Getting Responses...

Have been in La Rochelle in France this week working in my day job as camera/editor on the VELUX 5 OCEANS, which consisted of four skippers completing the final part of their round the world race. I say this as a prefix to the fact that I have basically had about 10 hours sleep in the past four days due to them arriving within 12 hours of each other and the need to get the edits to the NewsMarket as soon as possible, so have done pretty much bugger all on "Clowning Around" since Friday (its now Monday)

Logging back into my email with a moderately clear mind, things are becoming a little clearer. One is that the complexity of this project needs clear delegation and boxes need to start being ticked. I always find it difficult at the beginning as there is a lot of discussion (albeit necessary as we need to all be on the same page before we start running off and doing stuff) and I just want to get stuck in. The other is what things are more complicated with little to no money. We are trying to get a network of producers who will work together to sort the various elements and this will take time in the early stages as people need to get their head around what we are doing and where they can help. I sent an email to all last week and I am sure we will start getting a few things going this week.

I think the most difficult thing at the moment is getting the website up, as asking a digital manager/designer to come on board for nothing is not working. A number of designers replied to an ad I put out on www.mandy.com and even though I had put the low budget nature of the project on there, none have replied to my response to them. It may take a little rethink as to how we do this as we need this up and running for the launch of our IndieGoGo campaign.

I will spend this evening going through my notes (I tend to get nothing done unless I write it down...) and then viewing various crowd-sourcing campaigns and prioritizing our most pressing concerns before I meet up with the rest of the core crew next Tuesday to discuss the stills shoot.

One good thing that is looking like being sorted is that Leilani has possibly sorted a photographic studio for the stills shoot, and is viewing this Thurday...nice work lady!

Taking and Giving

So this week I feel like I've been running to catch up with projects and promises. I've finished some writing of a short script I promised a 72yr old in California who wants to make his first film. I've gone another step on my short film 'Butterflies' to get the voice recording done and to work with the producer on improving the location space for the rest of the shooting we need to do. I've been dropping back borrowed equipment from my previous shoot. I've got a script to write for another project and the film group has had a lot of things taking up my mental resources. Plus I've of course been looking at what needs to be done for Clowning Around and trying to get more organised.

I still feel a little bit of a step behind and buried in emails about Clowning Around. I want to check on this or that bit of information or put the reserch I'm doing in some semblance of order and it's taking me ages to find the email it was in or the doc I typed the search stuff down on. A content management system is very much needed for my own sanity at least.

I looked over the budget last night with fresh eyes to try and give myself an overview of where the money goes and what we need to achieve and where in that I personally feel I can be of most use in securing any of those things.

I've been feeling like I've been writing emails and getting nowhere, so I changed tack a little on the type of wording I've been using to be mildly more direct about what we need, and I fired off some emails to photographic studios to see if I can get us a proper space for taking the stills. It's really important to getting the help we need to make this film, that we can give people a visual idea of the calibre of the project and when asking for help I personally feel (and I know Damien does too) that I want to have something to give to people so that we're not just hustling for cash and help but providing something valuable to the people who support us in return for the help they can give and showing them the kind of people they are getting involved with (because we do hope people will get involved and take interest in the work we're doing and what we share about it. And when I say valuable I'm not talking t-shirts and swag, but something that may benefit their work as much as it does ours as well as something honest and fun to engage people to really collaborate in this work and learn through it along with us. It's a tough call because before we've raised funds we don't have money to hire resources like a photographic studio to show what we want to create.

The slight change of email wording may have helped, or maybe I just caught the right person at the right time with one of the emails (the first I sent as it happens, as the space inspired me to email immediately) but anyway, this morning I had a reply first thing from a fantastic photographic studio who, having looked at what we've been doing, may be able to assist us. I'm going to go down this week have a chat in person and see the space and hopefully they will be able to help us out and we can share the process of the shoot there and how we will use the imagery and why it's so important to us to have great pictures & the benefit that help gives us as filmmakers.

