Sequels and film franchises are a curious notion of Hollywood cinema, for it always seems that one is never enough and less is never more. The next sequel in a cinematic saga persistently seeks to upstage and outdo the one that precedes it, leaving you overwhelmed and mentally exhausted from the blast to the face by the fire-hose of special effects and mindless action.

Think of the following two franchises: Alien and Superman. In both films we have one villain, the single alien and Lex Luthor, and most of the action sequences take place in one location, or set-piece if you will: The Nostromo in Alien and Metropolis in Superman. However, in Aliens and Superman II, there are multiple villains in both, and the action occurs over numerous set-pieces. The Alien franchise is a more curious example, as not only are there more villains, but more good guys too. Ultimately this equates to more guns, more action and more special effects. Thus outdoing the film that precedes it and making it more of a spectacle.

– A sorry state of affairs –

Here’s another, albeit much worse, franchise that we’re currently in the midst of – the cringe-worthy, shield-your-eyes-but-keep-them-open-because-you-might-miss-a-bit, Saw films. To date, there have been six of them and with a seventh currently being filmed and set for release later this year, it seems as if the notion of ‘out-doing’ the preceding film is still as valid as ever, possibly even more relevant given the current economic climate. What is also interesting about them is that this notion of upstaging has developed into not only more characters, more set-pieces but into areas of narrative and plot and also into a development of technologies – SAW VII is apparently going to be a 3D affair, which I feel is the ultimate way to outdo a predecessor: literally go into another dimension.

Saw (the first one) was, in my opinion, quite a genuinely intriguing homage to horror films created during the 1970s and 80s by filmmakers such as John Carpenter and Wes Craven, simply because it was a low-budget, well-plotted and nasty film which had no genuine conclusion or resolution at the end. Saw II on the other hand, seemed to jolt the franchise well into the 21st century very quickly and it had such a different tone about it: the tone, style and undeveloped dialogue made it feel much more like Eli Roth’s films, rather than any credible work made before it. But, importantly, it did follow the trend and fashion of upstaging its predecessor, Saw: it had many more characters; lots more plot twists and much more gruesome deaths. And so it went for another agonising four films.

– Narrative frustrations –

In regards to narrative, what really irritates to me about these films is that they don’t seem to know themselves whether another film will be made afterwards, so a particularly frustrating element that becomes clear after watching several films, is that the narratives seem to tie themselves up slightly at the close (the tying is achieved somewhat quickly, often within the last 20 minutes of screen time) and then it is untied at the start of the next film.

Something which you may also notice occurs a lot in Hollywood’s other hacky film franchises, such as the Terminator saga. This kind of tying and retying was never really apparent in older franchises, such as the Nightmare on Elm Street or Halloween films and it really is a shame that filmmakers seem to have reached a crossroads like this, whereby the story is left open and they hope next film gets picked up, or the alternative which is that they have to patronise their audiences to such a degree, as to alter narrative structure like we’ve seen here.

However, for all the complaints, you have to take your hat off to them – they are undoubtedly well plotted and constructed – layers upon layers of twists which, although nauseating and genuinely complicated to follow, are admirable in such a mainstream series of films.

– Are we lazy audiences? –

What I admire and paradoxically get frustrated by, is that how audiences are now built-in for these franchises: studio executives know this, and that’s how these films get made. We’ve somehow ended up in a filmmaking climate whereby the attitude is not, ‘What can we make that’s original?’, but rather it seems as if studios are thinking ‘Well, that worked two years ago, shall we make another?’, or, ‘That worked and made money in that country, let’s remake it here’. It truly is a shame that we’re reliant on franchises to make us go to the cinema, but from a productive perspective, they’re cheap to make, cheap to distribute and people will churn out in the millions to see someone remove their own limbs because of their own moralistic choices.

Sadly, I believe that we, as an audience, don’t know what we want to see anymore and we don’t know how to spend our precious £6.50. Are we willing to take a chance on a smaller, more independent film that we’ve never heard of, or are we going to go choose the next Saw film? Something which we know before going into the theatre, will contain lots of blood, guts and dismembered body parts. The answer, unfortunately, lies with the latter option.

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A music video for chart-topping Owl City is looking for a hair and make up person for the filming, which will take place in Devon on March 16 and 17.

