Smiv does it his way

So there's this guy Matt Smith, who goes my the moniker Smivadee on youtube. With a legion of dedicated fans, he has a fair bit of power on the internet. Well he's going to be hosting the 'Making of' documentary for MICHAEL'S RESIGNATION. He's also going to be playing the role of Ben in the feature itself.

He's now uploaded another shiny vid, telling all his fans about the film he's involved with. The comments on there alone are very positive, so it's pulled a lot of weight.

Go Matt!!!

Comicy Commicson

First off; yes this is a weird as hell title for a post. Congratulations to those who read it perfectly first time. You're lying. You'll have to forgive me, I'm in a funny mood as I post this.....

Anyway, into the post.....

I'm talking about comics. Or graphic novels. As in Spider-Man, X-Men and such. Call me a geek but I've read a fair few comics so far in my 20 years. There's the problem. I said "call me a geek but..." Why are comics geeky? Is it because back in the day they were all POW! SPLAT! KABOOM! ???

Is it mostly because of that hilarious Batman show where Robin spurted out things like "Holy macaroni and cheese, Batman!"? I'm thinking yes.

But comics are a form of storytelling. They're somewhere between prose and drama. But rather than go into an argument about why comics are a good form of storytelling, I just thought I'd introduce you to a few of them. As writers, you should expose yourselves to as many stories as possible. So here we go...

X-MEN
As a kid, I read mostly X-Men comics. Picked them up at school, read and enjoyed. But today, if you pick up an X-Men comic, you can't understand anything unless you have a Master's degree in Mutant Politics and Current Affairs. So don't bother. Instead, go to the Ultimate universe.

Marvel launched the Ultimate universe in 2000 to get new people into their stories. It worked. I have a fair few issues and they're great.

Ultimate X-Men basically shows different stories to the original (slightly geeky) origins of the characters. It's fun. But more real. More about politics and hardcore action. In very few mediums, can you have the US President on the lawn of the White House, being told to lick some one's shoes. Take a look.

I picked up Astonishing X-Men because it's Joss Whedon. Fully expecting a great story that is true to the X-Men but with a Whedon twist, I raced through. And I was completely satisfied. The only bit of back story you need to know about it is that Colossus and Kitty were in love. Colossus died. Now you're set. Enjoy.

AVENGERS
I never read many Avengers comics as a kid, but I knew enough. I heard about the Ultimates and leapt on board. I bought a volume and it rocked again. Slightly less realistic than Ultimate X-Men, but still big with the politics and heavy action.

Also, anyone who knows the characters understands my excitement at seeing most of the Avengers taking on Thor in an epic battle. Lightning falls, hammers fly. A bloody massacre.

WOLVERINE: ORIGINS
Great stories with adult content. We're talking about guts flying everywhere. Wolverine: Origins is basically the Wolverine we want to see. Merciless and violent.

INHUMANS
Not knowing anything about the Inhumans, I took a chance and it paid off. A great story about a race of aliens. To say one of the characters can't speak, we really know a lot about him. Inhumans is definitely one to catch. It's also something I'd love to adapt for screen one day. Probably never happen though. Fully expect it to come to cinemas soon though.

PUNISHER
The hardcore motherfucker of Marvel. The guy pulls no punches at all. I bought Punisher MAX the other day and have read a little bit so far. It kicks an immense amount of ass. Castle is a mean-ass guy with some pretty dangerous bastards on his tail. In what other comic could you shoot a 100-year old man in the face and blow up a kid? Check it out if you love relentless violence, strong language and believable characters with a killer story.

Hope that opens your eyes to comics a bit more and that some of you have been turned to the geek side.

Stay shiny folks,

Neil.

SAVE THE CAT FIRST!

Almost every screenwriter I look at goes on and on about Blake Snyder's book 'Save the Cat!'. Apparently it's a 'must have' for any aspiring screenwriter. On the front over, it describes itself as:

The Last Book On Screenwriting That You'll Ever Need

Hmm....pretty proud of itself then. That's the main reason I haven't bought it before; it seems pretty up itself. The opposite of the reason I don't ever buy things like 'The Idiot's Guide to Writing'. I'm not an idiot, so I don't buy it.

