Skip to main content

Cutting out the story

Hello.

Just got back from Sydney where I was lucky enough to work with editor, Tim Wellburn (Black Robe, Mad Max 2 etc. etc.). Dale Fairbairn (my Producer) convinced him and Island Films to get involved in our 10 minute, ScreenWest funded short, "A Stone Throw."

I wrote the screenplay with Phil Jeng Kane and no matter how hard we tried, the picture cut just wasn't working. We were slowly losing our story with each attempt and we needed a fresh, experienced set of eyes. There were some difficulties with coverage, but they seemed to dissolve with Tim at the helm.

It took him 4-5 days. I let him choose takes, cutting style - the lot and I must say, he did a fine job. He really got into the story. The cut was fresh, new and completely understandable. I was so happy to see the film working. He'd solved all the problems we'd had with previous cuts (there were 4 of those). Most problems were brought about by limited coverage on an incredibly tight, TV-style shoot.

Now we have to get ScreenWest approval before we go into track lay (Richard Mahony), music (Jonathan Mustard), mix and final online.

Stay tuned.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

I've got a really good idea for a film . . .

Phil commented on that last piece. I forget that people actually read these things. I assumed you were all lazy and illiterate ;) Yes . . . as Phil says . . . we have taken time to write this screenplay. And it's depressing to think about it. Sometimes I feel like Marshall in Absolutely Fabulous . Marshall went to Hollywood 20 years ago to develop a screenplay with a studio. People in various episodes ask him how it's going. He usually has an actor attached, or a big producer, or an out-of-work director . . . No doubt Jennifer Saunders has met a few of these people . The industry is teaming with writers working on a screenplay. Until a screenplay becomes a film - it's only a blueprint - not considered an art form in itself. And yet it takes such a long time to write one. When people ask me what I do - I answer web designer . It's my knee-jerk, "pat" response. It's also less problematic and gets me more $work than if I say, "filmmaker".

The Three by Five Card Index System

Here's another approach to writing your screenplay. The screenwriter's friend. Introducing the infamous Three by Five Card Index System . Wow! How can I get one? In my case - I made it. What it amounts to is this: Three 90cm x 40cm sheets of chipboard hinged together so that the whole thing stands like a concertina on a table or floor. Every 5cm or so down, I have drawing-pinned small cardboard hinges (triangles if you will) made from old file dividers. These become placeholders for your cards. A couple of bunches of 3 inch by 5 inch index cards (available in packs of 100 at any newsagency) and there you have it. A sure fire way to make your screenplay bubble to the top of the pile . . . Not. But it's a tool and writers need their tools. Cool. How does it work? As you can see - each act has three mini-acts in it (fitting in with Australian script theorist Linda Heys' Second Act Story ). Or rather - going one step further and suggesting that all three acts have a begi

The Drug That Killed River Phoenix

This article was going to be about a new drug I'm on called Duomine , but as I knew very little about River Phoenix (aka the vegan Jimmy Dean ) I thought I'd swat up on what's really going on behind that brain-worm ditty. I'll talk about Duomine another time. The song line I'm on the drug that killed River Phoenix is from Aussie alternative band TISM's tasteless 1995 single (He'll Never Be An) Ol' Man River - and it's a bit cheap, frankly. The single's cover shows a mock-up of River's tombstone and was released shortly after his death. TISM were well-known for criticisin Imperial Hollywood and US pop culture, but they were masters when it came to borrowed interest marketing. More about these guys later. River Bottom's Awkward Life In 1944, River's mother Arlyn was born to a Jewish family living in the Bronx. When she finished school, she married a computer programmer but quickly grew bored of her secretarial life. In 196