Matt Thom Film

Take Over: Change of Schedule: Movies In September

2012-09-04T14:17:00.000+01:00

Hey Guys,

I'm going to change the schedule around a little, seeing as I couldn't get away in time to do my blog yesterday and been rather busy, too busy to find a guest, I'm going to focus on up-and-coming films Today instead. This is my Take Over Tuesday.

Well it's 4th September, the new academic year is starting, so what does September hold for movie lovers?

First off we have the amazing new comic book film: Dredd (3D) Directed by Peter Travis:

Dredd is based in futuristic, violent city of America, It has become a waste Land. Criminals have begun to rule the chaotic streets. The only force of order are Police have authority to act as judge, jury and executioner. Known as 'Judges' who combine all three powers, they team up with a rookie, to try and take down a gang of drug dealers and stop the chaotic streets.

Dredd stars the lead actor out of Star Trek, Karl Urban, and got an out standing review at this years comic con. I've seen some trailers and it looks like a dark, futuristic comic, come to life.

This is a great movie for all the comic book geeks, and even the fans of comic films.

UK Release: 7/09/2012

Trailer (plus more info): http://www.totalfilm.com/news/first-full-trailer-for-dredd-watch-now

Secondly we have a brand new Stop-Motion picture: ParaNorman (3D) Directed by Chris Butler and Sam Fell

I a quite town of Blithe Hollow, Norman Babcock is a misunderstood boy who discovers he can communicate with Zombies and becomes the town's only hope.

This looks like a funny, fabulous family film with a lot of laughs and great moments for all to enjoy.

UK Release: 14/09/2012

Trailer (plus more info): http://www.totalfilm.com/news/new-trailer-arrives-for-paranorman-watch-now

Finally, the saga continues. One film that might make or break the whole franchise: Resident Evil: Retribution (3D) Directed by Paul W.S Anderson

Now I'm slightly wary about this film, I love the other films, even though they are rather over-the-top and sometimes a little unbelievable, they are still worth a watch, but I was unsure if they would bring another one out.

The Umbrella Corporation's deadly T-virus continues to destroy earth and effect the people, transforming the globe into masses of Undead, flesh eaters. The only hope is Alice, who awakens in Umbrella's operation facility, she unveils more of her complex, mysterious past.

UK Release: 28/09/2012

Trailer (plus more info): http://www.totalfilm.com/news/first-full-trailer-for-resident-evil-retribution-watch-now

If there are any movies you are excited about in September then let me know underneith in the comments, any other information you have on any of these films, or any comments, let me know

If you would like to be a guest on my film blog let me know: https://www.facebook.com/MattThomFilm?ref=hl

Stay Safe:

Matt

Flash Fiction Friday: Preview

2012-08-31T13:00:00.000+01:00

Hey Guys,

Friday’s posts are short Flash Fiction writing exercises.

I will either use a photo or a prompt of some sort, maybe a phrase from time to time, to get inspiration and start my introduction to any story.

This week I have a very special surprise for you all. It is a short preview of my book Mysery which I have finished writing and am about to start editing.

Matilda Mysery Downes is tired of her life in the quiet Village of Greenmoss and wishes for something bigger and more exciting, but she should have been careful what she wished for.
The 1920's girl ends up in present day London, lost and confused on how she got here. She knows that she does not belong and yet stays to explore, meeting a charming gentlemen called Richard on her journeys.
This story is about her travels and how the new coloured world effects this plain, grey-scale girl and what happens when she overstays her welcome.

This is the start of the first chapter, there will be an edit to this, but so far this is how it stands.

Mysery

Chapter One, Preview

As I sat alone in the corn field, I watched the stars as they twinkled and enticed me. The crystal moon stared my way. The night sky was so relaxing and pleasant.

I grabbed at an innocent blade of grass and started to dismantle it slowly. I sat wondering how the corn grew. The field had always been abandoned, forbidden even, and yet the crops grew, unaided yet wasted. The corn was never harvested; neglected by the village.

I thought about this small village that I had always been my home. This quiet village was a small pond, and I was a big fish and I was waiting for something to take me away. Every day I prayed that something exciting would happen in this village but each day was dull and un-eventful.

I laid back and wished to become one of the beautiful stars above, to twinkle and give hope. I hoped that I would be noticed, recognised, loved; this was my dream. This disillusion would never happen in such a small pond. I needed to escape.

I sat back up and snatched at another blade of grass. From behind came a foul barking, and I froze, staring out into the cornfields ahead.

Slowly I turned to where the vicious barking travelled from, but all that greeted me was darkness. I carefully stood up, turned and noticed a figure, stood on the other side of the gate, on the cobbled paving. Shouting shortly followed the sight of her.

“Get out! Get out!” she shouted, distressed and panic-stricken.

I stood still for a fractured second, it felt like an hour. I had two choices: go back and face my punishment, as this woman would tell my mother of what had happened and she would be livid; or to run, run in the opposite direction

I foolishly chose the second option, turned on the spot and ran away from the cobbled pavement and the crazed woman who stood screaming. I could see on the other side that there was a second gate. The woman sharply ran after me, the screeches of both animals ran faster than I could.

For more writing from myself please follow the link: http://mattthomaswriting.blogspot.co.uk/

Let me know what you think of my Flash Fiction writing and if you have any ideas for inspiration the comment below.

Stay safe,

Matt

Talk Thursday: Sorry, Which Doctor?

2012-08-30T13:00:00.000+01:00

Hey Guys,

We all need something to talk about and discuss, we just like to gossip.

This is the part of the week where I choose a topic to discuss over and talk about; I view both sides of the argument and then place my opinion.

Anybody can join in with the discussion, just post a comment and tell me what you think.

This week we are going to discuss something I am rather excited for which starts in the UK on Saturday.

For those of you fellow geeks, you will understand what I am excited for. If not I am talking about the brand new series of Doctor Who.

This Saturday introduces The Doctor's oldest foe, The Daleks. He is kidnapped by them and forced to complete an impossible mission. The Doctor is sent to a place that even The Daleks fear.

From what I can see there is five episodes that are continuously linked, also known as a series trail. I don't know whether there is only five episodes in the whole series, I am truly hoping not and from what i can see in the trailers, I'm sure there will be more. The series trail is called Predator of the Daleks and the first episode is called Asylum of the Daleks.

Now I know from the rumor mill that The Doctor's sidekicks, The Ponds, will be leaving this season, I'm not sure when or how. I also have seen in the trailers that there is a lot of creatures, the weeping angels return and there are also Dinosaurs this season.

For a trailer of Predator of the Daleks follow this link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00xtbyk

For another trailer of series seven, follow this link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00wtrmm

Doctor Who begins at 19:20 GMT on BBC One in the UK. I'm guessing any US fans may have to wait, or download it from BBC website.

For more information check out the BBC, Doctor Who website: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006q2x0

If you have any say on anything mentioned then please comment and share your views.

Stay safe,

Matt

Writing Wednesday Becomes Reading Wednesday

2012-08-29T13:00:00.000+01:00

Hey Guys,

This week there's a slight change to the schedule. Instead of Writing Wednesday, we are going to do Reading Wednesday. This is only for one week as there's book I would love to talk to you about. One that I am currently reading and enjoying and I would like to recommend it to you all.

