...for the moment, on account of getting married in two weeks. I've been doing odd bits here and there but otherwise I've been gradually wrapping things up and am looking forward to taking a break.
I'd kind of forgotten what it was like to have a clean slate. For the last eight years I've always had a writing 'to do' list about a page long. It used to be mostly made up of personal projects and then the odd one or two projects I'd got involved with through Shooting People or via friends. For the last few years it's been the other way around.
The plan was, and had been since January but it never really worked out until now, not to go anywhere near a script until after the wedding. I finally got to the point where that seemed like it might actually be possible last week. So I started writing a short film. It was a short film script I'd been meaning to get around to for ages but never had the time. It may not amount to anything, but I enjoyed it, probably more than I've enjoyed anything else I've written recently.
I'm sensing a pattern. I've written a post like this a few times before.
Anyway, the lack of writing is why my recent posts have mostly been about films and music - I've been catching up. But I'll most likely be taking a break from blogging as well as writing so here are some things to check out in my absence. Call it a homework assignment. There will be a test when I get back*.
I'd kind of forgotten what it was like to have a clean slate. For the last eight years I've always had a writing 'to do' list about a page long. It used to be mostly made up of personal projects and then the odd one or two projects I'd got involved with through Shooting People or via friends. For the last few years it's been the other way around.
The plan was, and had been since January but it never really worked out until now, not to go anywhere near a script until after the wedding. I finally got to the point where that seemed like it might actually be possible last week. So I started writing a short film. It was a short film script I'd been meaning to get around to for ages but never had the time. It may not amount to anything, but I enjoyed it, probably more than I've enjoyed anything else I've written recently.
I'm sensing a pattern. I've written a post like this a few times before.
Anyway, the lack of writing is why my recent posts have mostly been about films and music - I've been catching up. But I'll most likely be taking a break from blogging as well as writing so here are some things to check out in my absence. Call it a homework assignment. There will be a test when I get back*.
Whilst looking for new podcasts (I unsubscribed from most of the film-related ones I listen too - I'm taking a break from them too) I stumbled across Electricity by Myke Bartlett. It's an audiobook self-recorded and read by the author and I've been surprised by how good it is. On the one hand it's a story about an Australian adjusting to a life lived perpetually drunk in London, but there are ghosts in there too and the odd moment of genius. But maybe it's just that the main character's obsession with counting pennies in terms of beer and cigarettes reminds me of my university days.
I finally finished the Elm Street series and have concluded that my previous every-other-film summary is correct. But the final film, New Nightmare, is so much better than the other sequels I'd actually be happy having only seen that and the first film, the irony being that New Nightmare couldn't really exist as it is without the diminishing returns of the previous entries. I think Wes Craven's speech about horror stories is a perfect argument for the importance of horror films in our culture.
I also recommend Mario Bava's Kill, Baby...Kill! which is a very strange film in which not much really happens, but it creates a spooky enough atmosphere to keep you suitably creeped out until the end. And there's an awesome sequence where a man keeps running through identical rooms until he catches up with himself - it's worth watching for that alone.
Speaking of horror films, my friend Dan recently wrote and produced a horror feature in 28 days. Here's the trailer:
Part of the reason I find it hard to stop writing is because I enjoy listening to music too much, and music gives me ideas. Here's a Spotify playlist of the tracks that have been giving me ideas recently...
For anyone not on Spotify, here's Black Tape for a Blue Girl to play me out. See you in a month.
*That's a lie. There won't be a test, but all this stuff is awesome so should definitely be checked out.
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