Second round of the BSSC

Just a quickie as I'm struggling to catch up after 2 weeks 'doing' the Edinburgh Film Festival, and STILL have to type up my notes but...... woohoo through to the second round of the British Short Screenplay Competition. Hope YOU (yes YOU) got through too!

On another note - I got offered a place on the Taps Continuing Drama course but alas couldn't take it up for various annoying reasons. Roll on next year when I can reapply - it's probably better timing for me then anyway, but damnit!

Red Planet... Red Planet.... it's touch and go, but tomorrow will be the deciding day.....

Breach

Went to see 'Breach' last night. To be honest, before I heard that Chris Cooper was in it, I wasn't awfully interested. However, it's a fascinating film. Based on a true (and recent) story, Cooper plays FBI agent Robert Hanssen, who's being secretly investigated for alleged spying and unamerican activities. Ryan Philippe plays his 'assistant' Eric O'Neil, who's really a last-ditch plant tasked with finally trapping this slippery smart traitor. All fine so far, if not hugely original, except..... Hanssen is a complicated, deeply religious man, and Cooper gives an extraordinary performance (cough.. Oscar...cough) unpeeling the layers of this damaged, dangerous and rather creepy soul. Suffering from battered self-confidence from what we guess was a destructive and possibly abusive childhood, Hanssen endeavours to make himself 'more' by dealing with the KGB, and in his personal life, involving his unwitting wife in perverse voyeurism. He's a man who likes to compartmentalise things, and Philippe as O'Neil has the difficult task of gaining Hanssen's trust so he can insinuate himself into each of those tightly closed compartments.

The film follows the FBI as they build up a case against Hanssen, but it's less about the mechanics of this, than about the fascinating Hanssen and his relationship with O'Neil. Hanssen needs a friend, but can he trust O'Neil. O'Neil needs to advance his career and wants to bring down Hanssen, but ends up unexpectedly respecting and admiring the man.

Fascinating and engrossing. The plot is intriguing, but it's a film to see for its characterisation, and in the main, Cooper's incredible performance.

After the film, writer and director Billy Ray, and actors Chris Cooper and Ryan Philippe appeared on stage for a Q&A. Which was nice...

Day off today - and boy do I need it. My eyes have disappeared and I have a stoop. By noon, I might be 72.

EIFF : the end is near!

Quick sum-up of some the things I've seen at the EIFF, whilst I remember :

* Film : Hallam Foe - review in an earlier post. Still recommending it to people.

* Film : My Life As A Bus Stop - a funny, original and scottish feature. Made me laugh... out loud.

* Film : Stardust - didn't quite match up to the hope and hype BUT bits of it were beautiful and dreamy. The special effects were gorgeous, and any film that gets Michelle Pfeiffer into prosthetics, Robert De Niro into ladies underwear, and Sienna Miller playing frankly, a bit of a bitch, is worth a shot. I think the film's main problem (if you could call it that) was that it wanted to be a little more adult and poetic, but ended up hitting the middle ground in order to appeal to the 'Harry Potter' market. Those are my reservations, but I would still say it's worth seeing. It's ambitious and delicious, and certainly has enough going for it to warrant a trip to the cinema, including an engaging and handsome (hey it helps!) leading man, Charlie Cox, and Claire Danes playing a rather unconventional falling star. I'm a sucker for a fairy tale.

* Q&A : Mike Leigh at a warm and friendly Skillset session where we learned a little more about how he manages to draw out such intimate performances from his actors. The media likes to portray him as some sort of magician who creates out of thin air, but Leigh revealed that the reality is far from this fantasy. He comes to a project with ideas a-plenty, and creates his character's back stories and quirks with each individual actor. Once he's sure everything's in place, that's when he lets the unexpected happen - bringing characters together to let them play off against each other, finding their similarities, connections and watching as they attempt to keep hidden their personal secrets and lies. Instead of shouting 'action', he goes with 'warm up' which gives the actors time to themselves to get into character so they don't have to 'start cold'. Sometimes, he revealed, he never does have to say anything else, he just starts filming when he feels they're ready. I could've listened to him for hours more than the 90 mins he spoke for. He was fascinating and much more open than expected, although he wasn't averse to keeping some cards to his chest. He spoke generally about a project that he'd love to take on, but doubted it would ever happen as it would require at least a 20 million pound budget - but wouldn't be drawn any further. He admitted that he'd rather stick with the freedom that comes from working to the budgets he gets, without having to hand-over some of his freedom in exchange for the big budgets.

* Industry Events : Working Writer, MetLab, How to Succeed in the Film Industry by Really Trying, Rise and Fall of Rennaissance Films, UK Film Council breakfast, Make it to Market, Finding the Right Producer, Meet The Experts (which will forever be my 'Waterloo' as I totally dried up and then spent the rest of the valuable 20 minutes pretending I wasn't dying), and still to come -

* Writers Role

* premiere of Breach (Ryan Philippe is attending afterwards for a Q&A along with Chris Cooper and Billy Ray)

* Q&A with Stephen Frears.

