Tuesday, December 26, 2006

Gettin' Ink Done

Art Direction is often forgotten in independent film. The myth is that most low-budget filmmakers don't have the funds or resources to use anything but the exact location they find and clothes the actors own. I couldn't disagree more. Sure, a low-budget film might be ill-advised to attempt a sci-fi period piece (though even then, it's possible), but you'd be surprised what you can accomplish with the right talent and a little imagination.

Our Art Director, Stephanie Petagno, is overflowing with both. I'll eventually get an interview with her up here, but she tends to stay a little busy with things, like working on designs for Women's Studies. What's great about her is she has enough talent, drive, and imagination to allow me to just point her in the right direction and let her go. Which isn't to say that I'm totally hands off on the Art Direction. On the contrary, it's one of the things I love to deal with most. However, with a thousand other things to deal with as director (and co-producer), it's nice to have full creative confidence in someone who is going to be helping us make vitally important decisions about the final look of the film.

We'll go deeper into the philosophy behind the Women's Studies "look" in a future blog, hopefully in the Stephanie Petagno interview. For now, we'll just talk a little about one specific piece of finished design work; "the academy girl tattoo."

In the script, the "academy girls" wear a tattoo to symbolize their allegiance to the Ross-Prentiss cause. It's also a way of letting the audience know who's with them or against them, which as the story unfolds, becomes important.

The problem with using a tattoo in such a "Mark of Cain" manner becomes one of subtlety. Now, you may argue that the use of a tattoo, period, just isn't very subtle, but it's all in the execution. Showing a woman walking down the street then cutting to close-up of the tattoo on her body while effective, comes on a little hard and fast. However, when establishing a motif like the tattoo, I believe this kind of "in your face" composition works best. One of the first shots of Women's Studies will be a close-up of the tattoo. Then the camera will pull back to reveal who's wearing it. Not too subtle, but again, in that moment we're simply setting up the visual cue.

The idea is that in most subsequent appearances, we won't have to take the time to blatantly point out the tattoo. It'll be just "part of the scenery," so to speak. By simply appearing, the tattoo becomes a subtle reminder to the audience, "That's a Ross-Prentiss girl."

To this end, I gave Stephanie two instructions about the tattoo. First, that the design should NOT be the circle and cross female symbol that we use in the Women's Studies logo. We talked a little bit about the "pagan" aspects of the story, but honestly not much. The second was that whatever the design would be, it should be "stylized" with sharp lines in order to contrast with the skin of the person wearing it. That way we won't have to constantly use close-ups to point it out.

"Give me something to yea or nay," was how I put it.

Stephanie gave me lots of somethings, and ultimately, the design we decided on was this:

Academy Girl Tattoo

Basically, the design is a modified heraldic dagger, or pointed cross, which is often used in typography to denote someone's death date. More fitting I thought were two botanical meanings of the symbol which Stephanie pointed out: "Poisonous" or "A plant once cultivated that now grows wild."

In theory, each character's tattoo will have it's own variations in color and size. As mentioned before, there are a couple of key tattoo "reveals" essential to the plot. However, the basic design will remain the same with each character.

Tuesday, December 19, 2006

Looking Back, Moving Forward

Really quick: The webzine, Great Society, continues it's reposting of my four-part "Horror 101" series. Part 2, "The Moral Majority Massacre," is now live. It's a brief look at slasher films. Check it out.

# # #

Yesterday was a good day for Women's Studies, which means I'm taking this week off from movie work. Okay. Actually, I probably won't, though between holiday parties, last minute X-Mas shopping, and a couple side jobs I've taken, when exactly I'll be giving the film attention between now and Christmas Day is something of a mystery.

It's funny, Women's Studies is still in a weird in-between phase that's half development and half pre-production. There's a cottage industry that publishes books about "How to Make Your Independent Film." And I'd be lying if I said I didn't own a handful of them. Really though, no matter what book, or even person for that matter, tells you "This is what it's like," each film is it's own beast.

At the beginning of 2006, Women's Studies was little more than an idea, just Cindy and I saying, "Hey. Let's do this." At years end, not only have we incorporated our production company, but we've taken some fairly large steps forward to getting this film ready to shoot. While a lot of this past year has been (and still is) about raising money, we've done a pretty good deal of "pre"-pre-production work. A marketing plan is in place. Some cast has been chosen. Design work is being drawn up. Equipment is being tested and selected. Recently, location scouting has begun.

I know I can be "Mr. Cliché" sometimes, but slow and steady wins the race. We live in a world of instant gratification, but the things worth doing take time, resolve, and patience . . . so much patience. While there have been moments where I've been immensely frustrated this year, in the end, barreling through and persevering has been worth it. Taking a rest at this point in time, I can look forward and see that I've still got quite a climb ahead of me. Yet I can also look back and marvel at how far I've climbed.

I haven't done this alone either. There's a wonderful support group of family, friends, cast, and crew that believe in this project as much as I do. It's nice to know that in my weaker moments, I have people that will harness me up and keep pulling me up the mountain. Cindy, who you'll remember is not only acting in but co-producing Women's Studies, especially deserves kudos. She does a lot of work that no one ever sees. Lots of people do, and we're moving towards a place where soon we'll be able to shine some light on them.

2007 is the year of production. The goal everyone is working towards is the day when we get Women's Studies up in front of the camera. Right now, we're continuing to break down the script which we hope to have completed soon. The next few months will see the productions staff finalizing designs, locking in schedules and locations, shooting test footage, and bringing on additional cast and crew.

It's going to be a wild ride and the pace will start to get faster and faster. Stay tuned. The best is yet to come.

# # #

You won't want to miss next week's blog as for a little X-Mas present, we'll be publicly unveiling the first design work from Women's Studies; the "academy girl tattoo," created by our Art Director, Stephanie Petagno.

Friday, December 15, 2006

You don't reply very often, but when you do it's pure GOLD

In reply to Michael Newmans's stag organising email.

PigBoat ->

Then we need to go to Senoritas, Rags knows he way there with his eyes closed........

Greg - >

He's got an account there hasn't he? Bottle of champagne £200, Bottle of champagne £200, Bottle of champagne £200, Bottle of champagne £200, Bottle of champagne £200, Bottle of champagne £200, Bottle of champagne £200, Bottle of champagne £200, Bottle of champagne ï£200, Bottle of champagne £200, Two Man Tent.

Mr Randall, we think someone might have stolen your credit card.

Rags replied->

Yeah magic plastic is next level!!! At least with magic paper you can run out...

'If I give you some of this magic paper will do a dance for me...? Thank the lord for the goldstandard... who thought it would lead to this...

Dont need the MENA Markets Solutions group to tell me that its not a sound investment, recent extract from FT investments section stated:

'Senorita's has a very low S&P rating, gives excellent short-term yeilds but tends to wreck your finances over the mid-long-term'. Similar cash-guzzling Senorita style investments, or so called 'doris bonds', tend to be in the portfolio of most city bankers and media-types these days, a �100 bond permits the bearer to an instant upward curve which is quickily stopped short of its maximum yeild leaving the owner in state of limbo - this pushes the bearer to invest more in the hope of getting further along the growth curve and to the dividend 'payout' which is possible at the end. Unfortunately this losing cycle continues until said bearer is devoid of any investment capital and the steep growth which was initially felt just leaves a bit hole their pocket. Following a heavy evening of playing the 'doris bond' markets a frustrated investor can be found trying to further diversify his portfolio and spread his risk with further forays into the financial markets quickly buying up 'cold shower futures', 'my wife's gonna kill me when she realises I've just rinsed the rent money at the lappies fund' and 'if I buy lots of beer and spirits and drink them very quickly maybe everything will be ok again bonds'.

Several remedies are being looked at to limit the exposure of western civilisation to this new phenomenon with the most succesful to date being the theraputic use of the 'Nut Card', once in play this card alleviates the need for any doris driven growth and keeps the bearer happy in his own risk protected world. So called Nut-Card guru Gregory Me-Hat Me-Gandi LLoyd has been quoted as saying:

'Its even got better graphics than a PSP'

Recent additions to the 'dors bond' have been made to try and make them easier for investors and much less risky through the 'just remember she's being nice to you because thats her job and she doesn't love you plan' and the recently launched 'if you see her how out in public at a later date and try to spark up a conversation dont be upset when does not remember you insurance'.

Another innovation in the Doris bonds market is a current proposals to get further backing by major credit card companies to offer a new service, the so called 'Erratic spending' card is designed for those people who tend to make extremely random based purchases and tend to invest heavily over short periods in a range of high risk assets (covering 'Doris Bonds' and 'Turbo Shandy options'). This new service permits the owner to complete freedom with expenditure without the so called banking institution stopping the card for fear of it having been stolen and also ensures that all billing is sent to said user and not to any joint account addresses.