Anyway, I ordered the book to see what everyone was going on about. I don't want to be the only writer who isn't in on the Pen of Destiny - a magical pen from Satan that enables the wielder to write expert movies worthy of multiple Oscars!!! That would never do. I suppose it's important to stress at this point (for the boobs out there) that this book probably doesn't mention the Pen of Destiny that I just ripped off from TENACIOUS D AND THE PICK OF DESTINY. But if it does, I get first grab at it!

So anyway, I now have the book. So if it's as good as they say, I should be rambling endlessly on this blog about all my new writing techniques.

We shall see if this book is as shiny as they say or whether it's just chucking up everything that has gone before.

Neil.

Learn from scenes

Taking a leaf out of the Unknown Screenwriter's blog, I've decided to put a notepad together and list my favourite scenes in film and television. Basically saying why I like them. Why are they good? What is it about that scene in particular that is so brilliant, while the rest of the movie may be shite?

I'm not talking about direction or acting, because as a writer, I don't think it will further my skills. More about the dialogue, the action, maybe what that scene means to the film as a whole. How it develops the plot/s and the character/s.

So this is a little something I've put together. Well, I say 'put together'. I mean I'm coming up with it as I write this. It's basically a template with headings for why the scene is so good. Feel free to use it, abuse it, tear it to shreds and all that jazz (why's it jazz anyway? Hmm....from now on, I shall change that phrase to 'and all that metal').

FILM/SHOW:

SCENE:

CHARACTERS:

WHY IS IT GOOD?

• DEVELOPMENT OF CHARACTER/S:
• DEVELOPMENT OF PLOT/S:
• DIALOGUE:
• ACTION:
• EMOTION:
• SIGNIFICANCE TO THE WHOLE:
• PURPOSE OF SCENE:

That's all I can think of off the top of my head, but do let me know if you can add to it.

Shiny writing,
Neil.

Michael's Resignation Website

As a few of you will know, I co-wrote the script for a feature film called MICHAEL'S RESIGNATION. Well now I'm pleased to announce that the official website is up and running.

Obviously this post is a further way of promoting the movie, but I don't want to lose sight of what a film is; an enjoyable experience for those involved so that the people sitting in their chairs can take something away from the experience. I hope this will be the case with MICHAEL'S RESIGNATION.

There are a bunch of pages updated for the world to see, so see if any of this interests you:

If you'd like any more info on what the movie is about, or what the writers thought, this page has some words from us, detailing the premise and favourite moments, characters, quotes etc.
Click here.

If you'd like to audition for the movie, this is the page to check out, with some guidelines and suggestions as well as a list of characters.
Click here.

If you'd like to jump on the crew of MICHAEL'S RESIGNATION, working behind the scenes to make it all come alive, check out this page to see who we already have and who to contact.
Click here
AND
Here.

For painful information and legal stuff on buying shares in the film, this is the page for you. So if you're considering an investment, here you go.
Click here.

If you'd like to help us get the publicity we need to make this a success and charge through the funding stage, we need newspapers, radio stations etc to hear about it. On this page, there are details on how you can help that happen.
Click here.

Thanks for taking the time to read through this message; I hope there's something here that interests you. Also, a shiny thank you for your continuing support of MICHAEL'S RESIGNATION.

Neil.

Words from Whedon

Danny Stack has a shiny article from 4Talent Magazine where Joss Whedon - the Master of TV - tells everyone his top 10 writing tips. Because it would be a breach of copyright and all that jazz, I can't reproduce it here. But Danny has a way round that and it's on his blog.

It makes for interesting reading and while you may know most of the tips, there's bound to be something to think about, no matter how good you are. So check out the post here.

Creating Classic Characters

Ok, so William Shakespeare. I'm sure you've all heard of him; he's that dead bloke who wrote all those plays a bit ago. Know what I'm talking about? Yes? Good. Whether you like him or not, you have to accept that he's a huge influence and a key part in education. No kid is going to get through school without reading at least some of a Shakespeare play. So suck it up and deal.

