don'tlooknow

2001-04-25T03:15:00.000-07:00

Hi,

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2001-04-23T04:42:00.000-07:00

Mark and Polly hi!

I think we are all alone here. It might be easier to communicate via email from now on (for me). Polly I liked your story immensely. It's very moody and I like that. Why don't you get someone to shoot it for you? I know that you could flesh it out and it would hold the audiences more if it did. You got a good base to build on with the two characters..

Best to you both -

Signing of. Sean

2001-04-19T02:46:00.000-07:00

I'm still here! - took a wee holiday recently, but am back now (boo!) I'll cast my boss-eye over the script over the next few days. (hope to make some headway with my own this w/e).

I guess it's not possible to get attachements (eg MS Word documents) up onto the site(?)

Mark.

2001-04-18T06:58:00.000-07:00

Hello. What's happened to everyone. THis conversation seems to have petered out.
Anyway. Here is the first (very short) draft of the idea i posted here a couple of weeks ago. I've just shown it to my friend Alex and he was delightfully positive about it, so slag it off to hell. I don't mind a bit.
Areas that I think need work are: the setting - is Soho too specific? the names - obviously not quite there yet. the end - i would like to bring the colours thing back, but can't quite think how to.
And let's face it, you may have given up on this site altogether, in which case this preamble is completely redundant. If not, email me with what you think, if you like. Hope it scrolls.
Polly.

14

We see a 14-year-old girl asleep in a single bed.

Girl 1 (v/o)
Since I was little, this thing happens when I’m falling asleep. If I hear a noise, behind my closed eyes I see a flash.
A car starting outside makes a pinkish blob. A door closing in the house makes a brownish ripple. A plate smashing makes a bright white flash.

Hear smash of the plate and voices shouting.

Her eyes open suddenly as she is woken and she breathes in quickly.

Cut to

Night exterior.

Girl 1 clips a headlight to her pushbike and cycles off down the quiet road.
She has tears rolling down her cheeks.

Cut to

Night exterior.

Girl 1, now with dry eyes, rings a doorbell. Boy 1 answers.

Boy 1
Alright?

Girl 1
Hi.

Awkward pause
Boy 1
Where are we going then?

Cut to both of them on the bike – her on the saddle and him standing and peddling. She is holding on to his shoulders. They both do a little

Woohoo!

and wave at their own reflections as they pass the Prudential building on the corner before Gower St. They are heading into Soho.

Cut to

A long queue outside a shit-looking Soho nightclub. As we look along the queue it is obvious how much younger, smaller and more excited Boy 1 and Girl 1 are than the rest of them.
Cut to

Scary bouncer
Date of birth?

Girl 1
30th of May nineteen eighty er th..two.

Scary bouncer
Piss off.

Cut to

Back on the bike they abuse the bouncer as they pass him (he doesn’t even notice).

Girl 1: (shouts) Lame boy.

Boy 1: Lame!

Cut to

Cycling through Trafalgar Square

Boy 1: (to Nelson) Lame!

Cut to

Cycling through Piccadilly Circus

Both: (roaring at the huge illuminated signs) Laaame!

Cut to

The steps of a bombed out church.
Boy 1 finishes rolling a joint. They both look round.

Boy 1
Fuck. What was that?

Cut to

Back on the bike Boy 1 hands the joint to Girl 1 behind him as he carries on pedalling. She is looking over her shoulder as she taps the ash off the end and stretches her legs out either side of the bike.

Cut to

They are both getting off the bike

Boy 1
Stay here then.

He disappears. She is left holding the bike.

Cut to

Boy 1 returns eating a bagel.

Girl 1
Oi save half for me.

Boy 1 produces a loaf from inside his jacket. And another two bagels from each jacket pocket. And half a French stick from up his sleeve. And, for his last trick, an iced doughnut from his back pocket. By now they are both laughing. Girl 1 pulls the end off the French stick.

Girl 1
Ooh it’s still warm.

Cut to

Boy 1
Night then.

