I Know What You Want

Today I am mostly working on my 10 minute short script 'What You Want' - actually it might end up being called 'I Know What You Want' but that reminds me a bit too much of that whole 'I Know What You Did Last Summer' franchise so for now, it's shortened. We were told last week at Uni that we've not only to hand in the script for this module but also an 1000 word critique of how our script has changed since it's inception at the start of the module - nice of them to let us know this just 3 weeks before the hand-in!!

In addition to this, I'm developing my final computer game proposal for submission at the same time, along with a presentation (this, I am happy to admit, I am dreading as I'm not a natural public speaker however I will do it - I won't be one of the crappers taking the day off to avoid it!). The game is called 'defixio' and has a female protagonist. I was happy with my initial proposal but now I have to take it forward, and that's proving more difficult than I thought. Still, there are apparently plentiful jobs in the interactive world so it's a worthwhile assignment. My 3-year old niece loved the idea when I did a run-through practice, even though she was also watching Peppa the Pig at the same time and asking why it didn't have snails in it - and I've yet to come up with a good argument as to why it doesn't have snails in it. Maybe that could be it's USP (unique selling point) - IT HAS SNAILS! Maybe not. If I struggle for words at the presentation I will show snail slides.

Currently also trying to fit in time to properly watch Pan's Labyrinth which by all accounts is a pretty amazing film.

Does it have snails?

Hombre

Writing today with the western 'Hombre' on - one of my favourite films. There's only a handful of films I can watch time and time again but Paul Newman in 'Hombre' is one of them! Mind you, part of the attraction is the dialogue - it has glorious lines coming out its proverbial ears, and many of them belong to Diane Cilento. In one of my favourite scenes, she thinks she's alone in an abandoned shack and is removing some underwear because of the heat, whilst being secretly and accidentally watched by Newman's character. He does finally declare himself before it gets indecent. She asks him 'you could at least have cleared your throat', he replies, 'I couldn't, my mouth was in it'. It's like a line from a film noir but here in the dusty, bleak western setting, damn it's brilliant.

Now, if the film was stuffed full with smart-ass lines like that, it'd kill it dead - nothing worse than excessively smart-alec dialogue all the time. But in 'Hombre', Newman's character is not known for his verbosity so when he does have a sparkling line, it really shines.

I get a bit dialogue heavy in my own writing, and it's something I'm trying to curb but it's a difficult line. You want your characters to have relevant, pithy words without drowing in exposition. Yet, you don't want your characters to have such sparse dialogue that they lose their identity.

Zombie Death Drive and other things

A posting on Miss Read's board just reminded me of a conference on Gothic Science Fiction that's happening next week so I had a closer look at the plan for the day. There's some fascinating sounding speakers with topics including :

• Paul Foster (University of Chester)   ‘“Monsters Manufactured”:  Monsters in H G Wells’s The Island of Dr Moreau’;

• Emily Alder (Napier University).  ‘Gateways of Monsters: science-fiction encounters the Gothic in supernatural fiction by Arthur Machen, Algernon Blackwood, and William Hope Hodgson.’;

• Dr Nickianne Moody (Liverpool John Moores University): : “The Gothic-Punk Milieu:  Fictional Worlds and Audiences.”;

• Christopher A. Auld (University of Manchester ).   ‘Quatermass and the canon: a critical re-appraisal of the 1950s Hammer Quatermass films.’;

• Professor Fred Botting (Director of Institute for Cultural Research):  'Zombie Death Drive: Between Gothic and Science Fiction?'

Considering my assignment for a recent module was 'Small Screen Gothic' it sounds like my kind of thing, and what's even better is that students can apply for free!

Capote

Capote - watched it - what an excellent, engrossing, disturbing, human film. Took me a while to get into Seymour Hoffman's portrayal of Truman but geez what a performance! I haven't read Capote's book 'In Cold Blood' which is what the film is about, but it made me want to read it. In the film, Capote reads about the murder of a family at the hands of Perry Smith (Clifton Collins Jnr in a slow-burning, showstopping performance) and Dick Hickock. He becomes obsessed with it and sets out to write a book about the case, and primarily it's charismatic central figure, Perry Smith. In the course of his research with friend Harper Lee (Catherine Keener) he develops a close relationship with Perry, one that seems to have had an element of attraction in it and certainly a large dollop of manipulation. I won't give away the end in case you haven't seen it, but I was left disturbed. It humanised a monster which in some ways feels wrong, but when the self-confessed murderer Smith finally faces justice, it was hard not to look away. Smith's late revelations about his involvement in the murders should (by the usual laws of film justice) have damned him to be unlikeable and monstrous, but the film never takes the easy way out by demonising him. He's an attractive, well-spoken, intelligent, talented man who though lacking education and that all-important 'break' in life, endeavours to show his creative side, whilst knowing all the while that he's destined for a life of struggle and crime. The sense that crime and punishment are waiting for him almost regardless of what he does, is omnipresent. The scene where Capote explains to Smith about his own difficult childhood is almost tender as both men realise they are not so far apart.

I didn't pause the film once, it was too addictive. I've spoken to 5 people who've seen it, all from different backgrounds, and every one of them loved it and mentioned how powerful it was. Were there any bad reviews I wonder? Now I just have to see 'Infamous' to compare Capotes!

Gratuitous Who

Continuing the Doctor Who theme, its great to see the series back on BBC1. I couldn't imagine another assistant after Rose, but Martha Jones looks like she's going to fit right in. Maybe it was just me but I definitely detected a bit of chemistry between her and the Doctor, and that always bodes well for some sparks to fly. Can't wait for the rest of the series.

Which leads me to RIP Life on Mars. I'm writing this before the final episode, so to make myself look really stupid here's my guess for how it ends : Sam is deep in a coma in the contemporary world and has a tv which is playing a 70s cop drama in his hospital room. In his dream state, he is back in the 70s trying to work through 'cases' which symbolise the injuries he has to recover from, representing his return to consciousness. When he's worked his way through all his mind's obstacles, he'll be back among the living.. or not.... hmmm ashes to ashes, dust to dust...... I have a feeling I'm wayyyyyyyyyyy off base but who cares, it's been great to see a tv drama that's inspired so much discussion among viewers - it's the mystical cop equivalent of 'who killed JR'.

Life is stranger than a Benny Hill sketch

...sometimes anyway, yesterday I finally got my eyes tested. Been meaning to get round to it for ages and now Uni is off for a few weeks, got an appointment. I daren't think how long it's been since my last test but it seemed a lot more complicated than I remember, but all vaguely enjoyable in a 'how many dots can you see' kind of way. It helped that my optician looked like the current Doctor Who (Pic from www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho).

Half-way through the test I had to wear some weird specs with removable lenses to test each eye. Doctor Who slotted various lenses in and out whilst I shouted things like 'blurry', or 'better'. Unfortunately when he made a grab for a new lens, it caught another one in the box, flipped it into the air and slithered straight down the front of my top - ta da! I laughed like a drain and fished it out, but considering Doctor Who had spent the appointment asking politely when he had to 'touch my upper eyelid' he was about as embarrassed as a very embarrassed optician can get. I couldn't continue with the tests for a few minutes because I was crying with laughter - poor man.

I think he was relieved I didn't need glasses - god knows where they'd have ended up.