For a start, I have mentioned this writer on my blog a few times, he's had a guest blog with me and he is a very good friend of mine. This does not mean I'm going to give him any favoritism. I will judge it as I normally judge other books.

The book I am going to talk over and review is the start of a series called Blood Luminary, The book Lumen is the first in the series and written by Joseph Eastwood (all links at end).

Short summary this is a book about a boy called Daniel, who lives on an island, separate from normal society. All who live on the island, Templar Island, have special abilities. Children grow into their power when the 'come-of-age', some children make it, but others don't.

Daniel has gone through his final transition. He is trying to learn how to train and manipulate the bonds of energy freely.
He gains a place at the island's only private, upper-class, school. With trying to fit in and trying to control his powers he finds himself in predicaments that may risk everything.

Now as I said, currently reading so I don't know how this book will pan out, or how it leads to the second one, but I will review the 65% I have read.
Firstly I am reading the draft that was first released, before Joe edited and replaced it on Amazon so there are a few minor unnoticed errors, but this does not affect the story.

This is the first full novel that Joe has released and it has that raw essence about it. There is a real close-knit relationship with Daniel. Constantly looking at how each new thing he discovers affects him as he grows into his powers.

I am such a big fan of books about magic and fantasy, love books about transformation and of people discovering themselves. This book is all of those things.

As I said, it is the first full novel that Joe has released and it is an early draft I am reading. There are a few bits that do come across a little unclear, but as you continue to read and I take into account I'm reading a dubbed book with a few mistakes, that's been fixed, changed and replaced.

I am rather excited to complete the book and find out what happens with Daniel's talents and what happens with everything else, including the other characters which I can see building.

If you are into fantasy stories, if you are into new writers, if you want to discover something new then I highly recommend this book.

For your copy of the book follow these links:

Amazon US: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0090WVZF8/
Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0090WVZF8/

If you want to know more about Joe follow these links:

Blog: http://www.josepheastwood.com/
Page: https://www.facebook.com/josephswriting

If you have any handy writing tips, then leave a comment below and let me know.

Stay safe,

Matt

Take Over Tuesday: Cassie May; Are Sequels Smart

2012-08-28T13:00:00.000+01:00

Hey Guys,

Tuesday is the day I introduce a guest onto my blog and let them write me a post. They will be posting something about their area of knowledge and each week I will try and have a different area.

Sometimes I may post a response to what the guest has written.

The first Take Over is by Cassie May; she is nineteen years old and is a studying teaching at University. Here is her post: (edited)

What I don’t seem to understand with some films, and even a few books, is why there are sequels. It makes no sense at times. For instance, someone could resolve everything, or at least leave one not-quite-so major plot-line dangling, in one film/book, but the director/writer decides Let’s bring up everything in a sequel.

This is a bad reason to have a sequel.

(I apologise in advance if it seems like I struggle to stay on track)

It's okay if it's a good film that people actually care about, or a story that is continuous, but if the film is riddled with plot holes, surely it counts as a cheap ploy on the part of the writer/director to get the audience back for a sequel. Those who don’t care enough to find out what the resolution to the plot is, like me with one such film, and I couldn't be bothered to pay much attention to it. I didn't care to find out the resolution to the plot, but in an argument with a friend found out that the sequel resolved the plotline. What I didn't say was that a.) this surely alienates the people who didn't care enough to see the sequel and b.) doesn't really do the plotline justice, full of holes or not.

But it's true. It just doesn't.

A good reason to have a sequel is if the film is based on a book, and there is more than one book in the series. The original book obviously won't offer any resolution to the plotlines and it wouldn't do the series justice if the whole thing was condensed into one film. So sequels for this reason equals good thing.

Then there's the film that's got so much intrigue that you can't quite resolve the plotline, thus demanding a sequel to resolve the plotline and do the film justice. Of course there's always the time-honoured solution of the epic film, but then you have a problem: how are you supposed to keep the audience awake if they get bored of the film, short of some loud dramatic music/explosion to keep the audience on their toes? Having the music/explosion has to be credible. A sequel would avoid this problem.

Then there's the worst reason to keep making sequels: people like it. There's only so long you can keep going on the same plotlines before people get bored of it, or the actor who plays a popular character refuses to do any more sequels, which I'm sure doesn’t do wonders for the sequel's popularity. It would be more interesting if the writers wrote something unrelated to the film series, so audiences can see what if they can do anything else.

I'm not saying that sequels are a bad thing; in the right place they can be good. But there is a time and place for everything including sequels. Use them in the right place and you'll get another great film. Wrong place and you could mess things up. The sequel is a film in its own right, too.

If you have any comments or views on what has been discussed then please place them below. If you would like to appear on my Take Over Tuesday blog then let me know.

Stay safe,

Matt

Movies for Monday: Religion and Crime

2012-08-27T15:49:00.000+01:00

Hey Guys

This is the part of the week where I will be looking into films and reviewing certain aspects or even a whole film. I will be viewing my opinions whilst also asking what you feel about it.

The films I look into may be new releases, or films that I have just watched on DVD.

This week I’m going to look into things with a deeper meaning to them. This might be a little tricky and may get me into a little trouble, but we all like to play the risk game once or twice.

So this week we are going to talk about a film that I watched awhile back, then thought of re-watching last night. The film is Se7en (1995) directed by David Fincher and starring Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman, is about two homicide detectives, a ‘rookie’ and a ‘veteran’ who are desperately searching for a serial killer who uses the seven deadly sins as justification towards his crimes, killing each person by ‘the sin they commit.’

Now the reason I said this was risky is because first of all I’m a born Baptist turned agnostic. So I know quite a bit about Religion, but tend to get annoyed at the contradictions most religious people fail to pay attention to.

In movies like these the aim of it is not just to show how cruel ‘The Big Cities’ are but also to show the conflicts between religion. First of all I would like to say that for people, not as extreme as our murder, say that people commit a sin should be punished. Well doesn’t the bible say ‘Thou shalt not kill.’

Therefore when I see movies about people killing for religion, or hear stories of Marta. I think back to the Ten Commandments and think; well you are not allowed to break any of these ten?

Let’s focus back on the film, as I feel I’m heading off the tracks, and it may get risky. The film itself is showing us the methodical tactics of this murderer, the time he’s taken to select his victims, the research done, even the torture he has place upon some of his victims, leaving Sloth victim for a year to ‘rot’ in bed.

With the use of sound and cinematography it is also showing us that no matter if the detectives are on duty or off, the city never sleeps. In one scene Detective Somerset (Freeman) is travelling in a taxi to a library, he hears sirens and screaming and when he looks out of the window he sees a body spasm whilst paramedics try to cover the body up.

There also seems to be some sort of siren in the background of scenes, where close or far away in the distance. Showing that there is always crime and sin in such a city as this.

Overall this film is a clever in the fact that it is well thought out and deep, the killer thinks that this is his calling from God whilst the detectives think he is crazed and psychotic.

If you have any films or film topics you would like me to look into the comment below. If you have any views on what has been discussed this week, also let me know.

Stay safe,

Matt

Flash Fiction Friday: The House in the Forest

2012-08-24T16:14:00.000+01:00

Hey Guys,

Friday’s posts are short Flash Fiction writing exercises.

