Cigarette Burn

i heart music videos

2006-07-06T00:51:00.000+01:00

Anyone with the slightest interest in music videos and their history should check the link below. I found it a couple of weeks ago and I'm still working through it. Chris Issack - Wicked Game...need I say more. Check now before someone high up catches on and this site has to be taken down.

i heart 80's music

Spidey 3

2006-06-30T22:48:00.000+01:00

A year! A bloody year!

click me

I'm Baaaack!

2006-06-23T16:15:00.000+01:00

So it's been a bit dead round here lately but sure whats new there. I've just been so busy! But the with alot of loyal...ahem...'fans' (just look at the comments) getting in touch asking why cigaretteburn is down, I've got my act together and put together this lovely post with all the latest gossip. The fact that I'm stuck in bed sick has nothing to do with this timely return.

Film
So lets start with college. It's over. One year diploma in tv and film, done! Now the option to do a higher diploma is before me but I'm not taking it yet. I've decided to take a year out and work like a cheap pack mule as I haven't really a penny to my name. I've spent the last few years living hand to mouth and haven't any proper savings to call my own. So the year out helps me gather some much needed funds and also to work on a load of projects I'm keen to get stuck into.

So with college finished that also means I have one completed short film under my belt (If Faced). Now I'm not a particular fan of it but it has recieved some encouraging feed back. We had a screening for first and second years and the film was "well recieved". The guys at Big Fat Bear Productions are happy with it and the general feedback is "I'm very keen to see what you do next." So I guess I'll keep trucking.

So next up is actually a writing gig. I wrote a script a couple of months ago called 'Scratch' and gave it to the guys at Big Fat Bear. They liked it and the decision was made to put forward for Short Cuts, the Irish Film Board's funding scheme. We assembled the submission pack with me as writer and Ben Keenan(Rise of the Bricks) to direct. So last friday I signed my first film related contract. Was kinda exciting. So the pack is in and we'll know in September if we get the funding. It's a long wait and I really hope we get it. This will be so exciting if it goes ahead. As part of the submission we had to inclued info on "proposed style and form". Here's some snippets:

"The film is a thriller using overlapping narrative devices to create tension. "

"The short pays many homages to icons of contemporary cinema, notably Tarantino and Fincher, without allowing those homages to become the centre of the piece. It is ultimately an original story told in an original style, but with fitting and suitable filmic in-jokes which add to the piece, chosen as they were primarily for their impact and effect upon the film and quite secondarily for their source."

"The visual style of the film is very much informed by classic Tarantino and 70’s films, particularly Reservoir Dogs, but with some more contemporary flourishes giving it a very distinct feel."

"The garage is bright, with strong groupings of colour. The palette will be very simple, excluding only browns and greys, but the production design will include grouping together as much of the colours as possible on the shelves but using real products and colours so that while it may be more coherent than real life, it doesn’t feel overly composed or ethereal, it looks like a real garage without looking like a documentary"

I must also say the true gurillea filmmaking is fantastic. Myself, Dave, Rob and Wayne recently spent a night shooting a short chase sequence down at Bray seafront. I was the only person with any experience in the field. The plan was to produce,shoot and edit in 24hrs. Now I'm not going to edit this particular piece just yet but I learnt an awful lot in that one night and I'm keen to do it again. We had so much fun and the end result was pretty impressive I just havent the resources to edit it just yet. I'll put up a full post about the night soon.

Web
I'm working on a full website with an aim to launch in September. This will bring all my interests together, showcase my work, have updates on all the latest projects and hopefully be a fun and interesting site to visit. Check zachbraff.com for some of idea of what I hope to acheive.

Music
I recently did a podcast for First Taste. The podcast is currently floating in cyperspace as we're having problems with hosting ans rss but I'll let you know where and when it's up. I had alot of fun doing it and if it's well recieved we'll do another one. Dan has been taking some most excellent photos which can be seen here. Also Dan's website 'fuzzy.bolier' is live, check that here. I've add my lastfm listings to the sidebar so you can check out who I'm listening to. Also check out the excellent 'The Fratellis'.

Now that I have wireless broadband I will be keeping this more up to date. I have lots of stuff I want to get stck into so stayed tuned. The robots are working on something fun.

Peace

Phil

Back in the game!

2006-03-27T13:04:00.000+01:00

Well it has of course been dead round here for a wee bit but with mighty good reason! Editing "If Faced", pre-production for college studio piece, editing news insert piece, a heapof essays and all the other stuff in between. The fantastic news is that If Faced is nearly damn well finished. I've a list of about 5 things to sort in the edit, a little bit of grading, need to source 30 secs of copyright music and then author the whole lot to dvd. All this in about 12 days. I better go do some work... Here's a screen grab from If Faced. Lets call it a teaser poster!

For those who care

2006-02-23T18:53:00.000Z

Quick update: theres a rough cut down on If Faced but still plenty of work to be done. First time editing so give it time. The Dublin International Film Festival started last Friday and I'm working on that. Thats set editing back by a week but the new deadline is the end of March.

Theres still loads of good films on show as part of the festival so check dubliniff.com for details.

This summer im really looking forward to Miami Vice and A Scanner Darkly. Check the trailers now!

Peace

Phil

"If Faced" Photographs

2006-01-19T22:12:00.000Z

You can check out photos from the "If Faced" shoot here.

If Faced - Production Diary Day "whatever"

2006-01-18T01:00:00.000Z

Wellity wellity wellity. It’s all over. Well kind of. We wrapped on Saturday at 7pm. It was the end of a 12-hour day. That means a 7am start. That is one the one of the more interesting pleasures of filmmaking. I was outta bed at 6am in order to get to the location. Loadsa fun!

So I am more than happy to say the shoot was pretty flawless. The cast and crew were great. Everyone arrived on time for there calls and everyone was more than professional. I was totally amazed by everyone’s commitment, talent, professionalism and attitude towards the shoot. The shoot was fun and everyone enjoyed it. We had scheduled for a two-day shoot but everything was covered on the Saturday. We had a mini wrap party at the end of the day, just a few beers and some wine for those with ‘finer’ tastes. We watched back all the footage to double check we didn’t need any pick-ups. It was nice to see everyone stayed back and had a laugh. It meant nobody was eager to get off set. Which is always good!

Technically we had no problems. All the shots had been worked out in plenty of time so we knew exactly what we needed. Lighting was pretty straightforward. We had some problems lighting the corridor and needed diffusers. We had none! So I am quite proud to report that my rather cheap suggestion of using greaseproof paper worked quite well. Yes I am tooting my own horn!

So know we move on to the edit. I was hoping to capture the footage this week but there are problems with the Avid machines in college so editing probably wont start till next week.

Again I have to say a massive thanks to everyone involved. Shout out to:
Liam Ryan
Ben Keenan
Jessica Maxwell
Maeve Cooke
Beatrice
Paddy O’Reilly
Alan
Lynn Fletcher
Paudie
Aishing Browne
Danielle McGrane
Gerry Shanahan
Geraldine McAlinden
Sarah Byrne
Aisling Bodkin
And anyone else I may have left out (sorry!)

Thanks for reading.

Peace

Phil

If Faced - Production Diary Day 12

2006-01-15T18:02:00.000Z

Shooting finished...thanks everyone...very tired...more tomorrow...

If Faced - Production Diary Day 9

2006-01-12T01:57:00.000Z

Two in the funking morning and my "day" has finally ended. So I thought fuck it I'll update the blog. For the most part of the day I had a session with Beatrice the director of photography. Her house is also being used as the shoot location so we went over what sort of space we had and what areas we could use. The script calls for a two story house but we only have acces to a one story so we have to be very cunning with our camera angles and give the impression that theres more to the house then we're showing. So we got all the shots worked out which was nice and then headed to the production meeting that evening.

Full cast and crew production meeting went ahead in Bowes as planned. Really great stuff. I got to meet Gerry who plays the Dad and he's really great. I've been blessed with the cast I got. We had a few read throughs on the script and discussed some of it "finer" points. I gave the script a full re-write after that meeting. Some of the dialouge needed major touching up and the actors have been great with working that in. I've re-jigged a few scenes just to make it flow a wee bit better and have opened with an entirely new scene. And all this two days before we shoot. I'm such an arsehole of a director.

The production team are doing a great job as always. Paudie is really on top of things in the art department. I met Lynn Fletcher, the make up artist, tonight. We covered everything and I'm sure she's gonna do a great job. Jess is doing an amzing job as production manager. I really don't think I could be doing this without her.

And thats all joe. I really think I shuld get some sleep. It shall be a busy weekend. So until then, thanks for reading and may your bowel movements be painless.

Peace

Phil

(ps i finally got a menu for "lets eat in" dilevered to my gaff.that might not mean anything to anybody but go go team george!)

If Faced - Production Diary Day 7

2006-01-10T00:10:00.000Z

A few quick updates. We had a production meeting on Thursday night. Roughly covered some the important things we needed to consider for the shoot dates. We’re shooting in Beatrice’s house. Beatrice is DOP so we should have no problems with the location falling out at the last minute.

During the week I’m going to meeting with Beatrice and hopefully a storyboard artist. We’re going sit down and work out all the shots and how many set-ups we’ll need etc. Might take some time but it should be fun.

We have the next and final production meeting this Wednesday night again in Bowes pub. They have been more than helpful and have let us use one of their rooms free of charge for the auditions and all the production meetings.

At the same time I’m going to have a rehearsal session with the cast. I’m going to work with them and pop in and out of the production meeting. Jess is doing a great job so o worries there. Geraldine McAlinden who plays the part of the mother can’t make it on Wednesday but we’re gonna have to work around that. I’m gonna show the rest of the cast her audition tape just so the rest of they can get an idea of what Geraldine’s like.

Gerry Shanahan is interested in the role of the Dad. Like I said before, he was the actor Liam and Ben had worked on in Rise of the Bricks. This is great news. Gerry can make the meeting on Wednesday so I’m more than happy. At least I’ll get to meet him before shoot weekend. Jerry comes highly recommended and can be checked out at gerryshanahan.com.

Just checked my emails and Jess has sent me the call sheet and production schedule for the shoot. I'll ask Jess if I can post these. Oh and here's the cast list:

DAD - Gerry Shanahan
MOM - Geraldine McAlinden
CLAIRE - Aisling Bodkin
KATE - Sarah Byrne

So that’s all for the moe. More news during the week. Thanks for reading.

Peace

Phil

If Faced Production Diary Day 5

2006-01-07T21:22:00.000Z

Auditions and Meetings

So we’ve just cleared the audition process. I notified Jess today of my final choices and she’ll give everyone a call tomorrow. Jess (Production Manager) rounded up about 20 people for the auditions and we meet them all over the two day period of Tuesday and Wednesday. The Irish Actors Network seemed to yield 90% of our results and I’d strongly recommend this resource to any casting director.