The look and feel of the video is kinda ’60s nostalgia, with a clear breezy optimism that longs to be set free (from beehive and buzzcut to ponytails, perhaps?).

The main roles include a young boy (a Christopher Robin-type), a woman and a middle-aged man.

Plus there are some extras roles up for grabs.

Owl City have been number one in the US and the UK with their single Fireflies and their very special synthpop sound.

If you’re interested email gail@daveyinc.com as soon as possible!

(image: from the treatment for the video)

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Zomblies director Dave Reynolds has been in touch with an update on the premiere of the ‘balls-to-the-wall action flick’ which turns Dartmoor into the a battleground. Take it away Dave…

As we first revealed a few weeks ago, Zomblies is set to premiere at Exeter Odeon, Screen One, on Saturday, March 27. The movie is almost in the can, by which I mean we’re almost ready to hit that big, final button labelled ‘render’ and we will be releasing a new trailer in a few days time…

Preparations for the premiere are well underway, red carpet is ordered, limos are booked and there are still tickets remaining – but selling fast – if you want a chance to see our balls-to-the-wall zombie action flick in its first showing on the big screen.

Tickets are available from Realm Pictures. Priced at £6.50 to include the screening and the aftershow party at the Amber Rooms on Sidwell Street (over 18s only) featuring a performance by Teignmouth based (and really awesome) band, The Quails.

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If you think that Hong Kong action movies have lost their edge, step inside the Kill Zone (Cine Asia), and get your hands dirty! This bluntly titled action flick is the latest collaboration between director Wilson Yip and actor Donnie Yen – a formidable duo with a violent array of tricks up their sleeves!

After executing the attorney and witnesses who could put him behind bars for good, brutal crime-lord Wong Po (Sammo Hung) wriggles out of police custody and swaggers back to a life of crime. His nemesis – veteran detective Chan Kwok Chung (Simon Yam) is living on borrowed time and realizes that he has to sink to Po’s level in order to topple the king-pin. Chung’s replacement Ma Kwun (Donnie Yen) is sceptical of his colleague’s overzealous methods, but as soon as Po hires a flamboyant assassin to wipe out the cops on his trail, Kwun gets with the programme and tries to break up Po’s crime syndicate – one bone at a time!

In truth, the undemanding plot is merely the glue that binds the fight sequences together, and the real entertainment comes from the high-octane brawls scattered throughout the movie. Donnie Yen exudes a bone-shattering charisma as super-cop Kwun, and he meets his match in larger-than-life mobster Sammo Hung. At the age of 58, Hung has lost none of his ferocity, and the big man remains a force to be reckoned with. Kill Zone is far from perfect, but it is arguably one of the coolest Hong Kong crime movies of recent years. The weirdly bleak tone ensures that there is a menacing undercurrent throughout, and few contemporary martial arts stars can compete with Yen in full flight. The weak plot may undermine the movie’s claims to greatness, but the fight sequences are worth the price of admission alone!

Korean horror movie Chaw (Optimum) is an oddball ‘creature feature’ that has earned director Jeong-won Shin comparisons to David Lynch of all people! Although such comparisons are wide of the mark, Shin possesses a warped sense of humour and an undeniable visual flair. Seoul-based cop Kim Kang-soo yearns from a break from the big city, and finds himself transferred to Semeri, a subdued rural town that has seen better days. However, Kim realises that he is going to get more than he bargained for, when the wilderness town is plagued by a series of grisly killings. Grizzled hunter Chun Il-man is convinced that the bloodbath is down to a man-eating boar, and the townsfolk take it upon themselves to hunt down the mysterious beast before it causes anymore devastation.

Despite remaining hidden in the shadows for the first half of the movie, the beast eventually makes its presence felt – and reveals itself to be a hideously mutated wild boar – as predicted! The narrative may reference everything from Jaws to The Host, but Chaw retains a loopy sense of uniqueness that sets it apart from the flesh-hungry hordes. The eclectic cast, high production values and offbeat sense of humour ensure that Chaw is a sufficiently appetising movie prospect, and although it clocks in at a patience-stretching two hours, Chaw deserves to latch onto an appreciative cult audience.