I will either use a photo or a prompt of some sort, maybe a phrase from time to time, to get inspiration and start my introduction to any story.

Stood in the middle of a forest, the rain trickling down my face and back, my soaking T-shirt stuck to my shivering skin, the frosty bite of the wind nipping at my flesh. I think of what the weather was like only a few moments ago, bright, sunny and warm. I look down at my soggy shorts, knowing that I should have known that the nice English weather would not hold up for longer than a couple of hours. All I could hear around me was the trickle of rain splashing off leaves and shrubs before merging with the growing puddles of mud below my feet. The mud started to coat my shoes as I try and find my way out of this forest.

As I’m walking round trying to figure which way I entered this forest, the clouds and rain distorting my vision. I’m sure that I’m going round in circles, but there is no way of telling as all the trees and paths look the same and the muddy puddles make the paths all merge into one. My darkening wet hair slipped onto my forehead forcing more water to trickle down my face and blur my vision more. I sweep the hair out of my eyes, yet it still slips back in the way, hindering me in my travels.

I carry on walking, hoping I would find my way back out of here, or at least bump into somebody else. I remember before the rain walking past a few hikers, carrying their large sacks and huge smiles, I wondered if they would brace this rough English downpour still with the same smile.

The twigs and loose roots on the floor keep attacking my feet, threating to trip me up and making me stumble through the trees. Each time I stumble I close my eyes and pray that I don’t fall face first into the mud, but always manage to gain my balance. A few times I have to grab hold of a tree, the wet bark against my skin feeling rough and cold.

Once again I stumble on a loose root and fly thought the trees. I manage to gain my balance by grabbing hold of a thin wispy tree, look down at my feet I should watch where I’m going I think, then look up and notice I had reached an opening between then trees and a muddy path, the water trickling down the hill, almost forming the beginnings of a river.

I look up the path and notice an old, small, stone building with a spire, it looked abandoned. Shelter I thought and ran towards the building. As I got closer I noticed dark ivy swarming the building and infecting the cracks, trying to strangle and destroy this stone wonder. It was also climbing through the gaps in the roof where the pressure of earlier storms had force parts to concave and collapse.

I entered through the archway where the door once hung, the remains of the wood rotting into the ground below. Dust and cobwebs covered the air and caught in my face tangling me in silky strings; I shook them off and wiped my hands on my clothes, God how I hate spider webs I thought, being more carful of where I walked.

I could hear the pounding of the rain falling overhead, it trickled through the cracks and gaps in the ceiling splashing on the leaves the wind had discarded here. I stayed away from any of the open holes, not wanted to get wetter than I already was, which at this stage was probably impossible. I tore my soaked T-shirt away from my sodden, cold skin but it just settle and reconnected with it, as if they were one. I gave up and blew my hair out of my face.

Suddenly I heard a creaking from the floor above, I looked at the hanging level, half the floor had collapsed, the structure old and rotting. I saw one of the old wooden doors squeak open and saw an old woman totter out peering down the huge gap in the floor.

‘Who is it?’ she peered through her squinting wrinkled eyes ‘is that you Mary?’ She ran her bony crinkled fingers through her grey tangled hair and squinted harder. ‘Name yourself boy!’

‘I’m Dan,’ I looked up, feeling nervous and guilt for walking in here uninvited. ‘I’m sorry for disturbing you. See it’s raining outside and I thought this house was abandoned so wanted to take shelter.’

She looked at me for a while, as if she was sizing me up, judging whether what I said was true or not. Then she slowly tottered down a set of stoned spiralling stairs just to the right of where she was stood. She staggered towards me.

‘I’m sorry’ she spoke in a high pitch voice ‘I didn’t quite hear your name.’ She said lifting her ear more towards my mouth.

‘I’m Dan’ I said slightly louder, but not loud enough so it seemed like I was shouting and being rude. She smiled at me the chuckled slightly.

‘You must be hungry Dan.’ She slowly stumbled off to the other end of the `room, working her way around the rotting obstacles.

‘I’m ok thank you. I will just go now.’ I say loudly, hoping it would travel well enough.

‘Don’t be silly,’ she shoed my comments off ‘You can’t go out in this.’ She pointed to one of the larger holes in the ceiling where the most of the water was pouring inwards. ‘I’ll cook you something up,’ She paused for a second ‘it’s been quite a while since I’ve had a visitor.’ She sighed.

I felt slightly sorry for her, she seemed like a lovely, kind women and the rain outside seemed to be getting worse. I decided to stay for a while until the rain settled a little. Maybe she will know the way out I thought to myself.

The elderly woman opened a few draws and cupboards, pulling out half rusted knives and pans, which clanged together and echoed round the room. She then looked over at me and smiled, tottering her way through the rubble. She came up close.

‘What was your name again?’ She asked kindly, I could tell that her memory was not as good as it used to be.

‘It’s Dan.’ I said kindly, she then smiled. I looked behind her for a second at where she had she come from, and noticed that she had not got out any ingredients to cook with. I looked down at her petite fragile frame and kindly asked. ‘What will you be cooking?’

She smiled at me, almost chuckling, I wondered what about. Suddenly I felt a sharp pain in my stomach, at first I fought it was nausea. Wondering if maybe I had stayed out in the rain too long and caught some sort of cold that was already turning its ugly head.

Then I noticed the pain was cold and metallic. I looked down at the rusted small knife stuck in just below my stomach, the darkness of my blood seeping through my t-shirt and running down my body. At the end of the knife was the old woman’s bony fingers.

‘Why you are!’ She cackled as she pulled the knife out and slid it back in. I fell to my knees and she bit at my neck, ripping away a chunk of flesh. ‘Bon appetite’ She smiled with blood and flesh hanging from her teeth.

The pain became too much for me and blackness surround.

Let me know what you think of my Flash Fiction writing and if you have any ideas for inspiration the comment below.

Stay safe.

Matt

Welcome Wednesday: Siân Thom: Can music make or break a film?

2012-08-22T13:00:00.000+01:00

Hey Guys,

Wednesday is the day I introduce a guest onto my blog and let them write me a post. They will be posting something about their area of knowledge and each week I will try and have a different area.

Sometimes I may post a response to what the guest has written.

This week I have Siân Thom guest staring on my blog.

Siân is my fifteen year old sister; she is going into the second year of her GCSEs. Afterwards she wants to go to college and focus mainly on acting and drama. Her ambition is to end up as a well-known actress.

This is her guest blog and underneath is my response:

There isn’t one film that I’ve watched that hasn’t had music in it, when films were first created as silent movies they weren’t really silent, yes there was no speaking but there was music and depending on the music you could tell the mood change in the film, even though the music had no lyrics or that it was just a pianist sat under the scene with a sheet of music that he had to play all the way through the film, the tempo and the pitch would change to notify the audience that the scene is meant to be funny or sad. In modern day films, there is speaking in the scenes but it still boils down to the music chosen by the producer, director, music producer or whoever puts the music in. A film would not be a film without music it would just be words and pointless actions with the audience not fully understanding what is going on in one scene to the next.

The right music makes you feel more for the characters, it makes you believe what the characters are saying, and even if the acting isn’t great you can still feel happy, sad, angry or excited by the right chose of music in that scene.