Girl 1
(indicating sunrise) Morning then.

They don’t kiss.

The end.

2001-04-07T04:33:00.000-07:00

Mark. Yeah Hi Def - DEFinately the way to go.

Sean

2001-04-05T03:05:00.000-07:00

test

2001-04-05T00:42:00.000-07:00

I'll have something up here soon (still working on it). In the meantime - on the subject of Hi-Def digital video vs. film, was I the only one who didn't know that the next episode of Star Wars is being filmed on Hi-Def? Here's a link: http://www.hdtvbuyer.com/Htm/Articals/2000/April/NAB2000/LucasFilmShootStarWarsEpisodeII_Digital24PHD.htm

Bye 4 now

2001-04-03T07:04:00.000-07:00

Polly and Mark. Keep writing.. Let us know when you've got either an outline or a script to look at.. Then post it here.

Everyone else - whasup?? Seen any good films? How do you feel now the course is over? Plans?

2001-04-02T06:23:00.000-07:00

Peeping Toms
Peeping TOM'S - Soho's information exchange for independent film-makers. Supporting and nurturing new independent UK film-makers and screening the best of British short film.

Screenings – Shorts Club at The Global Cafe, 15 Golden Square, Soho.
Nearest Tube: Piccadilly Circus.
1st Wednesday of the month.
Doors open at 7pm. Screenings start at 8.30pm.
Admission £4 (Peeping TOM'S members £2)
Peeping TOM'S monthly screening at London's coolest Internet cafe.
Programme includes shorts from Peeping TOM'S members, First Film
Foundation's New Directions Short Film Showcase, LFVDA and London Production
Fund, BBC Short Film Festival, NFTS and The Short Film Bureau amongst others.

Annual membership to Peeping TOM'S is £25 (£20 concessions).
Short film submissions including VHS copy, PR material and crew biographies to:
Peeping TOM' S, c/o Studio #17, De Beauvoir, 1 - 3 Tottenham Road, London N1 4EP
email: peeping.toms@virgin.net
Tel: 020 7684 0346
www.geocities.com/peepingtoms.geo or www.peepingtoms.org

2001-04-01T08:38:00.000-07:00

Mark: Short film sites. Festivals (as you mention). Video Cafes. Competitions (some run by local councils others arts clubs etc). Cinemas too.

The most popular are the Short film clubs/screenings like Peeping Tom/Halloween/Vibe Bar. Look in back cinema section Time Out. I'll email you some info.

yes w

2001-04-01T07:29:00.000-07:00

Sean: outside of the festival circuit, where can one go to see regular screenings of short films here in London?

(where are the other bloggers?! - get your finger(s) out!)

2001-03-30T10:16:00.000-08:00

Mark - you've put your finger on it. Two kids who kind of want to be adults. The difference between what I want to write and the experience you remember is that i want to write about two kids who live in london, but they've never really been out in the middle of the night - so they're on their own territory but it is also completely unfamiliar. Anyway anyway. Stop talking about it and get on with it. Thanks to both of you for the encouragement.
Where is everybody else?
Have a good weekend.

2001-03-29T16:07:00.000-08:00

Mark and Polly. I think you should both try writing your short scripts. I'll be very happy to look over them - we will also get some feedback here too I am sure.

The outlets for shorts are there and production finance too. So get writing..

2001-03-29T03:38:00.000-08:00

Polly - I'm going to try and do an outline this weekend too.
I like the 'getting lost in London' idea. It reminds me of an occasion when I was 13 or 14 and came up to London from my home in the West Country (oo-arr) to stay with a friend. Being country-hicks, we thought it would be a good idea to go wandering around Soho for a few hours (because we wanted to see where all the porn-shops were!), going into amusement arcades and talking to some very dodgy characters. My main memory of that night was the sense of wonder I felt at the bright lights, maze of streets, people etc. If you could capture the perspective of young kids (who are desperate to be adults) in a story, that would be great – I’d watch it! - Mark.