It was a lot of fun being on the casting director side of the audition process. Having been to a few auditions “back in the day” I know how nerve racking it can be. We saw a lot of talented people and the final casting decision fell with me. I was lucky to have a team of people with me, assembled by Jess, to help the whole process move along smoothly. They ran everyone through the system, asked questions, filmed the auditions and made notes. I just got to sit back and concentrate on the performances. Like I said a lot of fun. I answer a few questions in relation to the script and had the odd question I wanted to ask a few actors. I deliberately didn’t introduce myself as the director. Not that I think of myself as important but I wanted the actors to be as comfortable as possible during the audition and worry about me as a director later down the line.

As the writer and director of the short I just knew when and actor had understood the part they were auditioning for. Not that any of the roles or characters are particularly complex but when writing the script I had a particular performance in mind. It was a weird feeling having someone stand in front of me and straight away give me the performance I was thinking of. Quite the buzz!

We had a simple format for the audition. We allowed the actors to perform a monologue or prepared piece if they had one and then they read for the part they were auditioning for. Simple. We let some people read twice to just help ease them in. It’s not easy to read from script and give a good performance and we wanted to give people the best possible chance. After the performance we turned off the camera and had a chat with the actor just to get a feel for what sort of person they were. So with all these factors taken into consideration I made my decisions for the final cast. But it’s never that easy.

The parts of Mom and Kate were easy to cast. In my mind the two actors in question nailed it at the audition. We have no Dad at present. Three actors came in to audition for the role and none of them were what I was looking for. Liam and Ben (Executive Producers) worked with a guy on Rise of the Bricks who they think would be excellent for the role. Problem is I have yet to meet the guy and don’t know if he’s even available for the shoot dates. So I probably won’t have an update on that until tomorrow. For the role of Claire I had a couple of actors in mind and wanted to watch the audition tape before making my final decision but had overlooked the fact that I nothing that would play back mini DV. I had been so busy working out the logistics of the shoot days I had overlooked something this simple. So it was up a nine this morning to drive into my Dad’s work to watch the tape back on their decks. I watched the performances back like three times and my decision eventually came down to who looked like Claire. It wasn’t an easy decision to make but I finally got the cast set in stone and emailed the cast list to Jess. We decided that everyone who auditioned will get a phone call Sunday at the latest to tell them if they got the part or not. A busy few nights but fun. Big thanks to everyone involved.

So auditions out of the way more on the first production meeting tomorrow. Thanks for reading.

Peace

Phil

www.theatticstudio.net

If Faced - Production Diary Day One

2006-01-02T23:41:00.000Z

(okay a day late but yesterday was New Years day. I was a little eh...tired!)

So I think a little history lesson is needed on the project. I’ll try and make this as interesting as possible.

‘If Faced’ was written about a year and a half ago by myself. I don’t consider myself much of a writer but I’d been throwing the idea around for a little bit and anyone I shared it with gave good feedback.

Roll on February and the Dublin International Film Festival. There I meet Liam Ryan and after getting on well at the festival, we started sharing a few ideas for future projects. ‘If Faced’ was one these projects. We agreed we would shoot it at some point in the future.

So nearly a year on and that day is approaching fast. Liam and I have stayed in touch and he recently contacted me with the motive to put ‘If Faced’ into production. Of course I jumped at the opportunity.

Liam and his working partner, director Ben Keenan (Rise of the Bricks), are currently in charge of the UCD film society. They decided they wanted to make the society more about film making than film watching and applied for a grant to receive more equipment. Having remembered ‘If Faced’ they decided it would be an ideal launch project for the society’s new direction. One of the draw factors of ‘If Faced’ as a project is that it’s simple. A small cast of four and it all takes place in one location.

So I met with Liam and Ben and discussed how the project would work. They had decided they would like the use ‘If Faced’ as a sort of testing ground for new crew members they were keen to work with. Having already assembled a fine crew for the production of Ben’s feature, ‘Rise of the Bricks’ they were keen to expand their list of contacts and discover new talent. We would treat the short like a full feature and crew up every available position with Ben and Liam overseeing the project as ‘executive’ producers, I would direct and we would crew up from there. The full crew list is below:

Producer
Director
1st A.D
2nd A.D
Production Manager
Production Designer
Director of Photography
Sound
Clapper
Gaffer
Grip
Make-up
Costume Designer
Camera Asst.
Contitunity
Editor
Casting Director
Script Supervisor

A week later and we organised a ‘meet and greet’ for crew members. Liam introduced me to other people he had worked with on the Jameson Film Festival, and was interested to see them work as part of a crew and on a film set. The session was a success and I had no problems with any of the people I met (I knew that was going to be the case, this is Liam we’re talking about!). We crewed up all the main areas that night, including Production team and 1st A.D. I have to thank everyone again for their interest and help in this project.

So after mini production meeting with Jess just before Christmas, we set out our timetable for January. The shoot dates were set as the 14th and 15th. We decided to hold open auditions so these will take place on the 3rd and 4th in Bessons between 6.30pm-9pm. If you’re interested come along. Then we have our first full production team meeting on the 5th. A busy few days it shall be. Then we’ll have another production meeting around the 9th and then we start principal photography on the 14th. It’s a very compact and small production schedule but this has given us that advantage that people will still retain interest in the project. If the project was drawn out over several months in may never happen as we lose the commitment of crew, cast and locations. It’s not a nice thing to say but it happens when you’re at the mercy of no-budget filmmaking.

So thanks for reading Day One. Congratulations if you got this far. More updates as we hit the auditions and production meeting.

Peace

Phil

Audition This

2005-12-30T20:20:00.000Z

Open Auditions for Short Film
We are looking to cast a Mother, Father and two daughters aged 16 and 19 (you dont have to be that age - just look it!).

Auditions will be held in Bowes,
Fleet Street , Dublin

6:30-9pm on the 3rd & 4th of January.

Call Jessica Maxwell 086 050 7384 for more information

Happy New Year

2005-12-30T19:47:00.000Z

And so a new year is upon us and it looks to be a very busy one if the first few months are anything to go by. As I always say, I will endeavour to maintain this blog with regular updates for my own benefit if anything else. Having recently received the King Kong Production diaries, (review soon), I found new inspiration in wanting to keep some form of filmmaking diary.

So as I said the first few months of the year start with quite a lot of work to do. Here’ a quick break down:

· Film live gig for band called Autamata (which funnily enough I’m a fan of)
· Setup “design studio” with Dan
· Setup more permanent and interesting website
· Help with the organization and filming of a big social event out in Swords at the end of February – more details on that closer to the time.

And then there’s the filming of my first short film. Possibly the biggest task of them all and the one I’m most excited about. So in keeping with the regular updates theme, the “production diaries” on If Faced, my short, will begin on the 1st of January.

So that’s that. To add a little more wait to this post included below a list of links that some peeps may find useful/interesting/stimulating/a complete waste of time. Enjoy your New Year celebrations. I know I will defiantly enjoy mine.
I predict a riot.

Peace

Phil

Linky McLinks

www.motorola.com/uk/motofwr - new competition being run by Motorola with a main prize of 5 grand

www.akmmusic.com - copyright free music

www.twitchfilm.net - film blog

www.foureyedmonsters.com - “Four Eyed Monsters” is a feature film and a video podcast

Dead?

2005-12-19T19:16:00.000Z

No not yet just very very busy. And I don't have broadband. I'm in pre-production on the short (titled "If Faced"). Loads of other projects on the go aswel. I haven't got the time to update this thing as much as I'd like. But the new year's resolution is to keep with weekly updates. There should be plenty to talk shite about. Now I've gotta organise my cinema trip to King Kong....

I just have to say...

2005-12-04T21:42:00.000Z

I just have to say....big thanks to Dan who took all the Kodak photos. Head to danblog for more spiffing shots. Dan is soooo great. We love Dan etc etc blah blah he is so amazing. I want his babies.

Some snaps of the Kodak Shoot

2005-12-02T17:30:00.000Z

Dan our clapper loader man

All crewed up and ready to go.

Paul gets to work. A master director in the making.

Aoife - our saving grace drafted in at the last moment

The hands on approach to directing

See Rob, thats how you do it!

Working hard...

The director and his actor, poetry in motion

Clash of the Titans

Katie working hard.

Dylan - a key grips work is never done

no comment

Our First AD swings into action

The Promo shot...smooth.

All eyes on Rob.

Mark!

The Kodak Ad part.2

2005-12-02T17:11:00.000Z

So I've secured a location. From 9a.m till 3p.m we have use of the Martello Hotels function room. Free of charge. Happy days. We had a chat with the hotel supervisor assured him that we would be in and out, not steal anything, always drink there etc. etc. I don't want to state the bleedin obvious but its vital that you assure anyone your working with, particular supervisors and managers, that 'everything will be okay!'

Now location is all setup but now we have a small problem(again) with actors. Times dont suit. So. I now have two male actors sorted and no females. Roll on Monday and still not in a better situation. So Noel (course lecturer) steps in (again, seeing a pattern here?) and says he can get us an actresses but we have to get the other one. By some piece of divine intervention (or my amazing skill I'm still not sure) I found a girl at 11.30 on Monday night. Thats 9 an a half before we're due to shoot. I do NOT reccomened doing things this way. I got to bed at 12.30. Its going to be a mad day on Tuesday.

Tuesday - Production
Crew met a 8.30a.m down at BIFE. All the gear we needed was being used by the second years over the previous days. We were assured that all gear would be back to us in plenty of time on Tuesday morning. Of course the way these things go the gear didn't turn up until about 9.30am. Myself and a few others headed down to the Martello to get a heads up on clearing the function room and to meet and greet actors.

Now to be honest the shoot itself is a bit of a blur. I do know that we did an incredibly good job as a bunch of first year students, most of who had never been a member of a fully operational film crew. As I was producer I was basiclly a talking clock on set. It helped as it gave the 1st AD one less thing to worry about if I was goin around screaming the time every 10mins. I also got to be the clapper...nuff said! Everyone did a really great job on set. As producer I wanted to make sure not one member of Martello staff had to come up and tell us to feck off, so I made full sure that we were outta there by 3.00pm. The biggest mistake I made with regards production was...FOOD.

We had kinda decided that the crew wouldnt really stop for a lunch break but that idea kinda went to the dogs on the day of the shoot. I regreted that I hadn't provided sanwhiches etc for the crew and cast on the day, be it store bought or homemade. The advantages to doing this would have been:

1)Nobody complaining on set about being hungry
2)When lunch time rolled around everyone would have stayed on set. If you tell someone 'be back in 20mins' you can bet they wont be back for 30mins. Its just human nature.