U get m'eh.


Babble.

Tuesday, December 12, 2006

Review/ Skincare: Origins - Comforting Solution



I used to have good skin until puberty came and I have my first boil.. The rest was history and I've had senstitized skin since then.

This is my first Origins product since I first started in 2003. I'm already in the x bottle as of now. This product has a very gingerly, zesty smell which took awhile for me to get used to it and soon I fell in love with it.

Frankly speaking, I dont really feel that this product does anything for my skin except for the smell and the placebo effect it has on me.

* Picture source from Origins Website*

Right Place, Right Time

A couple of quick items before I get into the meat of this week's blog:

First, back in the September 19, 2006 blog entry (Death and the Horror Film) I posted an excerpt from "Horror Movies 101," a four part essay originally published on the webzine, Great Society. During a big technical mix up they had last year, those articles along with others were accidentally removed. However, the Great Society management has been kind of enough to offer to republish the "Horror Movies 101" piece, and will do so over the next couple of weeks. The first part is already live. Click here to read "Horror Movies 101: Intro and Evolution (Part 1 of 4).

Secondly, I realized this week that I had about a dozen un-moderated comments from the past two months of blogs that I hadn't dealt with. So, if you were wondering why I was being such a jerk and not posting your comments, the truth is that I'm not that snooty. Flaky maybe, but not snooty. Anyway, all those backlogged comments are now live. I'll be sure to keep up with the comments now, so by all means, keep them coming.

Thank you for your attention. We now continue with your regularly scheduled blog.

# # #

"Shh. Be Vewy Quiet, I'm Hunting Wocations."

To me, location is where the real process of filmmaking begins. Once you know where you're going to shoot, things like scheduling, shot composition, and technical requirements can start to be looked at. For my first film when I couldn't find the space I wanted, I literally had a set built in the basement of my house. How's that for obsessive?

From a location point of view, Women's Studies is challenging in that the script requires multiple locations, 56 to be precise. That's a lot for any film, but with a low budget one like ours, multiple locations can be a real headache. We don't have the funds to pay large location fees. Plus, searching for and securing locations takes time. It's not dissimilar from fundraising in that it requires lots of phone calls, follow-ups, and patience. Also like fundraising, despite all your efforts and hard work, you have no guarantee that anything is going to come through.

The good news is that over half of the Women's Studies locations are within the boundaries of the fictional "Ross-Prentiss Women's Academy." Therefore, my attitude has been to try and find a location that can serve the multiple functions of a campus. While finding these locations has been easy, getting permission to film on them has been something else entirely.

When discussing this problem, a few of my friends have been like, "Dude, just sneak in somewhere and do it. Who's going to know? Guerilla filmmaking! Yeah! Down with the oppressive corporate octopus!"

Yes, yes. Damn the octopus. Here's the problem with guerilla shooting:

First, I don't know where you live, but in my country, trespassing is illegal. As much I want to get this movie made, I'd rather not to go jail to do it. (Though think of the publicity.) And as grand poobah of this crazy, little tribe, it'd be my neck in the hangman's noose. Even assuming I'm a total ninja and we don't get caught shooting the film, not having the permission could kill any distribution deal Women's Studies may or may not get offered.

One of our selling points to distributors is that fact that Ningen Manga Productions is taking care of all clearance issues on Women's Studies ahead of time. The short and skinny of this is that a distributor won't have to shell out the cash and manpower to make sure everything in the film is allowed to be there. They don't want anybody coming out of the woodwork saying, "Hey, they shot on my farm/used my music/featured my logo on that guy's T-Shirt without my permission! Give me some money!" Clearance issues can be deal-breakers especially with the more established distributors. Smaller guys often don't care, but again, if the film starts to get some success, people may come around looking for lawsuit dollars.

Is it an unlikely scenario? Sure, but what harm is there in insuring that it's an impossible scenario? I'd like to be able to tell a potential distributor, "Everything is in order. All you have to do is review the documents."

The last problem with just showing up and shooting is that a location has to be more than just where the action takes place. I'm a big believer that environment is a character in the show. I want to be able to tap into every resource a location has to offer, so I can make the best film possible. This isn't done by sneaking around, but by working with the people who live in and use the location. They can point out nuances that I may miss.

The ideal "Ross-Prentiss" location will be one that's isolated, foreboding, yet beautiful. It'll have a sense of being old and mystical, almost as if the place itself is alive somehow. I know it's out there, and it can't wait for us to get there. Finding it is just a matter of time.

Sunday, December 10, 2006

Gotta make the switch y'all

Dudes Blogger has made some switch and you need to sign in with a gmail account as well as a blogger one.....I can see gmail taking over the world MSFT stylee.

Text me for the password, I linked the beeston katz account to mine -> strontium77@gmail.com.

Maybe should have created a BK one.....? H'actually going to see if I can fix that. ERROR.

Piz.

Saturday, December 9, 2006

Cock in a bottle


The French are so innovative, you'd never find this adornment to your dinner table in an English supermarket.

Friday, December 8, 2006

Nippon festive

This is where the Japanese Xmas is at.

This is Christmas Dindins.

Spare me a thought as you're tucking in to your mince pies.

Wednesday, December 6, 2006

Boxing Day

Jon, so what's the score? If your poor dad can't face another bust up with Hannah PORG suggested we meet up in town, sit in a pub and get right on it instead.

How does that sound? Of course Poppa Bryan and Momma Bryan are invited and all their drinks will be free subsidized by Katz Corp, waddayareckon?

I say roll on Boxing day!!!

PigBoat.

Tuesday, December 5, 2006

James tells it like it is

By popular demand.......James is a legend. I am, well a batty.

I Don't Fink Ya do !


I saw this piece of decidedly Nottingham graffitti in Finsbury Square and thought of you all.

"The Horror, The Horror"

In light of some recent production hiccups, specifically trouble finding suitable locations willing to let us film portions of Women's Studies, a friend of mine chastised me for promoting the film as a straight horror movie. His argument is that by doing so, I sell the film, and by proxy myself, short by pigeonholing it. As the writer and director (a biased source if ever there was one), I concede his point. To me, Women's Studies spans over many genres. It's a character drama, a coming of age story, and a tragic romance. It's got action and laughs as well as scares and blood.

However, the overriding emotion (if I do my job as a director right) should be one of unease and discomfort. One of my most primary goals with Women's Studies is to simply scare the audience. That's really where I can make no concession because I AM setting out to make a horror film. Anyone who reads the Women's Studies script without being told what genre the film is will realize pretty quickly what they're in for. While not strictly a blood and guts type of horror film, the Karo will definitely flow heavily in the finished film.

The strange problem I've run into is despite all the talk of "mainstream" or Hollywood" horror, the genre is still a fringe genre, an acquired taste, and let's face it, the red-headed stepchild of the movie industry. Film studios, notably the big ones, don't really like making horror films. Most critics don't like them, and they don't win any awards that matter to the big dogs. Plus, though the horror move protests of the early 80s are ancient history, you still have media pundits like Bill O'Reilly spouting off about how these films represent "the degradation of the morals of America." And while I believe that kind of thinking is obnoxious and misses the point, I'm certainly not going to argue for the socially redeeming values of Saw III.

Ah, but since I brought it up, let's take a closer look at Saw III, the subject of O'Reilly's recent tirade, a film that was critically derided, and one unlikely to get nominated for an Oscar or a Golden Globe. However, there is one more notable aspect about the film that explains the reason why the movie industry continues it's loveless affair with the horror movie: It made a killing of money at the box office, $33 million in the first weekend alone.

Let's do the math: Saw III was budgeted at $10 million. In it's first week of release it made it's producer, Lions Gate Films, a 300% profit. Currently, it's earned a worldwide gross of around $130 million. ($80 million domesticly and $50 million worldwide, if you want to get specific.) That's a $120 million profit which isn't taking into consideration DVD sales and rentals which make up the majority (75%) of a major studios profits. Even if you assume that the $10 million budget doubles with DVD marketing and distribution costs, that's still a film which sits firmly in the black.

(For the record, I've seen none of the Saw movies. Laugh if you want, but I'm very squeamish, and torture movies make me want to pass out.)

So, why do big studios keep making horror movies? Simple: They even out their bottom line. As far as Lion's Gate is concerned, Saw III's success makes up for the fact that Employee of the Month and Crank only made (ONLY!!!) $28 million. Actually, both films were budgeted at $12 million each and, hence, made money. Still, that's a $32 million profit from both movies combined compared to Saw III's $120 million profit.

I'll quit beating you over the head with it. The point is that "moral degradation" or not, there's a huge audience for horror. As long as that audience is willing to keep ponying up the cash to see these movies, big studios and major filmmakers will keep making them. The producers behind the Saw movies said before it's release that Saw III was likely to be the last one. Keep in mind that the fourth movie in the Friday the 13th series was subtitled, "The Final Chapter." The upcoming Friday "re-imagining" (Don't even get me started there.) will be the twelfth film of the franchise.