When I’m watching a film and a sad scene starts to play out, it’s not the acting or the words that make me cry really, it’s the music, the slow sad music that emphasises that it’s a sad scene and that is what sets me off crying. The other night I was watching Life as we Know it [(2010) Directed by Greg Berlanti and staring Katherine Heigl] and [slight spoiler] when the little girl calls holly mummy there are little chimes in the background, and I know that isn’t that much of music but just that little can make a scene, I think if the chimes weren’t in that scene I would of cried as much or realised the full extent of her calling holly mummy. I always listen to the music in films, if the music is right for the scene and connect with the film then it will make the audience feel like they are part of the film. But there are other cases where the music does not suit the scene what so ever and if it’s an important scene then the whole film is ruined in my opinion.

I watched a film a few years back with my brother and the music starting playing in the background and both Matt and I cringed because the music didn’t suit the scene or the film. So for the rest of the film we couldn’t get into the film or relate with the characters because, it was an important scene that explained what the whole film was about and it was ruined by a few minutes of music played quietly behind it.

Also sometimes in a film they can play the music too loud so you can’t hear what the characters are saying, this mostly happens more on the television in series or one-off shows. If a pilot is coming on T.V and you watch it and the music is too loud so you can’t hear what the characters are saying so you don’t know what is going on in the whole episode then it is unlikely that they are going to get a series because that pilot determines whether they get their series and if the public aren’t getting into because of the music then it won’t be back on our television screens for another 6 episodes.

So in conclusion if the music isn’t right for the scene the film is over. I mean don’t play an upbeat song if someone on the screen is crying and don’t play a slow sad song if someone has just received some really good news. The music has to flow with the words and actions of the film otherwise it’s doomed from the start.

My Response:

Well My response is going to contrast rather a lot in comparison to my sister’s views, but this happens quite a lot so I’m sure she will understand.

First of all, there is a guest post I wrote quite a while back discussing music and mood.

http://malikagandhi.wordpress.com/2012/07/16/a-film-director-in-the-making/

So my response to what Siân said.

Music and sound works in two different ways in film, there is diegetic and non-diegetic.

Diegetic: Music or sound that the character can hear. It is happening inside the scene and effects the character in a certain way

Non-Diegetic: Music or sound that is placed over the top, almost like a score. It tells us, as an audience, how to feel in that scene.

My argument is why, as an audience, should we be told how to feel? As my sister said it does add to the tension to a scene where the monster is about to jump out. It adds to the sadness of that part where the guy breaks the girl’s heart.

I agree with my sister when she says that some films and TV shows over-use non-diegetic sounds/music and it can cause the show/film to lose believability, the audience start to lose interest. Some films even get to the point where there is only non-diegetic music and too much action. The action therefore means nothing; the audience does not know how the characters feel.

My belief is there should be more diegetic music and sound so the audience know how the character feels which shows that when something bad happens to the character, they are affected more because they understand that character fully.

I’m not saying the use of non-diegetic music is wrong and it should not be used because I have seen some good films that use non-diegetic very cleverly and leave the audience in suspense a lot of the time, but my question is: could you do this with diegetic sound and music?

My final point is that music affects us, just as it does a character in a film and people who say music is not important have not had the experience of discovering what it can do for you.

If you want to know more about Siân, then check out her Twitter: @Ginger_Thom

If you can think of any films where the music does complete the whole film let me know. Also if you can think of any films where there is not much music but the film is still brilliant then please comment. I really want to know all your opinions on this one.

If you have any comments or views on what has been discussed then please place them below. If you would like to appear on my Welcome Wednesday blog then let me know.

Stay safe,

Matt

Writing Wednesday: Tuesday's Catch Up

2012-08-22T12:00:00.000+01:00

Hey Guys,

This is the part of the week where I update you on the work I have been creating for the week and what stage everything is up to.

It will also include the area that I have been focusing on the most and how helpful it has been to me.

So as you have probably noticed, I did not post a Talk Tuesday post yesterday, instead I used all my time on Monday and Tuesday to work through, and catch up, on some of my writing.

This week i have been focusing on the more intense chapters of Mysery. I have also placed the book on Goodreads for all to see, at present it is just the tittle and an estimated release date of early next year but it's a step forward.

I also have a front cover update for Mysery. Please tell me what you think of it.

Old Cover:

New Cover:

There are only small changes:

Blue background - added grey to make London scene look more polluted
London Eye - Slightest change in colour, slight hint darker
Mysery text - Different font, larger, different blend
Name text - Different blend, darker.
Size difference
added birds

Not only have I been writing more of Mysery and editing the front cover to suit the book,, I have also been editing a new short film called The Duckling. It's only a small piece I made when my sister came round a few weeks ago and I've been meaning to piece it together.

This piece is mainly focusing on Cinematography and Location. It is about a girl who is trying to escape from her daily life in a park and she tries to find comfort in her surroundings. I will place in the link for you to check it out.

What's more, on my Monday and Tuesday, instead of writing a blog, I've been working on a brand new idea for a book. This has some very magical essences to it and is inspired by such books as The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins, 2008.

The title of the series is Tournaments and lately I have been working on the ideas for the first book, Ernest Island. I will place more information about this book in a later Writing Wednesday post.

So now you know. Instead of writing a Talk Tuesday blog I decided to spend two whole days to my writing and Photoshop editing. I have had so much fun writing all this new stuff also as most of it is the scenes I have been dying to write for quite some time.

If you have Goodreads and want to add Mysery to your 'To-Read' list, here is the link:

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15835115-mysery

If you would like to check out my new short film The Duckling, he is the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXFNy4ZhP24&feature=youtu.be

Please let me know your views on my new cover in the comments below.

If you have any handy writing tips, then leave a comment below and let me know

Stay safe,

Matt

Movies for Monday: A bit of Rock & Roll

2012-08-20T13:00:00.000+01:00

Hey Guys,

This is the part of the week where I will be looking into films and reviewing certain aspects or even a whole film. I will be viewing my opinions whilst also asking what you feel about it.

The films I look into may be new releases, or films that I have just watched on DVD.

I thought I would focus mainly on music and how it affects people. What better way to focus on music than a film about rock stars, right?

This week’s film is Almost Famous (2000) Directed by Cameron Crowe.

Based in America in 1973, this film is about a high-school boy who is excelling in life. His mother is an over-protective teacher who has lied to her son and made him skip grades. His sister walks out and rebels against the mother because she felt that music was ‘speaking to her’.

The story follows the boy, William, and his story. He gets a chance to write an article for The Rolling Stone Magazine about an ‘up-and-coming’ rock band, Stillwater. William accompanies them on their concert tour, confronts life and befriends ‘the enemy’.

This was a rather funny, feel good movie about a band, their fans and how they connect. It is also about the tensions between the band members, as they reach their big moment of fame.

This film focuses on the raw talent and characteristics of a band, looking into the way they tour and focusing on how ‘The man’ (record companies, etc.) is trying to change rock and roll and make things much more mainstream.

William’s adventure goes further than he first expect, with him travelling the full tour and seeing things nobody else would ever see. Listening to the same music that was inspiring this band to tour and perform.

