Impressionist scriptwriting

I've learned a lot over the past couple of years through some lovely people I've met at writing groups, conferences workshops and of course on-line. And I know I know...too much exposition, maybe my characters carry a little too much cliché...I know...I've been all through that with my painting.

I used to paint for years, mainly for my own pleasure and relaxation, but I have exhibited and had commissions.
When my artwork really started to fall into place for me was when I began to study the work of the French Impressionists. Limited palette of colour and limited brush strokes (not so sure about Georges Seurat if you're counting his dots as brush strokes) was the way forward for me.

Knowing when to stop and less is more was a couple of axioms I lived by when it came to my painting...more or less.

Painting for me was a journey, something that gets built on, layer upon layer...light to dark if it's water colour or pastel and dark to light if it's acrylic or oil. The big reveal came with the finished painting and part of the skill of a painter is to decide when it is finished and avoid overworking it.

Writing for me was a natural progression from painting, building layers upon layers as the narrative and my characters develop. Scriptwriting was an absolute joy for me. When I started a painting I couldn't wait to get straight to the colour, and I was no less impatient with writing wanting to get so absorbed in dialogue...I love dialogue. Words, words, words...not exactly applying what I have learned from the impressionists.

Words are the brush strokes of the writer and writing is not so much about words as the imagery the words evoke.

I have been lucky enough to visit the back rooms at the National Gallery. There they have x-rayed many of the old masters. Even great artists like Leonardo and Raphael's final composition may not necessarily have started that way. X-rays have released the secrets that have lay hidden for centuries, the artist's struggle with composition to achieve the effect which would ensure immortality for their creative work.

Just as in the same way, writer's edit until they are certain their work is the best they can possibly achieve.

Hmm, I wander what the first draft of Great Expectations was like?

Speaking tube

Just enough time left for me to submit a July post. I've been researching for the re-write of 'Ushabti' which as I've said before will be written as a three act/one set play.
My main characters, the Bullocks, have not embraced modern technology. In the absence of a telephone (land-line or mobile), in my capacity as a writer, I am currently installing a Victorian speaking tube into their home.

The only memory I have of speaking tubes was watching old black and white war films. Usually it would be someone like Jack Hawkins in naval uniform and duffel coat trying to make himself heard above the sound of a force ten gale. "Chief, can't you make us go any faster? I'm having a devil of a job trying to outrun jerry here."

On the other end would be a bare-chested actor daubed in black oil with the earpiece pressed against his ear trying to hear above the sound of the engine room.

The chief engineer's standard answer always seemed to be "we're already at full speed ahead, I don't think she'll take any more cap'n." These clichés were used over and over again in Star Trek (What Captain Kirk and Scotty wouldn't have done for an iPhone).

But the history of the speaking tube had wider applications than bridge to engine room intercourse. It was also installed in large homes and business premises, as a means of intra-household communication. They had a removable whistle built into them to alert the receiving person that someone was trying to speak to them. Hence the expression on the blower which carried over into telephone jargon. Incidentally the nautical version was a rigid pipe so the user would have to bend to hear it...bending your ear...more jargon. We're no different now...OMG and LOL.
Pre-telephone era, it must have been considered an ultra-modern gadget to have within a house.
Today technology changes by the minute when the latest smartphone app that does something that a few years ago would have been too far-fetched to believe, raises little more than an eyebrow.
Innovations have little impact today. There are too many to comprehend. People are losing their ability to be amazed.
Imagine the impact for families and servants when speaking tubes were installed. Magic lantern shows would have been truly wondrous.
I have early memories from living in a Victorian house in the 50's in inner-city Birmingham. There were obsolete servant bells and a stable in the backyard which we kept coal in, despite having three gas lit cellars which had been a dumping ground for unwanted bric-a-brac which the house had generated across the decades spanning two world wars.
None of this was photographically recorded. To take a photograph in those days usually signified an important event. Unlike today (going back to phones again) most people only have to reach into their pockets or handbags for that unexpected Kodak moment.
I often look back and lament the fact that my photo album does not reflect my personal cherished memories.
What I really should be doing is to be thankful I still have the memories of my own bygone past. A photo is only a visual reminder. The sight, the sound, the smell, the emotion and the significance are all stored away in the grey matter.
And they can be shared! As writers that's what we do better than your average snapshotter.
I am quite excited about installing my fictitious speaking tube in the Bullocks house. It doesn't have a big part in the story, but its very presence speaks volumes about my central characters and I hope it will inject a little bygone magic into my story.

