Tagged

Optimistic Reader got me with a meme, the instructions being to "grab the book nearest you. Turn to page 123. Go down to the fifth line. Type out the next three sentences".

Much as I was tempted to cheat, and put something from Billy's book, unfortunately that wasn't nearest. Instead, this is from "Thinking Like a Director" by Michael Bloom: "Directors can make two mistakes in early rehearsals. Some directors want to make friends with the actors so badly, they devote the first day to socialising (I know a few directors who continue this practice into the second week, forcing the actors to take control of rehearsals). Others deliver long-winded lectures to impress the troops, turning the rehearsal into a classroom exercise."

And now I tag Nerys and MaryAn

I spent much of the weekend scouring the pages of Britfilm, reading up on festival deadlines, requirements, costs and such like. We now have a plan for where to go next with "Echoes", which is good. Fingers crossed someone out there likes us. The arrangements for the cast/crew/investors screening and party are beginning to come together too.

After the party comes the romcom workshop, and the day after that, I fly to the USA! Am beginning to get rather excited. Four days in Chicago, visiting Stacie, followed by a week in LA visiting Gena. Chicago will involve architecture, theatre, possibly ice-skating, and probably quite a bit of eating. LA will also involve quite a bit of eating too, I suspect, and hopefully some work, as well as some sunny tourism. Anyone out there want to meet up?

Is this love?

Is it any wonder I was in love with Glenn when I was 19?

There are times when only microchips will do

And getting in from a 2 1/2 hour Shakespeare Masterclass having had only a toasted cheese sandwich for tea, over 6 hours earlier, is one of them. No chip pan in our house, you see, so we either nuke them or we don't have them. Oven chips just aren't the same - it has to be microchips, from the microwave, in that little box giving off a wiff of singed cardboard as you burn your fingers on the chips. Ah, heaven.

Masterclass was good - run by Ellie Jones, Associate Director at Sheffield Theatres and based around As You Like It, which is the next play in the Crucible. There were about a dozen people there, some of whom were much more willing to push themselves into the limelight than others. I hadn't expected it to be quite so interactive and performance based, and not being a natural performer, that was a bit alarming. We concentrated on two scenes, one prose, one verse, and did lots of exercises about reading the text, and how different ways of reading and/or moving altered the meaning of the scene. It was really useful in terms of understanding the acting process (which is why I'd gone in the first place) and also understanding the director's decision making process. I'm going to a study day called "Devise a Play in a Day" next month which will probably be even scarier in terms of performance requirements, but I keep hearing that writers should do acting classes in order to understand the acting process, which is why I'm doing it, so I'm sure it will be a good learning experience. I have absolutely no desire to act, I'm useless at it anyway, and I hate being the centre of attention, so it could also be a bit of a trial.

Despite not wanting to be the centre of attention, I'm doing a workshop on "Writing Romantic Comedy" next month for Yorkshire Art Circus. We're a little light on potential attenders at the moment, so if you fancy it, or know someone who might, please get in touch with Lesley at YAC

OK so this is a little exciting

We have a finished print of Echoes with some absolutely fantastic art work. And I have a couple of meetings this week to talk about submission strategies, festivals and so on, as well as the party for cast, crew and supporters. Short film makers out there, how did you decide where to screen and which festivals to enter?

I'd show you the art work if it wasn't for the fact that I can't get my computer to copy something in one programme into a different one. I suspect my laptop is in fact reaching a difficult age - the power socket is a bit temperamental and the screen even more so. It'll just have to soldier on for a while yet though, I can't afford a new one.

And in other news, the BAFTA nominations were announced on Friday:

BEST FILM:
BABEL - Alejandro González Iñárritu/Jon Kilik/Steve Golin
THE DEPARTED - Brad Pitt/Brad Grey/Graham King
THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND - Andrea Calderwood/Lisa Bryer/Charles Steel
LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE
THE QUEEN - Tracey Seaward/Christine Langan/Andy Harries

THE ALEXANDER KORDA AWARD for the Outstanding British Film of the Year
CASINO ROYALE - Michael G Wilson/Barbara Broccoli/Martin Campbell/Neal Purvis/Robert Wade/Paul Haggis
THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND - Andrea Calderwood/Lisa Bryer/Charles Steel/Kevin Macdonald/Peter Morgan/Jeremy Brock
NOTES ON A SCANDAL - Scott Rudin/Robert Fox/Richard Eyre/Patrick Marber
THE QUEEN - Tracey Seaward/Christine Langan/Andy Harries/Stephen Frears/Peter Morgan
UNITED 93 - Tim Bevan/Lloyd Levin/Paul Greengrass

