THINGS THAT COME BACK TO YOU IN YOUR MEMORY PART 3 OF 7

Passing the driving test.

Yep, well you knew this was coming and had to make it onto the list didn’t you?...I actually remember bits of this day very clearly. I remember being extremely nervous, having to go into the Driving test centre (which seemed be like a freakin maze of tight corridors and doors...once you had turned three rights one left, one right and two more lefts...and gone past the chicken soup machine...I was told to sit down and wait in this tiny, tiny sort of hallway that I wouldn’t even really classify as a waiting room, another very nervous person was also there...they seemed friendly, then, two driving examiners appeared...then, I was asked to lead the way to my vehical...so, there’s basically three people behind me at this point, I got completely lost and lead them straight into a cupboard...this was rather embarrassing...but pretty funny.

I finally sit the test, and am really very nervous at this stage...and miraculously, and I’ll never be able to understand this one...PASS the test first time...THEN, the driving instructor gets out of the car and bashes his head on the way out of the vehicle.

THE INSPIRATION FOR MY COLOURS ON THE CURRENT FILM

I really have no secret to hide here on this...the two images below are what did it for me. Such wonderful colour work, that I was very inspired to and had to do a film in colour...I was compelled to. However I think when you film these colours with a real camera on celluloid with real lights...they really show up much better.

STUBBORNNESS AND DETERMINATION POSSIBLY BEING EITHER A VERY GOOD COMBINATION OR VERY BAD

I cant help but think here about well...my parents, and how both of them are very, very stubborn and determined people...and this has led to well, its led to me and my sister turning out to be very, very stubborn and determined people. Now, one side of this I say to myself...If I wasn't this way then I wouldn’t have completed any films at all...or even be doing them you know?...that’s the determination part...and the determination part is very, very good...but on the other side of this thing...I’m damned stubborn...and this means that it takes a long time to get what I want...now that’s either... good or bad.

DEFINITELY FRUSTRATION

This last interior (the second one, and previous blog post) set is really not acceptable to me...so I have been working on a third attempt...there’s still a lot of frustration on this though…I cant seem to get what I have in my head out of there and into the 3d software...I feel I’m slightly closer to what I want...but I feel I’m just not quite there on it...

TAKEN OUT A LIGHT AND SOME DETAILS

It's a common saying in art, that everybody knows or everybody should know, that "less is more"...but at the same time in every director, there should be a nagging thing constantly going on in your head saying "put more detail in this" and "theres not enough detail in this".

I've taken out a light and some details and I think it looks better.

SECOND ATTEMPT

This is the new replacement set for the interior that I wasn't happy with. I'm not sure how I can get some of the shots to work on this without the big window I had in the first set. It may change again knowing me.

REMAKES OR REAPPEARING CHARACTERS

I have a thing about remakes and discovering how many times a thing has been remade...or how many times a character has appeared across the whole of cinema and television.

Jesus Christ

A possible 273 actors have starred as Jesus. Now I dont know how many films have focused on the biopic elements, but i suspect it's a lot. lot of TV stuff mind you too.

Adolf Hitler
A possible 243 actors have starred as Hitler.

Merlin
A possibly 147 actors have played Merlin

Oliver Twist
11 times for cinema (I think)
11 times for TV

Sweeney Todd
4 times for Cinema
5 times for TV

INAUGURATION DAY

This was a incredible day for me...very hard to explain without making a very long post here but here we go.

I hope it doesn’t read that I’m a lunatic...but, well, it's a big thing when I have to drive into town...which is what we did on this 20th January...which also happened to be Inauguration day for Mr Obama.

Unexpected drive out into town I add here. My mum wanted to get her pension photo done and to do some shopping...so off we went...I know I keep bringing this up like some sort of a stuck record, but I hadn’t been out of the house in a very long time (again) and its quite amazing to go out into a populated place when you haven't for such a long time...mind you, I didn’t bump into any shitty people this time round, so maybe that was part of the reason why it was so enjoyable.

I’m just looking at the calendar and it looks like I haven't been out of the studio in five weeks. When I got there to the town, it was of course...new faces of people you dont know...it's really very interesting...difficult to explain...very new is the best way I think I can explain it...but also somewhat makes me feel like a fish out of water...I tend to probably not blend in...in fact I know I don’t blend in...because my behaviour is probably pretty odd on these journeys out there...I tend to look at a lot of things...architecture, peoples faces...I saw tree army men...one of them looked very friendly and happy, non threatening to be exact...then there was a lone policeman who looked a bit nervous and was kitted out with a heck of a lot of modern day gadgets on his uniform...(looked pretty cool)...and some lovely looking women...I really probably shouldn’t look at the women so much but I cant help it.

