Coronation Street 2

Sophie teams up with her mum against her sister.
Audrey confronts Maria for attacking Tony.
Blanche asks Deirdre if she is looking trustworthy
Maria refuses help.
Blanche tells Leanne that Peter is coming home
Carla tries to persuade Tony to get a court injunction.
Something else happens.
Carla calls the police (Commercial Hook)

Maria goes to the police.
Ken and Deirdre tell Leanne that Peter is in rehab
Eddie and his wife argue about something with a woman on the street.
Leanne insists she will see Peter.
Maria is met by a rather unconvincing Scottish detective who refuses to believe anything.
Eddie apologises to someone for getting mugged.
Maria is told if she carries on she'll become a criminal.
Persons A and B discuss men.
Gary and his uncle scheme, plot and plan mischeivous dealings.
Maria runs Tony over (Half hour gap hook)

Tony is not dead
Gary claims he was arrested because of a woman.
Person C realises Person D was at school with her mum
Carla tells the police to arrest Maria
Gary confronts the chip shop girl. He wants her.
Despite here paranoia, Maria's baby is OK.
Martha invites Ken into the barge for soup. (Commercial hook)

Ken and Martha flirt unashamedly while telling each other their tales of woe.
Sophie's Dad tells her he's always there for her.
Ken's wife gives him more soup. He's not impressed.
Detective turns up at Maria's
The chip shop girl argues with her boyfriend about Gary
Maria is possibly to be charged with attempted murder (End of double episode hook)

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The final hook is less of a cliffhanger than a moral dilemma, which does not need to be followed up in real time. In contrast, the running down of Tony had to be followed up the same evening to preserve the feeling of real time.

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Character status
Maria: Paranoid, unpredicatable expecting mother
Audrey: Matriarchal guiding figure
Fizz: Loyal friend
Tony: Calm, almost compassionate, antagonist
Carla: Protective wife.
Ken: Family man --> Flirtatious rogue
Leanne: Loyal girlfriend

Week Beginning 19/1

Monday afternoon was a short class in lighting, then some informal time afterwards allowing us to try out three point lighting on various subjects. Although the selection of lights, gels and filters was not great (I believe they were all booked out) it was very helpful to see the difference lighting an make to any scene. It also showed us some of the issues that lighting presented (lights coming into shot, vast set-up time).

Tuesday afternoon was Screenwriting class. We had a Group Storytelling exercise which, despite the bizarre range of stories which emerged, demonstrated clearly to me how important it is to set up a clear goal and need at the beginning. If there is no clear goal, the story swiftly loses direction, and if there is no clear character need, it is very difficult to come to a satisfactory ending.

Wednesday afternoon was kicked off by a forum with TPA students to discuss working together. It all seemed a good idea at the time, but I reckon that the whole thing was left so broad that the groups that we have established will begin to tread water, rather than go anywhere specific.
This was followed by a lecture on the workings of Coronation Street. As Andy said, I had no idea of the complexities involved in writing a neverending story. My brain was beginning to sizzle at the edges just thinking about it. Having said that, I still have absolutely no interest in soaps, and would prefer to work on almost any other show on television. It seems bizarre to me to spend so much time and effort producing something which is so dull. Of course, I appreciate that huge swathes of the population are madly addicted to soaps. I shake my head in confusion and wander off to find a scone.

Thursday morning was a short introduction to Moodle followed by a lecture in early cinema. We looked at the importance of film in the Russian revolution, and the impact the film Intolerance had on Russian editing style. We also looked again at the Odessa Steps sequence - certainly worthy of a second look - and noted especially the editing: the cuts, the montage, the use of dolly, the close-ups for emotion, the wide angles to re-establish the geography, the lack of any actual violence covered by the clever juxtaposition of shots.

Friday morning was a screening of Nosferatu (see my other blog) followed in the afternoon by Production. We were watching a lot of rather depressing short films - mainly Scottish. I can't understand why UK Film Council films and Scottish Screen always have a grey haze over everything. It's as though they are saying to the world: Scotland (or UK) is grey depressing and miserable, full of thugs and victims as demonstrated in this short. Please never come to visit. It's got to the point where even the UK Film Council logo at the beginning of the film is enough for my heart to sink. Compare these kind of films to the huge variety of stuff which comes out of America (up-beat, farce, high tension, fantasy, period drama, romance, action) and it is little wonder that the Scottish Film Industry is hardly thriving. When even Scottish people don't want to see Scottish films, why will anyone else?
Rant over.