The long list of songs used as both diegetic and non-diegetic is endless. I was originally going to place the full soundtrack on here, but that would have made the blog go on for quite some time. I mean it is a film about a rock band. What do expect?

There is mention of some great names such as Iggy Pop, David Bowie, Black Sabbath (who Stillwater are touring alongside.), Neil Young, Lou Reed and many more (check out the amazing soundtrack at the bottom).

So this story, based on true events is one of charm and classic rock music, but what makes it so intriguing? Why do we watch these films telling us about how a certain band or person became famous?

Take Walk The Line (2005) directed by James Mangold and staring Joaquin Phoenix, for example, the story of Jonny Cash and June Carter; about the darker side of fame and of love.

We want to watch these films because they are real life stories. Stories where people have a raw talent, whether it be singing like Cash or Stillwater, or it be Journalism, they have a talent and they want the world to see this talent, they find difficulty in their journey and also might find love but eventually the bright lights of fame get too much for them and they stumble.

So do we watch these films for the stumble and the good music? Not at all, we watch them because it gives us courage to get out there and show our talents and skills, because no matter how bad they stumble, Cash ending up in Prison and Stillwater almost breaking up, they always seem to pull through and it’s their dedication.

This is why the music in films that are based on real stories are so important, because each band, each singer, has a story to tell. They will all inspire somebody in a different way, so overall it’s more than just the music. It is about inspiration.

Almost Famous (2000) Soundtrack: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0181875/soundtrack

If you have any films or film topics you would like me to look into the comment below. If you have any views on what has been discussed this week, also let me know.

Stay safe,

Matt

Flash Fiction Friday: The Gray's House

2012-08-17T14:56:00.000+01:00

Hey Guys,

Friday’s posts are short Flash Fiction writing exercises.

I will either use a photo or a prompt of some sort, maybe a phrase from time to time, to get inspiration and start my introduction to any story.

This week I am going to be working off a challenge that I found online (credit at end). I thought it would be a clever idea as I have never written in this style before. So here is the challenge, followed by my Flash Fiction:

Challenge:

Write a short piece of fiction in second person. Use a lot of "you".

It’s pitch black, nothing can be seen around you. You reach out to find the wall and stumble your hands over to the switch on the light. You panic for a few seconds unable to find it, worried about what you may find. There are strange grinding noises coming from in front of you. Part of you does not want to find out what they are, you want to turn back and run away, but there that small part of you that is stronger, its fighting back, it’s inquisitive and curious to see what is in this house.

The creaking of the floor boards underfoot make your hear race, it fills you with terror and excitement in the same beat. You give up on finding the light switch and carefully step forward, not wanting to make much noise. You almost seem to tip toe forward.

Each time you take a step dust particles fly around, they tickle your nose and your eyes, making you feel dizzy. The small of damp contrasts to that of the dust being kicked up, it confuses your senses and makes you feel light headed, but you still continue forward.

Suddenly you remember you brought a flash light, you feel slightly embarrassed in yourself for not thinking to use it earlier to find the switch. You sigh and pull at the string round your wrist so the torch levels upward toward your hand. You grab it and turn it on, the bulb flickers and produces a thin beam of light, and it isn’t as strong as you first anticipated when choosing it.

You turn round, trying to look back at the wall you once was stumbling over, you see if there’s any sort of switch, there is nothing but torn dark wallpaper and cobwebs. You shiver and look down at your hands; they are coated in the thick webbed substance. You fiercely wipe your hands on your clothes felling a sickness in your stomach as you think of the eight legged creatures which created these webs, as you do so you let the torch drop; it catches itself with the string round your wrist, but hits you in your side winding you slightly.

You curse yourself for this action, grab at the torch again and continue to follow the direction of the wall round. ‘This place has to have a light somewhere’, you tell yourself. As you follow the wall round you start to notice dirt and grime on the wallpaper, the colour is dark, tricky to place through the lack of light your mind starts running with possibilities and it excites you a little. ‘Maybe the rumours about this house were true’ you start to recall the rumours you heard whilst still following the wall round with your poor shaft of light.

The stains start to get bigger and more defined, they worry you, you suddenly want to leave scared of finding worse, but you can’t leave yet, you haven’t found anything and if you left you knew you would forfeit the dare and therefor loose.

You started to curse Peter under your breath for making you enter this house ‘I dare you to stay in the Gray’s House’ you hear his high pitched voice and chuckle in your head and snarl, thinking of a way to get him back next time.

You suddenly notice something on the wall that stops your thoughts in their tracks. There on the wall in front of your poor shaft of light lays a set of markings, they almost look like lettering. You step up closer to get a better look.

The colour of the stained markings becomes more noticeable and darker, it’s a brownish reddened colour, and you still can’t see what the markings are so you take a few more steps forward. Then it hits you, you can see what it says and you wish you had never seen it.

On the wall scribed in this red substance were two warning words. The words ‘GET OUT’ scrolled down the wall. You get scared you panic, thinking that you had over stayed your welcome.

Suddenly the darkness is swarmed by a bright light, your eyes shocked into temporary blindness, you don’t want to open your eyelids to see who, or what just switched on the lights, and yet for some strange reason you are compelled to. You open your eyes and suddenly realise what the markings are made with.

The dark blooded hand prints trickling down the wall brought fear filled tears to your eyes, your heart sunk in your chest, you panic and turn to head for the door. You see that stood at the door was a tall shadowed figure with piercing pale eyes. Fear builds up inside you as the figure is suddenly standing in front of you, still covered in shadows, a few large noticeable scars and those wild piercing eyes. The shadow grabes you by the throat, you struggle and tears escape your eyes, wishing you had stayed at home.

The figure throws you against the wall, you hit it with force. As you hit the wall a shooting pain spirals down your side. His voice then booms across the room towards you, it makes you freeze on the spot and fills your throat with panic and fear.

‘Welcome to my house’ he cackles. ‘We are going to have so much fun.’

Challenge by T. R. Stoddard taken from Joseph Eastwood

Let me know what you think of my Flash Fiction writing and if you have any ideas for inspiration the comment below.

Stay safe,

Matt

Themes on Thursday: Is there any Intergalactic Creature who Can Save us from this Parallel, Apocalyptic Cyborg?

2012-08-16T15:23:00.000+01:00

Hey Guys,

On Thursday’s I will be looking into the different themes and genres of films. I will be looking into what classes a film under the certain genres and what themes tend to run through them.

There will be a lot of films being watched that I or you have probably never heard of, but that’s the experience of film.

This week’s focus has mainly been directed towards Sci-Fi. So why should today be any different? We are going to travel into the world of Science Fiction and discover great wonders.

So for a start let me explain that Science Fiction films are any film that is set in the future or has some reference to other worlds. Content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, parallel universes, aliens, and paranormal abilities can feature in these films.

There are a lot of Genres and themes that appear in Science Fiction films. So how would you know if you’re watching a Sci-Fi? Let’s list a small amount of traits and themes.

· Is the film set in the future?

· Is the film set on a different planet?

· Is the film set in space?

· Does the film contain a creature/monster?

· In the film, Is there a scientific research that goes wrong?

· Does the main character have super powers?

· Is there an alien attack?

· Is there some sort of epidemic?

· Do any of the characters time travel?

· Is there an alternate/parallel universe?