RETROSPECT: It's only when you get back home and start to think about it that you realise you maybe stared at the women in the bank sitting behind the glass too much...but, I hadn't seen one in five weeks, and they are after all the most beautiful creatures on the planet...but that woman that I passed on the street...she was looking at me way before I glanced at her...she also had a very intriguing expression on her face.

We went to a lot of places...this really old very interesting building that felt like something out of a post apocalyptic TV series, a Polaroid camera was used to take a photo of my mother...a huge Polaroid camera...I have to say that uncontrollable feelings took me over... the photo they have taken is really hilarious. I’m sorry about that mum.

We then go to a shoe shop...like a old fashioned shoe shop...there’s a really nice smell and the inside of the shoe shop feels very old fashioned...this again was very nice.

And while walking around these places (of which we went to a few of)...I couldn't help but feel that the people who run these shops are the type of people who might get excited about Fridays...or Friday at five PM...they might be or might not be the type of people who ask you if you have any plans for the weekend...they also might be the type of people who complain about Mondays...and honestly, seem to have a weight about them...and I have to say, it makes me feel sad...you can see there’s a weight of the nine to five job about their person... that they have to do because they have no choice...

"Everything comes at a price"
--Unknown

...Maybe though, the question about what plans have you for the weekend is just something people ask because they are trying to 1) Start up a conversation 2) Showing a interest in your life 3) Don't know what else to say

But why do I get a bit tetchy about that particular question?...this one and also "have a good weekend"...I shouldn't but I do...and it's a good question as to why I get miffed...my weekend is exactly the same as my week days...I never plan anything...I've never planned anything in my life ever...but...they dont know that though...and, it's a positive thing being said to me too that I shouldn't respond in a negative way to...so I shouldn't be upset about this...and... it is after all entirely my own fault that I do the same thing seven days a week.

I'm either jealous of the people who have their independence, having money, going out for meals, going out to the cinema, going out to the pub, having a girlfriend, having a wife, having their own house...and maybe upset that they have striked at the root of one of my problems...that there should be more to me than just sitting in front of a screen animating away (mind you, that’s not strictly true, I do try to exercise, talk to my parents and watch films / tv series / write / talk to people on the internet) but of course there’s a bit more to life than this...and I don’t seem to work towards building that life...or maybe I am, and it's just going to take a long time. But here we strike on another important topic...time, there’s not much of it...dear heavens, it's going fast.

I'm not living in a war zone though, I'm not homeless in the cold...and have food and a bed...and am happy about that...I have no right to complain.

Then came disaster, as we were walking back to the car...my mother falls off a double curve pavement into the gutter...into a big fairly deep puddle. She cuts her knee and is also covered in mud. The weather during this entire day was really nasty, the rain was like ice water being thrown at you, but also pretty cold wind.

We then bumped into two people we knew whilst doing the shopping at Tescos...one of which is the dude who has sent my film off to a film producer...I said some things in there about how I have problems with feeling that my films just aren’t good enough to be sent off out into the world and lord knows what he thought. What’s coming up next is the inauguration of the new president which ties in with this mess.


We get back home and unload the car...and eventually decide to watch the inauguration...which was a really interesting and at times a lovely thing, that I have to say surprised me.

The American optimism amazes me...there is a LOT to be said about this optimism...and really they should capture some in a tube syringe, and inject it into me, cause boy oh boy...I could do with some of that stuff!...
I hate to do this...but we are of course talking about me and my ability to hide my films from the world (not the online world, but from the film industry itself)

I must try to be more positive in my life….to try harder at not giving up so readily...but, at the same time I’ve always felt to be somewhat of a realist…when I might be misunderstood and targeted as being negative...because I’ve spotted that there definitely is confusion with some people in the world who can sometimes think that being realistic is being negative...it isn’t though, its being realistic...I want and know that my films would be much better and could be much better if they were done with miniatures.

TOP FOUR FAVOURITE POST APOCALYPTIC TV SERIES

I have to give these shows a quick mention...they’re all really great in my opinion.

Survivors (1975-1977)

Honestly think this is my favourite post apocalyptic series. First time I saw this it really sunk into my mind and I remember having a nightmare or two...it really got the old brain thinking a lot. Great characters and very well made series.