But let's forget about the big studios for a minute. Women's Studies is not being produced by a big studio. And frankly, when it comes to actually producing good horror films, big studios really aren't where the action is. Most horror films that are "studio releases" are actually produced by smaller independent film companies. (In industry terms, it's called "negative pick-up.") Recent examples include: Hard Candy, Wolf Creek, and what a lot of horror fans are calling the best fright flick in years, The Descent. (Which I still haven't seen because the sad joke is that when you're trying to make a movie you don't really have time to watch them.)

Forget those even. Let's take a look at what are considered the classic horror films:

Psycho: Independently produced by Hitchcock who went outside the studio system to get it made. Paramount originally distributed it in 1960, and Universal bought up the rights for a successful late sixties re-release.

Night of the Living Dead: Independently produced by George A. Romero's Image Ten. The original distributor let the copyright expire somehow and the film entered the public domain. This also happened with The Wizard of Oz and It's a Wonderful Life. However, Romero claims the original distributor "ripped him off" when they didn't put a copyright notice on any prints of the film that went out. This seems sketchy to me, but copyright law was much different in 1968 than it is now. Back then, copyrights expired after 50 years instead of 95. The math doesn't quite work out though, so your guess is as good as mine. I do know that Romero only has received residuals from the 1998 Elite Media release of NOTLD. The other estimated $50 million the film has grossed since 1968 has all been pocketed by other distributors. Seriously, if you want to make some money, burn off a bunch of copies of NOTLD and sell them. It's perfectly legal. Fucked up, but true.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (the original 1974 version, not the remake): Independently produced by some mysterious outfit called "Vortex" which I can only assume was director Tobe Hooper's production company. It was picked up by New Line Cinema, which at the time, was a tiny distributor out of New York. The story is that the film played in limited release in San Francisco and Warren Beatty went apeshit over the brutal realism giving the film huge buzz.

Halloween: Independently produced by Trancas International who I also believe handled the original theatrical distribution. It was one of those cases where a distributor decided they wanted to go into the business of production as well. The late Moustapha Akkad was spending $300,000 a day on a big, desert war epic that ultimately tanked. When told Halloween's entire budget would cost $300,000, he said, "What the hell?"

Friday the 13th: Independently produced by Georgetown Pictures, picked up and distributed by Paramount. Technically though, I suppose it was "studio financed." Director, Sean Cunningham, who had produced Last House on the Left and The Hills Have Eyes with Wes Craven, took out an ad in Variety for a film called Friday the 13th and billed it as "the most horrifying film ever made." The funny part is that he had no script, not even a story idea except that he wanted to rip off the success of Halloween. Georgetown called him up the next day and offered to finance the picture.

Evil Dead: Sam Raimi himself raised the money by hitting up dentists which has since become a common low budget fundraising method. New line, which was apparently the Lion's Gate of the late 70s and early 80s, picked it up after Raimi got a glowing review by none other than Stephen King. Like Trancas, they soon turned around and moved into actual film production by making:

A Nightmare on Elm Street: I include it as independently produced because long before Lord of the Rings, New Line didn't have a pot to piss in when they went into production on Elm Street. They're still referred to as "The house that Freddy Krueger built."

Not one of the films I mentioned above was financed or made by a major studio, yet they're some of the most well known, and most financially successful horror films in film history. (However, it may be worth noting that the most financially, and some would argue critically, successful horror film of all time, The Exorcist, was financed, produced and released by a major film studio, Warner Bros.)

My final point is this: Most of the successes in the horror genre have come from independent film producers like me. The reason is that we're not doing it to pump up our bottom line. We're doing it because we love the genre and we believe that these stories, as "morally degrading" as they may be, are worth telling, and more importantly worth being heard. By billing Women's Studies as a horror film, I'm hoping to find individuals to help me get it made that are like minded, that truly support what we're trying to do. It's not necessarily an easy sell, but it's the right one.

Monday, December 4, 2006

Rumble in the Cotswolds ???


Yeah, but what if it were Pizbo taking the mickey ????????????

Karate

Funny that I went to the same show, in Glasgow in June. I have a few pictures on my phone! But just in case anyone thinks of taking the piss out of Borris, I think you should see this!

Don't i know you?.............


So...... I recently went to a contemporary art show and saw this, i can't remember who the artist was but i really took a shine to this canvas. I really felt like i knew the guy in the picture, can't think why !
Syd, you're in the art game now, could you shed some light on it?

Thursday, November 30, 2006

Speak to me Rusty

This is what it's like to be Pete.

DJ Duncans and Beeston Katz Massive




Seeing all the pics of the katz on the virtual decks got me thinking. I like the idea of 'Notts Landing'. Everyone should post there 30 minute playlist, share out the tracks others don't have then we can all have a katz playlist on our Ipods.



I'm considering mine and will post it soon.

Was also thinking that if others have Beeston type t-shirts why the hell don't we make some fashion katz t-shirts, like this one (but better hobviousleh!)


Get on it. Pigboat, Mork, Tyler, Raggaforce & Blanka, stop drinking in the afternoon or at the very least stop Piz doing it. He looks like he is waiting for the Sunshine Tours bus to pick him up and take him hime to his mam.

Cornwall Calling




Just figured out how to use this thing. Ironic that I make my living as a flash IT bod and yet I'm not part of the blogging world.
Got nothing much to say right now, but expect great things from the House of Potz.

Wednesday, November 29, 2006

Old skool Katz


A few fresh faces here, some of them aren't even shaving yet but the unmistakable Katz attitude is there.
Check out Ghandi with the chin on and not James!
Rags loves high fives so much he bought the t-shirt !

Tell it like it is



For all the world to see!

Rinsed out in the Gower

Drunk at 4 in the afternoon

Pics from the DJ SHOW





























Oh my Lord yes it is true, that is T Bone AKA The Beeston Katz on the decks, and yes he was unleashing unholy retribution on the citizens of the Kings Cross Bar!! The Omen, then Ice Cube, followed by New Order Blue Monday, the Damian Marley and the DRE...you get m'eh?? Rags made everyone's ears bleed with Ved'x and then Locust by Ed Rush. DJ CLEAR THE FLOOR moving on to the decks.


Like throwing pearls to the pigs if you ask me.

We were awesome, Ricey was there (you can see him chatting to Doris) and even he liked it. We all know what a tough cookie he is, so that's it. OFFICIAL customs sign off.

Can't wait for the next time.

Tuesday, November 28, 2006

Review/ Skincare: Origins - Modern Friction

Ok, got this after strong recommendation from Ling.

The lady at counter told me that this is good for sensitive skin too and taught me the method to using it.

So, being an arden fan of Origins products and since I need a scrub for my face, I bought it.

The smell of the product was refreshing. It was zesty and wasn't as bad smelling as the other Origins products.

The texture felt coarse on my palms as I scooped it out with a spatula, which made me kind of apprehensive.

But oh well, if can try something like Daily Microfoliant on my skin, I figured, I should be able to use this. At least, it wasn't sizzling due to reaction with water. Besides, I have already prepared myself for the worst.

So, I started to rub a small amount on my outer cheek whereby there was less irritation. To my surprise, it was not as harsh as I initially thought it would be.

The best part is, that small amount that I scooped out was enough for my whole face. Woah.. No wonder the price tag of SGD$75.00. One jar of that will last me a long long time.

The skin felt smoother and cleaner after the scrub and best part was, there was no irritation or inflammation after that.

This has been marked as the must buy product on my list already.

Junkie

My father hounded me all through college to get a degree in business. He was a big believer in the idea that education brings financial success. As screwed up as it sounds, he wanted me to be a desk jockey. I could understand his reasoning, having spent most of his life busting ass twelve hours a day as a pipe-fitter. He thought he was doing me a favor, my dad; providing money so I could have the things I needed and wanted. He was getting money so I could go to college. The sad humor is that on the day I left for college my father and I looked at each other and realized we had no idea who the other was.

I left college in 1998 needing twelve credits to get my degree in theatre arts with a minor in communications. I "walked " with my class. It was time for me to go though. I had already been there five years, and even just one more semester seemed unbearable. Besides, since then I've gone back and finished up the twelve lousy credits and from a career standpoint, actually having the piece of paper in my possession has changed absolutely dick.

Anyway, I got a job with a temp agency, and they landed me a long term gig with an up and coming software company. I was a go getter. I've kind of always been a go getter, which tends to impress those with authority over me. The kicker is I've always hated authority. I'm an idealist sure, but with the heart of an anarchist. Still, I'm a hard worker. That's one of the things my dad did teach me.