THE CARL FOREMAN AWARD for Special Achievement by a British Director, Writer or Producer in their First Feature Film
ANDREA ARNOLD (Director) - Red Road
JULIAN GILBEY (Director) - Rollin' with the Nines
CHRISTINE LANGAN (Producer) - Pierrepoint
GARY TARN (Director) - Black Sun
PAUL ANDREW WILLIAMS (Director) - London to Brighton

THE DAVID LEAN AWARD for Achievement in Direction
BABEL - Alejandro González Iñárritu
THE DEPARTED - Martin Scorsese
LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE - Jonathan Dayton/Valerie Faris
THE QUEEN - Stephen Frears
UNITED 93 - Paul Greengrass

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
BABEL - Guillermo Arriaga
LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE - Michael Arndt
PAN'S LABYRINTH - Guillermo del Toro
THE QUEEN - Peter Morgan
UNITED 93 - Paul Greengrass

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
CASINO ROYALE - Neal Purvis/Robert Wade/Paul Haggis
THE DEPARTED - William Monahan
THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA - Aline Brosh McKenna
THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND - Peter Morgan/Jeremy Brock
NOTES ON A SCANDAL - Patrick Marber

FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
APOCALYPTO - Mel Gibson/Bruce Davey
BLACK BOOK (ZWARTBOEK) - Teun Hilte/San Fu Maltha/Jens Meurer/Paul Verhoeven
PAN'S LABYRINTH - Alfonso Cuarón/Bertha Navarro/Frida Torresblanco/Guillermo del Toro
RANG DE BASANTI (PAINT IT YELLOW) - Ronnie Screwvala/Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra
VOLVER - Agustín Almodóvar/Pedro Almodóvar

ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
CARS - John Lasseter
FLUSHED AWAY - David Bowers/Sam Fell
HAPPY FEET - George Miller

ACTOR in a LEADING ROLE
DANIEL CRAIG - Casino Royale
LEONARDO DICAPRIO - The Departed
RICHARD GRIFFITHS - The History Boys
PETER O'TOOLE - Venus
FOREST WHITAKER - The Last King of Scotland

ACTRESS in a LEADING ROLE
PENELOPE CRUZ - Volver
JUDI DENCH - Notes on a Scandal
HELEN MIRREN - The Queen
MERYL STREEP - The Devil Wears Prada
KATE WINSLET - Little Children

ACTOR in a SUPPORTING ROLE
ALAN ARKIN - Little Miss Sunshine
JAMES MCAVOY - The Last King of Scotland
JACK NICHOLSON - The Departed
LESLIE PHILLIPS - Venus
MICHAEL SHEEN - The Queen

ACTRESS in a SUPPORTING ROLE
EMILY BLUNT - The Devil Wears Prada
ABIGAIL BRESLIN - Little Miss Sunshine
TONI COLETTE - Little Miss Sunshine
FRANCES DE LA TOUR - The History Boys
JENNIFER HUDSON - Dreamgirls

THE ANTHONY ASQUITH AWARD for Achievement in Film Music
BABEL - Gustavo Santaolalla
CASINO ROYALE - David Arnold
DREAMGIRLS - Henry Krieger
HAPPY FEET - John Powell
THE QUEEN - Alexandre Desplat

CINEMATOGRAPHY
BABEL - Rodrigo Prieto
CASINO ROYALE - Phil Meheux
CHILDREN OF MEN - Emmanuel Lubezki
PAN'S LABYRINTH - Guillermo Navarro
UNITED 93 - Barry Ackroyd

EDITING
BABEL - Stephen Mirrione/Douglas Crise
CASINO ROYALE - Stuart Baird
THE DEPARTED - Thelma Schoonmaker
THE QUEEN - Lucia Zucchetti
UNITED 93 - Clare Douglas/Christopher Rouse/Richard Pearson

PRODUCTION DESIGN
CASINO ROYALE - Peter Lamont/Simon Wakefield
CHILDREN OF MEN - Geoffrey Kirkland/Jim Clay/Jennifer Williams
MARIE ANTOINETTE - K K Barrett/Véronique Melery
PAN'S LABYRINTH - Eugenio Caballero/Pilar Revuelta
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN'S CHEST - Rick Heinrichs/Cheryl A Carasik

COSTUME DESIGN
THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA - Patricia Field
MARIE ANTOINETTE - Milena Canonero
PAN'S LABYRINTH - Lala Huete
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN'S CHEST - Penny Rose
THE QUEEN - Consolata Boyle