The Day of the Triffids (1981)

Just saw this recently, and really liked it a lot, very well made...if you like the 1975 Survivors you will also like this....because to be honest here, it's very simalar...there really isn't much in the way of the plants attacking people here...but you know, it does pop up every now and again.

Jericho (2006)

Jericho gets better and better as you watch it. It's got a nice balance with lots of different genres going on and is never dull...likable characters.

The Day After (1983)

This one's the full on serious one, thats really quite intence. Very well made though with the realism...it shows what would happen if you were caught in the fallout areas of the nuclear bombs.

MORE POST APOCALYPTIC TV SHOWS THAT I WILL PROBABLY CHECK OUT

I do want to check out a whole bunch more...The Stand and Jeremiah possibly being the two I would seek out, but I have no idea what those two are actually like.

Lord knows when I’ll get to see these two.

YOU GOTTO CHECK OUT THIS ANT VIDEO

Just been sent this youtube by a friend...pretty amazing video...

THINGS THAT COME BACK TO YOU IN YOUR MEMORY PART 2 OF 7

A memory that’s been keeping up the old surfacing to current thought...is this one of me at art school, in 1997...I’m sat there in the figure life room with lots of artists easels during a class, and I cant remember exactly what it was we were painting...but the lecturer for this class suddenly turns to me, and has this sort of odd manner about his voice...and simply says...“is this your handwriting?” he seemed to be very taken by it...or it interesting him in some way...and a niggling regret of mine is, that I don’t think (or at least I cant remember) I ever asked him back, what had got him so interested about it. I was only sixteen or seventeen though at the time. But, I sure would like to know why he said that.

All I really remember is the question and the look on his face...I mean honestly, it was almost a bit like he'd seen a ghost from what I can remember, the feeling at the time, which is now inside my head, processed, into my late twenties mind.

If we could go back in time here to this moment, and I'm now a far more direct person...I would certainly ask what it was all about.

Recently a friend commented on my handwriting saying it was very neat. and i think I'm going to remember that too.

THINGS THAT COME BACK TO YOU IN YOUR MEMORY PART 1 OF 7

Playing with my Lego.

Now, this is only something that I’ve suddenly realised as a person going into my late twenties, but, as a kid...well ok...I have to give you some back story here about my life. We lived in Edinburgh until I was eight years old with my sister, who would be seventeen or eighteen at this point, she was given the choice of staying in Edinburgh or coming with us to Dumfries. She decided to stay there and so really, and I have to add here, I don’t remember much about under the age of eight...heck, I don’t remember much in-between the age of eight and sixteen to be honest here...but, I do remember much, much more in that time than below eight time. Anyway so, this kind of made me a only child and, only recently I’ve had this memory of me playing with my lego a lot.

There’s even this memory of a competition I took part in where you had to build your own custom Lego something...and well I had this odd big tub of lots of lego that...well it was never anything too grand I think in this box...some of it quite old stuff. But I think I won first place at this competition and got this really lovely Lego harbour police station with a really cool boat.

I LOVED that Lego harbour police station...What’s odd here is that, now that I’m much older (and having found out I wanted to be a director at about age twenty one)...I'm now at age twenty seven with quite a few animations done... I find myself thinking back to this and how I was directing things even as a kid. But without any thought...all very instinctive...that's how I seemed to become a director too, it just happened. But I remember doing this very thing...boat chases and a story telling that is possibly much better than what I do nowdays. All privately in your bedroom...a bit like theatre really when you think about it...only...not really like a theatre at all...because there was never a audience watching...but what I mean by this is, it was never recorded in any way.

And it makes me feel / realise, that I seemed to have always, been a very introverted person, even to this day.

BATTLE AT KRUGER - WORDS FAIL ME

...if you’ve not seen this already, I don’t want to tell you what happens, but it’s one of the most amazing videos you’ll ever see.

WORMS NOSTALGIA PART 1 OF 2

Ok, now when something really nostalgic comes along, I’m always surprised and transported back in time with flashback moments of when I was young. We had the first Worms game in 1995 for the commodore Amiga and loved it to pieces. So when I came across the theme tune below here, well, I was really happy.

THOUGHTS…

It looks like we’re at the end of 2008.