2001-03-29T02:11:00.000-08:00

Mark - I think that a one page outline would be helpful, but I also don't think it sounds crap and well done for being the bravest and putting up an idea first. I think the best thing for you to do now would just be to hammer it out and see what you've got.
I too had an idea on the way home on saturday - sort of a distillation of things aI have been thinking about for a while:
A sleeping teenage girl hears her parents rowing downstairs and slips out of the house. She wanders around night-time london, eventually arriving at a friend's (boyfriend's? - a boy anyway) house and together they explore the west end until they get completely lost. The point of the exercise for me is to capture how frightening AND funny things like that are when you're 14.
I know this is vaguer than vague, but I didn't want to seem chicken. I'm going to Somerset this weekend and will try and bash it out then.
I also have stuff to say about Audition Sean, but not here in case other people haven't seen it.
Polly.

2001-03-27T03:42:00.000-08:00

I had planned to go see Last Resort last week too Polly. I ended up seeing Audition instead. I was the most stomach churning experience (shan't give anything anyway). I was also quite blown away by the imagery about three quarters into the film. Mark - think you should write a one page outline of your short then you will have more of an idea if it works..

2001-03-27T02:14:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone (Polly - thanx 4 setting this up so quickly). As soon as I've got some proper material, I'll paste it up on the site. I’d like opinions on an idea for a short I had on the way home from Sean's last class. I'll flesh it out in more detail just as soon as poss. For the moment though, here's the basic premise: called 'The Criminal Element' (a phrase that was just knocking around my head at the time), it would be a jokey take on the old ‘heredity vs environment’ debate which seems to be back in the news again now that some genetic research seems to suggest that our genes can influence the way we behave far more than our environment. If we say that someone is more likely to have a propensity for violence, crime etc. because of their genetic make-up, doesn't it hand people an excuse to explain away their bad behaviour by saying "I couldn't help it - it's my genes!". It seems to divest people of their responsibility to behave properly.
So far, I like the idea of working this theme into a rather silly, slapstick comedy about a group of of people who come across a strange object dumped in a bin/skip/buried somewhere (whatever) made from a mysterious substance (or ‘element’) which, once they’ve been in contact with it, transforms them from well-adjusted, law-abiding citizens into a lawless bunch who can’t help but commit some kind of crime(s).
Cheesy? Cheesy and crap? Let me know what you think. Mark.

2001-03-27T01:04:00.000-08:00

Attachments - hmm well I've just in the How To... section but it all gets a bit codey. I'll ask around here, but for the time being links that you can copy and paste will have to do.
Yesterday afternoon I wagged work and me and my friend katie went to the pictures. We meant to see The Last Resort, but the listings were wrong so we saw Audition instead. Lord oh Lord. I've hidden behind my coat many times in the cinema, but i've never had to put my fingers in my ears too.

2001-03-26T18:18:00.000-08:00

For those of you interested in the feature I have been working on go to
http://www.studiox.co.uk/suedeheadtest.html
It's a site in progress.

Can we post attachments on here - like scripts and outlines?

2001-03-26T04:55:00.000-08:00

Well done Polly. I am happy with the name of this 'Blog?'
Glad that you saw Don't Look Now at the cinema. I saw it years ago in the cinema. Very effective psychological/supernatural thriller. I think the film works many times over. Has many layers to it if you look for them. Wonderland I haven't seen but crying and laughing are main dramatic goals - though these days spectacle and sensation and the impact of television have pushed the melodrama into a lower profile.

Oscar winners - let's see some outlines and short scripts. Lets also see some feedback from everyone.. No slackers now. What have YOU seen lately?

2001-03-26T00:52:00.000-08:00

Good Morning Everyone,
Well done for getting here. It really does seem very easy to use.
I watched Don't Look Know on Saturday at the Screen on the Green and loved it. I also saw Wonderland on cable yesterday afternoon, funnily enough, and it made me cry at the end.
How's that for critical analysis?
Look forward to hearing from you all.
Polly.