Tag Archives: Tiger

How pitching can save your script – and your sanity…

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A script can often seem like a handful of sand, slipping through your fingers. That’s what it’s like when you’re about halfway through a first draft and you reach a dead end, or even worse, you’ve lost faith. This bundle of pages is the worst thing you’ve ever written. You loathe it. It’s like person you’ve been on three promising dates with, who suddenly makes a racist joke or screams at a waiter.

You thought you knew what it was, thought you had a handle on it, and now it’s gone off a cliff and left you clinging to the edge, staring into the abyss. There was no explosion, it’s never going to hit the bottom in an oily inferno. It’s just gone.

I don’t think there’s any way of absolutely preventing this, but there are tactics. Little safeguards. For example, when you’re still excited about the script, write down exactly what you love about it. What’s the essence of it, the thing that hit you like a brick to the head the first time you thought of it? The “Ah!” thing? Write it down, keep it in a drawer. When you’re wondering what the hell this script was, if it ever was a thing at all, that piece of paper is your pathway back.

Another thing to do is pitch the idea – the one sentence idea – to as many people as possible. Practice it on anyone who’ll listen as early as possible. And pay close attention to what they say. People who know nothing about films or writing and haven’t seen a movie since Die Hard 3 are often the ones with the most insightful comments, weirdly enough.

Once you’ve honed your one sentence pitch until it’s the tightest, most beautiful, perkiest pitch in the world, it’s a lot harder to go off the reservation later on. I’m currently doing Stephanie Palmer’s online pitching course (using an existing script) and fixing the pitch has already made me see what needs to be sorted out in the actual script. And while that’s useful, wouldn’t it be great to do this BEFORE you have fix a whole script? Get the pitch right, then write – that’s my new MO from now on. Oh, and I highly recommend Stephanie’s course. The lady knows her stuff.

In other news, we’ve come to a licensing deal for Tiger with a v. large shorts distributor in the States. Right now it’s just for broadcasting rights on two channels, but there’s the potential to go for different formats and more territories. Plus, going to Cannes with one deal already in the bag will be a big help! Btw, if anyone else is venturing down next month, drop me a message! We’ll do margaritas.

Lastly, the very last ever film screening at the Workmens Den Cinema Club takes place  on 7th May. The Workmens Den is possibly Dublin’s worst pub, but I have a sort of insane affection for its strange drinks range, appalling toilets and unexplained draughts. And the Cinema Club has allowed me to see a lot of great movies on the big screen over the years. So it’s with a heavy heart that I’ll be going to see Strictly Ballroom, the final film. In happier news, Tiger is screening right before it, so if you’re in the neighbourhood and are happy to brave the Den, pop in!

A super, super-low budget gem, and Tiger goes to Cannes…

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I thought I’d do an update on where we are with Tiger, the short film I wrote and produced last year. This film was made during February 2012 and had its first screening (albeit for family and friends) last summer at the Lighthouse cinema in Dublin. Since then it’s been screened in London, at the Underground Film Festival in Dun Laoghaire, at the Waterford Film Festival, and more recently as part of a shorts double bill in a cinema in Navan.

The costs for the film to date are nudging €3.5k, but that isn’t bad for a short (except in comparison to the movie below), and we still have some money left over to get it out to more festivals. It’s a little movie that was relatively non-stressful to make (the fundraising was the most onerous part tbh) and one that audiences really seem to respond to. Or at least, that’s what they tell me!

And there’s some really good news recently – Tiger’s been accepted into the Short Film Corner at Cannes, and as its co-producer, that gives me Cannes festival accreditation! So I’ll be going over next month for four days to take full advantage of the free pass and meet as many industry types as possible. Bring on the free stuff and the lovely people!

I submitted Tiger to a bunch of distributors and I’m also happy to say that one of the biggest distribution/licencing companies is interested. It’s early days, but things are looking promising! So if that works, out, Tiger will be seen by an even bigger audience, and me and the director/co-producer might even make our costs back some day. You never know.

Talking of super-low budget films, I found myself at an IFTA screening last week for Gerard Barrett’s Pilgrim Hill. Barrett is a young Kerry guy who wrote, directed and produced this feature film for less than €6k. You read that right. Actually, it might even be much less than that – he borrowed €4.5k from his local credit union and added “ a bit extra” to make it. If that wasn’t astonishing enough, the film was shot in seven days, with just three members of crew (Barrett, a cinematographer and a focus puller).