Movie Making Rule #001 - Always feed your crew

So thats that. Overall a job well done if I do say so myself. I think we all learnt alot. As naff as it all sounds we 'bonded' as a group and I think everyone had a good laugh. The film has been sent off to be developed and I don't care how shite it is I just want something that we can edit. Fingers crossed we did our job rite and we get some good material. We had a good crew so I think we will. I'll slap up an article after we go through post-production. Until then, much thanks to everyone involved especially those who stepped in at the last moment and saved our asses. You know who you are.

Peace

Phil

The Kodak Ad part.1

2005-11-30T23:50:00.000Z

We shot the Kodak commercial yesterday…finally! Okay so in this wee little article I’m gonna break down what happened, what was right, what was wrong and what I (and hopefully everyone else) learned. So lets start with…

Pre-Production
Well I had the lovely job of producing this ad and as much as I enjoyed it, the whole process was a little stressful. Part of that was down to my lack of experience but a large part of it came down one thing. As a group of student filmmakers with no money to offer we were at the mercy of everyone you have to work with besides your main crew. By this I mean actors and locations specifically.

So first on my list of tasks was to secure a location. The ad takes place at a bar so I headed to all the major pubs and clubs in Bray. When dealing with these sorts of places I’ve found it works best if you phone them and ask to speak to a supervisor or manager. This way you get to speak directly to someone who can give you definite answers. I found that when you approach them in person and put a member of staff on the spot you wont get what you’re looking for. Messages get lost or not passed on and you don’t know if you’re coming or going. Anyway I got a location secured for Tuesday 22nd November. For the purposes of this article we’ll call the location the Back House. I got a shooting time frame of 11a.m till 5p.m.

Now on to the small matter of actors. I was of the belief that any aspiring actor would jump at the opportunity to do a days work and have a nice glossy advertisement for their show reel. This is not the case. We needed to males and two females. We cast the males in house and used Dave and Brian from our course. Now I had to find two girls. I eventually found them, one from the Drama course and one from Fine Arts. Told everyone the shoot day and everything was hunky dory.

Roll on Monday night and I do a quick ring around to make sure everyone is still good for the next days shoot. If you learn one thing from this article its this: ring everyone two days before. It gives you more time to fix the problem if everything goes tits up. Anyway I find out that Dave has been in a car crash (he’s okay by the way) and I’ve got to find someone to fill his role. After two hours of phone calls I cannot find a guy who looks over 25 and has the time to shoot on Tuesday. This is a problem I will have to address on the morning of the shoot. Now one of the actresses is still good for tomorrow (much thanks to her. I’m not going to print names just in case people don’t like it.) but actresses B wasn’t clear about the fact that we actually wanted to use her so could only make it to the location till about 1p.m. Now I’ve got plenty of problems for Tuesday.

Cut to Tuesday morning. Crew is assembled in plenty of time and all gear is ready to go. Much kudos to Ger for fulfilling his role of First A.D and keeping on top of all that. Now Paul (the director) and myself have to find an actresses as the decision has been made that 1p.m is to late to have our original actress come down. After a few hopefuls but with no results and with half an hour till we’ve got to be on location, it becomes clear we are not going to get anyone. So in steps Noel (course lecturer). He can make a phone call and get us an actress. Saved! We recast Dave and use another guy from the course, Dunnacha. Cast and crew make their way down to the location for 11a.m. Paul goes in to announce our arrival. I follow him in to find in discussions with a woman who must have been a supervisor. It doesn’t look good. I get told that
we can’t shoot on account of the floors being sanded. This isn’t good. We head out and break the news to everyone. Not fun. Shit happens and that’s all I’m saying on the matter. It’s a perfect example of what I said about being at the mercy of everyone.

So after a few discussions it’s decided that we (read: I) have till 12 to find another location after that one of our actresses will head back to college. Fair enough but needless to say it doesn’t happen. I ring plenty of bars but it’s just to short notice. I do however manage to secure a location for the following Tuesday 29th. Put more on that in the next article….

It's been a while

2005-11-28T00:05:00.000Z

I'm online and logged in so I thought I'd say hi...its been a while. There is plenty to report and hopefully some useful links and articles on the way. I just gotta type them up. Check back in the next couple o' days.

Peace

Phil

Music: Antony and the Johnstons - I am a Bird Now
Film: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (i know, i know!)

Roadtrip to Cork...in a Nutshell

2005-11-11T01:16:00.000Z

Cork

Assignments!!!

2005-11-02T19:29:00.001Z

Hello hello. Haven't posted in a while on account of enjoying my Bank Holiday/Halloween weekend. But now the work begins! I officially have this week off as a midterm and I'm using it to catch up on all college work the most of which are due on the first week back in college. So for my own benifit (and the benifit of those who enjoy reading lists) heres what I'm working on at the moment:

1500 word essay on Legal Studies - what is the law? where did the law come from? what does the law do? etc etc.
1500 word essay on the Structure of Government - this for the News Insert module of the course. No deadline on this as of yet but I want to get it outta the way as soon as possible. As this is a City and Guilds course any exam questions on government will be based on English Parliment. So while I can do this essay on the Irish system its probably best just to do it on the English on to aid in preparation for the exam.
30second Kodak Advertisment - this is a competition run by Kodak(no shit Sherlock). Basically they send briefs for four companies (see below) and a roll of Kodak film. We then write an ad based on one of these briefs and shoot it on film then send the film to Kodak for processing. Then then send us back a DV of our work. We then edit that to create our final ad then send it back to Kodak to be entered into the compoetion.......Simple really. The competition is open to all Film Studies students in Ireland and the UK. The companies involved are below.

Now what else is goin on...

Well tommorow I'm heading out to UCD to film a gig for a band called The Reverb. Dan's been shooting lots of stills shots for them lately check here. I'm shooting on a hanheld Sony (don't know the full specs). I'm not gonna worry bout sound. I'm planing to do pre and post gig voxpops and the use the gig to footage to create a kinda music video. I'll edit the footage then lay a Reverb track on top to create a kinda promo video. hopefully it should work out I'll have to see what sort of footage I can get. Also filming a DJ gig on the 25th. Sound will be an issue for that and you can find out how I sort that one out closer to the time!

Busy week starting next week aswell. Back in college on Monday which is the deadline for the Kodak ad. Road trip to Cork on Tuesday. See The Chalets on Wednesday. Come home for Wednesday night. I'm gonna film a lil documentary of this fabulous Road Trip. Thursday morning is shooting Alans short film in Mount Joy Prision. I know I haven't mentioned this before but you can read all about it after the deed is done. Thursday night then brings The Frames in the Point. And Friday night brings the week to a close by celebrating a friends birthday.

It shall be a good week.

Peace

Phil

Music: The Zutons - Who Killed The Zutons

Film: Garden State

Pirates of the Caribbean Script

2005-10-25T23:40:00.000+01:00

Thought this link should definatley go up. Two reasons.

1) It's a bloody good film.
2) Reading any script is a good learning tool as outlined below:

"Here's an early draft of the PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN screenplay.
You might notice that it's a little rough. You might notice that parts are not like what eventually landed in the movie. We thought that would be more interesting -- let screenwriters, and fans, see how aspects of the movie change over time, let people see the gulf between idea and final execution.
When you read it, try to take yourself back and put yourself in our shoes at the time, to before the film was a hit, before it was even shot, before we had the full cast, before Johnny showed up with his gold teeth, before we knew if our flickering green light would stay lit. The 26 or so screenplay sequences were written out of order; this is one of the first fully assembled drafts, where you slap it together to see if all the story engines run. It was completed about the time Disney pulled the plug on the project, and Gore Verbinski saved the film by telling people to come into work anyway. As Michael Eisner tells the story, he was fully prepared to tell Gore and Jerry Bruckheimer he wasn't going to make the film, but then Gore took Eisner on a tour of the development art, and Eisner thought, what the heck, there's a movie I'd like to see, and let it continue.
It's always the same on a movie. Looking forward it seems like there is a wide path, looking back you realize you walked the edge of a knife."

To read the lot (and there is a downloadable version) click here.
To check out wordplay.com click here.

2005-10-18T16:38:00.000+01:00

Free Music. Sunday 23rd.

Warning: Film Studies May Be Hazardous To Your Health

2005-10-13T19:52:00.000+01:00

Okay well maybe not your health but will certainly affect your movie viewing. I recently went to see Serenity, Nightwatch and Land of the Dead (thoughts on these later). These were the first films I'd seen since getting properly 'stuck' into the course. I sat in the cinema, the film started and I watched. And then I heard it. A little voice in the back of my head. "Why did he frame the shot like that?". I tried to block it. I tried to enjoy the movie. "Was that shot really needed?" I just couldn't stop myself. In the back of my mind all through Serenity I kept thinking about the camera set-up, the angle use, the filler shots, the space given to everything on screen. It didn't really bother me too much...this time. Will this film studies side effect get worse? Will my movie watching enjoyment be ruined forever? Only time will tell. But you have been warned.

Had my first Set Construction module this week. We’ve been told that by the end of the year we will have a very large folder filled with all the years work. To start we’re studying colour. Just the basics and then we’ll move on to media and film specific material. So to get the folders of work off with a bang I gotta put together about 25 pages on colour, how it works, different systems etc. Doesn’t have to be a rack load of text (thankfully!). Have to include colour wheels, collages, splash pages and the like. So in a way these 25 pages are the first “official” college assignment. There’s a list of some colourful (moan) links below:

Colour Schemer - http://www.colorschemer.com/online.html

A little heavy - http://www.colourware.co.uk/cpfaq.htm

Nice section on harmonies - http://www.bozzle.com/pb_Colours.html

In other course news I’m working on an Adobe Encore flow chart. Hopefully it will simplify Encore and make it easy to work through the program. Also for any BIFE students reading below are the details on the first college social night.

BIFE Social Night
Thursday 20th October
Liquid Nightclub, Bray Seafront
Tickets: 6 euro
Time: Around 9pm (I can only guess. This is all the info I have so keep your ears peeled)

Quick movie round up

Serenity – took a while to sink in but I have to say that it was very. Written with typical Joss Wendon flair Serenity will probably be the best sci-fi of the year (I cant think of any up and coming contenders anyway). Serenity looks good and sounds good. The movie is a re-try at Wendons TV series Firefly which was cancelled after 11 episodes. But the concept has been revamped well as a feature film. Even if your not a fan of the original series or sci-fi in general Serenity is worth a look. It won’t disappoint.