So, when the term of the temp job was up, the guys at this software company liked me so much they offered me a regular position. It was a salaried job with great benefits: health, dental, 401k, the works. All I could do was go up. My dad was ecstatic. I took the job.

After six pretty miserable weeks, I quit. I went into my boss's office, and told him exactly how I felt; that while I appreciated the opportunity he was giving me, it wasn't for me. I had other things I needed to be doing, other paths I needed to walk. "I'm not a business guy," I said. Anti-authoritarian to the bone, I think I expected him to chew me out and be shocked that I was turning my back on what was really a pretty damned good job. He didn't though. In fact, he told me how much he respected me for following my heart.

My dad said nothing when I told him, just kind of shook his head.

The ultimate irony is that the past year I've spent putting together Women's Studies has been more about business than any sort of creative expression. Forget the business degree, I think I've learned what I would have been taught simply by trying to make a go of this thing.

Rather than even doing basic production work like scheduling and loaction scouting, my time has been spent writing business plans, researching the DVD market, setting up corporations, drafting contracts, working with a lawyer to make sure all my state and federal paperwork is correct, weighing the ton of risks against the ounce of hope, and about a thousand other minute detailed things that have nothing to with telling a story. Unfortunately, they have everything to do with making a marketable film. My life is a world of crunching numbers, begging for money, wheeling and dealing, trying to turn "no" into "yes." Hell, even "maybe" would do.

And you know what?

I fucking hate it.

The last six months of my life have been the most soul sucking, humiliating, ego-crushing time I've ever endeavored. I wake up every day and my first registered emotion is uncertainty. My first conscious thought is, "Why am I doing this?" Half the time I feel physically ill. The other half I think I'm losing my mind. A day doesn't go by that I don't want to quit. Nor does a day go by when I know I can't.

I can't. I mean, I physically can't stop myself from trying to move forward. If I walk away, even take a vacation, I somehow find myself turning the film over in my head: "What if I change this line? What if I shot it this way? Maybe Mary should wear yellow in that scene. Music like this would go well in this sequence."

Making movies is all I want to do. It's all I've ever wanted to do, since I was old enough to want anything. If there was a company that hired for "professional dreamer," I 'd be perfect. Experience? I've been doing it all my life. But if you won't hire me to do it, I'll do it anyway. That the sickness of it I think. Even when everyone is telling me the odds are impossible, I still do it. Even when it seems like trying to scale Everest in shorts and flip-flops, I still keep climbing.

A guy I've been hounding to invest in Women's Studies recently said to me, "If persistence leads to success, you're going to be successful." A compliment sure, but I don't think he understand the scary truth beneath it, the reason why I'm so persistent.

I'm a junkie, man.

Creative expression is an addiction. Filmmaking is my drug. I'm just trying to get another hit. Addicts do whatever it takes to get their high. They beg, steal, and sell themselves. Telling a real estate agent how much Dark Harvest made in it's first month on the Blockbuster shelves? That's just me sucking dick in the alleyway for a ten spot. See, a ten spot brings me closer to getting the junk. I'm an addict, remember? Only the camera's my needle, the boom mike my spoon, and the tungsten lights my flame.

Ask any addict busted for stealing, and he'll tell you he didn't do it for the money. The money is just a means to an end. The money just gets him to the high. "I can't help myself," he'll say.

"I just don't know how to quit."

Monday, November 27, 2006

Pigboat, Raggaforce 1 and the Beeston Katz

Morning Duncs !!

There are many majestic goings on in the world of Katdom. It is indeed a wondrous place to dwell.
Hoping to see everyone around Christmas/New Year time.
Is Boxing Day happening at Sharon and Aussies this year?
And talking of officially licensed Beeston Kats gatherings, we branched out into the world of public entertainment recently.
We’re not business men, we’re a business, man!!
Piz’s mate Steph had her birthday party in a bar on the Caledonian Road last weekend. I will be putting up the flyer here as an official Katz relic as soon as I’ve sorted out my scanner.
The prestigious midnight slot went (of course) to the Beeston Katz.
There was a packed dance floor when I opened the set (under the name Beeston Katz) with Carmina Burana, better known as the theme from The Omen.
Much bemused looks exchanged on the floor and then, before we lost them, effortlessly into Ice Cubes “You Can Do It” A right riggy shakin piece of quality fucking hip hop. Next up? Pitman of course. Witness the Pitness motherfucker. Hits from the pits indeed.
Pizbot (or Pigboat thanks to predictive text error) took control with more beats and Raggaforce1 tied it up nicely with some characteristic darkness. A little bit too dark for some, the next dj’s elbowed right in and got him off the decks.
Fair’s fair though, we had had our allotted 30 minutes.
Special mention should go to the bloke on the dance floor with an NG9 BEESTON t-shirt and a big grin, he was well pleased with the Pitman representation. And another honourable mention to Sam Pink for his Flashdance moves on the floor.
It was indeed a quality night, which got me thinking…………..

I want to put on a Nottingham night in a bar or club down here in London.
Call in Nott’s Landing, have loads of London based Nott’s folk all having a proper midlands knees up to Pitman, Black Lace and KRS ONE.
Goose Fair mushy peas, wedges of Pork Pie and pork scratchings as bar snacks, projections of the left lion, Broad Marsh bus station, Cloughie and Barry Nobel's Astoria on one wall, vip invites sent to Sue Pollard, Alvin Stardust, Paul Smith and Torville and Dean. Little raffle during the night for a first class train ticket to Nott’s.

What do you think? Could take off; we could put any profits into a little party fund for Katz stag trips and the like.
Would have to be mandatory attendance for all Europe based Katz for the first one of course.
Any suggestions welcome in the comments box.
Isn’t this how Damon Dash started?
Next stop? World domination.
Y’get meh?

Friday, November 24, 2006

Welcome to my world






Here are some things that i've seen.

Pain of a Thousand Men!

Fancy a Smoke?

Monky's new PUG!


"I have something here for you. Your father wanted you to have this when you were old enough, but your uncle wouldn't allow it. He feared you might follow old Obi-Wan on some damn fool idealistic crusade like your father did. It's your father's lightsaber. This is the weapon of a Jedi Knight. Not as clumsy or as random as a blaster, but an elegant weapon for a more civilized age. For over a thousand generations, the Jedi Knights were the guardians of peace and justice in the Old Republic. Before the dark times, before the Empire."

Happy 30th Darragh

Rusty's belated birthday message!

Wednesday, November 22, 2006

Have I got your attention?

All quiet on the Beeston front


There is a distinct lack of banter on this, the best website in the world without naked ladies on it. So heres my attempt to reignite the jibba jabba.

What's inside Rusty's pipe......?


No, its not that, it actually the worlds smallest yet most powerful 500-trilion watt laser (it actually is, Rusty sent it to me) although he did say it was in his pipe.

Tuesday, November 21, 2006

Mary's Confession

I've talked briefly about Mary in a previous blog entry, Married to "Mary." However, now that we've had a little analysis of the supporting characters, I wouldn't mind taking a deeper look at her. After all, Women's Studies, if nothing else, is the story of Mary and the physical, spiritual, and emotional journey she takes through some very strange countryside.

I believe that story should trump all other aspects of a film, be it theme, style, symbolism, etc. The most important thing I need to convey is "What is this about?" I was taught that story, more than being a series of interconnected events, is a chunk of the main character's life. In this case, we're following along with part of Mary's life. The particular chunk of her life I'm focusing on is that weird time she got trapped at a school run by a cult of homicidal feminists.

There comes a point where "who a character is" has to be decided more by the actor than the writer or director. Certain elements already exist in the script, and the director is there to help guide the character through the world he/she is trying to create. However, I think it's more important for the actor to in many cases decide things like motivation and emotion. After all, having to inhabit these characters, the actors are the ones who know these people best.

Cindy Marie MartinThat said, Cindy Marie Martin and I have had a few chances to talk about who Mary is and why she makes some of her choices. I thought rather than have me talk about who Mary is, it might be more informative to have Cindy do it.

There's probably a couple of spoilers in here, but I think they're vague and minor.

Lonnie:
What would you say is Mary's overriding character trait?

Cindy:
"Nie-iv-a-tay." She believes so strongly in her convictions that she can't understand why other people aren't as passionate as she is. Mary is an optimistic person with a really good heart, and she sees other people through her "humanity is good" glasses. In doing so, she blinds herself to people's faults.

Lonnie:
Sounds kind of "goody-two shoes."