So the question you’re probably wondering is, is this frugal epic any good? And the answer would be, yes it is. Barrett’s clearly dealing with a subject close to his heart – the film’s hero, a lonely bachelor farmer in his forties, is based on the director’s own uncle. The performance he gets out of real-life farmer and sometime actor Joe Mullins is incredible – to the point where you feel uncomfortable watching it at times because it doesn’t feel like a performance at all.

Mullins’ character is a slave to the family farm and to his own demanding, disabled father. He’s long given up on escaping the isolated life he seems doomed to follow, but the events of the film force him to confront his past, his present and most definitely his future. There isn’t a huge cast – there’s probably only four main characters, but the quality of the script and the acting means that you barely notice this. The film looks amazing too, beautiful photography by Ian D. Murphy and a final scene that will wrench your heart out.

My only complaint – even bearing in mind the budget constraints – is that I would have liked a little more story. But this is a small problem with a film that’s already put Gerard Barrett on the map. He was there in person for an entertaining interview with Arena presenter Sean Rocks and talked about his next project – a family drama set in Dublin called Glassland. After seeing Pilgrim Hill, I’m really looking forward to it.

Seeing a film made for a budget as tiny as this can’t help but make you think of what can be done – even of what you could do yourself for a similar amount. I have a friend whose script was made last year for €18k, which seemed (and indeed, is) an incredibly small amount to make a feature. That being said, Pilgrim Hill has a lot going for it – the writer’s intense knowledge of the subject matter, a decent script, an excellent DoP and a real find in its lead actor. There are no stunts, no car chases and no explosions. Only a bare-bones cast and crew. This is DIY film-making at its best.

Still, if you have a great idea and don’t need a huge crew involved, maybe you don’t need to approach the Film Board or track down a producer. You could skip the usual fundraising route, raid the piggy bank and make the low-budget feature of your dreams…

What a short film really costs to make, plus an update on L.A.

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Firstly, an update on Tiger, which is finished and will be screened at The Lighthouse cinema this Saturday afternoon before heading out on the festival circuit. My little film is leaving home! (That’s how it feels, anyway).

I wrote before about how it was funded and thought I’d follow this up with a final tally to give anyone else out there thinking of doing the same an idea of costs.

To date, the film has cost nearly 3,200 euro. A third of that was put in by the co-producer and myself, while another third was raised by two fundraising events ( a quiz and a networking party) and a plant sale at an allotment (amazingly lucrative). The final third was raised from friends and family, mostly by putting a trailer up on Fundit and collecting donations.

Production cost 2,100 euro, with post-production and other costs such as screen hire, DVD burning and artwork splitting the other 1,100 more or less evenly.

As always, the question is: now that we’ve finished, would I do it again the same way? Yes and no. I’d much rather not have to produce another low-budget short, not because I don’t enjoy it – there are aspects of producing that I enjoy very much – but because fundraising takes up an awful lot of time. And it’s time I’d rather spend writing.

So my final piece of advice (for now) for wannabe low-budget producers is to exhaust all funding routes before going down the road of raising the money yourself. Apply for Signatures, the Filmbase shorts programme and any other funding scheme you can find. Unless you love running events or begging people for funds, in which case knock yourself out!

In other news, my house is in the process of being sold, removing a long-term obstacle to my move Stateside. It’s amazing that sometimes when you make a decision and take action, the Universe gets behind you and things start to happen. Literally the day I bought my plane ticket to L.A., our estate agent called with an offer we could accept. We’ve been trying to sell this house on and off since 2009 and all of a sudden, we had a buyer.

So here’s my advice to everyone else – whatever dream you’re putting off, take some action. Book that holiday. Take that class. Ask your crush out for a drink. Yes, they can always say no, but at least you’ll know you tried!

The important thing is to get started. Once you’re in motion, nothing can stop you!

May the writing frenzy begin…

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I’m gearing up to take part in Script Frenzy next month. In case you haven’t heard of it, the Frenzy is all about signing up to write 100 pages of script in 30 days. This is similar to the challenge each November where people try to write a novel (or more likely, a novella) in a month.

Now, clearly with something like this there’s gonna be a bit of brain-dumping. The script you write in 30 days will be a rough first draft, or if it’s a big rewrite, an intermediary draft. I like the Frenzy idea because I have a big problem with thinking, not writing, and a challenge like this forces me to switch my brain off and just get stuff down on the page. As a wise person once said, you can fix stuff that’s written down, not stuff that’s only in your head. Or words to that effect.

That having been said, there’s no reason why you can’t plan properly for your brain vomit. Starting off with an outline will not only help you to write your script, but will make the end result a lot less unwieldy. I haven’t worked out every single scene for the script I’m planning to write, Last Girl Standing, but I know enough to keep me on track and prevent roadblocks.

