Untitled Blog Entry - Take 1

This past week has been an odd one. In fact, the whole month has strayed off the beaten track just a little.

I feel, being that this blog is supposed to be under the pretence that it is a blog by a young director/screenwriter, that I should start off by talking about, well, film stuff. So here goes - I have done hardly anything this month. I really should have, maybe shot a film or two, written something (and actually finished it!), thought about work experience with the BBC etc. and perhaps applied for some film festivals. Instead school took over and I've done nothing. So sorry, I'll try and do more in future, at least it might make for good reading.

By the way, I had a decent title that I could have used, maybe two or three, but I decided against them because I feel I could save them for some other reaaally interesting blog entry.

It's been an odd month for other reasons; a few concerts went really well, but an embarrassing slip on the final night sort of ruined the whole thing in my memory, and a tiny little 10 line part in a musical to be played soon is of course a nice addition to the lifestyle. Susan Boyle annoyed me all week, I was glued to the screen and believed that she really shouldnt have been in the final 10, let alone the final 2. Fortunately, the winners were worthy, but any one of 5 other acts could have won for me. I started this very blog within the last month and so far it's gone well, 300 views so far probably isn't a bad number bearing in mind I'm not a very interesting blogger and I'm not a celebrity and I can't afford to advertise and hell, it probably wouldn't be worth advertising. Also I restarted my Twitter feed, I'll link that at the end of the post, follow me! I'm a dedicated twitterer.

Exams nearly over and a bit of top film experience lined up, here's to a good (and perhaps more interesting) June!

www.twitter.com/mikeflaws

Britain's Running Out of Talent

That would be a good title for the show!

I'm a bit pissed that this series has been a ballsed up by the producers. It's not just me, but maybe I'm in the minority.

Susan Boyle is overrated and really is not anything special, that hilarious ventriloquist dude should be in the final in the place of Stavros Flatley who really have no gimick left, all it needed was a bit of spreading out of the best acts instead of shoving them all in to the first two semi's and we'd have a decent final, but now theres 3 dance acts and 3 singers, which isn't much variety on a variety show?! I like Lily Allen a whole lot more now too, after she publicly said Susan Boyle isn't amazing. Yet still people have a go at her.

Rant over.

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You might notice that I don't like this series. Faryl Smith, now theres a real superstar. Here's to the underdog sneaking in and taking the win!

Wuthering Heights

Now thats a good novel.

A right bitch to analyse at AS level, but it's definately a good novel.

Theres a reason that a novel like Wuthering Heights has been adapted to film so many times, often with all star casts including famous actors who happen to play Lord Voldemort and also happen to be alumni's of my school (and by the way, why are none of the adaptions on the Film4 great adaptions list?).

So my Literature exam is tomorrow. AS level, have to write two essays, one about Bronte's novel and one about the poetry of Wilfred Owen (another bitch to talk about). Wish me luck.

The trouble is, when I'm writing boring essays like that, about sublime poetry or engaging novels, all I can think about is how I can start writing a film based on what I'm writing, or worse still I get a relatively good idea mid-exam and can't write anything down because it will be considered cheating.

Exams are a right bitch. Only 1 more year to go.

Caption: 1 year ago.

My latest masterpiece involves the line:

"Caption: 1 Year Ago".

This, apparantly, should stand alone in the script and if it wasnt obvious already, it means that on the screen you see the words "1 Year Ago" somewhere, somehow.

And this got me thinking, how much have I done in the past year?

1 year ago didn't even think I wanted to write films. I wanted to be a film director, I still do, not a screenwriter. But now the latter is not such a bad option - perhaps being a writer/director is for me.

1 year ago I hadn't made, or directed, any films. I've made a couple now, with the help of a professional cinematographer. But have I really gone the right way? I'm making my own films, not getting onto sets doing the shit jobs that the runners all have to do. All the time I was being told to do as much of my own stuff as possible, but then a film-production-graduate-turned-office-worker told me that I should be getting onto sets, not making my own stuff.

This past year has made me realise just how much I don't understand this industry.

I've started, so I'll finish.

Or so the astute quizmaster and presenter John Humphreys would say.

I on the other hand, rarely finish anything. Just today I tried to do a little coursework but I didn't get too far with that. I tried to have a sandwich, but alas, there was no bread. Hell, I tried to go to the park for a game of football, but naturally, half way there, I turned around and came home because it was raining.

This, apparantly, is a problem many young screenwriters like me have. Perhaps not to the extent where we can't eat, but at least to the extent where we try writing a new blockbuster, and stop after 4 and a half pages of, frankly, a load of crap. In fact, it's a problem that a lot of screenwriters, stage writers, authors and poets have, full stop. Well, perhaps not poets - I mean, lets face it, how hard is a bit of poetry compared to a 120 page film?

My computer has a lot of unfinished scripts sitting on it. Most of them might be pretty good, who knows. Lets hope I get round to finishing them. I've started this blog, lets hope I manage to finish this! (If you can, truly, finish a blog?)

Oh, and devout poets, I'm sorry. Poetry is a beautiful expression of one's emotions and it is not at all easy. I take back what I said.