Cindy:
Ew. "Goody-two shoes" is such a stereotype. Mary is a rounded character, a person. That's what I love about her. Everyone knows a Mary. She has a good heart, loads of determination, believes the best in people no matter what they throw at her, and thinks that she can make a difference. (Insert cheesy music here.) But, (dun, dun, dunnnnn) she is also jealous of her best friend's relationship with her own boyfriend which indicates some insecurity beneath her happy little exterior. She chooses to side with strangers instead of listening to her best friend when she tries to talk to her about the weirdness of the situation they're in. She's managed to get herself into a pregnancy that she doesn't want. Finally, (Spoiler Alert) though she loves Zack, she's not real sure that he's "the one" and has no earthly clue how to straighten out her confusion, being too chicken to approach him with her fears and concerns and talk it through like mature adults. She has complex emotions and dirty little secrets just like everyone else in this film. Just like life.

Lonnie:
Interesting. When I was writing Mary, I envisioned her as a sort of "Everyman." You think people will respond to her as such?

Cindy:
Yes, I do. She's a good person who has her faults with hard choices in a really sucky situation. One thing that makes the film so attractive to the actresses involved (excuse me while I speak for us all for a moment) is the fact that it has so many well rounded female roles. But, let's be honest. The bad aspects of the Academy Girls are exaggerated. Mary is closest to a person you'd meet on the street. She's not overly evil. She's not completely perfect. She's just a person thrown into hell who has to react.

Lonnie:
Talk a bit about where Mary is at the beginning of the film.

Cindy:
She's just found out that she's pregnant. She's confused. She wants a career in Washington and her boss, Senator Hamlin, has told her that she has one if she wants it. But, a baby doesn't fit in with a high powered career forcing change for women. She's not sure she wants to stay with her boyfriend, Zack, and has no idea how to end it. Further confusion. Zack doesn't truly respect her desire for a career. He wants kids and a wife at home. In his own way of only hearing what he wants to hear, (similar to Mary's condition), he doesn't listen to her when she repeatedly tells him that's not what she wants. She's craving a solution to her problems. And she finds it. In Judith, et al.

Lonnie:
But what Judith and Ross-Prentiss offer Mary isn't a real solution, at least not the right one.

Cindy:
The solution they offer her isn't the dogma they preach. It's the friendship. Mary is confused and feels not listened to. Judith and her clan are more than attentive. They listen to Mary's views. They even "gasp" agree with them. Judith shows undivided best-friend-like attention to Mary without any ugly past connections to her boyfriend. Unlike Beth. It's a solution to her insecurity problem. She fits in. She's valued. The Academy Girls keep Zack away from her so she doesn't even have to focus on that mess. She doesn't realize the extent of their "solution" until she's really trapped. When her eyes are opened, she doesn't just sign right up for their army. She fights.

Lonnie:
There seems to be a strange attraction between Mary and Judith. Explain it from Mary's point of view.

Cindy:
I think Mary is captivated by Judith's authority. She commands the respect of all these powerful, (she thinks) tuned in women, and yet has a warmth to her that appeals to Mary's "humanity is good" side. Remember, that at the beginning, Judith isn't showing Mary her killer side. She's wooing her. Mary is falling in love with her in a platonic way. Judith is taking over Beth's role in her life. Judith does have some romantic infatuation with Mary, but I don't think Mary sees it until Judith makes it obvious. (Again, naive.) Then, at that point, I think Mary is so confused over Zack and her love life that she's willing to give anything a try. I haven't worked with Tara yet, so I don't know exactly how things between Mary and Judith are going to shape up.

Lonnie:
Any final thoughts?

Cindy:
Mary is a facinating young woman. She lives her life making herself an element of constructive, peaceful change. Then, she's thrown into this bizarro world of feminism led by Judith whose ideals and desires mirror Mary's in almost every way- except for the method of implimentation. Suddenly, harmony and integration are no longer valued. Judith leads a cult of otherwise intelligent women forcing change through violence while preaching about the Goddess. Anyone smell the stench of irony? What factor pushed the Academy Girls over the edge into terrorism and will Mary fall victim in order to save herself and her convictions?...(Insert techno fight music here.) That and honestly... I just can't wait to start shooting. I want to get on set with the other actors and discover who this woman really is. For Womens Studies to succeed in playing the extreme, man-hating, homicidal feminist and show how outrageous that is, Mary has to be a grounded, believable person the audience identifies with. No pressure, right?

Sunday, November 19, 2006

Review/ Skincare: Origins - Plantidote Mega-Mushroom Face Cream

Got this as a set with the 30ml serum at a real low price from a friend. Initially I only wanted the serum since it's my staple face care item. But since this was going cheap, I figured I might as well buy it together.

I didn't get the face cream from the retailer because it was really expensive compared to the serum. RRP @ $120 (If I don't remember wrongly) for 50ml.

I tried some this morning when I was going out. It had a smell as though it had gone bad. I was pretty alarmed at first but seeing that there was no discolouration, I decided that it was safe to use.

It took some time for me to get used to the smell of my current face cream -- Origins Face Comforter when I started to use it and so I thought I would give the Plantidote Face Cream a few more days.

Nothing special in my opinion. I think the serum is adequate for me. Will see how it goes and update this entry.

Btw, there's a promotion going on from 24th - 26th Nov @ Isetan Scotts (Level 2) whereby members get double chops for every $50 spent.

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Add On: Tried it for a few days and found it to be too rich for my skin. So, it landed up on my Mom's dressing table. Wahaha.. Ladies, take heed, this is really rich and unless you have very dry skin, pls dun attempt to try it.

Saturday, November 18, 2006

Review/ Skincare: Dermalogica - Daily Microfoliant

Ok, got this as sample when I purchased the Sensitive Skin Kit. Since it came in the pack, figured that I should be able to use it.

My face was really feeling dirty and decided to try this thing. (Bad choice since my skin was kind of acting up.)

The thing comes in a powder form and you are supposed to rub it into a paste with really wet hands.

The moment I poured the powder onto my palms, I could hear faint sizzling sounds as the acid was reacting with the water.

As I rub my skin, I could feel heavy stinging, probably due to broken skin on my face. I rubbed till I could take it anymore and rinsed off with warm water.

The after effects was good as I felt my skin was cleaner and smoother. But this didn't last long. My skin started to react and became really red and blotchy the next day. I had to stop my heavy duty cleansing, lots of plantidote serum to curb the redness.

All in all, I feel that this product is kind of harsh on my skin although I didn't really gave a fair test since my skin was hyperacting. I shall give it another try when my skin is better and when I find 心情 to nurse my face should the same thing happen again.

Link to product description

Monday, November 13, 2006

A Spiritual Definition

(*Since there's no qualms about it on this one, here's your big, fat SPOILER WARNING: If you don't want to know a major plot point about Women's Studies, do not read this blog.*)

A supporting character like Melissa inherently creates problems. If you write "by the book," which none of the best writers ever do, the job of supporting characters is to inform us about the main character; what my communications professor defined as "symbolic interactionism." In other words, the similarities or differences Melissa has to the main character, Mary, are what defines her. (Mary, not Melissa. Do you hate me yet? It gets worse.)

Melissa, however, has very little direct interaction with Mary. In fact, Melissa spends most of her screen time, when she's not killing people, with Iris. If you'll allow me to invent a literary term out of thin air, Melissa is what I would call a "Tercerary Character." It breaks down like this: Mary is the "Primary Character." Iris, is the "Secondary Character" who informs the audience about Mary. Melissa is the "Tercerary Character" who informs us about Iris, who in turn is informing us about Mary. So, Melissa's effect on our view of Iris in turn effects our view of Mary.

What exactly am I trying to say here? Isn't it clear?

Of all the characters in Women's Studies, Melissa has changed the most from her original inception. In the original draft, she was purely and simply dumb; not just run of the mill dumb either. We're talking dumber than a bag of rocks. There's no nice way to say it. She said dumb things. She did dumb things. I'd like to tell you that her antics were comedy gold of the highest karat. I'd also like to tell you that a little green fairy will come to you in the night and bring you candy and flowers.

Melissa's original role was little more than padding out the academy girls' numbers and comic relief, if you're the type of person who finds dumb, blonde jokes funny. Later, when I introduced Iris into the story, Melissa stayed dumb, except it didn't quite work anymore. Why? Well, if Melissa is dumb and Iris is naive, isn't that kind of like the blond leading the blind? ("Bum-Dum-Chh!" Thank you, I'll be here all night.)

So, Melissa had to evolve, and I wasn't exactly sure what she should evolve into. My first idea (or second idea, depending on your point of view.) was to have her be exceptionally, unbelievably heartless. Perhaps, of all the academy girls, Melissa was the only one who was truly evil. If Diane was in it for the cause and Judith was in it for the passion, Melissa was in it for the kicks. She doesn't care about liberating womankind or finding herself. She just wants to create chaos. In a way, she was the "anti-frat boy:" "Let's get drunk and kill some fuckers!" Ultimately, I decided that since Melissa's primary goal was to convert Iris to the cause, this interp wasn't the best, since Iris would probably be more frightened than seduced by someone so blatantly cruel.