Also, be realistic. You will find it tough to hit 100 pages in a month unless you’re writing regularly. So if you’re going on holiday for a week during Script Frenzy or planning a lot of socializing next month, this time around might not be for you. Ideally try and do it evenly – crank out 3-4 pages a day, every day.

Use the guilt factor to your advantage – paste your daily results on the Frenzy’s website. This will keep you accountable and hopefully keep you on target. I’ll be doing this and posting links on Facebook just to prove that I haven’t chickened out (I’m being really hopeful here). Give it a go – what have you got to lose?

In other news, there are 12 days left until our Fundit campaign for Tiger is over and we still have €1,030 to raise. Check out the trailer here if you have a few bucks and fancy having your name in some movie credits…

 

Watching your short film go from page to screen…

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Today we finished shooting Tiger, the short script I’ve been wanting to see on the big screen for so long. Well not for much longer!

We had a great two-day shoot at a house on Mary Ward’s farm in Co. Dublin. The whole thing went really smoothly – we only worked two reasonable-length days, everyone got paid and I have great hopes for how the rough cut will look, let alone the final edit. Thanks to all the lovely cast and crew!

We’ve shot the movie on some money we raised through a quiz and a networking party (about half of the production budget), and the director and myself funded the rest of the production ourselves.

But we’ve still got to get Tiger through post production and get it to festivals! So I’ve set up a Fundit page (trailer to follow) to raise the rest of the money, as well as approaching some corporate sponsors. I’ll report back on how we do – if we raise another 1,500 euro we’ll have enough to really get the film out there and put on a premiere screening.

Apart from getting the film made, it’s been really interesting to explore different funding methods and seeing which ones work best (for example, the quiz raised a lot of money. Raffles are a goldmine).

In terms of producing the film, I had some experience from producing Prodigal Son to draw on, but it also helped that Tiger was a very simple film to shoot and didn’t require a big cast or crew.

Writing is great – yes, it’s solitary and can be frustrating but I love it. But seeing your work come to life… nothing beats watching something you’ve written getting filmed.

And I’m looking forward to having a lot more days like that in future…

Allowing your characters to drive the plot….

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The pre-pre-production prep for Tiger is rattling on – I’m going to see a possible location this Thursday evening with the director and the DoP. We’ve cast one of the child roles and have a few leads on some female teenagers who could do the other role.

The fundraising quiz has been organised, as has the networking party at Four Dame Lane on 2nd February. So now it’s just a case of getting some prizes together – and hoping and praying that enough people show up to both events!

Apart from all that, I’m in the middle of a fairly extensive rewrite. So extensive that I’ve thrown out most of the original script and am starting with a semi-blank page. Now, I knew how the new script would start, and how it would end. But I had no idea what was to happen in between!

My tactic – and this is the only way I know, but I’m open to other people’s ideas – was to try to identify a possible mid-point for each of the main characters, and then work on getting them from the start to the middle and from the middle to the end of the script.

Also, it helps to put yourself in the shoes of each of the characters and ask: what would they do next? How would they feel and react about the situation they find themselves in? This will help drive the plot, which should be coming about at least partly because of the characters’ decisions and their personalities anyway.

If you get lost, ask your characters. They’ll know which way to go!

2012 dawns, and things are looking up!

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So far, 2012 has been a big improvement on the last few months of 2011. On Wednesday, I got a new job, starting next week! This was despite the fact that the interview was in Belfast, it was windy and pouring rain, and I had the head cold from hell. I coughed so much during the interview that I had to leave twice to get a glass of water.

But it didn’t matter – I got the job and I’m back on track. It’s a sign! Roland Emmerich was wrong – Armageddon is not on on the horizon. In fact, it’s going to be a great year.

In addition, the arrangements to bring Tiger to the screen are coming along well. The two lead actors have been cast, we have a possible location for the shoot, plus a small but experienced crew has been assembled. I’m co-producing the film, mainly out of necessity! (When you can’t get a producer, produce it yourself).

We now just need to cast the other two roles (young teenagers) and fundraise the money needed to make the film.

To that end, there are two events lined up – a fundraising quiz at the Teachers Club on Parnell Square on 25th January and a networking party at Four Dame Lane on 2nd February. I’ve held quizzes before and successfully raised a lot of money with them, but this is my first time being involved with a networking party. The director has done a couple in the past, however – they’re a good option because they get movie people together AND raise funds without a huge amount of effort.