Nightwatch – I was really looking forward to this and I’m afraid it really didn’t deliver. The vampire/supernatural plot can be hard to follow and this is only made harder by the fact that the viewer must follow subtitles. This is the first in a trilogy so perhaps things will pickup (NERD ALERT: Star Wars – A New Hope isn’t really the best but my god look at Empire!). Nightwatch does have its merits. Enough footage was shoot for the first two films on a tiny budget of $4 million, this very impressive as the film includes some very nice SFXeffects shots. The subtitles themselves also play a nice part in the film, pulsating and changing colour as the action onscreen progresses. Nightwatch should be watched for its technical merits and as an example of what Russian cinema is capable of. It will not doubt pick up a cult following.

Land of the Dead – I love zombie movies. I just have to get that outta the way. This is a return to roots for zombie master George A. Romero. The fourth (and I think last) instalment in his Dead series, Land is quite simply, excellent. This time round the zombies are learning to think and function as a unit. As with all Romero’s Dead movies Land is a reflection on today’s society. If you watch Land as just a horror zombie flick then you’re missing out. The zombie/gore effects are of a high standard and the balance between physical and CG effects is perfect. The film also contains the best zombie bite scene I have ever seen.

Jaysus that was a long one.

Peace

Phil

Music: The Go! Team – Thunder, Lightning, Strike
Film: Land of the Dead

10 Reasons why....

2005-10-05T15:14:00.000+01:00

10 Reasons Why...I hate Donncha Rahill (the class rep)

As requested by...Donncha Rahill(we are so bored!)

1. His name is a bitch to spell.
2. His chat up line is "Hello, I'm The Man"
3. He doesn't have a big slong.
4. That pic is so dodgy.
5. He beat me to class rep.
6. He doesn't iron his clothes.
7. He drives a moped.
8. He cut his hair("To impress the ladies")
9. He once called himself "El Presidente" in Legal Studies.
10. He likes the German guy made worse by the fact the he's only half German.

For info on Donncha's short film 'Sarah' click here.

Titles and Credits

2005-10-05T10:27:00.000+01:00

We are currently covering Titles and Credits using Premiere Pro, in our editing lectures. The following may be useful to people:

Titles and C redits.pdf

Have a wander through the rest of Adobe's Premiere Tutorials here.

Peace

Phil

2005-10-02T21:46:00.000+01:00

All the pretty headsets...and walkie talkies...and battery packs...

2005-10-02T21:43:00.000+01:00

Camera One to Camera Two, Camera One to Camera Two. BIFE TV Studio.

All the pretty pictures

2005-10-02T21:41:00.000+01:00

Just thought I'd slap up a few pics of the college. Start a little BIFE virtual tour. Course is going well. We did a little exercise in framing during the week. Simply take the camera and compose six shots that tell a simple story. No sound. Then we bring back, look over what we've done (read: rip it to pieces). We we're split up into three groups and my crowd decided to follow a student as he made his wasy out of the college to have a smoke. We also decided that as there was six in the group that we should each 'direct a shot'. Work out well with all the different input(apart from our shite P.O.V shot at the end. We just don't know what we were thinking). I think the biggest problem we had was that a couple of our shots had that "stalker" look to them, where it looks like a P.O.V shot of somone peeping on our main character. Look to Wes Craven or John Carpenter films for perfect examples of this kinda shot. Halloween is soaked in the "stalker" shot. When it has a place in the film t works but it wasn't really what we wanted from this particular execise/story.

In other news, I briefly meet up with Liam on Thursday night. He was filming the UCD Freshers Ball which I happened to be attending. He had a little 3 unit crew filming the crowd, bands, drunkeness etc. For some spiffing stills shots of the night head to danblog.net.

Also this week I got my car. Yeah! Mazda 121 and I'm so happy with her ("she" has yet to be named). I think it goes without saying that if you have the flexibility that a car allows you will be able to avail of a lot more work. If you've got a shoot in the backarse of nowhere and have to be there a 6a.m and bus will certainly not be getting you there on time!

College Quote: "Look at the shot as picture and ask yourself "Would I stick that on my wall?" and before you ask, no, I would definatley not put this shot on my wall."

Peace

Phil

Film : sex, lies and videotape
Music: Stereophonics - Performance and Cocktails

Flickr in the face cos we're 40!

2005-09-25T00:24:00.000+01:00

This is the 40th post on Cigarette Burn. Wow. How frickin cool is that! Anywho to "celebrate" this recent turn of events I've gone an set up a Flickr account. I really know how to treat myself! It's gonna take a bit of time to upload all my photos (damn you 56k!) but bear with me and I promise you'll have a blast. Well maybe not a blast but you'll certainly kill some time having a 'flickr' through my albums....'flickr' man that was a good one. So how do I get there I hear you scream. Just clik the rather large link in the sidebar. Its that simple.

Peace

Phil

Film: Rocky Horror Picture Show
Music: Rodrigo y Gabriela - Re-foc

Thrown in the deep end

2005-09-19T23:11:00.000+01:00

So today was the first day and all that malarky and I have to say...I'm liking it. We got right stuck in today and after a morning safety talk in the studio, we set up a little two camera interview segment. Twas only one minute long and it took a team of 9 people to run the whole lot, thats sound,lights,cameras etc. It really opens your eyes as to what goes into getting a tv studio production made. I also was lucky enough to get the position of director. I made my directorial debut today! Feels so good to type that. Of course I did shite! 'Multitasking' doesn't come close to describing what a director on a full studio might have to deal with. But I'm sure it will all come with time. I can't wait to get my hands on some of their badass cameras. I'll post up the specs for any tech heads out there. Click here if your interested in the text book we'll be using for the year. Review when I get it! And thats that. I'm off tommorow on account of it been a 'project/work exp' and we havn't started them yet. I'll be leaving early Wednesday to go to a Debs (and got a driving lesson.yah!). And will defo not be in on Thursday on account of probably being well hungover. So all in all a very well attended first week in college.

College Quote/Unquote: "A good crew is vital. A good crew can make a shit director look excellent but a good director can't make a shit crew excellent."

Film: Lords of Dogtown
Music: Foy Vance - Live Sessions EP

Peace

Phil

And We're Off!

2005-09-18T23:52:00.000+01:00

Okay so college has officially started! Had an induction day last Friday and everything kicks off proper tomorrow. So just to keep everyone up to speed (and myself) here’s a breakdown of the course material, taken from my student course handbook.

Course Details
Title: TV & Film Production
Awarding Body: City & Guilds
Duration: 1 year Full Time
Participant Intake: 24

Course Content
Television Studio Production – City & Guilds
Television Journalism – City & Guilds
Video Production – City & Guilds
Desktop/Digital Video Production – City & Guilds
Set Design & Lighting – City & Guilds
Researching Information & Media Industries – City & Guilds
Understanding law, health and safety – City & Guilds
Titling & Photoshop – FETAC 2
Screen Writing – FETAC 2
Work Experience – FETAC 2
Film Production (Super 8mm) – FETAC 2

Progression
Students who reach a satisfactory standard will be offered a place on the Two-Year Higher National Diploma course in Media (Moving Image), whereby if they achieve a Distinction or Merit profile, they may apply for admission to the final year of an Honours degree course.

Timetable
In at 9am every morning except Fridays (means I can still go out Thursday nights. I’m going have to start paying David rent!). Mondays mainly consist of TV & Film Production with ‘Editing Privileges’ given between 3pm-5pm (more on that at a later date). Tuesdays are Work Experience/Project days so they should be fun. Editing, Set Design and Legal Studies take place on Wednesdays. Thursday is Camera & Lighting. Friday afternoon is mainly Screen Writing.

So there you go. I hope that was as interesting to read, as it was to write! Obviously I’ll go into things in more detail as they come up. A mini film festival is held in the Mermaid Theatre and BIFE course work is shown. Generally First Year students don’t have work screened for the simple fact that the work is probably not to high standard. But we have been told that there are always exceptions and that First Year work has been screened before. So it full steam ahead on Monday with project work apparently starting within the week.

In other news keep your eyes peeled if you’re around Dublin next weekend. Look for people in red coats! Dan and myself were in Dublin on Saturday and a lovely person in a red coat gave us a flyer, which was an invite to a free afternoon movie screening in a park. With free drinks! Just text a free number to confirm your invite, limited to the first 3000. Thing is I have no idea who was sponsoring the whole thing. Think it was Vodafone (I’m not making this up. Back me up Dan!). Anywho we couldn’t go because I had stupid work but keep your ear to the ground because I think more are going to be taking place. And that’s all for now!

Film: 40 Year Old Virgin
Music: Check In – The Chalets
Book: Down and Dirty Pictures – Peter Biskind

Peace

Phil

I don't like Spam

2005-09-14T22:24:00.000+01:00

Who frickin does? So in order to prevent Spam Comments I've enable word verification on the comments page. Sorry to have add an 'extra step' to commenting but I gotta do what I gotta do.

Peace

Phil

When it rains it pours

2005-09-07T23:44:00.000+01:00

So this is just a quick little update I guess. Couple of "big steps" forward happening at the moment. First thing is registration for college is tomorrow. To recap I'm doing Tv & Film Production in Bray Institute of Further Education. Registration fees have to paid in full tomorrow (eek!) and that alone is going to be 300euro. Ah such is life. I'm hoping to use this blog as a way of keeping track of the course over the year so fingers crossed I can stay on top of that.

And in other news....the ball is finally rolling on my first feature independent film. Wooh Wooh! Its still in very early stages of script development but I have a co-writer (Dave Bernard) so we're bouncing ideas off each other and working our way through the story. We've got a working title, Just Another Weekend, a begining, a middle, an end and we're in the process of fleshing it all out then we can get cracking on the writing. We've also come up with a unique way of develpoing the soundtrack but all give you all the goss on Just Another Weekend as it develops. Thats all folks. Can't wait to start back in college.

Peace

Phil

My week at CineWorld (with Dave)

2005-08-17T20:29:00.000+01:00

Hello everyone (is there anybody there?). I know it’s been a long time since the last update. I seem to be useless at this whole blogging malarkey. But September is rolling in so hopefully I’ll have plenty to talk about when I start college, which by the way is having an Open Day on the 2nd of September. Check out BIFE if you’re interested.

Right on to business. I’ve been harping on for ages about certain reviews I was going to post. Well I’ll be honest; they’re never going to happen. So in light of the many films I’ve seen in the past week (thank you Unlimited Card!), this post will be a collection of short reviews regarding ‘what’s at the box office now!’ Hope they help.

Dear Wendy – It was written by Lars von Tier, the man who gave us ‘Dogville’. That may be all you need to know. If however you are not aware of the work of Mr. Von Tier, then I find this film both easy and difficult to recommend. It really is one of those films where you should just go in with an open mind and the let the film take over. ‘Dear Wendy’ has the potential to reach ‘Donnie Darko’ status. And that’s all I’m saying.