· Are there any robots/cyborgs/clone etc.?

· Can the characters live under water?

· Are there any flying objects? (E.G Space ships)

Now some of these you would have already guessed, as did I, but others are quite a surprise. Did you know any comic hero movie is classed as a Sci-Fi film? Now that you know that, you will think over it and recognise some of the themes that run through. For example the Iron Man (2008 – present) films, Tony Stark uses Science and Computers to build his Ironwear.

Science Fiction films used to just primly be ‘about science’ it has evolved and transformed into something greater with many different sub-genres. Here are just a few of the subgenres with an explanation.

First of all any Apocalyptic, holocaust, or post-apocalyptic story which focuses on the end of the world, or the world just after "the end." Society is wiped out and must rebuild; humanity is destroyed; humanity must cope with an aftermath.

Cyberpunk stories are set in a high-tech, mechanical and advanced universe of computers, hackers, and hybrids. "Cyberspace” films fall into this subgenre. Humans may spend time "living" in a virtual environment.

First contact looks into the primary meeting between humans and aliens. These can range from horrific tales of invasions through to stories of gentle visitors bearing technology and peace. The meeting may occur on Earth, in space, or on another planet. "alien invasion" films fall into this sub-genre.

Military science fiction looks at futuristic combat locations such as space, against opponents such as aliens or machines, with advanced weaponry. This may include genetically modified warriors.

Near-future science fiction takes place in present day or in the next few years. Elements of the setting should be familiar, and the technology may be current or in development.

Space operas are similar to Western "horse operas," often contains good guys fighting with bad guys in space or on distant planets. Star Wars is a classic example.

Time travel is where characters travel to the past or future. It could also be where they are visited by other time travellers. Topics range from seeing what the past was like, to paradox of killing somebody who effected your future, through to "tampering" causing a massive ‘butterfly effect’ altering the entire future/world. "alternate universes" where each change in the timestream spins off a new universe can be classed in this sub-genre.

So hopefully you can understand more about how the Science Fiction works and you can understand why a certain character is doing one of the listed things above. Hopefully it makes you understand the film that little bit more.

For those of you interested in finding out more about current Science Fiction films, here is an Internet Movie Database link listing all the most popular Sci-Fi films at present: http://www.imdb.com/genre/sci_fi

If you have any views on what has been discussed or have any films, themes, or genres you would like me to look into then comment below.

Stay safe,

Matt

Writing Wednesday: Doing things for others

2012-08-15T16:05:00.001+01:00

Hey Guys,

This is the part of the week where I update you on the work I have been creating for the week and what stage everything is up to.

It will also include the area that I have been focusing on the most and how helpful it has been to me.

This week I’m not going to update you on my own writing. Instead I’m going to focus on somebody else’s.

This week one of my dear friends announced that he would be releasing his book very soon and released what genre the book was.

So I thought that it would be nice, and kind of me to help him along, as I am rather excited for his book release.

My friends name is Joseph Eastwood and the book he will be releasing is called Lumen. An exact date has not been noted but he says that it will be coming out very soon.

So how has Joe explained Lumen and is it the book for you?

This is Joe’s first book that he will be releasing, so as he says, in his words, it is like his baby. He wants to make sure that it is perfect before airing it to the world.

Here is a little image he made to help describe the book.

If you want to know more about Joseph Eastwood then follow this link to his blog: http://www.josepheastwood.com

If you want to know more about Lumen then follow this link: http://www.josepheastwood.com/2012/08/is-lumen-for-you-updates.html

If you have any handy writing tips, then leave a comment below and let me know.

Stay safe,

Matt

Welcome Wednesday: Tim Popple: Moon, Monsters, and Money

2012-08-15T13:00:00.000+01:00

Hey Guys,

Wednesday is the day I introduce a guest onto my blog and let them write me a post. They will be posting something about their area of knowledge and each week I will try and have a different area.

Sometimes I may post a response to what the guest has written.

The major theme running through this week seems to be Sci-Fi, and why break the running theme? This week we have Guest Star, Tim Popple who will be discussing the thrills of British and Low Budget Science Fiction. Make him welcome:

Tim lives and works in Bristol, and spends his spare time living and breathing cinema. He runs http://the24thframe.co.uk/, a website dedicated to film reviews and features (one current feature involves looking one Star Trek film a month, until the new film is released next year!). The site has a Facebook page, www.facebook.com/the24thframe, and you can follow Tim on Twitter @VoxPopple.

Low budget SciFi has often been something of a contradiction. Take an idea that seems like it ought to need a big budget, and craft something unique and wonderful with a tiny budget. Use that budget’s limitations to focus your creativity. From films like Silent Running – directed by 2001: A Space Odyssey’s effects guy, Douglas Trumbull – through James Cameron’s classic The Terminator, and on past oddities like Shane Carruth’s Primer (an altogether different take on time travel to the Schwarzenegger film) across different countries like Spain’s Timecrimes, and South Africa’s District 9, and on to recent times with the one-two Brit SciFi punch of Duncan Jones’s Moon and Gareth Edwards’s Monsters, and the US’s grunts’-eye view of an invasion with the underrated Battle: Los Angeles.

With Nir Paniry’s film Extracted getting good press at festivals, I wanted to look at these most recent British SciFi low budget films which are not only sterling examples of low budget SciFi done well, but are actually two of the best films of recent years. Indeed Moon topped my list of films of 2009. Sam Rockwell is the sole occupant of a base on the moon, mining precious fuel discovered there to help an ailing planet below. Coming to the end of his “shift”, slowly he realises things are not entirely as he thought. With nods to 2001: A Space Odyssey in the Kevin Spacey-voiced ship’s computer, as well as the solitary life of Silent Running, it has fine SciFi as its touchstones. Yet even without that historical layer, Moon still works as an astonishing piece of SciFi. It takes a futuristic setting – a realistic futuristic setting, no less – and posits the age old question of what it means to be human, how human is human? The struggled relationship between man and machine is brought to bear most succinctly, and man’ resilience, his fight for survival, is made frightfully real. Tonally, Moon has heart, pathos, and in a lovely touch to the wake up call, humour. It is, quite simply, one of the greatest debut films since an upstart 20 something decided to make a little film mocking the most powerful newspaper magnate in America, with snowglobes, pleasure palaces, and a mystery called ‘Rosebud’.

Gareth Edwards’ Monsters is a kind of road movie. It takes the familiar set up of an alien invasion, and fast forwards to the end of that film. The aliens have arrived, we’ve become accustomed to them, and they live in a specific area. So far, so District 9. But while District 9 was a thinly-veiled nod to apartheid within South African history, Monsters looks at a more specifically American concern: border control. Trapped with no option but to travel through the area infected with the mysterious aliens, a photographer and his boss’s daughter struggle with each other as much as they do with their environment. It’s a SciFi road movie buddy movie, if you will. People turning up expecting Independence Day 2 were always going to be disappointed. Of course you see the aliens here – to not do so would have been a huge cheat on the audience, micro-budget or not – but it’s about the situation, the interactions, and the relationships. And surviving a potentially hostile environment. Monsters is a brilliantly realised vision that, like Moon paints a painfully realistic future. That is its strength. By framing the unbelievable within a believable structure, it improves the suspension of disbelief.

