TREE

A New Banner

A new banner for the blog, and I'm starting to think about a web site too.

Gummy Bear Dance

Ok bear with me here...

There is a rather infectious/irritating (depending on your point of view) viral animation clip spreading across the Internet at the moment called Gummy Bear Dance.  Its in the crazy frog mold and once you've heard the song it will burrow into you brain like a parasite.

Your humming it already arn't you!

What's this got to do with TREE?

Well my friend Peter Dodd designed and animated the cheeky little bear, that has been seen by some 5 million people at this point.  You should check out his site if you have a mo.

Yeah, but what has this to do with TREE?

Oh.  Well Mr Dodd is the first person to come up with an alternative title for the film. 
His suggestion is "WINDFALL" which is not bad at all.

Clive Brunt

When we were auditioning for Tree we meet with some great actors, and I use that term to encompass both sexes.  But after meeting Clive I had a strong gut feeling he was the right for our character, and now having finished filming I can safely confirm my gut was absolutly right.  Clive was so easy to work with, and was always ready to give.  He has one of those faces that just photographs so well, but despite his tough looks he is in fact a real teddy bear. 

Clive sent an email and asked me to post this for him on the blog:

"On my first meeting with Phil and Liz I was impressed by their script and their attitude. I wanted to be involved in the project at all cost. It was great working with you all on Tree. I've seen a couple of the rushes and I'm really proud to be part of it. 
Beth put in a great performance; a really generous and exciting actor to work with. She has a lot to be proud of.

The crew were so hardworking and professional.  Many thanks to everyone. Jo for her work on the wig, what a trooper! Everyone in costume, braving the rain with us. One of the real stars has to be Roy, (Phil's father) who doubled up on most jobs and was always a friendly face around.  Liz Chan for all her hard work, and most of all to Phil, who is talented, hardworking, and has true vision. He brought out the best of me and I hope that we can work together again.

The only bad point for me on Tree is that it had to end."  - Clive Brunt

Clive can presently be seen in Woyzeck at St Ann's Warehouse in Brooklyn until December 5th.

East End Film Fest

Submissions are now open for the East End Film Festival 19 - 26 April 2007

The deadline for all submissions is 26th January 2007.

The  East  End  Film Festival will be screening at major venues across East London.  To  download   the   submission  form   and   guidelines,  please  visit
http://www.eastendfilmfestival.com

Silence is Golden wins TMC Shorts 2006

Congratulations to Chris Shepherd, Maria Manton and everyone at Slinky Pictures. 
Silence is Golden was named winner of  the 2006 Turner Movie Classics Short Film award last night.

You can view the film on the BBC Film Network for a short period.  One warning though, the film does contain some strong language.

www.slinkypics.com

Puritan

Next Friday, November 10th, in selected theaters around town there is a new film released called PURITAN,  a modern noir mystery which I strongly suggest you go see.  Why?  Well, one reason is that our very own Peter Ellmore was Director of Photography on the film, so it is sure to look the bees knees, and two, its a rather good movie.

Incidentally, Peter is also going write up a little piece for the blog about the camera kit and stock we used on TREE, and give you his D.O.P's view of the production.  So look out for that in the coming weeks.

Hot Fuzz

Was watching the enjoyable video blogs on Working Titles website today for a film called Hot Fuzz. 

Its the new film from the Shaun of the Dead team.  When I got to Video Diary 10 I had to smile.  Its not just a small film like ours that gets washed out by the rain, it happens to the big boys too!

Take a look.

I am not an Island

A little while ago I started a Squidoo list of other film-making/film-makers blogs on the net. I am not alone in blogging about the production process. There are some other interesting and informative sites out there.

If you click on the Squidoo image in the left hand panel it will take to my list of fellow filmmakers.  Please remember to give the list a rank while your there.

Cheers

Olive

Micheal von Bergen has very kindly sent in a  cool picture for the Tree photo album.
Be sure to check out his website too for more great pictures. www.vonbergen.net

Anyone else have a Tree picture and story to share?  Send them in!

blog-as-film-marketing-device

It might seem strange to be talking about marketing a film before a single frame has been shot, and doubly odd if the film in question is just 6 minutes in length.   But I would argue not. 

There are so many short films being made these days.  Anything that can help to raise a projects profile above the crowd has got to be a good thing, and if you wait until a film is already shooting, your already to late.

If you are a reader of Hugh Macleod's gapingvoid  you may already be familiar with the blog marketing concept.  He is helping out on a blog for his friend's new film "Hallam Foe" at the moment.  But Hugh also set out 10 rules for a professional movie blog back in 2004, that are really worth looking at.  I'm definitely going to try incorporate some of them into this blog over the next year.

So as part of marketing my blog - which in turn markets my film - I have set up a Lens at Squidoo with a list of useful filmmaking blogs  Take a look and rate the page while your there.  If you know of any other blogs I should list email me or leave a comment here. 

Would be great to hear what you think.