Stealth – And now for something completely different! ‘Stealth’ defiantly has its heart in the right place as a good honest to God action movie. It touches on ‘the message’ at all the right times, without letting the action slow. It looks fantastic, with top notch CGI. I was mighty impressed by the pyrotechnics work as well. A decent popcorn muncher if ever there was one.

The Island – Getting very mixed reviews this one. Ewan has a crap accent and Scarlett’s lost her ‘drawl’. But don’t let that bother you. 'The Island' is another perfectly put together blockbuster movie straight outta the Michael Bay goody bag. And I like Michael Bay. There I said it. Bay knows how to craft a film and how to make a film look visually exciting. He just gets some dodgy scripts handed to him. ‘The Island’ does at times slip into the dodgy script category but holds up enough to get through the story. Boasting an excellent chase sequence that screams “everything I learned in Bad Boys 2 plus more” ‘The Island’ is worth admission price and probably one you could take your Granny to.

Crash – Feckin fantastic. Very very very good. Go see it. Now. Stop reading and go see it. That’s all I’m saying on the matter. So I'll give you the tagline as well
"You think you know who you are. You have no idea."
(I am fully aware that this is a shit review but ‘Crash’ isn’t a film a want to dissect just yet. I’m savouring the taste. After I go see it a second time, then I’ll dissect)

Bad News Bears – Is exactly what it says on the tin. Bad news. I really thought Billy Bob Thornton would give me plenty of laughs but alas it was not to be. A dodgy remake (I haven’t seen the original so I can’t really comment) with a script the clunks along. I did get bored and kids may well too. Oh and a word of warning: it may have a 12A cert but this film has more foul language in it than Pulp Fiction. I’ll never understand censors and their mysterious ways.

So there you are now. One more thing before I go. I would highly recommend the ‘Clerks X’ 10th Anniversary Edition. Packed full o extras its great value. And it’s a fantastic film!

Peace

Phil

All about me!

2005-07-28T01:05:00.000+01:00

Bloody hell I can’t believe I haven’t ‘blogged’ on nearly a month. I’ve been working like a motherfucker (godamn shop!). So feeling slightly wired I decided it was time to post all about ME. Okay so here’s the latest…

Turns out my neighbour from a few doors (Paul) is a Key Grip in the ‘industry’. Now I always knew that was he’s line of work but his exact position was unclear. Anyway through a series of various conversations that I won’t delve into I was told to “call on down and discuss getting work”. So I did (eventually), introduced myself and we got to talking. And this was the bottom line: he can start me working in the industry right now.

So allow me to elaborate. In order to start working as a camera loader, operator etc. you must first obtain some forms from SIPTU and four members of whatever department you have chosen to work in (hair and make up, camera operator, sound guy etc.) must then sign those forms. After all that is processed you’ll be given a start date and then the long road begins. Taking this route into the industry is a long and hard path. You start at the bottom with a bottom wage and work your way up. It’s five to eight years of hard work and sacrifices before you can start calling the shots and making some "real money". But if that’s what you gotta do then that’s what you gotta do. So what decisions/problems where now facing me:

1) Mode of transport. The hours can be random, sporadic and gruelling. A car is a near must.

2)What department? I’m still not sure where I fit into all this moviemaking lark. I think I would make a good director, however I may discover a talent for production or cinematography, whatever you get my drift.

So the plan of action is now this. Go to college in September and do the year. Try everything, camera work, production, editing, sound, directing the lot. Work with others and discover where I’m best suited. And when the year-ends I’m in a better position to decided if the current route offered to me is the one I want to take. It’ll still be there in a year, I haven’t turned twenty yet so what’s the rush? Plus the extra year allows me to obtain a car (driver theory test at the end of August! Booya!).

Here a few other snippets from our conversation:

<>Nobody will let you direct unless you’ve directed before. At the start directors have to make their own work.
<>Never underestimate doing free work in the early years. You do someone a favour and further down the line they’ll do you a favour.
<>If you start at he bottom and work your way up people’s first impression of you is vital. You only really get one chance. The more you work and the better you work the more people will recognise you. The more people know who you are the better your work gets and that means better pay.

And that’s pretty much it. Hopefully I’ve been as clear as I can. I’d like to get Paul to write up a ‘guest post’. He’s offered to take me out for a days work soon so I’m looking forward to that.

Not much else to report. I’m looking into buying a DV Camera so I should have a new toy soon. Can’t wait to see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (you and me Dave!). Fantastic Four is one for the kids/family. Wedding Crashers gets my approval. Check it out. And I will post those feckin reviews as in the next few days.

Oh and one more thing:

The Back Doors
Doors Tribute
Date: 30 July 2005
Time: 8.00pm
Venue Details: Eamonn Doran's, 3a Crown Alley, Temple Bar, Dublin 2

Peace

Phil

Latest issue of Film Ireland

2005-07-07T01:09:00.000+01:00

Rite so this was supposed to be a Batman Begins review but I ended up playing poker with the lads after work so I've had to put that one on the long finger - again! Anywho quick post to let you know the latest edition of Film Ireland is on the shelves and contains and article on "How to get started in filmmaking".

"Ports of Entry
In this special feature Niamh Nic Raois and Esther Terradas present a practical guide to assist aspiring filmmakers. An overview for beginners is followed by words of advice form industry professionals, and a listing of the third level film courses available in Ireland."

It's Oxegen this weekend so posting will be lite. But you can look forward to a double review soon cos I've now seen War of the Worlds. ("Oh joy a double review.", I hear you cry!)

Oh and I've seen the future and it's called King Kong (see trailer). December is going to be and interesting month for movies.

May I see you drunk and disorderly at Oxegen

Phil

Peter Jackson Production Diary

2005-07-04T00:44:00.000+01:00

First off thanks to http://www.makingthemovie.info for pointing me in the direction of this. I've been meaning to check out the King Kong website after the Peter's successful Lord of the Rings website. I'm looking forward to seeing King Kong and this production diary/blog is great for keeping the fans happy and is also a very insightful movie making resource. I'd reccomend having broadband for this one.

http://www.kongisking.net/kong2005/proddiary/

Now I know there hasn't been a "quality" post in a while (are any of these posts "quality"?) but I do have a Batman Begins review in the pipeline which will go up in the next few days so watch this space. Thats all for now.

Peace

Phil

Quick Update

2005-06-27T23:45:00.000+01:00

Just a to let you know I'll know be running a seperate blog on my photography if anyones interested. The address is www.badfocus.blogspot.com. Check it out.

(The little picture in this post is just me trying out Blogger's new "Add Picture" feature. Very handy.)

Creative and Logistic - Thoughts of a 1st AD

2005-06-24T17:57:00.000+01:00

Okay so heres the first, in hopefully a long line line, of "guest posts". This should develop into a collection of thoughts and articles from people "in the industry" and from those involved in the art of filmmaking. So first up we've got some thoughts from Liam Ryan, whom I meet through the Dublin International Film Festival held in Febuary. Liam Ryan has experience in many aspects of filmmaking but is currently 1st AD on the budget feature "Rise of the Bricks" (see previous post for more on this). So without any more waffle from me I'll hand you over to Liam, and his thoughts on the role of a 1st AD.

Essentially to me the job is logistics. For a given scene which might takeplace say at the Statue of Liberty involving character lighting acigarette equal emphasis has to placed on the location or something that canpass for the location which might seem like a huge deal but youcannot forget the cigarette and lighter. Never assume that someone on thecrew will have an item or that there is somewhere nearby where it can beprocured. Chances are that it can be but what if the shop is closed, fromthe moment you arrive on location/ set you are on the clock and the lessprepared you are the more time to you lose on the day. And something always goes wrong on the day so better be equipped the deal with that than have to also arrange something you could have taken care of at an earlier stage.

I like shooting on location and I enjoy scouting locations. When however youare as restricted we are by the lack of budget on Rise of the Bricks we arerelying on the kindness of others. You don't have full control of theenvironment, which means you may have to adjust with something happening at the last minute.

As 1st AD I felt my primary job was to insulate the director as much aspossible. From a directorial standpoint an instruction such as "Go for aclose up on the actor as he lights the cigarette" can yield a lot ofquestions. The director has a creative load to bear and make decisions onthe options presented by cast and crew. So in order to assist the AD canhandle non-creative decisions and keep an eye on the clock and theschedule and also not allow the director to run off course. A director canbe bombarded with a thousand questions, my method was to prep with thedirector and the Director of Photography ahead of time so we already knowwhat we want to do on the day and that way it frees the director toconcentrate on directing the actors and leave directing the crew to the AD.

It can be difficult, filmmaking is. I say to do it is hard. To do it well is even harder. But having directed and then having worked as AD/ ProductionManager on this projected I found the pressure less intense as creativedecisions don't rest with me. I've given creative input; sometimes it'staken on board, other times it's not what the director had in mind,ultimately that is the person with whom the decision rests with.

Bricks I believe was a production blessed with a great deal of luck. As filmmakers we are all cogs turning a creative machine and on this projectall the cogs seemed to work very well as a single machine. I can only hopefor a similar experience on future projects.

Liam Ryan
1st AD/Production Manager - 'Rise of the Bricks'

Rollin with the punches

2005-06-12T23:17:00.000+01:00

First off, forgive me if this post is a tiny bit angry but I'm sure you'll see after reading that my anger is just. But first I think a little history is needed. I received this email on Thursday 9th:

Hi everyone,
The Rise of the Bricks is a no budget feature film that has been in
production for several months. We are now nearing the end of principal
photography with a target wrap date of the end of June.

Background:
This is a comedy of errors about a struggling college band (The Bricks) and
how they are signed to a record label. The twist being that the person
signing them to the label, Mr. Goodbar (Tony Ellis) is doing it to
deliberately sabotage the company! The Rise of the Bricks stars Emmet
Scanlan (Studs, 3 Crosses) Gerry Shanahan (Omagh) and Camille Donegan (The
Honeymooners)

Extras wanted:
The scene we are shooting on Saturday afternoon involves the Band playing
their make or break gig. The location is (edited). What we are
looking for are people just to show and be in the crowd. Call time is 1.00
and we'll be wrapped by 4.30. The bar will be open so all you have to do is
show up and drink! And bring your friends.

We'd love to see you there. The more the merrier.
Many thanks
Liam Ryan
1st AD/ Production Manager

Okay so that’s that. There'll be more background and info on "Rise of the Bricks" at a later date but for now just focus on the fact that is a NO BUDGET feature. No Budget means literally that. No money for actors. No money for locations. All equipment will be borrowed or stolen (stolen legally of course).