Throwing money at a film can often do it a disservice. Necessity begets invention, and it is necessary with a smaller budget to be inventive in one’s portrayal of the fantastical in a way that remains believable. Monsters, by its overt necessity to visualise creatures of another world had a harder job than Moon which required a Moon base, and shots in space. Both achieve, both excel, and both show how much is possible, even on the tiniest of budgets.

If you have any comments or views on what has been discussed then please place them below. If you would like to appear on my Welcome Wednesday blog then let me know.

Stay safe,

Matt

Talk Tuesday: That Can't be the End, Can it?

2012-08-14T13:27:00.000+01:00

Hey Guys,

We all need something to talk about and discuss, we just like to gossip.

This is the part of the week where I choose a topic to discuss over and talk about; I view both sides of the argument and then place my opinion.

Anybody can join in with the discussion, just post a comment and tell me what you think.

This week we are going to discuss the climax of films. So a slight note before we start.

THIS BLOG WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS THROUGHOUT.

Last night I watched Gone (2012) directed by Heitor Dhalia and staring Amanda Seyfried. All together this is a very well thought out and planned film. The Character Jill is a very troubled individual and has obviously gone through a lot.

The story is about Jill and how she is convinced her kidnapper has returned when her sister mysteriously disappears without any trace. The police think that Jill has gone crazy, as she was sectioned and the fact they the first time round they did not find any evidence that backed her story.

So if it was such a good film why are we talking about it today? Well today we are talking about the climax of films and how some can be unexpected and others are not so climatic.

For example in Gone we go through a journey of people that the kidnapper could be, at one stage we believe it’s a neighbour, maybe it’s the cop, she can’t be making it up, etc. but at the end the man is only some guy who saw her in the coffee shop once. This film has taken all this time to build up to the reveal of this kidnapper, and after all that, we’ve not really seen him much or know anything about him.

An example of a good climax, even though not the one I wished for when watching the film, was in Buried (2010) directed by Rodrigo Cortés and staring Ryan Reynolds. This film is about a U.S truck driver, Paul who is working in Iraq. His team get attacked by a group of Iraqis. He wakes to find he is buried alive in a coffin. He does not have many items and it's a race against time to escape.

All the way through the film we think that maybe he might get out, a few times we think it is unlikely, but drawing to the end it is a very close call. The rescue team are on the phone to Paul, they believe they are close and for a moment we feel as if he has been rescued, not for the first time, and then suddenly they tell us they have found somebody completely different. By this time it is far too late.

The suspense and tension that this film builds from beginning to end is outstanding, and they follow it through to the end, there is no anti-climax for this film. It shocks and surprises and I did not see it coming at all.

The point Todays blog is to discuss which films we think are Climatic and worth watching, and which films lead us on but, unfortunately, let us down at the last hurdle. If you have any films you would like to talk about then leave a comment below.

If you agree or disagree with anything mentioned then please comment and share your views.

Stay safe,

Matt

Movies For Monday: Space, The Final Frontier

2012-08-13T13:45:00.000+01:00

Hey Guys,

This is the part of the week where I will be looking into films and reviewing certain aspects or even a whole film. I will be viewing my opinions whilst also asking what you feel about it.

The films I look into may be new releases, or films that I have just watched on DVD.

You may not believe this, maybe you’ll be slightly shocked, but at times I can be slightly geeky! I know a little about certain things and have a fondness for old classics.

So when I watched Star Trek (2009) directed by J.J. Abrams last night, I felt my geeky side come out, as it probably will in this blog.

At first, when watching the opening scene, I was getting slightly annoyed as I thought they were about to kill off a captain that was very important without giving him two looks. I was wrong to think this as the film itself is based around him and his voyage with Enterprise.

The film tells of the story of the Romulans and how they believe Mr Spok to have destroyed their home planet, they start to destroy other planets to get back at the Federation for not saving their planet.

Now I have to say, may include spoilers, that the thought into the time, space continuum was really clever. Basically due to the fact that when future Romulans and the future Spok (Spok Prime) being transported back to the present day, it altered the course of people’s lives and made things change.

(I told you this might get slightly geeky)

Whilst watching this film it brought back some memories of sitting down to watch Star Trek with my father. I saw almost every captain, almost every commander and knew the basic plot lines.

I was rather impressed by this film, and apart from a few minor CGI moments that were a little too much, the rest was perfect. The story line was clean and came through and they seemed to keep some of the old Star Trek charm in there.

I thought that Simon Pegg as Scotty did a fantastic job, his Scottish accent and his personality was great. To be honest, the whole film was tremendously well casted and all the actors portrayed the original characters as well as possible.

Overall the movie was rather impressive and it thrilled my geeky side to no end. It is worth watching and I don’t know why I have not seen it earlier. Also I was extremely glad to see that at the end of the film, they had the original Star Trek Opening Titles, obviously edited and re-mastered for a newer audience, but just the fact they included it made my geeky side happy.

One small little treat for you guys. J.J. Abrams is in the process of making an Untitled Star Trek Sequel, which will be coming out next year. We all know how well Abrams is at keeping secrets, so I’m guessing we won’t know much detail until the trailer hits, but I’m guessing from what he has created with the first one it should be good.

If you have any films or film topics you would like me to look into the comment below. If you have any views on what has been discussed this week, also let me know.

Stay safe,

Matt

Flash Fiction Friday: Simon's New Cape

2012-08-10T15:59:00.000+01:00

Hey Guys,

Okay Flash Fiction is a new thing I’ve been told about so let’s see how this pans out and works. Apparently the aim of Flash Fiction is you look at an image of something and you write for an allotted time, or until you reach a certain amount of words. Maybe once or twice I might change these Flash Fiction entries into short films so watch out for them on my film YouTube channel which I have set up for my short films.

This week I have used a prompt book to create my Flash Fiction story. The book itself is The Writer’s Book of Matches by the staff of fresh boiled peanuts, a literary journal.

The prompt I have used this week is the following, in bold, then my story follows shortly after:

A twelve year old boy decides to become a superhero:

It was a cold, early January weekend and Simon was playing with his Christmas toys. Simon loved the weekends because he got to come and see me.

His mother worked on the weekends, and his father was long gone. So he came round and spent some time with me, his one, and only, nana.

Simon loved coming round because I let him play, undisturbed, as long as he was well behaved. I also baked him cakes and cooked him his favourite meals.

As Simon played with his Christmas toys, I watched him from the corner of my eye, making sure he didn’t hurt himself or get too over-excited. At the same time I had the news on the television.

I was watching Simon and listening to the news when suddenly an article came on that grubbed hold of my attention.

The reporter was telling me the dreadful news about a war in some faraway place.

I took a huge a huge gulp and tasted my worry as the reporter continued to tell me that the British army would be getting involved.

I licked my dry lips and wiped my fear stained brow. I thought about my son Jack, who was part of the army. He had been injured a few times whilst on duty and I didn’t want him to be injured again, or worse.

Each time a news reporter came on and informed me of a fight, or a war that needed the British army’s support, the taste of fear and worry would hit me in the back of the throat.

I looked over at my only grandson, hoping that he would stay twelve. Praying that he would stay young and innocent forever and that he wouldn’t end up like his uncle Jack, or divorced and unhappy like his mother, Rebecca.