Two rejections in one week.

Ushabti came back from an agent this week and Fairfax came back from the Beeb. I did however receive positive feedback and really useful criticism from both the agent and the BBC, so I'm not unhappy at all.

I'm going to adapt Ushabti for the theatre. One director has already seen the script and thinks it would work on the stage. It will mean my script will have a number 1 haircut, so that I would only need one set and three actors. I want to adapt Henley's Ricotta as a stage play too and again that would be one set and three actors.

Fairfax, also needs a rewrite, perhaps a little less clichéd and exposition, but I still maintain it would be best as a radio play. I will have a look what's going out on Radio 7 and find producers to target.

Midnight is just a project which will have to go on the back burner for now. With the feedback I have been given, I would be foolish not to put it to  good use.

Thank you Blogger for the new mobile phone widget. My site looks really neat on my phone now that it fits perfectly.

Writers Need Readers.

I took Midnight to my screenwriter's group and received some useful feedback. As always I have got carried away with my dialogue. Too much and too long and maybe at times just a little too much exposition. Action was a little too long and failed to reflect the alien Texan environment through the eyes of my young English-man from the West Midlands.
I was asked if I wanted to put Americans in a bad light. Nothing could be further than the truth. Yes there is a sub-culture of ne'er do well youngsters, but the SHERIFF turn's out to be a great support to my protagonist NORMAN. I need to be careful of that, because my own personal experience of Texans was that I was overwhelmed by their warmth, hospitality and good manners.
Overall they thought it was an original premise, so I'm going to stick with it. It's only the first
ten pages, and I wanted to know if from this first draft there was enough in there to engage an audience.
A useful evening and I'm grateful for their expert help.
I had Ushabti critiqued by a professional script reader who attends our group. She has encouraged me to approach theatre producers as she believes I would do well to pursue a career as a playwright.
Lots to think about. My dream would be to see my work performed. Give me some actors and give me an audience and the venue could be a scout hut and I would be happy.

Midnight At the Alhambra Opening scenes.

At last Midnight is underway. I have posted the first 10 pages. Please feel free to criticise.

Buenos dias from Mexico

Ola. Nothing inspires me to write more than travel. I'm a little too old to make my own way around the world backpacking. Besides I have bills to pay and need to keep my job. But even on a package I soak in the regional history while others soak in the sun.

I went to Chichen Itza which is home to one of the Seven New Wonders of the World. It wasn't a sight-seeing trip (you can see sights in books and the web). It was, for me, more of a sight-feeling trip.
Speaking to the Mayan indians and learning about the culture and the left me almost breathless. I will never claim to be an expert on the indiginous people of the Yucatan peninsular. Indeed I could spend several years at university studying the Mayans and still not achieve expert status. Perhaps expert status should be reserved for the Mayans.  But a little bit of Mayan has entered my soul. Now I can write from the heart.

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Another grand day out.

I have been on my travels again this weekend and this time I went to a TV screenwriters event at De Montfort  University Leicester. An excellent day with successful writers and producers giving us an insight on how to apply good structured  drama that suits the needs of today's broadcasting market.
The event was entitled 'Elements of Drama' with guest speakers covering the core elements of a drama series, the 'Drama Landscape' points towards the current commissioners and developing executives at the centre of drama commissioning, horror writing, and sit-com writing. With lunch and drinks available at the end of the day there was plenty of opportunity to network and speak to the people who know.
Watch out for this event next year. Its not to be missed I assure you.
I've had to put 'Midnight at the Alhambra' on the back burner for a while for two reasons.
The day job has been rather hectic lately, and I've written a final draft of Ushabti and submitted to an agent.
Only one agent? Yes well its a start.
I'm off on my hols this coming weekend for two weeks. I might just send this blog a postcard.