constantly bear this in mind.
This doesn't mean that we have to bullshit. No need for bullshit at all. But ideally, we should exude positivity. After reading your latest blog-post, would you want to work with you? An interesting question for blogsters to occasionally ask themselves.
Equally, people who decry certain bloggers as press release merchants - or worse, sycophants - should also ask themselves a few questions. Mainly, why does self-promotion strike you as a bad thing? If it all offends you that much, why are you still reading? And why do people who object to showboating tend to have little worth showboating themselves?
Tonight, it's the launch bash for Doctor Who Series Four, and I'm ludicrously excited. Yes, I write for Doctor Who Magazine. And yes, I fully intend to write for the show, one day. Yet if anyone doubts my excitement about Doctor Who itself, assuming it's "propaganda" or "political positioning" or any of that other cynical crap which gets dribbled in 'net forums, then I shall (a) be gravely insulted and (b) point them in the direction of that four-year-old kid in 1979, who almost keeled over with joy when his mum brought home the first ever issue of Doctor Who Weekly.
There's a hilarious amount of quacking about modern-day Doctor Who from people who hate it. Not content with hating it, though, these quackers feel the need to cast doubt on people who love it, like religious fanatics in reverse. As if we fans know it's really rubbish, but won't admit it. Well, guess what? Maybe we just love it. Maybe it's that simple. Maybe quackers should stop quacking and secure themselves a life.
To sum up, then, our blogs will contain whatever we want them to. And if that includes a lengthy list of our achievements to date, then good for us. Hooray!
Screenwriting Scandal Strikes
The screenwriting community was ROCKED to its very core this morning, with the revelation that many writers’ personal journals and notes have been FREELY POSTED on the internet in the form of so-called “blogs”. The scandal is believed to have begun when a hard disk drive containing private musings disappeared from a Writers’ Guild van on Boxing Day. Cyber-criminals then posted these online. In effect, some shocked writers have had personal material from the whole of 2007 - and in some cases beyond - published online, against their wishes.“I literally cannot believe this has happened,” weeps Bournemouth’s Danny Stack, one of the main victims whose work is now visible here. “I was in the process of putting together a great book, full of advice about screenwriting and script-reading in the UK, which would’ve been entitled Screenwriting & Script-Reading In The UK. But now, someone’s gone and posted the lot, for all to see. As if I’d voluntarily hand over all that information and help for free!” In protest, Stack added, he was planning to grow a beard, then shave it OFF again.
Robin Kelly and Lianne Rooney similarly lament the publication of their extensive data, which they had assembled purely for their OWN use. Kelly regularly compiled lists of newly-released Hollywood movies, well-chosen interview quotes and various handy information. In the summer of 2007, Kelly wrote a multi-part Red Planet Guide document, solely in order to pep himself up for the competition. “I feel bad for Robin,” says Rooney. “And now, everyone can also see my handy list of screenwriting dates, which means other people can go for these opportunities too! That was never, ever the intention.”
For other scribes, the outrageous leak means EMBARRASSING details of their lives being revealed to MILLIONS. Mother-of-one Lara Greenway has been “devastated” to learn that her brutally frank account of her child “farting a poo at me during a 4am nappy change” is now in the public domain. Father-of-none Jason Arnopp is presently under SEDATION, having learnt of the publication of diary entries about being the only person to turn up to a pitch event with a mood board; running around on beaches in women’s sandals; and locking himself in his own flat. Lucy Vee has vowed to “KILL these low-down thieving bastards with an egg whisk”, after personal memos titled I Am A Bad Mother, How To Write An Ode To A Dog... and Talking Dirty became accessible to complete strangers, all shot through with innuendo and EXPLICITLY SEXUAL content.
“I’m gutted,” shrieks Doctor Who/Torchwood writer James Moran. “Not only will people now see that I’m OBSESSED with the Amazon chart placements of Severance on DVD, and how PISSED UP I got at the Fantasporto festival, but they’ll be able to read about my preposterous attempts to pack up my flat in one single day. And even see a picture of all my junk in boxes! I feel totally violated, and shit.” As does prolific keyboard-smith Phillip Barron, who mewls thusly: “My journals were a steam-venting exercise for me, me and only me. They were jampacked with PROFANITY, bad temper and general abuse. When you meet me in person, I’m a lovely, amiable smiley-bloke, because of those writings. They were essentially self-help tools, and now any old fucking prick can see them. Nyarrrgh!”South London scribbler Piers Beckley clearly had the right idea. During July 2007, he took the precaution of ENCRYPTING at least two of his journal entries. “Being technologically minded,” he whispers, “I could see this shit-storm a-brewing. So I thought that if I wrote things that only I would understand – like Oh Hai, I Can Has Turing-Complete? and of course The Correct Answer Is: "A Threesome" – then I’d escape scot-free. And by God it worked like a charm.”
Other unfortunate revelations about not-so-Nostradamian script-jockeys include Oliver Jeffery’s crippling roleplaying ADDICTION; a video of Dominic Carver’s new study, filmed by a baboon; Potdoll’s gratuitous use of the word “ACEFACE”; David Bishop being a supernatural ROBOT from the planet Brilliantus Efficiencus; Andy Pillock’s account of a man who regularly takes his cat to the PUB; Martin Adams taking a job as a cab driver solely in order to HARRANGUE screenwriting celebs like William Nicholson; Good Dog not actually liking Doctor Who at all; and Stuart Perry’s alcohol-induced invention of “John Barrowman’s Bumming Carousel”. As we went to press, a spokesperson for the reclusive Perry couldn’t confirm or deny that this is also the title of his top-secret film script, currently in development.
From Danny Stack's blog...
An interesting snippet, bearing in mind what a few of us have been discussing about self-promotion - specifically whether to be anonymous or not...
"A director recently asked me to recommend a few writers for a project he wants to develop so I pointed out a few blogs that I like. There were others I could have recommended but they were anonymous or didn't have an email or relevant contact details, and that put the director off. Later, he asked me for more as he "didn't get the right vibe" or "wasn't impressed" by some of the sites, so a half decent holding page and/or a well-presented blog does go a long way in making first on-line impressions count."
You can read the whole post here, at this link.
"A director recently asked me to recommend a few writers for a project he wants to develop so I pointed out a few blogs that I like. There were others I could have recommended but they were anonymous or didn't have an email or relevant contact details, and that put the director off. Later, he asked me for more as he "didn't get the right vibe" or "wasn't impressed" by some of the sites, so a half decent holding page and/or a well-presented blog does go a long way in making first on-line impressions count."
You can read the whole post here, at this link.
Self Promotion
This is a question which only just occured to me, and the answer may well educate me. It's about self-promotion and these wonderful blogs of ours.
I'm curious: why do so few writers seem to (a) use their own full names and (b) include photographs of themselves? Judging by the people I met at Adrian Mead's screenwriting seminar, we're a very presentable, personable bunch. I mean, clearly no-one's about to hire us on the basis of our blogs, and our work ultimately does the talking. But I'm curious nonetheless. Is there a perfectly sensible answer which I'm missing? Hmmm? :-)
I'm curious: why do so few writers seem to (a) use their own full names and (b) include photographs of themselves? Judging by the people I met at Adrian Mead's screenwriting seminar, we're a very presentable, personable bunch. I mean, clearly no-one's about to hire us on the basis of our blogs, and our work ultimately does the talking. But I'm curious nonetheless. Is there a perfectly sensible answer which I'm missing? Hmmm? :-)
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