It will come as a surprise to many film fans that the biggest threat to Japan’s coastal cities is no longer Godzilla, but an altogether more natural enemy – the sea! Seemingly taking its cues from An Inconvenient Truth, Sinking of Japan (MVM) is a dreary disaster movie that sees Japan reduced to rubble by a series of underwater earthquakes, tsunamis and volcanic eruptions. Geologists establish that the whole country could be laid to waste within a year, and urge the government to evacuate the population as soon as possible. Suffice to say, the evacuation plans prove unworkable and the lives of the whole nation hang in the balance…

Despite its explosive premise, Sinking of Japan is an extraordinarily dull excuse for a disaster movie. Populated entirely by bland, humourless characters, Sinking of Japan desperately lacks personality. Even worse, despite a sporadic array of disastrous set-pieces, the movie utterly lacks tension. Audiences are sure to fee bogged down by Sinking of Japan’s arse-numbing 135-minute run-time, and in truth, widespread devastation can’t come soon enough. In conclusion: it’s the end of the world as we know it, and I feel bored…

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There’s a documentary filmmaking course at the Dartmoor Arts Summer School from Sunday, July 25 to Friday, July 30, with the emphasis on ‘where fiction ends and documentary begins’.

The five-day course is led by filmmakers Anson Hartford, Hugh Hartford, Chris Jones and Nathaniel Lane. And covers aesthetic, artistic and technical gubbins of getting a documentary made – as well as all the pointy-end stuff of going out and filmming an event for a docmentary that will be screened to all the other students at the end of the summer school.

The Dartmoor Summer School, based in the otherwise sleepy, but artistically bustling Dartmoor Village of Drewsteignton looks to provide ‘outstanding tuition from tutors who are currently active in their particular field’, so here’s some blub out the filmmaking tutors on the documentary course.

Anson, Hugh and Chris are the founders of Banyak Films. They make documentaries that have been distributed internationally. Their work includes a BBC 4 Arts Documentary about James Ravilious, as part of the BBC’s Genius of Photography season; and Us Now, which was first aired on Channel 4’s international feature documentary slot True Stories and has been shown in cinemas in over 15 countries. Plus they’re responsible for loads of other documentaries, short films, music videos, commercials and feature films.

Nathaniel has written, produced, directed, photographed and edited his own fiction and documentary films on super 8 and 16mm, which have been screened internationally and won Prizes in Russia and Europe, as well as being as a freelance writer and directed documentaries and 35mm commercials for television in the Far East.

And if you’re thinking that all sounds a bit expensive, check out the bursaries that are on offer for the Dartmoor Arts Summer School

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Solomon Kane, the swash-buckling, demon killing, big-hat toting redemption flick, directed by Michael J Bassett and staring James Purefoy, features Stoke, near Hartland North Devon as the setting for two scenes, including the film’s ‘dramatic’ finale. Not surprising, really, the eponymous hero is a Devon-lad, after all.

The story is based on the Solomon Kane character created by the pulp-era writer Robert E Howard in 1928.

But this is “not the same Solomon Kane who would receive the Staff of Solomon and travel the world hunting vampires and eldritch terrors: that’s his distant older cousin, whose family live on the opposite coastline. One’s from the North Devon Coast, the other the South (or Jurassic),” according to The Cimmerian.

Either way, the Puritan Kane rightly deserves a place on the D+CFilm pages. But what of the North Devon setting?

“We chose the area because of the absolutely stunning coastline,” said the film’s co-producer, Kevan Van Thompson.

“The whole story is set in the South West and we thought that Devon would be a great place to film it. Any famous names would be glad to come here to film — it is just such a beautiful area.”

Solomon Kane is being touted as the first of a trilogy, so who knows, Devon again could be visited by hoards of the undead, Kane-style.

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Torquay filmmaker Nick Cooke is gearing up to make a poetic coming-of-age film set in Torquay. Called Torquay, the film 21-year-old Elliot as he explores the town he once called his home. D+CFilm caught up with Nick to find out more…

What gave you the idea for the film and setting it in Torquay?

The idea came from my friends and my own experiences. It’s really a combination of everybody I know. I’m not quite sure how they would react when they see it. However, I think the film will be so contemplative it’ll cause them to be reflective rather than angry with me. Torquay is just a beautiful place and it’s not used enough.

The trailers you’ve use as examples in the call for auditions have a haunting, lyrical quality – what atmosphere are you trying to evoke and how do you plan to achieve it?