Can't wait......... but then I'm going to lie on the floor and make like I'm a vegetable.

Hallam Foe

9:30am is a godforsaken hour for anyone to sit in a darkened cinema, but there I was today watching Hallam Foe at the EIFF. And for such a strange, quirky, by turns sexy and slightly kinky film, it was rather fitting. Beautifully shot, and with a raw, natural performance by Jamie Bell as Hallam, it's a real gem of a film. Really, you should go and see it. It's the story of Hallam, a boy still in the throes of grief from his mother's suicide, which he believes may have actually been murder, and his journey towards dealing with that grief, and ascent into manhood. That sounds a bit dry and serious, but chuck in an evil stepmother, peeping toms, Maurice Roeves as a tough kitchen porter in an Edinburgh hotel, and the complications of sex, binoculars, and a badgers head, then you've got an original, enjoyable, beautifully concise (its only around 90 mins long) film. Oh yes, and it's got funky titles drawn by David Shrigley!

Got a day off tomorrow, when I'm planning to draft up my Red Planet entry, then its back into the Festival fray for some serious networking. Now I'm starting to get the hang of the vagaries of festival driving, it's getting quite addictive. I've still to investigate this Videoteque thing where delegates can hire a little booth and watch 3 hours worth of films - since I can't see me fitting in everything I want to see at dedicated screenings, I have a feeling those booths are going to come in useful.

Delegate this

Just back from the EIFF where I picked up my Industry Delegate pass. This'll be the first time I've taken time to 'do' the Festival properly, and I wasn't disappointed by the events and Industry screenings available - LOADS. Excitement somewhat dulled by the parking costs nearby though - nearly 6 quid for 3 hours!

Off to do some planning to try and fit in everything I want to do and see whilst still earning a crust. The Delegate Centre is rather lovely too - calm, white space with a bar/cafe, seating areas, internet access, and the cool Videoteque downstairs. Can't wait to get stuck in!

My Life As A Bus Stop

A fellow student on my MA Screenwriting course has a film showcasing at the Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF) this year. It's called 'My Life As A Bus Stop', go and support it!

Check out an interview and info here.

Just heard that another fellow student got a place on the TAPs Nations course....... I applied but haven't heard anything, that's always a bad sign.

Bear Confronts Whitesnake Singer

I kid you not : check out the BBC article here, "We now have a big bear trap in the garden," said Coverdale, "for some reason, I don't think these guys care for rock!"

It's almost as Spinal Tap as Spinal Tap.

(Number of trees sawed : 0)

Arse about face

There turned out to be loads of bloggers who got through to the first round of the Kaos BSSC (more at Lucy's blog) so many pats on the back are due - too many to list individually, unless I was a sadist (or is that masochist?), and even then I'd probably miss someone, who probably wouldn't even know because they don't read my blog, but I'd feel guilty and then....

Anyway, well done to everyone who got through, and actually well done to everyone who got off their backsides and entered. Sometimes I think that the hardest thing (once you've got yourself a draft that you're happy with) is to actually enter these competitions, or do a pitching session, or attend a networking event, rather than just saying you're going to.

Regardless of the results, the fact that you've bothered your arse, makes you one step ahead of those that just keep blathering about it whilst doing nothing.

BSSC first round

I got in! Well, ok a script with the same name as mine is on the list of first rounders, so as long as there's not some doppelganger script, then it must be mine!

Calm.

It's only the first round...

Oh bugger it - woohoo.

Congrats to everyone else in the blogosphere who also got in - too excited to type links at the mo but will update later.

Things to do :

Entry for Red Planet prize - have got my idea and an outline, but I just can't decide whether I should work this one up or go for another sudden idea I had that suits TV better hmmm. Tonight is my deadline for deciding;

Job application for an online Gaming organisation - the cv is straightforward, but they also want details of how the organisation can move forward in the future. I want to nail this one, which of course means I'm procrastinating like mad, and not actually doing it - self imposed deadline for that is tomorrow;

Plan for what I'm going to see at EIFF. Won't be a huge amount, but aiming to just get a feel for the event in preparation for a full-on assault next August;

Finish writing up a short story that features snow, Norway and a family feud - have no idea where this one is going, but have a feeling that it may get worked up into a 30 min drama eventually;

Saw up 3 trees I helped take out of a garden at the weekend. I'm rubbish at sawing so why did I agree to this? I still have nettle rash and numerous rose wounds to tend - it's a form of procrastination probably - next week I'm scaling the Forth Road Bridge and cleaning out my fridge (again) just to avoid printing out a final draft.

On another note - BBC2 are showing one of my most favourite films of all time this morning 'Odd Man Out' starring James Mason. You should watch it. It's B&W but don't let that put you off. It's stupendous, beautiful and tragic. Trust me. (Incidentally if you've ever seen the seminal 'Oliver Twist' from 1948 with Alec Guinness as Fagin, then the scariest Bill Sikes EVER was played in that by Robert Newton, who is also great in 'Odd Man Out' - never has a man played bullish and threatening quite so well).