Film Notes

(click titles for trailers)

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Bookface

After 18 months of fun building and flying camera drones, Steve finally persuaded me to try screenwriting. It seemed a success, and after a further 18 months we had collaborated on writing 5 shorts and 7 feature scripts. I noted that no-one was rushing up to us with briefcases full of cash, despite some success at screenwriting festivals, and he suggested I make a film. This seemed an interesting idea, so I wrote a script that played to the strengths of our situation (no money, but access to a book warehouse). 
At over ten minutes the film 'struggled for recognition' at festivals (perhaps because it was a bit quirky, perhaps because at that length it was up against films up to 30 minutes, which are very different beasts), so I edited it down to a 5 minute version that made the 'Official Selection' at the 2019 'Films Infest' festival in New York.

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Henry's Walks

'Henry's Walks by the Sea' was the first film Steve made, in his now impressive career as writer and producer. We agreed that the character was strongly drawn, and deserved a sequel or two, so I wrote these and we had a great deal of fun making 'Awakening' and 'Homecoming' over about 18 months, grabbing shots near home as well as some fantastic footage in Coventry Cathedral (thanks to John Witcombe there) and even Washington Square NYC! All based on 'the eternal return', although 'Homecoming' suggests it is possible to get off the celestial merry-go-round, even if it left Henry none the wiser.

 

Hatman

A short piece made during a visit to my sister in Toronto, starring her and her husband Tony (looking very cool in those sunglasses). We roped in Tony's sister in law who, as luck would have it, had just qualified as a film stuntman, although all she had to do was wink at the camera. It won 'Best Toronto Film' at Toronto's 2020 "300 Seconds Short Film Festival".

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Particle Man

The pandemic brought a lot of project ideas to a halt, including this one, but as things started to open up a bit I made this with an old school friend who had trodden the boards when younger (winning an award for his performance as Tony in 'West Side Story'). I spent a very unpleasant 3 months in post production wrestling with the computer-generated elements, although when it won a number of accolades including the Europa Gold Award for 'Best Micro Movie' at the 2022 Lost Angeles Sci-Fi Film Festival, it all seemed worth it.

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Amelia

(Steve and I remember the origin of this differently, I'm writing this!): Steve wrote and co-produced 'Amelia's Letter', and while it is a very beautiful film he would mention from time to time that he regretted that his favourite character, Amelia, largely 'ended up on the cutting room floor'. I felt that the story could be somewhat punchier, and after reviewing the (hours) of original footage, we agreed to make an alternative version that kept Amelia front and centre. It was an interesting challenge to try to 're-write' a film that had already been shot, although I'm not sure how successful it was to try to turn an 'atmosphere piece' into more of a drama.

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Liminauts

Steve and I attended a short film festival in Bristol, and noted a large number of successful films in the 'experimental' category. Steve agreed to write a thought-provoking voice over if I could provide a (purely visual) narrative.