I’m a big fan of watching films late at night or when I’m quiet tired. When you watch films like this your embarking on a certain voyeurism, they’re slow and nothing ‘huge’ seems to happen but when you put into context of your own life sometimes the simplest things carry the greatest weight. They’re voyeuristic because in all these films it feels like you’re not watching drama,  just those times when the camera shouldn’t have been turned off.

It also seems to be the cheapest way to make a low budget film, each one of these films uses a technique described as ‘cine-writing’ which Agnes Varde uses a lot. It’s where you use documentary elements, ie real-time footage of a location to reflect your fictional character’s emotions. It’s a nice way of placing your story into a larger picture. What’s more all those vistas and found moments are free.

I’ll also be using a long lens so the audience will feel like a true observer.

What’s the hardest part of putting a project like this together?

The hardest part is the fact that although I’m based in Torquay, I study in London (although Torquay never leaves you…) So I’m prepping everything from a computer or by phone. Thankfully, I have good friends, like short film maker Martin Lejeune with whom I went to college. He’s acting as my voice in Devon.

Is there anything you like to add?

Nothing else really, thanks for asking. I’ll keep you posted. Oh and if any body is interested in being and extra and looks under 30 please e-mail me on nickcooke16@hotmail.com

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Devon filmmaker Ashley Thorpe has forged a solid reputation with his sinister succession of short films based on notorious local legends. His latest offering is The Hairy Hands, a vivid, hyper-stylized horror flick that packs an improbable number of chills into its admirably brisk 11 minute run-time.

With a ghoulish line in atmospherics and a welcome attention to detail, The Hairy Hands has a uniquely disquieting vibe, and the sense of foreboding is cranked up one notch at a time. Thorpe coaxes a nuanced performance out of leading man Edward Berry, and he gives this supernatural tale an all-too-plausible edge.

Make no mistake, Ashley Thorpe’s menacing short film will grab you by the throat with its hairy hands, and not let go until the chilling final frame. Freaky folklore just got re-booted for a new generation. Accomplished stuff.

• Find out more about Ashley Thorpe’s films at the Carrion Films site

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The post production on director Ashley Wing’s sci-fi short Fracture is nearing completion, and there’s talk of an April screening.

Here’s some of the synopsis blub:

On the bleak and unforgiving surface of a distant world a fragile mining base stands isolated, relentlessly battered by brutal storms.

Its small crew have known loneliness, love and betrayal in their time there, and in such a claustrophobic environment secrets can’t stay hidden forever.

Luckily, the film itself can’t stay hidden forever neither, watch the clip below for some of the secrets of post production, and to get an exciting glimpse of what’s in store.

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London-based production company Davey Inc is looking for cast for an Owl City video to be shot in South Devon.

The look and feel of the video is kinda ’60s nostalgia, with a clear breezy optimism that longs to be set free. The main roles include a young boy (a Christopher Robin-type), a woman and a middle-aged man as well as a few young children as extras. There aren’t any lines.

And in case you didn’t know, Owl City are huge, they’ve been number one in the US and the UK with their single Fireflies. So, who knows, your face could be seen at number one on both sides of the Atlantic and around the world, along with Owl City’s very special synthpop sound.

If you’re interested, best reply soon, the Davey team plan to shoot on Monday and Tuesday, March 16 and March 17 and hope to be tying down some of the roles early next week (Monday, March 4). Email gail@daveyinc.com

(image: from the treatment for the video)

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Anyone with fond memories of 80s American high school movies should take a look at Afterschool (Network), a dark-hearted new high school drama for the YouTube generation!

Set at a private East Coast preparatory school, Afterschool follows the exploits of Robert, a lost soul with a penchant for watching sex and violence on YouTube. Disconnected from his peers, Robert immerses himself in his school audio-visual project, only to accidentally capture the deaths of two popular girls on camera. Bizarrely, as the rest of the school suffers in silence, the macabre event seems to boost Robert’s fragile confidence. Afterschool is intense, provocative and unsettling, and director Antonio Campos successfully cultivates an atmosphere of extreme unease throughout.

