Eibon Films - News

I just bought a couple of sets of these 100 Record cards.

When I revise for things I tend to try and condense everything into tiny bite-sized chunks of information and cram as many notes as I can onto these cards; as I believe the act of writing something down helps me remember things. Repetition is key. Not losing them is also key. Getting them cheap is recommended. To me, these ones that already come with a ring binder are a brilliant and simple yet effective idea!

When I am writing in an ‘old school’ fashion, needing to hide away from my machine and the evil lure of the unfiltered Web, I often break my scenes or plot points down on Index Cards. then, in trying to follow Syd Field, or Blake Snyder, I attach them to my corkboard in order to visualise all of the elements of my story and then see if I need to reorder them in order to shake things up and keep the structure fresh.

Obviously using software tools like Final Draft, Celtx or Scrivener I can do this virtually without a need to kill a tree or needing to be wary of battery power or being near a plug socket. But sometimes that tactile element is incredibly important - to move something and be able to still see the entire structure in one go, and not have to keep scrolling. Currently no software package can do that for you. It’s old school brainstorming or mind mapping.

With these great cards you can carry them around, make oodles of notes and do some healthy planning and then later if you need to take the binder away and start arranging them on your carpet floor or stick them to your corkboard. Pin them to the 4 corners of your mind and then write!

That reminds me. I have a feature to get back to work on! Soon my board will be full of ideas and not a distracting picture. ;0)

Screenwriter Don Roos has an interesting technique for ensuring that he gets the job done - by using a Kitchen Egg Timer and a series of handy tips behind the method to ensure that he sticks to the time allotted. But why do we have to go to these lengths?

Many writing tools offer you the ability to write - distraction free, ie in full screen mode; but they can’t make you stick to it. (more…)

Dan O’Bannon - ALIEN scribe is dead.  The World should definitely mourn the loss of one artist.

Until I started teaching myself about screenwriting, he was just a name on a poster. I mean I didn’t even really realise that people wrote screenplays; before I was first told that in order to make a film I needed a screenplay. I mean you just went to the cinema and the films just magically happen. Right? They all just show up on set and make it up as they go along. Right? At least that is what Hollywood often wants us to believe, with the cult of the Director and the purported talent of certain actors. God forbid, the stories are crafted by artisans…

I knew he had something to do with ALIEN and RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD, DARK STAR and LIFEFORCE but I had no clue as to what contribution he made, or how much of a difference he made; how significant was he?

And then one day I read the screenplay to ALIEN.  For me it was a life changing experience. I can’t really describe it, but the economic, unflowery and effective prose really spoke to me. Again, I wasn’t sure who (of all of the people involved in that screenplay) really was responsible, but I took notice and I read a few more screenplays that he had a hand in. Each one, was its own piece of work, but each had a unique power and economy that really spoke to me, even if the end film didn’t really have the same effect. Inspired by that, by the power of his prose, I tore the hell out of two feature screenplays trying to cut each one down to its purest and most economic form. But they were pale imitations at best, when compared to this man’s work. It is something I find myself continually revisiting and constantly chasing - an elusive muse.

It will be a crime if others do not mourn his passing. I know I have lost an unofficial mentor. I will still revisit his scripts and chase a fraction of their power.

Have you signed up for Script Frenzy?

Yes that’s right, I’ve barely finished Nanowrimo and now I have signed up for Script Frenzy and I am considering attempting writing 100 pages in 30 days. I already have three scripts competing for my loving attention during that month; jostling for first place.

I must be mad! I know I’m not drunk… not yet anyway, but I am working on it. ;0)

I’ve just been reading about the new offering from Adobe - ‘Story’ - designed to enable Adobe to encroach on the world of writing applications.

You can create Screenplays, Novels, TV Commercials etc, complete with Character Bios, Loglines and genre info etc as very starched and sterile looking ‘projects’. You can import from packages such as MS Word, as well as the usual offenders such as Final Draft and other screenwriting apps.