Damien is off in France working horrendous hours in his day/night job, but has sent emails about what we're planning to achieve and pointed out, quite rightly that together we need to start ticking things off the growing list of stuff to be sorted out so I'm looking at what jobs I can do and what I can leave to other producers so we don't double up on work. I truly admire his ability to lay things out clearly. My head is a puddle of mud right now with a lot of plans and random fluff in it, but I'm slowly getting a little more organised and I think I'm learning how to be a better producer. Which is just one of the reasons I chose to get involved with this project in the first place.

Trying to smile. Feeling a bit tired. Elated that someone replied to an email. More anon. *:o)

Production Meeting & People Meeting

So yesterday we met for a bit with some of the core production crew that could make it. It was a chance to get to meet people and to recap on where we're at and what we need to get done for the photo shoot in late June. There's a number of things to be decided on before that shoot can happen, like colour pallete etc. and then things like costume and makeup have to be designed and put together and we'll need whatever props we need. Early June will be a meeting in order to decide upon these sorts of things, so that things can be immediatly put into place because the imagery is needed as soon as possible to get everything in place for the funding drive in July.

So, at the meeting Greer the 1st AD recapped some of the things she's working on. It's important that in the drive for getting the website and funding in place, we don't forget that there's a production to happen at the end of this road and detailed plans need to be put in place for that too. Azul the 1st AD was talking about the camera options and how they affect what we want to achieve with the film. One of the options we can look into is the Arri Alexa however what is to be considered with that or RED as opposed to going down the DSLR route is that the rigs and dollys needed change if the camera does and the speed of shooting will slow with a bulkier camera and we could end up needing an extra day to shoot. So it may be a case of budget and accessible kit determining what is going to be most desirable.

Also present at the meeting were Bianca, the Production Designer and Cecilia one of the other Producers on the project. They needed to be brought up to speed with what had already been discussed so that Bianca can formulate some Production Design ideas for the early June meeting. Cecilia is great at logistics apparently, something I'm not really very experienced at because I tend to borrow a lot of stuff and either myself or other crew will bring it along to set so I'm looking forward to learning some things from her and also sharing what I know about crowd funding with her as she's less experienced in that quarter. I'm already seeing the benefit of having a number of producers on board. I hope that we will all come out of this with a stronger range of experience that will prepare us for the future projects we work on.

Speaking of producers I exchanged messages with our first backer Perry Norton today who's come up with a plan for the funding drive. We're hoping to meet up with him in early June to discusss his ideas more but there's a lot of potential in what he's said to me about non creative backers getting involved. So far, he seems really pleased with what has been put in place and is happening with the project and as someone who's put his faith in us, that's a very encouraging thing. I really want people to feel they are getting something good from supporting this project and that their contributions are valued and everyone gets to be part of what we're achieving here.

Right now I have a lot to do on this and other projects, I'm voice recording on my film 'Butterflies' tomorrow and Damien is off in France for a week or so filming more Velux yacht stuff in his day job. Hopefully by the time we all meet in early June there will be a good deal of ideas brought to the table and things can start really happening. I'm looking forward to that!

Photo's from the Costume Meeting!

Script Feedback

I've just logged in and read Damien's blog from Saturday and the script feedback he got. I have to be honest here, I'm unsurprised. It's true there are a lot of short films out there about clowns and there are a lot of cliched scenarios and, yes, there are assumptions that can be made about how we will make this film and how it might not be any more special than any other clown film out there and that with the money we're going to spend and the support we hope to garner we could put resources into something more original. Those assumptions will be made and this project will be written of by some. I knew all this when I signed up for Clowning Around. So did Damien when he decided to write it. We've talked about it before. However I'm confident that we have something particularly special to offer through this story and that it deserves to be told in film.

