I see another...review...

So another review came in. This time by Derrick Ferguson who runs a movie review blog - The Ferguson Theater.

Let's get straight to it...


Okay. Since I like to end on a upbeat note I'll get what I didn't like about ONE FOOT IN HELL out of the way first: where'd the second doll come from? Did the evil spirit of the first doll leave that body and jump into the body of the second doll? And if so, why did it go after Alice instead of Warwick? Because she was the one who nailed it down to be BBQ'ed? if so, that was a nice touch with the way the second doll nailed her down. But that part was unclear to me. As was the ending with Warwick mailing pieces of the doll to different people. Was it because he was afraid that the spirit would just jump into another doll's body and come after them again? Again, the wasn't clear to me.

And I realize there's only so much you can do in a short film but Charlie's death is a pretty big loose end hanging out there. Did Warwick and Alice go to the police with their wild story and found themselves charged with his murder?

Now to what I did like: you've got a very clean directorial style. I myself appreciate a director who trusts his actors and his story enough that he can let them do what supposed to do and not try a whole bunch of unnecessary camera tricks and angles just to show off. You didn't do that here. You put your camera down, put your actors in front ot the camera and let them work. I liked all three of your actors very much. They were quite natural and didn't come off as "trying to act" if you know what I mean.

And that stop-motion animation was simply great. I've a major fan of stop-motion animation and I heartily support anybody keeping it alive. In fact, stop-motion animation works better in a killer doll story such as this one as for me it's a lot creepier than CGI. And I liked how you got in a bit of humor with your horror when the killer doll is standing at the top of the stairs and gives Alice that cute little wave hello.

To sum up, I liked it. It's a respectable short movie that told a short, effective story. As i said, some of the motivations of Warwick and the doll confused me slightly there near the end but it didn't prevent my overall enjoyment of the film. You and your people should be rightfully proud of it and I hope to see more work from you in the future. I don't know if any of this helps but whether it does or not, you keep on making films. And definitely continue to use stop-motion! Can't ever get enough of that. 

Derrick

The first review...

So my understanding of how to get fortune and glory goes like this:-

1. Make/do something awesome;
2. Something happens;
3. Fortune and Glory!!

Now I'll all for stages 1 and 3, but it's part 2 that's still a bit hazy. Since completing One Foot I have been patiently waiting for stage 3, but I don't seem to be there yet. Then I had the idea (or just did what Bother Chris told me to do) and decided to contact a few horror themed blogs to tell them about my film.

And now reviews are starting to pour in.

The first comes from Ghost Hunting Theories; a blog by Sharon Day, a paranormal investigator and author from. You can find the review by clicking here.

So, we have our first review.

Surely I'm now well on my way to fortune and glory!

Release the Kraken...

Now if only I had a kraken.

So for now I will unleash One Foot From Hell.

Yes after 4 solid weekends of filming in October 2012, a year of editing, animating and compositing in 2013, and a finally year of successful film festivals (ok, not so successful. I need to work on marketing) the film is unleashed.

I can now point people in it's general direction. I can say, "I made a film. You can see it here!".

I can now be happy that people can finally watch the bloody thing instead of me keeping it locked up whilst I reject another festival as I don't have the funds for the entry fee.

So without going to crazy. For the first link of many; you can watch the film here:-

http://vimeo.com/79604811

Cheers

Growing up, networking and such…

 

I say growing up, but it’s more of a getting my life/priorities in order. By life and priorities, I mean work. It’s become all too easy stay comfy in the day job, however the typewriter has started to call.

 

(Hopefully you get what I mean. I could have said keyboard but you may have thought I was on a path to become a great pianist. Now I mention that I do have it on my list of things to eventually do).

 

Brother Chris has been writing for a while, however this year, there have been a few more opportunities for myself to help out on a couple of projects. For real life money. Basically as of this year I too can say I am a paid writer.

 

But what of the day job? Well, we’re not that well paid yet, so I must continue in my war with free time.

 

That’s where the growing up comes in. Brother Chris and I are starting to get organised. With 3 screenplays currently optioned we have a body of work to start building on. Hopefully at least one of these will see the light of day to carry us further.

 

And with this, the networking comes in. As we started to take things more seriously I decided  to attend a course back in June – First Draft with Pilar Alessandra of On The Page.tv

 

This 2 day course provided excellent information on getting a first draft together quickly, and then beefing it up in the 2^nd/3^rd drafts. It was also an excellent place for networking…except I’m terrible at networking.

 

The main issue I have with this is I’m not one to shout about myself. Also, a certain percentage of people who can shout about themselves, come across a bit arrogant. I’m sure in their day to day lives they’re entirely pleasant. However as soon as they start telling me they have the best idea, and they only ever had a specific actor in mind for a role, and will settle for no other, but the script is so good that they’re definitely going to take the part; when I’m being told this, I zone out, and lose interest. They start to sound like a…let’s just say they are annoying.

 

I have a constant battle with this as here, in this very enclosed forum, I know I have a great idea. I just don’t like having to shout about it at the risk of coming off as an arrogant sod.