The camera’s voyeuristic gaze lingers noncommittally on the characters, letting us draw our own conclusions about their off-kilter behaviour. The hypnotic silence and languid pace recalls the recent work of Gus Van Sant, but arguably Afterschool succeeds where Van Sant has so often failed. By adding a dollop of Michael Haneke-style nastiness to the brew, Campos imbues his teenage wasteland with a casually amoral edge, and it is hard to look away. That said, although Afterschool won widespread plaudits on its theatrical release, it never quite hits the dizzy heights that its sinister opening hints at. Regardless, director Campos could have a bright future ahead of him if he continues to chronicle this dead-eyed generation of American youngsters who self-medicate with violence and pornography…

Ca$h (Momentum) is a morally ambiguous crime caper about a likable young couple whose life changes dramatically when jobless Sam (Chris Hemsworth) comes across an abandoned suitcase crammed with cash. Suffice to say, their initial good fortune doesn’t last long! After a tip-off from his incarcerated brother, Sean Bean’s greasy criminal Pyke Kubic(!) sets out to regain the loot that was jettisoned during a high speed chase. His robust British interrogation techniques only get him so far, and when Bean realizes that his reluctant hosts have spent a big wedge of the cash already, he forces them to commit a string of violent robberies so that he and his brother can share the spoils.

The glowering Bean is a watchable presence at the heart of the movie, but at the age of 50 he has probably missed out on the Hollywood gravy train. In truth, straight-to-DVD nonsense like Ca$h is unlikely to boost his profile at this stage in the game! Ca$h has an appealing, tongue-in-cheek sense of humour, but it never really makes the most of Bean’s droll Northern delivery. With a tighter script and a darker sense of humour Ca$h could have been a deadly Coen Brothers-style romp. As it is, it just feels strangely pointless.

Freestyle (Revolver) is an undemanding urban drama about the trials and tribulations facing inner-city youngsters who are intent on following their dreams. If you’re even vaguely familiar with Step Up and other dance movies of its ilk, then you will understand the triumph-over-adversity narrative being flaunted by Freestyle. However, in an effort to subvert the status quo, Freestyle tweaks the traditional stereotypes. As a result, Leon (Arinze Kene) is a basketball-playing tough guy who yearns to turn his back on the mean streets and head to university, while Ondene (Lucy Konadu) is a privileged private schoolgirl who is desperate to cast off her middle-class shackles and enter a down-and-dirty basketball competition.

Suffice to say, their chosen paths are littered with obstacles, and both characters have to dig deep to overcome prejudice and hostility. Yawn. Male lead Arinze Kene is suitably charismatic, but his opposite number Lucy Konadu is truly awful, and would struggle to get a job on Hollyoaks, based on this evidence! The uneventful narrative may appeal to bored teenagers, but Freestyle lacks the substance to draw in more discerning viewers. Kidulthood and Adulthood explored similar issues with far more panache, and as for the climactic ‘Freestyle’ battle – if you’re hoping for 8 Mile with basketballs then you’ll end up sorely disappointed…

Bringing up the rear this week is iMurders (Anchor Bay), a lamentable ensemble movie about a group of hapless chat room acquaintances who are slaughtered by a vindictive murderer while they poke each other senseless on ‘FaceSpace’! iMurders aims for nudge-nudge-wink-wink Scream style post-modern horror thrills, but falls woefully short of its illustrious predecessor, and seems destined to gather dust in bargain bins everywhere. If the concept of a chat-room serial killer seems stale and unworkable, then that’s because it is, and iMurders feels contrived and badly pieced together throughout.

With dreadful dialogue and clumsy direction, iMurders has the odds stacked against it from the outset. The producers have seemingly expended all of their energy enticing the eclectic B-movie cast (including Tony Todd, William Forsythe and Billy Dee Williams), only to waste them with marginal roles and cringe-worthy dialogue. All in all, iMurders is a breathtakingly dull excuse for a horror movie. (That said, if you do stumble across it, try to resist the temptation to turn it off – it’s worth staying tuned just to see the spectacularly ham-fisted conclusion!)

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Oska Bright, the international film festival by and for people with learning disabilities, returns to Cornwall when it teams up with the Cornwall Film Festival for a film event at Camborne on Thursday, March 11.

Some 30 short films will  be screened in three sessions in the Penhaligon Conference Room at Cornwall College. The event is part of the lead-up to the Cornwall Film Festival and has been specially organised to offer Cornwall people with learning disabilities the chance to learn how to make films and watch some of the award-winning films from the Oska Bright Festival.