So far it looks like a very primitive version of something like Celtx and Scrivener, merely dressed in the Adobe CS look-and-feel. However, it’s real strength may be the ability to work online and offline, work collaboratively and benefit from the tight integration with other future Adobe apps - especially any production / breakdown software they might be planning, or OnLocation etc. The ability to share XML and meta data within the rest of the eventual new release of the video production suites, to build the end product, may be the real string in its bow.

It will be interesting to see how much this early version will eventually retail for. Right now you can obviously try it out for free.

Watch the video presentation (19 mins) HERE.

Find out more and download a trial version HERE.

The Hacintosh has landed - and is working perfectly, thank you very much.  The only thing different from that pictured is that when operational mine runs Snow Leopard 10.6.2 - the Mac OS.

It hasn’t been the easiest customisation and it is not complete. It took days of a very talented friend’s IT skills to negotiate the dodgy instructions previously documented by various non-English speaking IT geeks and a certain amount of trial and error; as we deviated from the plans to have it as a dual boot (Win XP and Mac) systems. Instead, it is nothing but Mac software, with various kernel extensions - to enable certain functionality, such as getting the sound working and customising the battery life indicator.

I have swapped the Wifi Card for a Dell 1390 Wifi Card, as the Mac OS treats it like the Apple native Airport card, and now the Wifi works. All I have to do now is upgrade the RAM before it is a fully functional writing productivity enhancing tool.

The main test - that of getting the machine to run iWork and Scrivener etc is complete. It works perfectly, albeit on a much smaller and less powerful machine than I am used to. Now all I have to do is put it through a week of rigorous testing, before I consider the customisation complete and sell my EEE PC. I may even stick an Apple sticker on the back. ;0)

Lessons learned are that if I had an £80 extra to spend, buying the Dell Mini 10 would have been far easier to do.

In other news, I have been greatly enjoying John Connolly’s “THE GATES” - a hilarious and very entertaining Adult tale for Children. I wish I had the merest ounce of his talent. It is definitely helping me to rediscover my love for the written word.

I am currently taking a small break from writing a new short story - a slaughterhouse tale - one that is definitely stretching me in unexpected ways, due to the amount of research I am needing to do, and the restructuring that I need to do to the plot to make it work for me. As a result I am having to learn new, more grown up, ways of working. Mainly because I tend to write instinctively and throw things together, then force them to bend to my will, rather than plan everything intelligently from scratch. I tend to see it in my head and go for it and that is why I often get bogged down later on, when the process is interrupted by the stress of my day job and then I struggle to remember where I was going with something and the mood I was aiming for at the time. I am slowly forcing myself to plan, to plot, to make notes, to research and delay the actual writing process until I am truly ready. It’s quite a demanding process and a bit too much like homework for my liking.

And this hopefully brings me around to the actual point I am trying to make [and badly]: that I am curious as to what tools you [Dear readers] use to construct your masterpieces?

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I haven’t been around much have I? Bad ginger! Unfortunately I have not been busy making ROSEBLOOD - the 4th Black CAB Productions short film. That film is deader than disco….

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For when you don’t live in Hollywood but really need to get a printed script to someone: Hollywood Script Express

Hollywood Script Express is a premium Screenplay Printing & Shipping service that makes sending your script to agents, managers & contests simple, especially for Overseas and Out-of-State Screenwriters.

The Website claims - “Upload Script - Print and Bind - Ship Same Day” - sounds good to me!

“Hollywood Script Express provides all the services you need to get your professionally presented screenplay into the right hands and onto the top of the script pile. We take your script file, print, bind and ship it without you leaving your desk. We can even register the intellectual property rights at the same time providing you with peace of mind while you market your script.”

If interested - Click HERE to register.

I don’t need it now. But I can’t wait to use. If you have a go - please let me know how you found the service!

Episode 8 - check it peeps!

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