My next idea was to make Melissa very trendy, immature, and obsessed with beauty, the kind of girl who was afraid of stabbing too hard for fear of breaking a nail. The problem was, this just didn't seem to fit into the world I created. If she was that vain and shallow, would Melissa really give a shit about any kind of social revolution?

For auditions, I tried Melissa as stoner though that just seemed to be doing "dumb" from a different angle. I got a lot of Keanu Reeves impressions, and while it was entertaining, most of the girls exaggerated it horribly. During one woman's audition (who ironically enough didn't end up getting the role) I got a "new age" spiritual vibe I hadn't seen before. Suddenly, the picture of who Melissa was began to fall into shape.

If Iris comes from a strict Christian background, it stands to serve that it would be spiritual ideas that would pull her away from that. Melissa sees the Ross-Prentiss dogma as a spiritual path encompassing all the universe and it's energy, the future matriarchy as the patriarchy's bad karma coming back around, and the killing as a present physical sacrifice being made for the greater good of a balanced spiritual future. Of all the academy girls, I think Melissa is the happiest and most comfortable with the heinous acts she performs because she understands that without the knowledge of darkness, we could never understand or even recognize the light.

Tiffany JamesTo say that Tiffany James, who's playing Melissa, has her hands full is something of an understatement. The character, while now on more solid footing than before, still has some evolution to endure. However, I think it needs an actor more than a writer to feed it. I also think Tiffany understands the balance between light and dark, and the importance of walking both paths because she seems to have done so. There's some elusive quality in her that's wild yet also wise. It's going to be interesting to see how those qualities show themselves in Melissa.

Tuesday, November 7, 2006

Queen of the Damned

(*NOTE: More than any other character, Judith is tough to talk about without giving away certain story elements. Though I've couched spoilers in the vaguest terms, if you're avoiding them, you may want to skip this one.*)

"Once upon a time, Mary, the Good Witch, and her companions were traveling through a dark and enchanted forest. There she met Judith, the Dark Enchantress, and her coven of wicked witches who with the promise of freedom and love, lured Mary and her friends back to their lair . . ."

While I like to try to boil Women's Studies down to the above fairy tale essence, it's really not that black and white. Sure there's purity and light, represented by Mary. There's also violence and darkness which as the script nears its climax becomes represented by Judith. However, there's a lot of grey area as well, places where the difference between light and dark, right and wrong is not so clear cut. You see, both Mary and Judith are fallen angels. They both have secrets; Mary's which causes her fall, and Judith's which shows how she fell.

With the character of Judith, I fully acknowledge the archetype (stereotype?) of the "Bad Witch," a woman of power who due to some negative emotion, uses her powers for ill instead of good. The Evil Queen in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and the Evil Fairy in Sleeping Beauty, both consumed by jealousy, come to mind. (Also, Rapunzel, Cinderella, and a list of any other Grimm's fairy tale which describes a cruel matriarch.) The ultimate expression of the "Bad Witch" (Which, lets be honest, created the modern stereotype) is the Wicked Witch of the West from the film version of The Wizard of Oz who, after the accidental death of her sister, promises a swift and cruel revenge on Dorothy of Kansas. (And her little dog too!)

Thankfully, Judith is not so over the top as Margaret Hamilton cackling "I'll get you my pretty," in her cronish, green make-up. (However, do not interpret "over the top" as "ineffectual.") Still, the basic elements of the "Bad Witch" are alive and well in her. It's negative emotions, vengeance, jealousy, pride, and above all, loneliness that drive Judith to commit her wicked deeds. Also, as often happens with the "Bad Witch," she takes on a different form to seduce the naive heroine. Judith's transformation isn't physical, but it's there all the same. (I cast Judith as a redhead, because in medieval times, red hair was a sure sign a woman was in league with the devil . . . just in case no one had a duck handy.)

Lastly, though nothing overtly supernatural occurs in Women's Studies, I imply on more than one occasion that Judith has somehow survived her own death. But as we all know, there's always a price for such a feat. Judith you see, is like Medusa, the Gorgon, once beautiful and loved, now a monster and alone. We can't see the monster, but we know it's there. SHE knows it's there, and she thinks that with Mary's help, she can defeat this monster and restore the real Judith. The problem is that the real Judith is already dead. The damned can't get out of their deal with the devil.

From this standpoint, Women's Studies becomes a tragic love story between Mary and Judith. They both think that each other's redemption, forgiveness for their dark secrets, lies within the other, but Mary soon finds that to not be the case. Only then does their relationship become black and white, for if Mary won't walk Judith's path, Judith cannot allow her to walk any other. They become each other's nemesis; light and dark, Athena and Medusa, the Goddess of Light and the Queen of the Damned.

When I first conceived of Judith, I envisioned her as a "femme fatale," dark, sexy, and deadly serious. She was originally written as your stereotypical, dark haired, pouty lipped villainess. I realized quickly that she was neither scary nor funny, but just kind of there, a villain whose only purpose was to serve the plot because every story of this sort needs a bad guy, or in this case, bad girl.

Tara GarwoodWhen Tara Garwood read for Judith, I realized how humorless I had conceived the character. It's okay though, because Tara knew that Judith, though scary, is also a little bit funny; a ball of contradictions, intertwined in a bundle of nervous, expressive, yet frightening energy; like the love child of a tryst between Squeaky Fromme and Freddy Krueger. Kind of a funny image, no?

Then again, I wouldn't want their kid sitting next to mine in kindergarten.

More on Tara at www.taragarwood.com

Saturday, November 4, 2006

Paaaarrrrttttyyyy! 18th Nov Norf London

Dudes, the presence of the Beeston Katz has been requested by Steph of 'Alice and Steph' fame. I don't have the details with me but it's in Norf London on the 18th Nov 2006 somewhere on the Caledonian Road.......I have a 30 mins playlist, and so can you all if you turn up with your ipods and an over-active thumb.

High five!!!!!

I have been told that I misunderstood the point of the blog, so I am going elsewhere with my rambles. OF course I will still post babble on here, I'll let you know the url when I have it, I quite enjoied rambling on, but hey.

Hear me now.

Piz.

Monday, October 30, 2006

Razor Blade Butterfly

On February 4, 1974, Patty Hearst, granddaughter of newspaper czar, William Randolph Hearst, was kidnapped and held for ransom by the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA), a radical group who claimed to be a huge army dedicated to fighting "fascist Amerika" but was in reality a handful of "guerillas" led by one Donald DeFreeze, an escaped felon. Two months later on April 15, Hearst was photographed wielding a fully automatic M1 Carbine while helping Defreeze and company hold up a bank in San Francisco.

If you're unfamiliar with the case, the question on the tip of your tongue has to be, "What the hell happened in between February and April?"

According to Hearst in her horribly written biography, Every Secret Thing, she was cocooned in a closet for six weeks where she was sexually assaulted and brainwashed into thinking the SLA really stood for something more than DeFreeze trying to get some more of his prison buddies out of the joint. Other folks claim she suffered from "Stockholm Syndrome" where an individual in a hostage situation begins to sympathize with their captors. (Named after a bank robbery gone wrong in Stockholm, Sweden where just that happened.)

After a shootout which killed most of the SLA (including DeFreeze) and another bank robbery, Patty Hearst was captured by police, tried and convicted of armed robbery and served three years in prison before Jimmy Carter commuted her sentence. (She was later given a full pardon by Bill Clinton.) The general consensus seems to be that Hearst was brainwashed by the SLA, and couldn't be held completely responsible for her actions. Today, when not acting in films by John Waters, Patty Hearst lives in Connecticut with her family. I suspect the truth of what happened in the two months between her kidnapping and the bank robbery in San Francisco is lost even to her.

My fascination with Patty Hearst, cults, and brainwashing pops up in Women's Studies through the character of Iris, who at the beginning of the story is an unhappy, insecure girl whose conservative, religious father treats her and her mother like pets. Though still working out Iris's visual look, it will definitely communicate that the girl is lonely, beaten down, and friendless. Her self-esteem is so low as to be almost non-existent. The root cause of her esteem issues is a fear of being forever misunderstood that borders on total despair.

I think one fear that is universal is the fear of being alone, not just physically alone, but feeling that no one else understands, relates, or cares. After all, when we lay down at night and close our eyes, the truly solitary nature of human existence becomes apparent. Even if a person is in the bed beside you, it's still just you in your head with all those dreams, wants and fears... especially the fears. In my more pessimistic moments, I've let myself believe that any sense of community, togetherness, or connectedness is just an illusion, a mental construct to keep individual humans from destroying themselves or each other.