I’ll report back on how the two events go and how much we raise – fingers crossed we can get close to three grand together as this will completely fund the shoot, allow us to pay everyone and cover post-production.

I’m really looking forward to the adventure of making this little movie – and for what the rest of 2012 will bring….

Tiger is heading for the screen! And Puss in Boots already made it….

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First up, some good news! Apart from, I have more time to write, which is always good.

My short script Tiger is getting made. I met a director at the Waterford Film Festival who read the script and liked it, and we’ve been having meetings about it since. The upshot is that we’re going to shoot the film next Spring, hopefully in late February/early March.

I’m meeting the director tomorrow to go over the script and break it down, and we’re also meeting a possible lead actress and a DoP. So it’s all systems go – which means entering the fundraising fray again. Luckily, Director Man reckons it can be done nicely for 3 grand, which is a fairly achievable sum to raise.

If you live in Dublin and want to help out (pretty please!), then you can in one of two ways. Come to a fundraising quiz which we’re going to hold at a city centre pub at the end of January. Or, if you know of anyone who has a big, impressive-looking house that we could borrow for two days, give me a call! We won’t wreck it, I promise.

In other news, I went to see Puss in Boots yesterday at midday. Yes, I’m unemployed. But hey, there were five people in the cinema apart from me and my sister (she’s not unemployed, just on a week off) and there was no idiot kicking the back of my seat. It was great.

As for the movie itself, it’s not as good as Shrek 1. But then again, nothing is, including Shreks 2, 3 and 4. What Puss in Boots does have is great characters and great casting. Zorro himself as Puss in Boots, with Banderas spoofing both this and his role in Desperado. His Desperado co-star Salma Hayek as his feline love interest. Zach Galifianakis as the self-loathing, surprisingly touching Humpty Dumpty.

But the best turns for me were from Billy Bob Thornton and Amy Sedaris, who play Jack and Jill as monstrous, terrifying hillbillies. They drive around terrorising people in a huge cart pulled by flaming-eyed hogs. They have cool weapons – sort of like Southern-fried blunderbusses. They have all the best lines – and there are some great lines in this movie.

If you have kids, bring them along – but be warned that they will have nightmares about Jack and Jill. If you’re sprog-less, go along anyway, you’ll enjoy it!

Getting your short film ready for its close-up….

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So you have a short script that tells a great story, won’t take ages to make and can be shot on a shoestring budget. What’s the next step? How do you go about getting it from page to screen?

It’s time to break the script down into shots. This step is often left up to the director – and with good reason. It’s the kind of task that makes me want to start napping. However, it is a good exercise as it really shows you what’s possible to shoot and what’s not. Plus, you’ll know your script inside out once you’ve prepped it!

Firstly, go through the script and try to picture it in terms of shots. Can you imagine each shot on screen? Will it be a close-up, a tracking shot, or a long shot?

Stepping back and seeing your film in individual shots makes the whole thing less overwhelming. Now you know what shooting it is going to entail!

Make a list of all the shots and if you can, draw each one out roughly. Stick figures are fine – draw a box, put the rough sketch in it and mark it as “John reacts, close-up” or whatever it is. Imagine that this is a comic book and that each box is an illustration.

Ask yourself:

  • What is the location for this shot?
  • How many actors are needed for it?
  • Props – are any needed and if so, which ones?
  • What type of shot will it be (close-up, establishing shot) etc?

Unless you’re also planning to direct, that may be as far as you need to go. You will now have a. something solid you can show to a potential director and b. a good idea of what will be needed in terms of locations, props, number of actors etc.

If you do plan to direct yourself, you’ll also have to get into things like shot angles, camera movements, lighting, special effects (if any) and the direction of the action. I’ll hold my hands up and tell you that I know nothing about this.

However, these are the people who do: Chris Jones and Genevieve Jolliffe, the intrepid creators of The Guerilla Filmmakers Handbook.  They’ve been there, done that and gotten the scars and police arrests to show for it. This book is ten years old but still well worth a read, if only to hear about some of the crazy stuff they’ve done in the name of no/low-budget guerrilla filmmaking. Like casting Harrison Ford’s brother Terence, nearly going bankrupt or posing for a movie poster with a huge gun (Genevieve).  

If you have a decent short script with something to say, don’t let anything stop you from getting it made. To quote Jones and Jolliffe, “Don’t be put off by ridicule, poverty or fear”.

Just to prove that that quote wasn’t just for fun, I’ll storyboard Tiger over the next few weeks and post a scan of the no-doubt amateur looking results (gulp!)…