There will be a masterclass from 10.30am to 12.30pm and screenings from 1.30pm to 3.45pm.

Oska Bright is unique and successful because it concentrates on peoples’ skills and not on the disability. It has run four festivals and the number and quality of entries, from all over the world, increases every year.

All the films are made by artists with learning disabilities, and the event itself is managed and presented by a learning-disabled team.

The two-hour masterclass is led by Sarah Watson and Stephen Firshman from the Oska Bright Committee.

Stephen last visited Cornwall in 2007 when On The Road visited Penzance. He told D+CFilm: “Lots of people came to the master class and said it was very interesting and made them want to make films for Oska Bright. We made a film together about a Hippo. This was the first time we had shown films in Cornwall and we hope to show more there in the future.”

Stephen is delighted to be returning to a different location this time round.

Thirty participants from the Murdoch & Trevithick Centre, the John Daniel Centre, Morley Tamblyn Lodge and the Blantyre Centre will explore different kinds of films – documentary, animation, live action – and get the chance to film and edit a short film during the session.

They will then go on to make their own special film for the Cornwall Film Festival, November 5-7 and enter it for the next Oska Bright Festival in 2011.

For more information pop along to Cornwall Film Festival site, call 01209 204655 or email info@cornwallfilmfestival.com. Or check out the Oska Bright Film site for more of what they’re about.

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Cameron Crowe, of Jerry Maguire, Almost Famous and Vanilla Sky fame – who hasn’t directed in Elizabethtown in 2005 – has been linked with the script of Ben Mee’s best selling memoir of running the Dartmoor Wildlife Park, We Bought a Zoo.

In March last year we had news that Twentieth Century Fox had bought the story – and we’re still unsure as to whether the South West will be tipped as the location for the shoot. But what we do know, courtesy New York magazine, is that Oscar-nominated Devil Wears Prada screenwriter Aline Brosh McKenna has written the script.

The story is a poignant tale of Guardian columnist Ben’s purchase of a 12-bedroom mansion on Dartmoor for his wife, two children, brother and 76-year-old mother. The new home also included the run down 30-acre Dartmoor Wildlife Park. As the animals in the zoo improve, Mee’s wife is diagnosed with terminal cancer and becomes increasingly ill.

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The film, which will be shot poetically with sparse dialogue, follows 21-year-old Elliot as he explores the town he once called his home. He talks to four main characters, his best friend William, father David, sister Samantha and first love Sophie.

The shoot will take place over four days between Thursday, April 15 and Sunday, April 18, in Torquay, Devon. And ideally you’ll based nearby. Accommodation is available in Torquay as there will be a couple of late nights, and there will be a fee of £30 for each day. Food will be provided.

The crew is a ‘friendly and hard-working collection of third year students studying in London, Ealing. Nick Cooke the writer and director has been working as a camera assistant for almost five years now and his credits include, BBC’s Little Dorrit and Survivors Series 2′.

If you’re interested get in touch with the director (see below) who will send you a section of the script. For the audition you will be asked to memorize a section of dialogue; you will then also be required to perform a cold reading on the day. You’ll be given five minutes to review the scene before this.

To get a feel for the style and subtlety of the natural performances take a gander at these three trailers.

The Exploding Girl (2009)

Café Lumiere (2003)

Old Joy (2006)

The Parts:
(It’ll help with all roles to just be your self).

Elliott: 21 – Elliott is a quiet thoughtful guy, who bottles a lot up inside. He looks on the Brightside of life and approaches most things with a smile. You’ll also need a driver’s license for this role.

William: 21 – Elliott’s best friend, his mother is very ill and his friendship with Elliott is not what it used to be. William attempts to find out what’s bugging Elliott and unveils some truths.

Samantha: 18 – Elliott’s sister, basically fends for herself due to her parents break up. She is polite and thoughtful, old beyond her years.

John: 40-50 – Elliott’s father is angry with his sons, selfishness regarding his need to escape his hometown and his past.

Sophie: 24 – She has grown up a lot, very mature for her age unstoppable, intelligent and happy go lucky. She used to be in a “kind of” relationship with Elliott but nothing ever came of it.

• If you’re interested, contact nickcooke16@hotmail.com with your CV, photo location, exact age (purely for the younger roles regarding permissions and working hours). If you are applying for Elliott you will require a driving license.

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