It’s tough making a film. Even if you’re Steven Spielberg with a practically unlimited budget, making a film is hard work. The fame, parties and red carpets come later and only if your film is successful. Many filmmakers have gotten big breaks by putting together a low budget film. Again a low budget film is exactly what it says on the tin. Sam Raimi (Evil Dead $50k budget) and Kevin Smith (Clerks $27k budget) both got their “Hollywood break” by putting together low budget films. The major thing to consider is that if you have a budget and your paying for actors, crew and locations then you have much more control over the making of your film. Actors are obligated to turn up for a days shoot, you are entitled to shoot at a location if you are paying money to be there etc.

Now consider the situation of “Rise of the Bricks”. This is a no budget feature. All actors are doing the work as a favour and an as interest in the project. Equipment will be borrowed or owned by the filmmakers themselves. And any location shoots are again given as favours. This of course means that as a filmmaker you are at the mercy of the masses. It takes major organisation to get cast and crew together on a day that everyone is available. Then any locations needed must be organised on the same day. Of course actors get sick or are unavailable and locations such as shops, pubs, halls etc. must be offered free gratis. Whereas production on a low budget may get wrapped within a few weeks, on a no budget it may take a lot longer, perhaps months. In the future I hope to get some post up about budgeting and shoot scheduling. For the moment though I can suggest checking out “The Guerrilla Filmmakers Handbook” - www.livingspirit.com. This book includes a section on these topics and a CD with computer software to help you get organised.

So now lets get back to the email. Myself and a couple of mates (John and Dan) headed up to town on Saturday, to the location as specified in the email. Liam greeted us, outside the pub (yes it’s a pub and that’s all I’m saying). Now here comes the angry bit. He informed us that the shoot had to be cancelled on account of the location being unavailable that day. He had received a phone call on Friday night from the location owners informing him that gig area would be unavailable on Saturday due to maintenance. Now I don’t now about you but that smells a little like bullshit. But lets not dwell on that to long. I think it highlights well some of the walls you will encounter when filmmaking with no budget.

No budget filmmaking is possibly the toughest form of filmmaking (documentaries not included!) but I would also say that it is the most rewarding. Liam and “Rise of the Bricks” director Ben adapted to the situation and planned a production meeting for Saturday afternoon after first making sure that everyone was well informed of the cancelled shoot. It is obvious that ‘rolling with the punches’ is a trait that all good filmmakers must posses.
More to come soon.

Peace

Phil

War of the Worlds Teaser

2005-06-09T00:54:00.000+01:00

War of the Worlds(2005) gets released in July. If this film is not the biggest film of the decade then I will lose all my faith in filmmaking. The trailers look so amazing that I get a buzz everytime a see one. All the right people are on board, Cruise, Spielberg etc. and the story is great. I'm putting my money on the table for this one, War of the Worlds will be something special.

To see what all the fuss is about check out: http://www.apple.com/trailers/paramount/waroftheworlds/

Sin City Poster

2005-06-04T23:01:00.000+01:00

Some of the lovely cast members of Sin City. What a treat! Word of warning though...if you Google "sin city" do not go to sincity.com. It has nothing to do with the film. Thats my story and I'm sticking to it...

Highly Reccomended: Sin City

2005-06-04T22:42:00.000+01:00

Sin City (2005)
Directed by Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller

So the start of the summer blockbusters is upon us and the season opens with this very bold and exciting movie, Sin City. You’ve seen the trailers maybe even read the “graphic novels” (that’s comics!) that the film is based on but does this visual treat hold up for 2 hours and 8.50 of your hard earn cash? With some critics calling it the new Pulp Fiction (in part due the input of ‘Quest Director’ Quentin Tarantino), a bar that high is going to be hard to clear but Sin City does it with style and then some.

Based on three graphic novels in the Sin City series by Frank Miller, the film plays out in three separate chapters much like the Pulp Fiction it has been compared to. Each segment is narrated by its central character, Marv (Mickey Rourke), Dwight (Clive Owen) and Hartigan (Bruce Willis), following their story through Basin City (knock off the ‘Ba’ and what do you get?) as they encounter revenge, violence, sex, drugs, love and hate. Following the film’s timeline can be tricky on first viewing, however the film will hold up to multiply viewing and a re-watch will prove enjoyable and possibly rewarding as you connect all the characters together to form a much broader picture of Sin City. A violent and unsettling place, Sin City does not shy away from any form of body inflicting damage. Fists, teeth, knives, cars, dogs, razor wire, sledgehammers and rubber tubing are all put to good use in order to torture and kill. Sin City has more than earned its 18’s cert and probably would not have passed the Censors where the film not shot in black and white.

And its the black and white “graphic novel” look may very well catch most viewers off guard. Shot in a digital back lot all the actors performed in front of blue screen with all the background added later. While this original look, broken throughout the film only by select and significant splashes of colour, is at first a shock and then a pleasure to watch its impact is soon lost within the first 20mins of viewing. This is however no great loss as the film’s great ensemble cast quickly picks up the film and carries it beautifully to the end. A great comeback for Mickey Rourke, and with Bruce Willis only being Bruce Willis for one quick line (“Wait here for me to come back, I’ll keep you safe.” Very Die Hard!). Notable supporting roles include Brittany Murphy, looks great and proves that her 8 Mile performance wasn’t just a once off, and Josh Hartnett for brief but excellent opening and closing of the film.

Overall Sin City is a sick pleasure to watch. A film that must hold the record for “most male genitalia” dismembered, it is bold, inventive, witty and in your face. Director Robert Rodriguez has taken his source material, of which he is a big fan, directly translated it to the screen and created a film that has pleased fans of the comic and is also accessible to the movie watching public. Co-directed with Sin City creator Frank Miller, a ‘Guest Director’ spot filled by Tarantino and a cast that will make “top 10 ensemble cast” lists for years to come it seems Sin City is set to be an instant hit. Sin City is bold, creative filmmaking but perhaps not for everyone. With Sin City 2 and 3 due in 2007/2008 is longevity in the public eye is assured but if Sin City will go down in the books, as a classic is a matter only time will tell. Go see it. Go see it again. Then put it on your DVD’s to buy list. And let’s leave at that for the moment.

Overall: Sin City shocks, titillates and teases. Funny, bloody and visually stunning, it proves itself one the best comic book adaptations of recent times. Even with such a great cast it will still remain to be seen if Sin City can outdo summer heavy hitters such as War of the World, Mr. And Mrs. Smith and Land of the Dead.

Five Word Review: Beautiful, shocking, witty, sexy, sleazy.

What's new?

2005-05-29T22:02:00.000+01:00

So the revamp has begun. Hope everyone finds the new blogspot okay and hopefully we can generate more readers. So what's with the new direction? Well I'm hoping to keep everyone informed on what's going on in my little filmmaking world. I start back to college this September with a new course called "TV and Film Production". So when that gets rolling I'll post up all the course material, how projects are developing, what to do, what not to do etc. Hopefully I can geneate a nice little resource on film making through the "college system". I'll also be blogging any side projects I'm working on. Couple of things getting off the ground this summer so there'll be lots to tell ya bout then. Other stuff going on will be the odd review or film I think you should check out, I'll continue to post pictures (film, art and personal), and then of course there's all the stuff in between that makes life so interesting. So thats all. Check out the links side bar for some more interesting sites and blogs. And may the summer be filled with sunshine and lollipops.

Peace

Phil

Some Changes

2005-05-28T21:04:00.000+01:00

Right here's the diddelio. I hoping to try and update this blog to make it slightly more interesting and more accesible. So there's going to be a few updates with the layout, posts etc. Most importantly the url and site name will change. I'm thinking of going with everydaymoviemaking.blogspot but we'll see what Dan's input is when he gets here. Which should be any minute now...

Peace

Phil

2005-05-23T02:36:00.000+01:00

I'm bored so here's some shots taken at the local graveyard. Right... think its time to got to bed.

Bitchin Track of the Week

2005-05-20T00:30:00.000+01:00

Great to see these guys back on the scene. This is the first single release from their new album and its a great track with a pumpin bass line. I love the different styles these guys bring together and its all on this track. This weeks track is...

Gorillaz - Feel Good Inc.

Funk Master Kelly silk says: "Watup y'all. Its about time I got you bitchas in to some my shit. Y'know the Players Groove. So to ease you into the the hip hop scene I selected this track. These brothers got it together so spin that shite and give the muthafuckers a listen."

Week of Tens - Day Five

2005-05-20T00:13:00.000+01:00

TOP TEN REASON IRELAND DID BAD IN THE EUROVISION

1) The song was crap.
2) They didn't show enough and even if they had it would have been pasty white Irish flesh.
3) The song was crap.
4) The muppet can't dance. I've seen better movement in a fish.
5) The song was crap.
6) The Irish dancing was tacky. They looked like a bunch of bad Butlins holiday reps trying to do Irish dancing.
7) The song was crap.
8) She can sing and he can't. So why give him a solo?
9) The song was crap.
10)There's a conspiracy. Ireland doesn't want to win the Eurovision. We can't afford to host it again. Not yet anyway...do do do...

Week of Tens - Day Four

2005-05-19T23:28:00.000+01:00

TOP TEN REASONS TO HAVE FACIAL HAIR

1) Facial hair is great - it just is so don't argue!
2) It makes you a man - look at all the great men who had facial hair. Galileo, Lincoln, Hansard, Chewbacca.
3) Facial hair adds two years - which is just enough to get you in places but too much that your a dirty old bastard with a beard. I used to get asked for ID all the time. Grew a beard and BHAM! No more ID.
4) Growing facial hair is fun and rewarding - forget tomigatchis, furbies or babies. Maintaing your facial hair and watching it grow is the most rewarding experience of all.
5) Facial hair is fun to play with - you'll get a 20 minutes of entertainment ouuta good facial hair.
6) Facial hair is fun for other people to play with - gigitty gigitty gigitty!
7) Good facial hair=good looks - the right facial hair can only add to ones face. JT is a perfect example. Curly haired muppet, shaves head, grows some facial hair and well you know the rest. Of course if you've got a face like Gary Coleman then no amount of facial hair will help.
8) Facial hair comes in so many forms - beard, tash, locks, sideburns, handlebars, the list goes on. Your face. Your style. (Sound like a Gillette ad)
9) Facial hair means your in a band - in a band? Then get yourself some facial hair and let everyone know your in a band. Not in a band? Then get yourself some facial hair and pretend your in a band.
10) Facial hair is easy to get ready - unlike kids and pets, if you tire of you facial hair then just shave it off. But with kids and pets theres so much hassle. Trying to pack the suitcase, driving to the river, evading the law etc etc. You get none of that with facial hair!