Clowning itself is an ancient and somewhat cliched profession, and for good reason. It's changed very little through the centuries. It has a history and a set of traditions that are still widely adhered to by performers and that continue to be appreciated around the world by millions who have never grown tired of what clowns do to entertain and touch human beings. The art of clowning is universally popular and intriguing and that is why the clown is attractive and written about and made into films and continues to be a thriving profession.

There is such a primal element to the art of clowning that fullfills some evolutionary need to laugh at the awkward, stressful, and downright sickening parts of life. Clowning is so powerful a medium for affecting people it is used in medicine as much as it is in entertainment. When dealing with painful subjects such as alcoholism that ruin lives and destroy families, it's important to come at it in an approachable way to deliver a strong message in a way that is very palletable. I feel that element of Damien's script was overlooked in it's most recent evaluation. It shouldn't have been. It's there plain as day.

So I'm not the least bit phased. I'm not dismissive of Damien's writing because the plot and action is clear and the story content is moving, and I know he has taken professional advice and made this script very strong whether or not it's written in tidy, succinct descriptive passages. I read and give detailed analysis of many screenplays myself and have done for many years, and I'd know if this were a duff, it's not. I've seen many worse scripts turned into rather good films, and they haven't had half as many people putting such happiness and heart into a project and working hard to make it work in the very best way possible. I'm actually amazed and a little daunted at how much work there is in producing this film and that's still with Damien taking on the bulk of everything. He's a minor miracle in that way and he's getting a lot done and I believe in his ability. I don't say that out of false positation or defensiveness, I say it because it's true. He can do this. He doesn't doubt himself and neither will I.

Learning to be your own judge is very important in film. Just because someone has screenwriting or script editing credentials that doesn't necessarilly make them the word of God when it comes to making film and what will work. Plenty of really awful shorts have been signed off on by people with credentials, it doesn't mean they are good or bad at judging work, or that their hard earned experience and professional opinion is wrong, it just means that nobody knows everything, from the very bottom of the industry to the very top there are hits and misses and judgement calls and you pays your money and takes your chances.

I think I'm on a safe bet with Clowning Around and I'm smiling and looking foward to our next meeting on Tuesday.

Feedback from Cynthia de Souza

Since making a short film called "The Man Who Stopped" in 2010, I have struck up a decent relationship with Wandsworth Council and in particular with Maria Horn, which resulted in the film being show at the Exhibit in Balham in front of films such as "The Kings Speech" and "Black Swan". As part of that I get the odd email about master-classes and events they are running, and was particularly intrigued by one which was taking place with script editor, writer and producer Cynthia De Souza, and thought it would be great to get an outsiders view on what we were doing.

So today, I set off on a lovely sunny London day to the PumpHouse Gallery in Battersea Park to meet Cynthia. Getting there my standard half an hour early, I was pleased to see the one on one sessions were taking place outside, and chatted to Maria about my various recent adventures abroad whilst I waited for Cynthia to finish with another film-maker.

Cynthia immediately comes across as articulate, polite, enthusiastic and knowledgeable about films and film making. She also wants to know about you as a film-maker, where you are coming from and going to, before discussing the script so she can pitch it correctly. It also helped that she had seen a previous short I had done "Parental Control" and genuinely seemed to enjoy it to the extent she was very surprised it didn't get into more festivals and get more exposure.

So, what did she have to say about "Clowning Around"...

Unfortunately, she pretty much hated it (maybe hate is too strong a word....reeaaaallly disliked it). Her first bit of feedback was that clowns are commonly used in short film and very much a cliché, so I couldn't really see a way back there and then. I think she found it not particularly original and the action overly written. Her broad notes were so integral to the script, we didn't really get into specific scenes.

Her other notes were that it should be a silent film and be a lot shorter (max 7 minutes) and lose the scenes that were clichéd. We also basically got round to the fact that I should leave the writing to writers and concentrate on the directing. Her final comments were "It's not rubbish, it's OK. But you're a lot better than this" which I think was a compliment...

