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By admin, June 11, 2010

So, the 5th draft of my script is done – and it’s been a long, tiring, at times painful but overall rewarding experience.

The main reason for the array of emotions is due to the fact that this was the biggest rewrite I’ve ever had to do. I cut of 5 characters and tinkered with the story and structure, and in order to manage this and facilitate the changes that needed to be made, I had to work out a new process and that took some time.

Basically, when I’d finished the 4th draft of Shot, I was convinced it was 99% finished, but after some good feedback and some honest thinking, a chain reaction of thoughts occurred which led me to a realisation that the main story was too convoluted and lacked the strength it needed. Rather than just a bit of hammering and chiselling, a wrecking ball was needed. It was scary and daunting, but I knew it was the right thing to do.

The wrecking ball was unleashed and I was left with a pile of rubble that used to be a coherent script.

The hardest part was accepting I’d made some poor decisions which led to the convolution of the story. Admitting you are wrong is tough, especially when you’ve been in a position where you believe what you’ve written is strong. But then, that is the ego doing what it knows.

Destroying the ego is hard but necessary and leads to enlightenment as to what is truly important. This was a key step for me and one that will leave me in good shape going forward with any project I work on in the future.

So I began the rebuild, going ‘back to basics’ and ensuring I was focused on what was essential; the plight of the character, his journey and how he copes and evolves. And now, after many weeks of note taking, screwed up bit of paper, diagrams, charts, cut out bits of paper, blue tack, hours bashing away at the keyboard and what was probably a close to lethal amount of caffeine, the 5th draft is done.

As it stands, the script is leaner, more focused and more dynamic than it was, but I imagine it will need another one or two drafts to perfect, polish and make it shine. However, I now find myself in the Twilight Zone of writing. That area when you are still way too close to the material, lack objectivity and have no idea if what you’ve written is any good. Its a time when rational thinking isn’t always your best friend….

….but I plan to not think about Shot for a few days. The sun is shining here so I’m going for a walk and spend some time in the real world. And besides, I think there some football on TV later today…

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By admin, April 21, 2010

If you look at the date of the blog post below, it will be instantly clear that I’m not a great blogger… However, I assure you that the effort/energy saved by not blogging has been put into my feature film, Shot.

My script is now 99% finished – I am just making minor alterations to it and then will be happy to send it out en mass to potential cast etc. However, I’m sure that once I’m doing read throughs etc. things will change, and actually I hope they do. I’d be worried if nothing evolved and moved on throughout the process. Collaboration, in all areas, is very important to me, and if nothing develops then something isnt right…

I’ve been lucky enough to secure the services of a Director of Photography called Adam Etherington. He’s very talented, highly knowledgeable in all areas of photography (especially RED, which we will shoot on), creative and on top of all that, a very nice chap. I’m very excited to be working with him.

I’m talking to a very good editor and art director and have my fingers crossed that they will be up for working on the project. Although the film will have a micro budget (circa £100k) the great thing about this is that it already has a theatrical and DVD release planned in the UK, by BritFilms Distribution Company who recently released a film called Crying with Laughter. I’m hopeful that this point will help to encourage folk to get on board the film.

I’m in the process of creating a mood board. This is essentially an A2 piece of paper which I’ve split up into 3 areas, which represent the 3 different environments in the film. In these areas I have images, words and colours that represent the mood/tones that need to be created in each. This document will be a massive asset in helping to convey my ‘vision’ (ugh, hate that word) to the cast/crew. I’ll post an image of it once its complete. But at the moment my desk resembles something from a playgroup, what with all the crayons, glitter (yes, glitter), sticky tape and scissors.

I’m also in the process of writing to a very well known actor who I want to play the lead. I’m under no illusions that it is a VERY long shot, but hey, if you don’t shoot, you don’t score, right? I hope to have more news on this as the weeks go by.

Right, enough of this blogging business for now. Feel free to tweet me or send an email if you’ve got any questions about what I’m up to.

Amir.

p.s. Keep your fingers crossed for me this weekend. My short film, Shot (on which this feature is based) is playing at the Hull International Film Festival on Saturday and is in competition for Best UK Short.

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By admin, December 9, 2009

Since my last post, many moons ago, I have been writing like a madman, finishing my latest short film (‘Shot’), putting it into festivals and writing a bit more.

With regards to my feature, it is looking quite positive for a 2010 shoot – but when in 2010 is anyone’s guess. There had been some talk of a Spring shoot, but I think it’s going to be later. For me, a late summer shoot would be ideal.

However, anyone in film knows that there are always bumps along the way, so I’m expecting a bit of rough weather and some issues to rear their ugly heads with regards to getting this setup – but I know it will happen.

The script has taken really good shape. It is working in terms of structure and I’m working hard to improve each scene with every re-write I do. I’m working with a script editor called Adrian Reynolds, a chap with an encyclopedic knowledge of film and he provides me with the tools I need to push the script on. He pushes me and that is what I, and the film needs.

I’ve entered my films into about 11 festivals in the past 10 days or so – hopefully it will be accepted and do well. So far the film has gone to festivals in the UK, Spain, Germany and Belgium. Oh, and Finland. I plan to enter ‘Shot’ into a bunch more, but it can get expensive (entrance fees) so I need to pace it a little.

Right, enough of this and back to some writing!

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By admin, July 9, 2009

I’m working on the feature script for ‘Shot’. I’ve got many elements swirling around in my head and I need to pull them out of there, put them on paper and make sure it all works.

I’ve got a lot to do but can’t wait to get stuck into this.