Week of Tens - Day Three

2005-05-19T22:10:00.000+01:00

TOP TEN THINGS TO DO IN A CROWED LIFT
(And in no particular order cos there all darn good)

1) Grimace painfully while smacking your forehead and muttering: "Shut up, all of you just shut UP!".
2) Stare, grinning, at another passenger for a while, and then announce: "I've got new socks on!"
3) Walk on with a cooler that says "human head" on the side.
4) Stare at another passenger for a while, then announce "You're one of THEM!" and move to the far corner of the elevator.
5) Wear a puppet on your hand and talk to other passengers "through" it.
6) Draw a little square on the floor with chalk and announce to the other passengers that this is your "personal space."
7) Announce in a demonic voice: "I must find a more suitable host body."
8) Without letting anyone see, press the emergency stop button. Act surprised and start talking to yourself "its ok, it wasnt your fault you killed your family. It was SATAN, damm you SATAN! DAMN YOU!!!" Then press the stop button again and act as if nothing has happened.
9) Have sex with your imaginary friend
10) Describe in detail, how you're "hung like a horse"

Week of Tens - Day Two

2005-05-18T01:16:00.000+01:00

TOP TEN FAMILY GUY MOMENTS
That moments, not quotes. Moments.

1. Quagmire finds a tied up cheerleader – “Dear Diary: Jackpot!”
2. When Brian enquires why his guidebook of Germany has blank pages between the years 1939 to 1945. – “We ver on a holiday!”
3. When Stewie is so outraged that the family don’t find his joke funny that he shouts fuck. Only it’s bleeped which makes it all the funnier.
4. When the family return from ‘The Deep South’ they find several hundred message left on the answer machine – “Where’s the fuckin paper boy!”
5. When Stewie and Brian are stuck together a cop pulls them over. The look on Brian’s face as Stewie attempts to get him arrested is brilliant – “We met on the Internet. He lured me into the car with promises of candy and funny stories.”
6. Quagmire gets caught in the window – “Hello, 911? It's Quagmire. Yeah, it's caught in the window this time.”
7. Diane Simmons believing she is off air declares she doesn’t like black people –
“Tom Tucker: Because of an accident today at the Quahog cable company, all television transmission will be out for an undetermined amount of time. Of course, no one can see this news program, so it doesn't really matter what we say. I'm the lord Jesus Christ. I think I'll go get drunk and beat up some midgets, how about you, Diane?
Diane Simmons: Well, Tom, I just plain don't like black people.”
8. Quagmire forgets to say OH! – “OH!”
9. Quagmire hits on a transvestite –
“Quagmire: Hey there little lady. Why don't you turn around and show me your Lower East Side.
Woman (man voice): Sure.
Quagmire: Whoa, transvestite, back off! Wait a minute...pre-op or post-op?
Woman: Pre-op.
Quagmire: Whoa, transvestite, back off!”
10. The Jaws rip off/Taylor Hanson conversation –
“Quagmire: Taylor Hanson.
Joe: Taylor Hanson is a guy.
Quagmire: [Laughs] You guys are yankin' me. "Hey, let's put one over on Quagmire.
Peter: No, he's actually a guy, Quagmire.
Quagmire: What? That's insane. That's impossible. [Pause]
Quagmire: Oh god. Oh my god. I've got all these magazines. Oh god.”

Week of Tens - Day One

2005-05-16T21:13:00.000+01:00

Day One and its...

TOP TEN MOVIES (putting them in order was so hard it made my head hurt. And no giving out about Star Wars. Those movies are a unit and always will be a unit. You just can't separate them.)

1. Star Wars Saga - seems obvious I know, but I really do love these movies.
2. Rocky Horror Picture Show - this movie always put a smile on my face. I haven’t been to one of those 'interactive' fancy dress screenings but I have to admit that it's a life ambition. Someday...
3. Con Air - simple dumb fun. The Vegas landing strip sequence help inspire me on the path to moviemaking
4. Fistful of Dynamite - have to have a Western in there. One of the first proper Westerns I every watched its stayed with me. Aaahh.
5. Garden State - cos we've all been there. And cos I love Natalie Portman.
6. Happy Texas - William H Macy is the man! A little know comedy that you should defiantly check out
7. Reservoir Dogs - do I have to say anything?
8. Labyrinth - I admire anything Jim Henson's put his hand to but this movie really stands out. To hell with computer graphics. This is how it should look
9. True Romance - the script that put Quentin on the map. Great story with great performances to boot
10. Fifth Element - another one of those movies I could watch again and again. Bruce Willis in his prime. Oh do I cringe at the thoughts of Die Hard 4....

*** Cue movie related closing line ***

And that’s a wrap!

Week of Tens

2005-05-16T20:40:00.000+01:00

This week on Room With A View its the week of Tens. Everynight a new Top 10 list will be posted for your viewing pleasure. Agree? Disagree? Let me know and get commenting. And dont forget to post you own top ten. But before we get the ball rolling on the Week of Tens, heres a late addition.

Bitchin Track of the Week

Well with the big Oasis comeback featuring alot in music news it felt right to give this track a good listen to again. And no its not an Oasis track. Its a cover of an Oasis track. Cos I don't really like Oasis. There muppets. Anywho this weeks track is...

Ryan Adams - Wonderwall

Funk Master Kelly Silk says: "This muthafucker got it goin on. I love it when a musician with fine rhtyhm takes a banged up track and pimps it out to perfection. This is one fine track for makin those skinny ass white girls go weak at da knees. Booya!"

For fuck's sake! Not again... (or "Why I hate my computer and technology in general)

2005-05-16T19:35:00.000+01:00

*** SAFETY WARNING: THE FOLLOWING POST IS QUIET BITTER ***

Okay so here comes the rant, lies and excuses. But first up the, its the big question? why did week of the blog only last two days? Well the simple answer is that my computer is fecked. Well fecked! So fecked it couldn't even handle a Word doc without crashing. So fecked that Ctrl-Alt-Delete didn't work. So fecked that I was forced to "improper shutdown" several times. A day. It got to the point where it was near impossible to write up the posts (which is very time consuming) and when the internet refused to work it became impossible to post at all. Have I failed or has technology failed? You decide. But for now all I can offer is my apologises to my fans. I hear some people where gaining a slight unhealthy addiction to Week of the Blog. Propably just aswell it wasn't completed. But who knows...maybe there will be a new week of the blog in the future. And a new computer. Farewell my bloggy friends, I hope you enjoy this weeks entertainment.

Ghetto Booty and Sinking Ships...

2005-05-11T12:21:00.000+01:00

TECH NOTE: Blogger's system was down last night so this post couldn't go online at the "proper" time.

Day Two in Week of the Blog

00.56 – Stay up to watch “Don’t be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood”. Didn’t realise it was a Wayans Brothers movie. I’d never seen it before but it was always one of those movies that were talked about in 1st and 2nd Year at Secondary School.

02.19 – Quick channel hop before going to bed. Happen upon Claire Sweeny. Why doesn’t this women make it into FHM’s 100 Sexiest? I’m going to vote for her next time.

02.29 – Brush teeth. I’m one of those twice a day people. Morning and night yes sir…

02.32 – Discover bedroom window has been left open all day. It quite a big window and its now quite a cold room.

02.34 – Lights out. ZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

11.00 – Alarm goes off and I awake to the melodious sound of Ray Darcy’s voice. I’m happy cos maybe I’m gonna be outta be at a reasonable hour.

11.01 – Lie in bed not really doing much. It’s great.

11.05 – Spot Final Fantasy 9 on the shelf. I love this game. Decide not to leave bed and start replaying FF9.

11.21 – Okay now this is gross but I find more dead skin in my bed. See I burnt my scalp over the May Bank holiday weekend and it did a major peel session over the last few days. Still finding bits. Bleugh!

11.38 – Attempt to save my game but have forgotten that memory cards are not backwards compatible. Now I’m screwed. Begin search for PlaystaionOne and old memory cards.

11.50 – Can’t find memory cards. Can’t even find PSone. But my search does return a Discman, a DVD and Titanic on VHS. Unfortunately none of these help in saving my game.

11.51 – Return to playing. I love this game.

12.34 – Begin new search for memory cards. More hopeful this time.

12.42 – Find nothing. Give up hope.

12.43 – I take a deep breath and turn off the Playstation. All game data gone!
I loved that game.

12.45 – Grab breakfast. Crunchy Nut Corn Flakes again but it’s the end of the box so I get all that tasty powder and lil’ bits of nut.

12.46 – Decide since it found me I better put it to good use. Pick up Titanic on VHS and pop it in the machine. Youthful memories come flooding back.

12.51 – Notice there’s a tracking problem at the top of the screen. I can’t fix it. It really pisses me off for about five minutes then I get on with the film.

12.53 – Tracking still pissing me off.

12.56 – Tracking stops pissing me off.

14.00 – “That scene” (you know with the necklace and nothing but the necklace, drawing, erotic moment etc. etc.). Think about how much I used to fancy Kate Winslet. Still do fancy Kate Winslet!
INTERESTIN FACT: During “that scene” director James Cameron drew the picture of Rose. Every time you see Jack’s hand it’s actually that of Cameron and not DiCaprio.

14.29 – Nearly choke on a peanut.

14.30 – Peanut crisis over.

14.34 – Notice that a mark on my thumb is gone. I’ve never really known what it was or what caused it but it was there for a very long time.

15.03 – As always I nearly cry when the band decide to stay onboard the ship.

15.06 – ‘Gentlemen, it has been a pleasure playing with you this evening.’

15.39 – Titanic finished. I really had forgotten how feckin good that film is. Just the sheer scale of the film is awe-inspiring. A real masterpiece.

15.40 – Again another nasty but I said I’d try to Blog everything. I go take a shit.

15.47 – Finished with bowel movements (yes I washed my hands!).

15.48 – Empty Dishwasher. Prove to myself that I am capable of housework. But deep inside me I know it’s not really enough.

15.59 – Check out emails and the like.

16.55 – Sarah (sister), returns home from school. Decide to stop looking at Internet porn and turn off computer.

17.15 – Blow my nose a lot. I can’t figure out if my hay fever is starting up or have I just got a cold. Either way there’s mucus everywhere!

17.22 – Feeling a bit dirty. Decide to have a shower.

17.42 – Finished with personal hygiene so get dressed and pop up to shop.

17.46 – Pay my debt of five euro to the shop. Purchase 3 packets of Pop Rocks.

17.48 – Run home so I can eat Pop Rocks before dinner. Am very aware of how childish that sounds.