When fear and confusion is all encompassing, it's easy to follow instead of lead, to find someone to guide us and show us what to do, even who to be. This is where we find Iris, searching for an identity, for someone to be. Anyone but who she thinks she is will do. She sees a leader in Mary, who taught her in an Intro to Women's Studies class. She's attracted to Mary's strength and beauty, but I believe that's secondary to the fact that Mary is kind to her, unlike her father or any of her peers. Iris is like a hungry caterpillar, and Mary feeds her a steady diet of confidence. However, Mary is older and consumed with her own issues. Besides, the unpopular kid in school is only friends with the teacher because the "cool kids" his own age want nothing to do with him.

Once at Ross-Prentiss, the "cool kids," in particular Melissa, come to Iris with acceptance. They begin to feed this hungry caterpillar with revolutionary ideas about self worth, and power, and a society that has created her insecurities. They offer a new world, a solution to her problems, and even vengeance on those who have slighted her. Scary maybe, but who cares? They make Iris feel pretty, important, and loved. That love above all things is key, because it blinds Iris into thinking the cocoon she's wrapped herself in is full of life, but it's not. It's putrid and rotten. Despite this, the pupa still lives, and the creature that eventually emerges from it, though beautiful, is deadly and destructive: a butterfly with razor blade wings.

Laura BloechlA little bit Dylan Kleibold and Eric Harris with some Manson girl and of course, Patty Hearst, thrown in for good measure, finding an actor to portray Iris's transformation was something of a challenge. Still, we think Laura Bloechl (pronounced "BLAY-KEL") is up for the job. Mostly soft spoken and fun loving, she's also capable of going to Iris's darker and more extreme places, which if I can say so, kind of freaks me out a little.

I hope it does you too.

Monday, October 23, 2006

Artemic Bomb

In Women's Studies, the character of Diane spends much of the film silent. However, there's a scene where she's about to do something rather nasty to another character. This individual asks Diane about her lack of verbosity, to which she responds with the following line of telling dialogue:

"I just choose not to most of the time. There's an awful lot of talking that goes on. Most of it isn't worth a damn. Besides, I like action more than words."

Diane is perhaps the scariest character in Women's Studies. First off, she's physically imposing. (Kelley Slagle, the actor playing Diane, clocks in at around six feet.) In many scenes, her main purpose is to use her size to intimidate others. In earlier drafts, that's all she did. Well, that and kill people. However creepy, it makes for a pretty one-dimensional character.

Contemplating Diane eventually helped me organize how the leadership hierarchy of the Ross-Prentiss cult is structured. While Judith is nominally regarded as the "ringleader" of the academy girls, it's Diane who actually holds the real power within the political and spiritual structure of the cult. Though the religion the women practice is a paganism of my own invention, it's structured not too differently from Catholicism. (And it really has more in common with the more war obsessed patriarchal religions than any religions which worship the feminine divine.) Diane is like a low-level priestess, and about to cross over to a life and "mission" outside the school. At one point, some of this was articulated in the script, but it convoluted things, so I jettisoned it.

To me, Diane is just as scary for what she represents as she is her physical presence, perhaps even more so. She is zealotry personified, a living embodiment of the cause she believes in, and code she lives by. To her, the goal of a total fascist matriarchy isn't just a mad vision. It's destiny, the only future possibility that exists. And if murder on a massive level is the only way to make that future, so be it. There is no debating with her. There is no reasoning with her. She is unswayable and merciless. Like the suicide bombers boldly running into nightclubs and blowing themselves up for some cause or another, her allegiance to her dogma is total.

The character was named Diane after Wonder Woman's alter ego. However, "Diane" is also the Roman name for the Greek Goddess Artemis, who is often regarded as the protector of those more vulnerable than she. (Also, Artemis is known as the "feminist" goddess.) The Diane of Women's Studies fulfils that role, keeping a close eye on Zack, the male interloper who finds himself at Ross-Prentiss. Funny enough, Artemis is also goddess of the hunt.

Kelley SlagleI've had the chance recently to spend some time with actor Kelley Slagle while in a stage production of Night of the Living Dead. In many ways she's nothing like Diane, but I've seen Diane's most frightening trait, the pleasure she takes in freaking you out, show it's face. Backstage, we're supposed to constantly make "zombie" noises in order to keep up the illusion that the stage is surrounded by zombies. During the show, Kelley stands beside me, hooks her hand into a claw, and scrapes her fingernails across a wall, creating a high pitched, "nails on a chalkboard" sound. I put my hands to my ears when she does this, to which Kelley always smiles manically and proceeds to pull her nails across the wood again.

Kind of scary, eh?

More on Kelley at www.cavegirl.com.

Thursday, October 19, 2006

Think I've read this before but it made me smile

According to today's regulators and bureaucrats, those of us who were kids in the 60's, 70's and early 80's probably shouldn't have survived, because our baby cots were covered with brightly coloured lead-based paint which was promptly chewed and licked. We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles,or latches on doors or cabinets and it was fine to play with pans.

When we rode our bikes, we wore no helmets, just flip-flops (or wooden Scholls) and fluorescent 'spokey dokey's' on our wheels.

As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or airbags riding in the passenger seat was a treat.We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle and it tasted the same.

We ate chips, bread and butter pudding and drank fizzy juice with sugar in it, but we were never overweight because we were always outside playing. We shared one drink with four friends, from one bottle or can and no-one actually died from this.

We would spend hours building go-carts out of scraps and then went top speed down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes.

After running into stinging nettles a few times, we learned to solve the problem. We would leave home in the morning and could play all day, as long as we were back before it got dark. No one was able to reach us and no one minded.

We did not have Play stations or X-Boxes, no video games at all.
No 99 channels on TV, no videotape movies, no surround sound, no mobile phones, no personal computers, no DVDs, no Internet chat rooms. We had friends - we went outside and found them.

We played elastics and rounders, and sometimes that ball really hurt! We fell out of trees, got cut and broke bones but there were no law suits. We had full on fist fights but no prosecution followed from other parents.

We played chap-the-door-run-away and were actually afraid of the owners catching us. We walked to friends' homes. We also, believe it or not, WALKED to school; we didn't rely on mummy or daddy to drive us to school, which was just round the corner.

We made up games with sticks and tennis balls. We rode bikes in packs of 7 and wore our coats by only the hood. The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke a law was unheard of ..They actually sided with the law.

This generation has produced some of the best risk-takers and problem solvers and inventors, ever. The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas. We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned how to deal with it all.
And you're one of them. Congratulations!

Pass this on to others who have had the luck to grow as real kids, before lawyers and government regulated our lives, for our own good.
For those of you who aren't old enough thought you might like to read about us.

This my friends, is surprisingly frightening......and it might put a smile on your face: The majority of students in universities today were born in 1986........They are called youth. They have never heard of "we are the World, We are the children", and the Uptown
Girl they know is by Westlife not Billy Joel. They have never heard
of Rick Astley, Bananarama, Nena Cherry or Belinda Carlisle.
For them, there has always been only one Germany and one Vietnam.
AIDS has existed since they were born. CD's have existed since they were born.

Michael Jackson has always been white. To them John Travolta has
always been round in shape and they can't imagine how this fat guy
could be a god of dance. They believe that Charlie's Angels and
Mission Impossible are films from last year.

They can never imagine life before computers. They'll never have pretended to be the A Team, RedHand Gang or the Famous Five. They'll never have applied to be on Jim'll Fix It or Why Don't You. They can't believe a black and white television ever existed. And they will never understand how we could leave the house without a mobile phone.

Now let's check if we're getting old...

You understand what was written above and you smile.

You need to sleep more, usually until the afternoon, after a night out.

Your friends are getting married/already married.

You are always surprised to see small children playing comfortably with computers.

When you see teenagers with mobile phones, you shake your head.

You remember watching Dirty Den in EastEnders the first time around.

You meet your friends from time to time, talking about the good
Old days, repeating again all the funny things you have experienced together.

Having read this mail, you are thinking of forwarding it to some other riends because you think they will like it too... Yes,
you're getting old - but what the heck -we've had fun!!

Tuesday, October 17, 2006

"Beth" in Show

(NOTE: I'm trying to be very cautious of "spoilers" in my blog entries. However, I think I really toe the line on this one, so if you're keeping yourself in the dark on story elements of Women's Studies, you may want to skip it. You've been warned.)

"Beth, I hear you callin'
But I can't come home right now.
Me and the 'girls' are playin'
And we just can't find the sound."

--"Beth," KISS

I had to alter the KISS lyrics a bit. Gene Simmons, I beg your forgiveness, though to be honest, "Beth" is a bit dated. The whole glam ballad deal sounds pretty sub-par to these 21st century ears. Maybe Paris Hilton should do a remake. (I don't think my inbox is prepared for the leagues of hate mail I could receive from the "KISS Army" for that last comment.)