 

So there’s that to work on.

 

In many ways the reclusive feeling more than anything qualifies me as a writer. It also helps that I trained as an animator, another introverted profession.

 

So I need to grow up. Break out of my shell. Get networking. Speak to people about my amazing idea.

 

It seems that’s the only way to get things get made.

 

Unless you not the only one in the crowd shouting. Then it’s just a case of who’s the loudest.

 

You wouldn’t have guessed that I once made a film called Jonny the Pessimist.

You know...for kids...

So I started this blog months ago, then left it mid sentence. A sentence that implies Batman & Robin is my favourite film...it's not. It's rubbish.

Anyway, I want to get this blog going again, and the quickest way was to actually post my thoughts on Batman.

Here we go...

We need to talk about Batman...

I like Batman. I may even go as far as saying I love Batman.

Being born in the early 80s I can only think that my first exposure would have been the Adam West 60's Batman through reruns on T.V. and the Movie. Going forward we then have Tim Burton's 1989 film which I distinctly remember wanted to see and being fed up that Brother Chris was allowed to go but I was not old enough.

Following this there was Batman That Animated Series and from then on I was hooked.

However this is all T.V. or film and we all know Batman began life in comic form. I did have a couple of books (book books not comic books) somewhere with early stories reprinted but it wouldn't be until after watching Batman TAS that I got into comics proper.

Anyway, long story short, due to issue numbers being so high I found it difficult jumping on. I collected a lot of key Batman collections and stand alone books (Long Halloween, Arkham Asylum etc) but despite not being a weekly collector my love for the character has always been there.

Why am I explaining all this to you dear reader? So that when I discuss the following, beloved story you will know that it comes from a fan. The story in question is The Dark Knight Returns.

Here goes.

So today I finally got around to watching the animated version of The Dark Knight Returns. I haven't actually read The Dark Knight Returns in a good few years so I could be off remembering the full story. Therefore the following is based on the animated adaptation (which in theory should be the same anyway).

I had heard a lot of good things about the film and was looking forward to watching it. However over the course of the film I stated to wonder about why this is considered by some a key book in the Batman Universe. Well maybe that's too broad. What I was thinking was how, going forward, it is still considered a key book. This thing came out in the eighties and completely redefined Batman. However when it came out all animated versions of the character were still based on Adam West. Therefore this thing comes out and shows a completely different side to the character, something for the kids that had grown up and now wanted something different. (I also understand that the comics had changed in the pre-ceding years and Adam West was no longer relevant).

My issue is that since the book was published it seems this has become the only view of the character. This was the problem that I had today. The thing I felt was missing was an element of fun.

There are rumours that they plan on using TDKR as inspiration for the relationship between Batman and Superman in the upcoming Batman Vs. Superman film. It got me thinking today that there is no easy access for younger fans. The bigger issue is the comics industry not giving a access point for younger readers, therefore if a child of 10 wants to get into Batman, The Dark Knight Returns is not necessarily a good jumping on point.

Alternatively if you've grown up on Adam West or Brave and the Bold and they want to see their hero in Live action, they have to sit through The Dark Knight?

At this point, remember that I love Batman so I'm not just moaning for the sake.

To look at the old rivalry and examine Marvel, their films are fun (they may also have fun comics but I'm a strict DC only reader). Looking at the recent Warner/DC reboot of Superman, Man of Steel, one of the main aspects it was missing was a sense of fun. It was it was all a bit too serious. I'm not saying never tell a serious story, but don't make that your main focus, especially in a reboot.

Batman's history does not a fun story make, however they managed it in the 50s/60s with Dick Sprang, Gerry Robinson and giant Typewriters.

I'm also not saying Batman & Robin was good but...

...and that's as far as I got. Since then I've calmed down a bit. Ben Affleck got cast and his 'hard as nails' picture released.

I do still love Batman, and I do still think there's room for fun. (He's even surrounded by side kicks - surely they can be the clowns).

Anyway that's enough of that.

I've been catching up on Kevin Smith's Fatman on Batman and recently listened to the Dean Trippe episode. After hearing his terrible childhood ordeal and learning of his autobiographical comic of how he came to terms with his past (with the help of our Caped Crusader), I had myself a read. I highly recommend it.

So go buy this. It's only $1 - Something Terrible - Dean Trippe

Next time I'll tell you about Screenwriting and what I've been learning.

Something wicked this way comes...

One Foot From Hell was completed on 17th November 2013.

I've been busy with other projects but haven't forgotten about this wonderful film. Recently I've got back into gear and started to send it to Festivals. 

If you want to be kept up to date it would be best to 'LIKE' the facebook page as most updates will be posted there:

https://www.facebook.com/OneFootFromHell

Thank you to all who have been involved with the making of this film. It took a while to get to the end but here we are. Now I prepare for the Fortune and Glory stage...that's next right?

Whilst I wait, enjoy some stills from the completed film.

I'm still here waiting....