18.00 – Wolf down 3 packets of Pop Rocks. Small sugar rush ensues.

18.02 – Sit down to watch Simpsons double bill.

18.04 – A bit fidgety. Wonder if it’s the Pop Rocks.

18.15 – Sarah informs me that dinner will be sorted when Dad get in from work.

18.45 – Getting a bit hungry but must wait for Dad.

19.17 – Dad returns home.

19.56 – Discover that the mark on my thumb has reappeared. This makes me a bit sad so I study the mark for a bit. Think it may be a veruca. Which is kind of gross.

20.00 – Dinner finally ready. Southern fried chicken diced with rice and sweet n’ sour sauce.

20.35 – Stick latest photos I’ve taken to bedroom wall. Got a bit of a splash wall going on.

20.49 – Sit down at computer.

20.50 – Start a big photograph edit session (nobody said this Blog was gonna be interesting).

22.45 – Meet Dan online and send each other stuff. Isn’t technology great!

23.41 – Finish ego-boosting session with Dan.

23.45 – Feeling a tad peckish (it’s the fat people!). Grab a glass of milk and Turkish delight. Now I know Turkish is a touchy subject so all comments, emails and abuse on his subject will be gratefully received.

1.5 litres of coke and a packet of crisps...

2005-05-10T00:22:00.000+01:00

Day One in Week of the Blog

14.07 – I got outta bed. I’m young and like all young people sleep for very long periods of time when given the chance. I’ve never really understood this phenomenon as being young we should have lots of energy and not need to sleep for such long periods of time. In my defence it had been long week at work and I clocked plenty of work hours over the weekend to boot. But who am I kidding the simple fact is I’m a lazy git.

14.30 – Had breakfast. Now many people would argue that it couldn’t possible be breakfast at such a late hour in the day. Well in my opinion you can have breakfast at anytime provided you are breaking the fast of the night before. Breakfast was a hearty bowl of Crunchy Nut Corn Flakes, Muller Corner and juice.

14.37 – Vegged in front of T.V for a bit and discovered that Robinson’s are now making a juice dilute that can be added to milk. It sounds rank!

15.30 – Went through the motions of getting ready for work.

15.40 - Grabbed a quick shower. Work started at 4 so it had to be a quick shower. I got very good at having quick showers while in secondary school. The key was to maximise your time in bed in relation to getting ready in time for the bus. Now, stop thinking about me naked.

16.00 – Work begins. Only two bloody hours but money is money.

16.26 – Discover that the chocolate flakes on the top of Cornetos are in fact not just flakes. They are actually tiny chocolates swirls. Amazing little pieces of chocolate artwork.

17.10 – While around the back of the garage I spot a suspicious man in a tweed coat. He was probably just looking at the cars on sale but he was one of those people who looks like he’s always about to rob something. We should feel sorry for these people and not judge them.

17.20 – Have fight with trash compactor door. From day one we’ve never really got on. Today was just another battle but the wars not over.

17.44 – Glance cover of National Enquirer. What ever happened to Britney? She used to be the ultimate teenage pin-up. Now we can only remember fondly that schoolgirl uniform…

17.46 – Receive SMS from Barry, Sarah’s (my sister) “close” friend. We’re becoming pretty good mates ourselves (don’t read into that). Anywho he informs me that he is getting Sarah #!%^&&amp;(*&)*&(*?”>\ (blanked cos she may be reading!) for her birthday.

18.06 – I return home, the man of the house, satisfied with a days work.

18.10 – Sarah requests that I cook dinner for her and myself and that Dad will fix up his when he gets home. I tell she can cook her dinner now as I am not hungry and will eat with Dad. She informs me I’m a lazy fuck. Fight ensues…

18.30 – I cook dinner.

18.31 – It’s steak and chips. Dad will have his when he gets home.

18.40 – Reply to Barry’s msg. Suggest we split the cost of Sarah’s present and then we can both get her something small on the side. It’s not that I’m scabby its just that the present is very expensive.

18.55 – Finish coking dinner. Reflecting upon my culinary skills I realise I may be fucked when I have to live on my own.

19.16 – Dad returns home brandishing 3 tickets for Australia. I feel a pang of jealousy.

19.25 – Set-up tape for Coronation Street. Mom is away in America for the next 10 days. Coronation Street must be taped over the next 10 days. I have to tape Coronation Street over the next 10 days. Coronation Street… 10 days…

20.00 – Sit down to watch Malcolm in the Middle. This show is gold dust. How come we don’t talk about it anymore? Why have we stopped quoting it all the time thinking we’re hilarious? How have the Simpsons and Family Guy achieved this status and not Malcolm in the Middle?

20.43 – See that ad with the dog that goes “Ohhh yesss!” in a thick British accent. God I love that dog.

21.05 – Log on to the World Wide Web and update links list on blog.

21.32 – Remove myself from the computer and wince at the pain in my ankle. Been in pain since Saturday and can’t figure out what’s wrong. I’m gonna make an appointment with the Doctor tomorrow if the pain persists. I’ve been wearing a strap on my ankle since Sunday. I feel like an athlete. It’s the most athletic I’ve felt in my life.

21.45 – Sit around not doing much like 90% of what appears on Big Brother.

22.30 – Flick on the telly. That show Carnival is on. Wish I’d seen earlier episodes as it looks pretty good.

22.32 – Carnival is on TG4. Realise I’ve missed the O.C. I’m not a big O.C head but I do need a hit every couple of weeks. Ahh Summer…

23.03 – Finish off a 1.5l bottle of Coke. Feel like Morgan Spurlock (he’s the Super Size Me guy)

23.35 – Sit down to watch Cold Case on TG4. I’m addicted to all those sort of shows. C.S.I, Without a Trace etc. If I can be the next Jerry Bruckheimer I’ll be a happy man.

23.40 – Opening credits roll on Cold Case so I run out to the kitchen to indulge in my near nightly packet of Tayto Crisps. Inside me are two fat people dying to get out. Evidence of this is clear (see 23.03). I will probably suffer for these late night munchies sessions in the future.

23.48 – Channel hop and land on a repeat of the Late Late Show. It’s those two Eurovision Muppets. Realise I’m getting turned on by the girl. Shame her brother is such a fag but I’d defiantly give her one if she didn’t open her mouth. Damn accent!

00.17 – Ads on Cold Case so I run out to computer to give nightly update on Day One in Week of the Blog.

More to follow tomorrow night...

2005-05-09T00:10:00.000+01:00

BUT FIRST A WORD FROM OUR SPONSOR: "We at CDD (Crazy Dublin Drunks), give Phil our full support and wish him the best of luck in the week ahead."

The hour of reckoning is upon us

2005-05-08T23:51:00.000+01:00

In about, ohhh say ten minutes, I will be embarking on my adventure in blogging. For the next 120 hours I will carry notebook and pen with me and document everything I do. Then bog the whole bloody lot. There is a beautitful irony in the fact that I will use pen and paper to carry me through the day and a computer to blog my life into 0's and 1's. Ahh such is the world we live in. Let the challenge commence...

Putting myself out there for science

2005-05-06T19:13:00.000+01:00

Big news folks! Starting Monday 9th it will be "Week of the Blog" here on Room With A View. Monday through to Friday I will be blogging EVERYTHING I do. Part experiment, part entertainment I will blog everything I do for one week. It's Big Brotherlite! Taking inspiration from great men such as Dave Gorman, Morgan Spurlock and David Blaine, I am putting my life on public display for the greater good. From the time I wake up to the time I go to bed, everything will be blogged in nightly updates. And you can only find it here on Room With A View. Tell all your other sick pervert friends and be sure to check back Monday for "WEEK OF THE BLOG". It's gonna be big folks, it's gonna be big...

Bitchin Track of the Week

2005-05-06T00:34:00.000+01:00

Funk Master Kelly Silk's choice for this week is a great up beat track. So up beat it should make you wanna get up and dance even if your name is Dave and you have herpes. Getting a good bit of radio play now thanks to the recent "club mix", this weeks bitchin track of the week is:

Sunset Strippers - Falling Stars

Funk Master Kelly Silk says: This track is the shit. A fine ass example of an old skool classic, it makes me wanna dig out my Pumas and go retro. And that new skool remix is equally bitchin. Two great versions of a great track. Could a muthafuker ask for much more?

2005-05-06T00:28:00.000+01:00

Oh and did I mention we met the one and only Tommy Tiernan on our little day trip...

2005-05-06T00:25:00.000+01:00

Went for a photo session in Dublin with Dan the man. Lots o' craic and some good snaps. Here's some of the fruit of my labour...

2005-05-04T21:05:00.000+01:00

First few photos have been landscape's so heres something a bit U.R.B.A.N. C'mon atcha!

2005-05-03T20:28:00.000+01:00

The weather has been shite these last couple of days so here's some snaps of a yellow field to make you happy.MMMM...yellow...

Bitchin Track of the Week

2005-04-29T13:32:00.001+01:00

Okay so Funk Master Kelly Silk was supposed to have his first track posted last night but due to the fact that computers are a right pain in the arse at times there was a small delay. But I suppose you should start as you mean to continue so here, on Friday, is Funk Master's first selection. Check back every Friday for more. Oh and Funk Master Kelly Silk highly reccomends this site http://www.playerappreciate.com/pimphandle.asp. Now spread the word and get pimpin to this track!

The Chemical Brothers-Galvanize

Funk Master Kelly Silk says: "This is one kickass track, Muthafucker. It jus makes me wana get down with me brothers 24/7. Stick it in your iPod now!"

2005-04-29T13:32:00.000+01:00

First photograph...

Funk Master Kelly Silk

2005-04-29T03:06:00.000+01:00

Every Friday Funk Master Kelly Silk will be picking his "Bitchin Track of the Week". He may be a player but his taste in music is as wide as J Lo's booty. Check out his recomendations and be sure to give your feedback. This player is all lovin and no hatin. To get the ball rolling Funk Master Kelly Silk has selected his first track for us. Be sure t check back every Friday for future selections.

Here we go.....

2005-04-28T22:00:00.000+01:00

So here it is. My little piece of the world wide web. I've gone digital and your all coming with me. So enjoy it! But what to expect on this digital road trip I hear you cry. Well it'll be a bit of philosophy, a bit of the chat, a good bit of craic(if you laugh at me or with me is entirely up to you, but be warned, I'm not afraid to digital bitchslap!) and alot of bullshit. But most importantly it'll be about...YOU, The People!

Okay so the bullshit has started already. This is the room at the top of my tower. Enjoy the view through the pictures I take. And if you fancy a small change in scenery then head over to http://dandend.blogspot.com/.

Leave nothing but footprints.
Take nothing but memories.

Intro over...
Enjoy...