She then gave me some great advice on a few things, including where to find good writers and where I should go from here. She also passed on a few smart exercises to see how words are translated onto the screen such as watching a scene from a film, writing it as you think the scene could've been written, then tracking down the original and seeing how it was written.

I think she was a little disappointed to hear I still intend to make "Clowning Around" but we swapped contact details at the end and I sincerely hope to bump into her again as she is a very sincere lady with a lot of knowledge and experience.

Yep, you heard correct. I am still making "Clowning Around". I won't pretend its not a kick in the guts when someone doesn't like your script, I take on Cynthia's comments and in no way am I being dismissive, but film is all about peoples differing opinions. I like plenty of films other people don't and vice versa and I still believe its a great little short film that will be enjoyable as well as making a point and will also further me as a film-maker. I will go through the script again to see how I can flesh out certain bits, but I am not going to please everyone and I can't be discouraged just because one person (or several people for that matter) don't like the project, there are plenty of people involved who do really like it and I plan, once I get out of my miserable mood, to truck on with it.

Its always interesting to hear honest opinion, and that's what I asked Cynthia for. If I wanted someone to just say "hey its great" then I ask some of my family. But like I say, its up to me to decide if the film is still worth making and to me it is.

Clown Lingo

Stumbled across this on the internets..

•Basket Animal — A costume made with a basket in the middle, looking as if the performer were riding a horse or other animal. Suspenders hold the costume around the performer's waist.
•Blow Off — The visual "punchline" of a clown gag or joke.
•Boss Clown — The clown responsible for coordinating both the clowns and the various gags in a show.
•Caring Clown — Non circus term used to refer to clowns who specialize in hospital visits.
•Carpet Clown — A clown who works among the audience.
•Charivari — A raucous acrobatic clown routine, typically done by a large group of clowns, consisting of a series of fast-paced acrobatic maneuvers and comedy jumps off of a mini trampoline, over a vaulting horse and into a mat.
•Circus Report — Name of a bi-weekly circus trade magazine.
•Chase — a quick run around the hippodrome track, usually with one clown literally chasing another.
•Clown Alley — The clowns' dressing and prop area.
•Come In — The period an hour before showtime when the public is entering the arena before the circus begins. Elephant and camel rides are offered for a fee during come in; butchers are selling their wares, and clowns are on the arena floor and in the seats. Some clowns specialized and only performed during come in.
•First of May — A term also used in the carnival, meaning a novice performer in his first season on a show. Shows used to leave winter quarters for their opening spot on the first of May, and there are always some new workers hired on the first of May who have never worked shows before.
•Hippodrome Track — The oval area between the rings and audience.
•Joey — A clown (derived from Joseph Grimaldi, a famous clown in 18th-century England.) Some sources say it only refers to an acrobatic clown, others say it is a non-circus term and was never used by professionals. The Clown character used in Punch and Judy shows is traditionally called Joey.
•Knockabout Act — Comedy act involving physical humor and exaggerated mock violence.
•Producing Clown — The clown who writes, directs and procures props and costumes for a gag.
•Production Gag — A large scale ring gag.
•Shows — The overall production that a clown is a part of, it may or may not include elements other than clowning, such as in a circus show. In a circus context, clown shows are typically made up of some combination of Ring Gags, Track Gags, Walkarounds and Chases.
•"Stars and Stripes Forever" — The band reserved this Sousa march as a signal that an emergency had come up calling for the clowns to come running out from the Alley directing public attention away from the emergency or for the audience to be evacuated.
•Suitcase Gag — A visual pun that is carried inside of a suitcase and used during walkarounds. The set-up is written on the front and the suitcase is opened to reveal the punchline.
•Trouper — A person who has spent at least one full season with the circus, and whose response to the demands of life and work on the road are those of a seasoned veteran. Also used in vaudeville (and in theatre in general) to mean a veteran performer.
•Walkarounds — A clown feature in which they stroll the hippodrome track performing very brief visual gags that can be easily picked up, moved and performed again for another section of the audience.