I've studied more Shakespeare plays than I care to count. Being an English student, it kinda comes with the course. Some are amazing, some down right shite. Personally, I hate his comedies, because what was funny in the late sixteenth century isn't necessarily funny today. Not a difficult concept to understand. I'm here to talk about Shakespeare's tragedies and the characters in them.

There's that good old writing tip: write about characters.

For a while, I didn't really agree, but it's true. A story isn't about what happens, it's about what happens and how your (unique) characters deal with the situation. I've mentioned this before, but in short - your characters should drive the story forward. They shouldn't just be along for the ride.

Shakespeare knew this. He learnt it from classic writers such as Homer and Virgil. I don't think there's any other story that depends on the actions of a character quite like Homer's The Odyssey. You'll have to breeze out if you don't know much about it, but I studied it for a bit, so it's going to be an example.

In The Odyssey, the Trojan war (yes, that's the one with Achilles) has just come to an epic close and everyone is ready to head home. So we have Odysseus who wants to get back to Ithaca. It would be a nice and happy voyage, however, he fucks up.

Odysseus (for reasons I can't quite recall - it being 5 years since I read The Odyssey) mouths off at Poseidon. FYI - Poseidon is god of the sea, so not a chap to piss off when you intend to travel across the oceans. Anyway, Odysseus sets off and behold - Poseidon is royally pissed and kicks up one storm after another. Alas Odysseus and his crew become stranded on various islands filled with immense terrors, from a witch who turns men into pigs and one place filled entirely with women - now there's a terrifying thought.

So as you can see, it's Odysseus' actions that drive the plot. I don't need to go into too much detail, but Odysseus and his crew make one mistake after another, getting them into more and more trouble. They also get themselves out of it as well. While trapped in a cave with Polyphemus (a giant cyclops), who also happens to be Poseidon's son, they work out how to escape. They get the guy completely hammered and stab the bastard in the eye while he's zonked out.

Also, you can't talk about The Odyssey without mentioning Odysseus' clever wit. The cyclops asks Odysseus what his name is. Odysseus replies "Nobody". So when they blind the poor idiot, he stumbles out of the cave screaming "Nobody has blinded me!" Classic. And not too shabby for a guy writing in the eighth century BC.

Anyway, back to Mr. Shakespeare. He's all about characters. What is Romeo & Juliet about? A pair of star-crossed lovers. It's about them - the characters and how they deal with their situation.

Hamlet is about a bloke whose father is killed. So he tries to work out whodunit and exact revenge. Not about a King that's killed, but about how his son deals with it. By the way, in case you didn't notice as a kid, the best modern retelling of Hamlet is THE LION KING. Think about it.

In Macbeth, our leading guy is told he'll become King, so he takes action to fulfill his own destiny.

You get the idea.

To really who it's all about characters, try this with stories. How would characters from one story cope in another?

Stick Romeo in Macbeth or something like that.

For example, let's switch Hamlet with Othello. The low down - Hamlet's father is killed by his uncle. Hamlet suspects this, but is cautious and wants proof before he offs a member of his family. Othello is told that his wife is playing away, believes it and kills the bastards. So let's switch their roles.

Hamlet hears that his wife is shagging his best mate? What does he do? He investigates, realises that it's a lie and has Iago arrested. End of story, all is well.

Othello finds out that his father has been killed, most likely by his uncle. What does he do? He doesn't hang about. Being the rash, impulsive fella he is, he finds his sonofabitch uncle and takes an axe to his face, that's what. End of story, all is bloody.

That's just one example of how this technique works. Homer and Shakespeare realised that stories were all about characters, so it should come as no shock to you to realise the same.

One final (more recent) example:

What would John McClane (DIE HARD) do in Woody's situation (locked in a crazy kid's room in TOY STORY)? McClane would die hard his way out of the place, while saving all the kids. And he'd do it a hell of a lot faster than Woody. What would Woody do in McClane's sitch? Not a lot really, cos he's a toy, but probably call a bunch of mates to help him out.

Try the role reversal technique with some films or your own ideas and see how it works. If it changes things completely, you've got a shiny, character-driven story on your hands. Now you can make a patting motion on your back.