SOUND
BABEL - José García/Jon Taylor/Chris Minkler/Martín Hernández
CASINO ROYALE - Chris Munro/Eddy Joseph/Mike Prestwood Smith/Martin Cantwell/Mark Taylor
PAN'S LABYRINTH - Martín Hernández/Jamie Bashkt
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN'S CHEST - Christopher Boyes/George Watters II/ Paul Massey/Lee Orloff
UNITED 93 - Chris Munro/Mike Prestwood Smith/Douglas Cooper/Oliver Tarney/Eddy Joseph

ACHIEVEMENT IN SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS
CASINO ROYALE - Steve Begg/Chris Corbould
CHILDREN OF MEN - Frazer Churchill/Tim Webber/Michael Eames/Paul Corbould
PAN'S LABYRINTH - Edward Irastorza/Everett Burrell
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN'S CHEST - John Knoll/Hal Hickel/Charles Gibson
SUPERMAN RETURNS - Mark Stetson

MAKE UP & HAIR
THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA - Nicki Ledermann/Angel De Angelis
MARIE ANTOINETTE - Jean-Luc Russier/Desiree Corridoni
PAN'S LABYRINTH
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN'S CHEST - Ve Neill/Martin Samuel
THE QUEEN - Daniel Phillips

SHORT ANIMATION FILM
DREAMS AND DESIRES - FAMILY TIES - Les Mills/Joanna Quinn
GUY 101 - Ian Gouldstone
PETER AND THE WOLF - Hugh Welchman/Alan Dewhurst/Suzie Templeton

SHORT FILM
CARE - Rachel Bailey/Corinna Faith/Tracy Bass
CUBS - Lisa Williams/Tom Harper
DO NOT ERASE - Asitha Ameresekere
HIKIKOMORI - Karley Duffy/Paul Wright
KISSING, TICKLING AND BEING BORED - David Smith/Jim McRoberts

THE ORANGE RISING STAR AWARD (nominees announced on 8 Jan 2007)EMILY BLUNT
EVA GREEN
NAOMIE HARRIS
CILLIAN MURPHY
BEN WHISHAW

Unusually, I want most things to win in most categories. Sadly, I haven't seen everything nominated, so I'm not proferring an opinion at this point. (I will when I've seen more of the films, though). Despite the BAFTA ruling this year that you only get nominated if the film has been released in the UK ahead of the noms (or something like that), several of the nominees haven't made it to the filmgodforsaken lands of wildest East Yorkshire, so no doubt folk in the south east are able to make much more of an informed commentary than I can. When I move house, I'm going somewhere with proper cinema and proper theatre.

Happy New Year

Belatedly.

Hope you all had a lovely time and didn't suffer any consequences, and are not now going in for the usual mental self-flagellation as your resolutions go up in smoke. I didn't make any resolutions, as they're usually just a small bomb of self-hatred with a two week time delay; however, I did set myself the challenge of writing something short every day this year - not writing every day (I'm doing that too) but writing something complete, every day, as per Suzan Lori-Parks' 365, previously mentioned here. And so far, this has resulted in a short play (of the "Gone in 60 seconds" type), a monologue, and 3 short stories - not bad, really. I missed yesterday, because it was a bit of a mad day - up at 5:15 to get a train to get to London in time for my NPA workshop (don't you just love those engineering works on the East Coast line?); workshop, meet A at the V&A for lunch, bit of mooching round shops, meet Liz at the Theatre Museum*, mooch a bit more, catch a train home; collapse, drained, in front of a film. I think that's forgiveable, and since it's my game, and I set the rules, there is a new rule: missing a day is OK so long as there was a reason other than sheer laziness or can't-be-arsedness, and that gap is made up the next day.

No plays to report on, but did see a film last week - Deja Vu, written by Bill Marsilii and Terry Rossio, directed by Tony Scott, starring Denzel Washington. I loved it. Every now and then, you need a big blockbustery movie that blows things up and messes with your head, and this was it for me. Aside from the fact that if Mr Washington picks up a script and says "yes", the chances are you're going to get something worth looking at, I was still thinking about it hours later. What if you could go back in time? Could you really alter things? Then what? No doubt there are plot holes in there, but I don't care. It's definitely a "suspend reality and enjoy" film, but then, it's fiction, so why not? A worthwhile investment of a Thursday afternoon.

* The Theatre Museum in Covent Garden closed today (unless something really odd happened between yesterday and now which I don't know about). For anyone who cares about our theatrical history being recorded, check out the Guardians of the Theatre Museum. The V&A apparently own the collection, much of which was never displayed because the Russell Street premises were too small. But instead of proper premises being found, the museum is being closed. In a couple of years, maybe, some of it might re-appear at the V&A - but that's not the same as having a dedicated theatre museum. So, as of today, a big chunk of our cultural history disappears into a cupboard somewhere in South Kensington.