Week Begininng 12/1

First Week back in term two has been dominated, regretably, by a horrible cold (my fourth in about six weeks). This has left me really exhausted, however, I have found everything going on in the Academy very interesting.

First on Tuesday was a Technical class, looking at lights, and the fundamentals of operating them. There is still a lot to learn here, but it is clear to me that a good working knowledge of lighting increases our cinematic repertoire no end, so its great to be getting stuck in to learning.

Tuesday afternoon was Screenwriting with Richard where we had a recap of the various things we have covered so far. We had a very useful discussion of themes in films, and came up with several ideas for stories, which I found very stimulating.

Wednesday was a lecture on Appointment Viewing, and the way in which Doctor Who has redrawn the map for British TV, in terms of providing a Saturday night focus, and in bringing fantasy drama back to the screen. We also touched on the way that Doctor Who has become a franchise, with spin-offs. The episode we watched was one of the poorest since the new series has started, but I appreciate why it was chosen. I think a very interesting comparison could be made between that episode (Rose) and the first Jon Pertwee episode from the 70's (Spearhead from Space). In both these stories we introduce a new actor for the doctor, we fight the same aliens (shop window dummies) and we take the show in a new direction. (The Black and White, Studio bound, 60's Doctor Who is giving way to the more action-packed, colour Doctor Who, filmed as much as possible on location). The difference between these two stories lies in the tone and the storyline. In Spearhead from Space the autons are presented as so chillingly terrifying that my 20 year old sister still refuses to watch the show. In Rose, they are almost comical, especially once Mickey is copied. The new storyline is also paced much more frantically, leaving you little or no time to actually explain who these aliens are, or what they are doing. Spearhead from Space, while arguably a tad sedate, is in my opinion a far better Doctor Who story than Rose could possibly be.

Thursday was a lecture on early cinema (Lumiere Bros, Melies) which I found very enjoyable. Ever since reading a little of his life, I have always considered Melies to be a very worthy subject for a biopic. He made over 500 films in a very short space of time, and then somehow seemed to give up, spiralling down and down until he ended up working as a garage attendant. It was here that he was "discovered" by a film journalist, and catapulted back onto the mainstage to receive an award for film-making excellence.

Friday morning was a screening of Battleship Potemkin (see other blog for review!) and Friday afternoon was our first lecture in Production. We looked at the role of the Producer in making a film, and in particular focussed on how so much of the work is on building good working relationships with as many people as possible. I think my levels of cold-induced tiredness combined with my slight stress regarding a new project at the Citz theatre which I am involved with together prevented me from getting much out of this last class. Hopefully it will become a little more practical. We all know that getting into a career trajectory after graduation is going to be very difficult; but it seems as though this was being over-emphasised in the lecture.

Coronation Street (26/12/08)

• Maria breaks dog bowl in paranoia as her pal Fizz knocks at the door.
• Maria tries to persuade Fizz to accompany her to the police station to accuse Tony.
• Person X apologises to Person Y for bad behaviour in the kitchen.
• Maria sets of Tony’s burglar alarm accidentally.
• Dev takes Maria out on a drink, but tells Tony how Maria set off his alarm.
• Lloyd DJ’s at a keep-fit club.
• Maria daubs “Murderer” across Tony’s door.
• Pam is still selling “stuff”; Tyrone is unhappy.
• Maria accuses Tony of murder; the police arrest her for vandalism.

Week Beginning 8/12

And a round up of last weeks news:

Monday was a half day, doing screenwriting. In particular studying character, and the development of distinct, fully rounded individuals to populate the story. I suspect this is one of the hardest parts of storycraft, especially in takin ghtese characters and subtely revealing to the audience tantalising glimpses into their lives, beliefs and backstories. It seems to me very difficult to find the balance between saying too much and saying too little.

Tuesday was our Technical assesment. I knew it was to be assessed, but had no idea it was going to be 8 hours long. As a learning experience I found it very useful. Seeing the different techniques of individuals directing, cam-op ing, sound-ing, etc showed me both what to do and what not to do. As an assesment, I think it would be of limited value: fortunately its one of these formative thingies, and therefore not a proper assesment.

Wednesday was a screening of Sherlock Jr. See my other blog for comments on that. Afterwards, Charlotte and myself headed over to GMAC to see the films that have won awards there in the last year. A really mixed bag ranging from The Honkys (a very professional, hilariously un-PC short that felt more like a pilot episode for a sit-com) via Tied Up, from a certain Mr. Ray Tallon (bizarre sex-farce), to a short period drama, done by Paul Darroch. The last one was nice up to a point, but the limitations of a period drama on £200 budget was distinctly visible. Anna Chaney of 4th yr also had a very nice film: Gloria, being shown. Beyond that there were some rather mediocre comedies, dramas and an abstract music video. But I quite enjoyed the evening, especially with free mince pies. Charlotte didn't sample such delicacies, neither being partial to pies or mincemeat, and so I felt justified in having twice as many as everyone else!

