If you were amused by the Superman Returns video blog I recommended to Soul Searcher journal readers in February, check out this sequelific Hot Fuzz blog.
And on the subject of Peter Jackson, I would also like to recommend The Frighteners Director’s Cut DVD. Although the film is weakened by the extra material which has been reinstated, it’s worth the purchase because the second disc contains The Funniest Blooper In The Annals Of Cinema: Michael J. Fox genuinely forgets what film he’s in during scenes with The Judge and yells, “DOC!!!!”

I had a meeting today with Lee Thomas from Screen West Midlands. After twice being turned down by their script development fund, I had given up on the agency, but new big boss Jonnie Turpie told me at a Rural Media event a couple of months back that in spite of those two rejections, the production funding was administered by different people and it was still worth me looking into that. And here was the second surprise: Screen West Midlands do fund feature film production, contrary to what I’d been led to believe in the past.
Lee, who I met briefly in Cannes last year, told me that – as a result of Soul Searcher – SWM were keen to provide me with some financing if they possibly could. His initial reaction to the Dark Side treatment was one which others had previously hinted at, but no-one had put as clearly before. The story combines an epic, effects-heavy, action-adventure genre with a small, “rite of-passage” character element. (A deliberate decision.) Problem is, an expensive FX genre movie needs to find a wide audience in order to make a profit, whereas the quirky characterisation I’m aiming for tends to only interest a more narrow audience, hence it traditionally being the realm of low budget films.
Put bluntly, in order to get the film made, I may have to make the characters more stereotypical.
In other news, I’m following a couple of new leads in respect of producers and name actors. By the way, the companies with whom I had promising meetings over the summer seem to have lost interest.

Bang, bang, pop, bang. Must be almost fireworks night.
A Mr. James Furlong has won the Soul Searcher “Guess The Budget Competition”, a challenge only slightly more difficult – for anyone who’s watched the DVD extras – than those multiple choice quizzes you get at the end of CSI. “Was the victim killed by (A) a screwdriver, (B) a bus driver or (C) Minnie Driver?”
The correct answer (to return to Soul Searcher) was

It’s been a listless couple of weeks for me, getting up late, struggling to do anything useful, wondering if that distance wailing noise is the fat lady singing.
I took some photos of London landmarks in order to make a videomatic of the sequence in which the world stops turning, but the difficulty of achieving the collapsing effects in any worthwhile way has led me to put it off again and again. I reckon sandcastles are the best way to go, but since I don’t have a sandpit, that doesn’t really get me anywhere. I think I might just steal shots from other films.
To add to my general malaise, I’ve been kicking myself over a missed opportunity. Lately I’ve been camera operating for Musical Mad TV, which involves the presenters and I going to West End shows for free, then interviewing the cast at the swanky parties afterwards. (Good work if you can get it, which you can’t, because I got it first. Nah, nah, na-nah, nah!) Last week we covered Spamalot, the Monty Python musical. On our way through the party, Tim – one of the presenters – quite literally bumped into a guy coming up the stairs. Apologies were exchanged and we went on our way. Tim had no idea who he’d just collided with until I told him, simultaneously cursing my own failure to engage the guy in conversation; it was Terry Gilliam.

It really is a very small world. What film were The Model Unit working on when I last visited them? Atonement. And the second assistant editor on Atonement, by coincidence, is my good friend Matt Streatfield. And Matt put me in touch with a producer that he thought might be interested in making Dark Side. He wasn’t, but he very kindly furnished me with the names of some people that might be. So some more copies of the script have gone out.

Still no progress with the interested producing/financing parties, but no rejections either, and it ain’t over till the fat lady sings.
The storyboards are starting to come in from Luis Gayol and Neil Johnson. I’ve done a bit myself too. You can see some random frames of Luis’s in the gallery. To show you any more would give too much away.
At the weekend I sat on Brighton pier pondering the script and came up with a few improvements, but nothing major.

The videomatic is finished. You can see an extract on the video page.

When I got fed up of eating melon, I grated the rest of it and drank its juice, which I think is the best way to treat your cast.
I had another meeting with Luis Gayol, one of the storyboard artists, at the weekend. We got stuck into the big third act battle, which I found quite difficult to describe in two dimensions.
I also had a rare face-to-face (or face-to-beard) meeting with Ian Tomlinson, in no lesser place than Doodies. (Hurray!) Pretty much everything of any significance in the film has been tackled by Ian, David and/or Chris, but there are still plenty of details to work on.

Whilst I remember, let it be known that this film is now officially called The Dark Side of the Earth. I dropped the Shadowland bit to avoid confusion with other films, and that Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young song. (An easy mistake to make.)
The Videomatic Shoot: Part II went fine. Well, come on, how difficult can it be to shoot a melon derailing on an ice cube as it travels along an old curtain rail? Not that difficult. This isn’t Soul Searcher, and there is no curse. Yet.
Other highlights of the day included flying a party balloon into the garden hedge (until it popped, startling poor Jen) and Rob viciously impaling kitchen roll with a bamboo skewer.
“That’s a wrap,” I announced at 4:30pm. “Who fancies some melon?”

Apologies to any Explorer users who haven’t been able to see the site for the past week. Please let me know if there are any lingering problems.
Tomorrow Rob, Jen and I shoot the rest of the crash sequence videomatic. In preparation, I have made a larger scale robot. Out of a melon.