Studio Tacitus and I are still a bit of a secret entity...though, not secret on the internet. But as for a more real world sort of a launch...maybe there can be one in 2009...but, there has to be a right timing on a more, braver, stepping out there with my work type of scenario. I have to be happy...or happy-ish with what goes out there. Of course some directors / painters / writers / composers / podcasters are probably never really happy with what they have...this is why a release is called a release as Mr Og told me. you are releasing / letting go of your film...it's like a baby in a basket going down a river.

I'm sadly one of these people who is rarely happy with the final thing, it's almost like I want to put up a sign at the start of the film saying..."yeah well, this is honestly nothing like what I really want, but I tortured myself making it...I feel it has a vibe of sorts, but I want it made on 70mm with miniatures"

MORE REMAKES COMING?

Is this really true?...are they really going to remake Forbidden Planet, When Worlds Colide and This Island Earth?

My dad and I have always loved Forbidden Planet and This Island Earth...or you know, I’ve been fortunate enough to be introduced to these old films by him, because he has a love for Sci-Fi. He's often mentioned how Forbidden Planet could or should be remade as the gap is quite big now.

MORE DETAIL TO THE SAME THREE SHOTS...

Ah yes, two versions each with their own merits...I cant help but feel that the accordion style thing I’ve added has screwed up the composition a bit on the first shot here, but I really want more detail going on in these shots...

A LITTLE CLIP FROM MY NEW FILM

Another little bit done, but third shot isn't completed. First and second shot are completed-ish.

THE TWO HOLLYWOOD SALOON PODCAST GUYS GO THEIR SEPARATE WAYS?

Only just found this out, but it appears on 10th December 2008 Andy Siems decided to call it a day...or, begin to wrap up a gradual shutdown of it.

It's sad, because they were/are really great to listen to together because they're both different people, and that’s what makes a great conversation interesting to listen to. The enthusiasm was wonderful and love hearing people who are passionate about the thing they’re talking about.

I always like to say never say never...it could come back, of course it could...Indiana Jones IV was made with a ninteen year gap, Rambo IV was made with a twenty year gap...Terrence Malick took a twenty year gap in-between Days of Heaven and The Thin Red Line.

Also, there’s more shows on the way from The Hollywood Saloon, so it's by no means over completely.

I wish the two of them the very best of luck with the future.


FAVOURITE EPISODES:

Hollywood Saloon
Episode 36 - EARLY WORKS [click here]

Hollywood Saloon
Episode 32 - STYLE: Film Grammar at the Movies [click here]

Hollywood Saloon
Episode 25 - LITTLE FAT GIRL [click here]

Hollywood Saloon
Episode 16 - PAPER CINEMA [click here]

Hollywood Saloon
Episode 17 - LEGACY: What Will Endure? [click here]



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RUSTBOY, WHERE ART THOU?

Now it crops up every now and again this one. The question that was asked to me the other day was...“anything on Rustboy?" which is the question everybody wants answered and the information out there is scarce.

I found a exciting scrap of info on wikipedia saying that it might come out in 2014 / 2015 If you click here and scroll down that about 89%...it seems to be mentioned there but has the word tentative written next to it, and also USA, don’t know if that’s him or not, but it has to be I think?

Another tiny, tiny ickle little bit of scrap of information also here that Damian Collier a producer, entrepreneur and business consultant for film, TV, music and stage is working on it...

"Damian has also been developing another major brand - Rustboy, www.rustboy.com, which he has signed a deal to produce as a feature film, in conjunction with one of the major Studios in Los Angeles."

There's actually no wikipedia page for Rustboy itself in existence just yet, but hopefully that will happen at some point in the future.

I can remember very clearly as a younger man at art college being quite taken and inspired by what he did, and I’m certain that all those years ago it went towards me wanting to make animations. I had to decide at college what It was I wanted to do and I love the challenge of filmmaking and still do.

You can stop by the site for it though here

OLIVER POSTGATE HAS PASSED AWAY

Oliver Postgate 12 April 1925 - 8 December 2008

It’s odd timing on this one again for me, because I had not all that long ago...well, my dad had rented Bagpuss, and then I made the connection that it was indeed made by Smallfilms...I only really knew of Clangers and had also seen Ivor the Engine a very long time ago, but, didn’t know it was all by the same people until i recognised the voiceover of Postgate on Bagpuss.

The staggering part here is...that the company was only two men...Oliver Postgate and Peter Firmin, however, the two men often collaborated with Vernon Elliott who was a british bassoonist, conductor and composer.