Thursday was a look at zoetropes and the physics behind cinema. Fairly interesting stuff.

Friday was a look at Cop Shows as a TV genre. Again quite interesting. I'm always amazed at the sheer volme of trivia which Andy stores in his head.

So that's Academy life and beyond that its been a constant round of Maths tutorials, Wizard of Oz at the Citz, church, getting colds (plural!!!) and the "delete" key stopping working on my keyboard necessitating twice as much use of the "backspace" key.

Finished a book

I'll sneak a slightly out of sequence blog note in here to the effect that I have finished reading, over the past three weeks "Film Production: The Complete Uncensored Guide to Independent Movie Making".

I found this book immensely helpful in setting out the practicalities of an indie feature shoot from beginning to end. The book has opened my eyes to some of the vast and complex fields out there in the funding and distribution of films. I had always vaguely assumed that the real difficulty was in getting the money to make the film in the first place. While that still seems to be the first truly horrendous hurdle, there are equally large hurdles beyond, with insurance, legalities, publicity, festivals, distribution deals, and so on and so forth.

Strangely the major achievement of this book is in making me really grasp the awesome challenge that faces me in my chosen career path: the financial risk, the stress, the potential for ruin, poverty, loneliness and general tragedy. And yet despite all that I'm still hoping to get there some day. I'm either very naive, very optimistic or very determined.

On a downside, the book has dated significantly since its publication ten years ago. It predates the digital revolution, and is very geared towards shooting on film, with all the expense that entails. It is also very American, with little interest in the indie scene outside the borders of the USA.

Despite these caveats, I would recommend this book highly to anyone looking for an insight into the practicalities of producing an independent feature film.

Week Beginning 1/12

It's been a strange week, dominated in my personal experience by the common cold, leading a multiplicity of individuals to suggest inebriation on my part, such a theory being backed up by my almost falling asleep at least twice during lectures. I am hopeful that the full effects of such a malady are on their way out, and I can return to full productivity for next week.

Monday started with Richards class, where we wee instructed to bear our souls by talking about three things we would wish to change about ourselves. For myself I found this quite uncomfortable, as I am not used to making myself so publicly vulnerable. I can't say I experienced any great inspiration or catharsis from the experience, and instead became rather depressed for a couple of days.

Monday afternoon was watching short films for Content Origination. See my other blog for reviews of these.

Tuesday was a study of the Game Show format. Interesting, and I can see that a good Game Show with full financing can drive a station. However, I can't help but think that it would be a rather depressing thing to work on for more than a year.

Wednesday was a screening of Gold Rush. See my other blog for the review.

Thursday was a case of watching some Mitchell and Kenyon (no idea about the spelling!) footage. It was hardly shocking or even surprising in terms of content, but certainly seeing Jamaica St in 1901 was very interesting. It would have been especially interesting if we had similar footage taken every decade so we could see how things changed into what we have now. Without that the jump seems so alien that it might as well be another planet.

Friday was the second of our Sound classes for this term. Simon has a very odd teaching style, but I suppose I learn just as well from it as from the other tutors. Basically its a case of "Play around with the equipment. Any questions, ask." So there can be long periods of bafflement, followed by twenty rapid fire questions as Simon walks past, followed by dawning comprehension. I have decided I quite like sound, though given that the vast majority of sound for cinema is re-recorded, especially on studio films, there is a definate sense of fruitlessness about the job.

Maybe it is just seeing the world through a cold, but it seems that a sense of listlessness is creeping into our course. When we started there was a lot of talk as to what we would be doing, our timetable was fairly heavy and we were learning quite quickly. But now, we are in for half days most days, we are having classes cancelled at short notice here and there, we are told that we are way ahead of where it was anticipated we should be, and our overall learning-speed seems to be taking a nosedive. We still have learned nothing on editing except how to do an off-line log, and our homework projects are very much in the writing and pitching line as opposed to in the actual production line. We are told this will change for next term, and I very much hope so. I can't help but think that the progress we are making is a little on the slow side.

On another note, I got word that our film won "Best Story" and "Most Comical" globally and we are listed second under the overall winner. So that is gratifying, despite there being no prizes (beyond recognition of our obvious talent!) in the global round.

http://eweek.stanford.edu/global2008/recognition_global.html