But I digress.

In the original forty-page draft of Women's Studies, there were only two interlopers: Mary (originally named Amy) and her boyfriend, Zack. Mary, instead of being intrigued and enamored by the women of the Ross-Prentiss Women's Academy, was acutely aware that something is rotten in Denmark at this particular college. As Mary's journey shifted into one that's more emotional and philosophical, I realized I still needed a character to act as a foil to the academy girls and Mary's fascination with them.

Enter Beth: "the best friend," stage right.

Perhaps "foil" is the wrong term unless we're talking about Beth's relationship with Iris, Mary's insecure student who also becomes seduced by the world of Ross-Prentiss. (Iris or Mary; whatever the case, this ain't Shakespeare.) However, Beth provides balance. If Mary is caught in her confusion of whether or not to join the Academy girls, Iris and Beth are the opposite terminals of that confusion. At Ross-Prentiss, Iris thinks she's found something which has been missing in her life. Beth, of course, falls squarely on the side of, "This school ain't cool."

Beth shoots from the hip and calls it as she sees it. To me, that confident, "Take no bullshit" attitude is her overriding character trait. Her sarcasm provides much of the humor in the script. In the earlier feature drafts, Beth's role was smaller, but I realized that much of the humor kind of slipped away when she wasn't around.

Plus, Beth is supposed to be Mary's best friend, right? If your best friend tells you that she thinks the school you're at is filled with homicidal cultists, you're going to at least hear her out. Unless maybe that friendship sits on some shaky fault lines. What if the uncomfortable tension between Zack and Mary, is countered by tension that's a bit more comfortable between Zack and Beth? I created a back story in which Beth and Mary had both dated Zack, but he eventually chose to be with Mary. Now, as Mary's emotional compass shifts towards Judith, will Zack's shift towards Beth?

"Like sand through the hourglass . . ."

Melisa-Breiner-SandersI could go on, but I don't want Melisa Breiner-Sanders, the actor playing Beth, to go too far with all this before we've sat down with the script and done some proper table work. That's "MAY-LEE-SA," by the way. "Melissa" is bound to give you a sarcastic eyebrow raise that explains exactly why she got the role. More on Melisa can be found at www.MelisaBS.com.

Sunday, October 15, 2006

Early morning surf trip

Jon and Pizbot look on with a amazement as Raghead peforms his medievil dance around the barbecue.

Tony still yet to return from the boozer from the night before.

Awesome weekend boys, can we go surfing again before November ?

Whos hiding in the Landrover?


Butch Mike and a couple of barrels of strong cider. Chase me...

No choice son



He'll learn to love them. Hopefully we will be out of the Dr Martins League by the time he realises.

Ghandi

Saturday, October 14, 2006

Monkey boy


James the badness hobo Bryan.

Introducing Tyler


Dangerous specimen - do not approach when in Tyler mode!

U've been warned.

The Ginger Wombat


Very rare sighting of the lesser spotted ginger wombat, usually found grazing in Nottingham pastures, seen here catching some ZZzzzz's whilst passing through a drinking house on way back from Achill Island...

Buff as yer mam!


I'm bad, dats right.

The Beeston Katz


NUFF SAID.

The Correspondents!


Pizz and Syd reporting live from UK coast...

Butch Mike


On the gay love tour...

Thursday, October 12, 2006

Getting pumped for nothing


I think Piz means less of this.......



And more of this ................

Tuesday, October 10, 2006

Plague/Cold of Death

My wife has given me her plague/cold of death. I take this as proof of a feminist plot to murder me. Anyway, it's hard to write about filmmaking when your only two thoughts are "tissues" and "sleep," so forgive this week's short blog.

There's a lot of things in action behind the scenes on Women's Studies right now that I'll hopefully be able to talk about in upcoming blogs, such as:

--Our Art Director, Stephanie Petagno has shown me some preliminary designs for the "cult tattoo" that all the academy girls sport.

--We're in talks about our main campus location. I'm really excited about this because the location is in many ways a character in the film.

--I'm almost done with my "director's script," which has a boatload of notes for all my department heads, mainly the camera, lighting, sound, and art departments.

--You're probably already aware, but the new Women's Studies website is live at www.womensstudiesmovie.com or www.ross-prentiss.org. Keep your eye out for "easter eggs."

I also want to take the time to give a big shout out to Gary Ugarek and his zombie film, Deadlands: The Rising. Gary helped Cindy and I out on our short film, Under the Bed, and has been a major cheerleader for Women's Studies from the beginning. Cindy and I both returned the favor by appearing in and helping out behind the scenes on Deadlands. In about a month, we'll again lend the assist on some pick-up shots he's working on. I'm also going to be contributing to the sequel, Deadlands: The New World. I won't say exactly how yet, since Gary may want to tell folks that himself.

Anyway, Gary's a great guy who knows his zombie films. As a filmmaker, he's not only aware of his strengths, but also his weaknesses, which makes me have a lot of respect for him. A little bird told me that a lot of folks are going to get the chance to see Deadlands here in the next six months, and I encourage you to check it out if you get the chance. Zombie fans will not be disappointed. More info about Deadlands: The Rising can be found at The Official Deadlands: The Rising website.

Next week will kick off a series of five blogs spotlighting the cast and characters of Women's Studies. I tried to figure out the best way to approach it, and just decided to go alphabetically by character. Therefore in the next blog, we'll introduce you to Beth, Mary's quick-witted, "take-no-bullshit" best friend.

Sunday, October 8, 2006

Fight the powers that be!!!


Basically not happy about being back at work, I have to fight hard against the urge to get up and start shouting and then just walk out. I am sure that there is a way to live more modestly without having to be a slave all the time........there's nothing fundamentally wrong with the place it's just that I wish I was at home.

I am sure that I'll get institutionalised again, but I can't wait for the next break.

So, what to do? Go sk8!!!! I spent a few hours this afternoon down at the skate park on the Common, I got my kickflips nice and tight and got some nice railslides in. I was loving it, being a teenager all over again.

Take the power back.

Pizbot.

Tuesday, October 3, 2006

Pro-Choice

Because of it's subject matter, namely homicidal feminists trying to take over the world, Women's Studies isn't going to be everyone's cup of tea. "You can't please everyone," is an adage of the theatre. It's true too. You can't. All you can do is tell the story the best and as honestly as you can, and hope for the best.

Back in March of '06, I sent out the first initial casting notices for Women's Studies, which got picked up by the Independent Women's Forum who wrote a blog about it.

In turn, a blog called Pandagon picked up on the IWF story and wrote a response to it. My thoughts are at the end.

As you can see, the negative reaction kind of rattled me the first time. Then I got my head out of the clouds and reminded myself of that old theatre adage. Now when it happens, and I'm sure it will keep happening, while I listen politely to what detractors have to say, I certainly don't try to change their opinion of the film. Just as I hope no one thinks I'm going to change my mind about making it.

I've said it before, but I'll say it again: I have no intention of playing politics here. My goal is to make a scary movie, not save the world or destroy it. Cults are scary. Feminism is interesting. A film about a feminist cult seems like it would be scary and interesting. The argument of Women's Studies is not, "Feminism is good/bad." Both the protagonist and antagonist are almost mirror opposites in their feminist beliefs. The difference is that one is willing to kill for their beliefs and the other wants change to come about peacefully. That's the ideological debate I'm interested in. Feminism becomes almost incidental, a "MacGuffin" as Master Hitchcock might have said. My intentions, though I'm admittedly an agent of chaos, are good. Yet, we all know what the road to hell is paved with, don't we?

Here's the bottom line for those people who find the concept of Women's Studies (or any other book, TV show, movie or art work) offensive, sad, outrageous, misogynistic, politically incorrect, or intellectually pornographic:

You ready?

It's kind of a crazy idea.

Choose not to watch it.

I'm certainly not going to come into your home and force you to watch my film. I also sincerely doubt congress is going to pass a law making Women's Studies required viewing for all Americans. Your local church group isn't going to ostracize you if you don't see this film. So, the choice whether to see it is entirely in your hands. Should I inadvertently contact you or a group you're involved with because I think you might be interested in the film and it turns out you're not, by all means politely tell me so. I won't bother you again.

Don't get me wrong. I want you to come see the film. I'd like for you to come with an open mind and put any pre-conceived notions aside and see what we have to say about cults, feminism, and the fine art of sharp, shiny knives. However, I also understand and respect that Women's Studies may simply not be your cup of tea, and as that old theatre adage goes . . .

I'll leave you with this thought to ponder: To me, anyone who thinks this film (which isn't intended to be an anti-feminist film) has the power to ruin the women's rights movement doesn't seem to have much faith in that movement's power. Also, in the grand scheme of things, doesn't womankind have bigger problems to worry about than a horror film about killer strippers?