“We would go to the BBC once a year, show them the films we'd made, and they would say: Yes, lovely, now what are you going to do next? We would tell them, and they would say: That sounds fine, we'll mark it in for eighteen months from now, and we would be given praise and encouragement and some money in advance, and we'd just go away and do it.”

It’s a tremulously inspirational story for me, and possibly the most inspirational story I know of. And I think about it every time I see a Smallfilms short.

Below is the first episode of Ivor The Engine.

THE RED DWARF SERIES ONE INTRO SEQUENCE PART 2 OF 2

This piece of information nicked from wikipedia...

"For the opening credits and exterior shots a Red Dwarf model ship had to be built from scratch. Peter Wragg was the Visual Effects Designer of Red Dwarf; Wragg also had a large part in set building and was the chief model maker. Wragg had previously filled a similar role in British television series; such as Thunderbirds Are GO, Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons and Doctor Who. The opening effects shot features a dissolve from Lister painting the ship to a full model shot of the city-sized vessel traveling through space. Originally it was supposed to be one long take but it proved too difficult to mesh together with a small budget and lowly special effects of the day. The model of Red Dwarf itself measured about eight foot long from scoop to engine"

THE RED DWARF SERIES ONE INTRO SEQUENCE PART 1 OF 2

I’ve been watching the first series of Red Dwarf again in the small hours of the morning, its been a while since I did that...

NOTE: I didn’t realise that I was in urgent need of some good solid comedy to cheer me up until I sat in front of this. Not that I was particularly down though, its important to add here that I wasn't down...or was I?...but funny things are funny things...and clever comedy that’s well written is always welcome.

...but I’m amazed at how incredibly good the intro sequence is. Had forgotten really...

It’s simply wonderful...for many reasons, the fact that we pull back from a close up of paint on a panel...beautiful, beautiful miniature work...who designed this i dont know exactly...but theres some names here, Alexander Gunn special effects senior technician - Peter Wragg, visual effects designer and Angus Bickerton motion control.

Add to this, that truly great theme tune composed by Howard Goodall.

OLD FLOOD CLIP I SHOT

Found this and wanted to post it, it's a odd bit of footage, basically the road ahead is flooded quite badly...was quite a thing to see.

MY CONVERSATIONS WITH ANDY SIEMS PART 1 OF 2

This is a hard one to talk about but I want get this out of my system...what happened there with Andy Siems was I spoke to him a couple of times in a chat room...and I think it was me that said... “can I add you to messenger?”...and then well, I added him to messenger.

What then transpired was a very bad case of me being star struck, but also ontop of that, which was possibly even worse...the self fulfilling prophecy thing happened...it's not good, no it's not good.

NOTE: Andy Siems and John Jansen do The Hollywood Saloon Podcast.

These guys I just really love listening to and over the years you get so that you know what they love and what they don’t love...sort of. But, I do know one thing for certain, and that’s that Andy Siems really loves science fiction...but what I’m talking about here is a real love for a lot of different types of science fiction...and a particular love for what I call pure science fiction stuff, that’s the very optimistic stuff, like the Gene Roddenberry universe. That basically means space ships, alien worlds and ray guns. Now I don’t come across many people who like that stuff, in fact I only know two or three. But it’s very clear in those three cases that they are very similar to me in the views that they have about present day mankind, we share a dream of all probably wanting to live in Gene Roddenberry universe.

I know that he loves my films a lot, and so entirely possible that, maybe he was star struck around me?...I only say this because on the brief encounters I’ve had with him he’s often said how much he loves my films...

NOTE: When somebody says they love my stuff I never know how to really respond to it. You see, I see nothing but faults in my work...I want the work to be so much better than it is...but to come clean here, I see great potential in my ideas, if I can ever get them properly realised...to me, they still aren’t really realised. Maybe the concepts are, but I’m a long way off from that 70mm camera and large miniatures...and that frustrates the hell out of me.

NOTE: At the same time I’m proud of most of what I’ve done because it exists as something, and that’s better than not having anything at all to show. And don’t get me wrong, I’m really happy with some of the shots I’ve done, and love the actual making the films.

That somebody was star struck around me is a very difficult concept for me to grasp, that people would be star struck around me...me????..*laughs* and I definitely think he would find it hard to grasp that somebody was star struck around him too...but the simple fact of the matter is, I was.

Butis there a misunderstanding though?...Am I one of these people who assumes the worse?