The sound of clanking toys laid my worries for the child to rest for a short while.

‘Simon.’ I called to him softly. He looked up at me. ‘Would you like a slice of cake?’ I ask. Simon nodded, I was glad of this as it gave me a reason to escape the report on the fighting.

I held onto the sides of my aging armchair and lifted myself out; I walked over to the kitchen counter behind me and reached for the draw. I opened it and pulled out a cold metallic knife.

I placed the knife on the glossed, wooden surface of the counter and walked over to the fridge. As I opened it, the light and cold air hit my face and cooled my worried brow. I pulled out the cold china plate which held the chocolate cake that I had baked the night before. I closed the fridge door and placed the cake filled plate onto the counter.

I then placed both my hand on the counter edge for a few seconds, staring deep into the cake, into space, and day dreamed. I was hoping I would somehow find an answer or a release from the pressure building in my pounding heart.

Suddenly I felt a tug on my Knitted cardigan. Surprised, I turned round and looked down. I saw Simon staring up at me, his light blond hair shimmering at me. He was wearing the blue comic-hero cape that his mother had bought him for Christmas.

I kneeled down to see what my little grandson wanted.

‘What’s up dear?’ I stroked his soft cheek as I asked. He placed his hand upon mine and I felt a strange sensation travel from his hand to mine. This sensation then travelled up my arm. I looked at Simon in bewilderment.

‘Nana,’ He looked me straight in the eyes. His pale blue eyes had a certain, special sparkle to them. ‘I want to help Uncle Jack.’

My fear forcibly built, my heart sunk. It started pounding at the bottom of my stomach. It started racing and forced tears to collect and well up. This was exactly the words I had dreaded.

As my fear built, Simon’s hand tightened slightly and another shoot of the strange feeling somewhat calmed me.

‘You don’t have to worry Nana.’ He paused and smiled. He let go of my hand, letting it drop to my side. He touched the middle of my chest, it felt as if he had extended through my ribs to massage and calm my racing heart. ‘I want to become a superhero.’

I smiled at the little boy’s innocence. He still believed in superheroes and thought that, with this cape, he could become one.

‘You will always be my superhero dear.’ I whispered into his ear, brushing his soft, pale hair behind it as I did so. ‘Unfortunately you can’t help your Uncle Jack or...’

‘I can though Nana!’ Simon interrupted; he stepped back from me and looked up at the counter where I had just placed the cake. I followed his line of sight and wondered what he was doing.

The next thing I saw was unbelievable and incredible. I blinked constantly, thinking I had fallen asleep and was dreaming, yet the tears of amazement that rolled down my cold, wrinkled cheeks informed me that this was real.

The metallic knife which was lying on the counter next to the plate started to rise; it hovered over to the cake and cut through it.

I stared back at Simon in astonishment, wondering what was happening.

‘See Nana,’ He exclaimed. ‘I can help Uncle Jack and become a superhero.’

I looked at my grandson in shock as his smile gleamed at me.

Let me know what you think in the comments below.

Stay safe,

Matt

Film Thursday: Stop-Motion Animation

2012-08-09T10:59:00.000+01:00

Hey Guys,

This is Film Thursday.

Here’s the part of the week where I will either review a film or talk about how film can affect us in certain ways. Each week I will ask you what you feel should review next or what area of film I should look into.

This week we are going to look into the amazing world of Stop-Motion Animation, a very time consuming but extremely detailed form of animation.

For those of you unsure of what Stop-Motion Animation is, then think back to Wallace and Gromit (1989 – Present) by Nick Park, Aardman Animations.

Basically the way they create these animations is they place the clay models into the potion they need. Then take a few shots. They then stop the camera, move the models by the slightest amount for the next shot.

These stop-motion animations take up a lot of time, as one scene may take the animators a couple of days. So a whole film may take a year or maybe more.

Such Films as: The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993). Directed by Henry Selick and produced by Tim Burton, and Buton’s other creation: Corpse Bride (2005) are both stop-motion films and both have a high level of detail and had plenty of time spent making and creating these films.

The reason I am mentioning stop-motion is down to something that I am highly excited about. It is one film I truly cannot wait to go and see, I will be front of line as soon as it is out.

This film will be the work of Director, Producer, and Writer Guillermo del Toro (GDT/ Del Toro). Del Toro is the creator of such films as: Hellboy (2004), Pan’s Labyrinth (2006) and The Orphanage (2007). He has created some very extraordinary creatures and monsters and knows how to play with ‘The Dark Side’ of film.

So when I heard that GDT was rumoured to make a ‘dark’ version of Pinocchio, I was extremely excited at how the creatures would look and what tales he would bring through.

The idea of this film is based around a book that Gris Grimly wrote. Del Toro is working alongside The Jim Henson Company, and there are the first artistic impressions of the film.

If you haven’t guessed already, this will be a stop-motion animation. Which means it will not be released until around 2014, but it is just exciting to have seen some of the pictures from this talented director.

So here, from GDT’s own website, are some of the artist interpretations:

The first two pictures are artist interpretations, and the last one is one of the models they may be using in the movie.

So as you can see, it is a very exciting concept, the blue fairy is rumoured to be the soul of a dead girl and there are meant to be plenty of dark creatures.

There are also rumours of Daniel Radcliffe, Tom Waits and Luing Andrews voicing some of the many characters.

If you want to find out more about Del Toro then here is his website:

http://deltorofilms.com/wp/

And this is all the information on his version of Pinocchio:

http://deltorofilms.com/wp/category/other-projects/pinocchio

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1488589/

I can’t wait to see more info as it comes in, and can’t wait to see this film in 2014.

Stay safe,

Matt

Writing Update Wednesday: Remember your senses

2012-08-08T14:17:00.000+01:00

Hey Guys,

So you’re wondering how my writing is going? You want to know what I’m getting up to on my stories or what’s going to happen next? Well, let me update you on everything so far.

This week I have been focusing on the five senses.

All the way through my book Mysery I have been focusing mainly on one or two senses. Yet for this week I have been focusing on adding more of the other senses.

Now I know you probably all know the five senses, but I’m going to place them in just for a sense of purpose.

Senses:

· Smell

· Sight

· Sound

· Touch

· Taste

Mainly in books and writing people remember sight and a few smells; and writers tend to forget the other senses until later on, as I seem to have done.

So what I have started doing is writing the rest of my story in the following way and said that when I go through my editing I will start addin the other senses.

The way I have started to write the story is, for every scene, I place the five senses on a piece of paper and the main theme or activity of the scene at the top of the page. Then off each sense I have placed what the character’s senses.

Finally, there should be one more sense. This sense should be feel. This is in the way of how do all these other five senses make the character feel.

So I hope this helps you, it has helped me extreamly and it is my focus of the week.

Stay safe,

Matt

Tips for Tuesday: Five Top Tips

2012-08-07T13:17:00.001+01:00

Hey Guys,

This is Tips for Tuesday. Here is where I give you the tips that I, loosly, follow or think that I should follow. These are either life tips or tips to do with work, maybe even specific tips to something. It may help you with something you’ve been trying to over-come or maybe it will just inspire you to try something new.

This week I'm going to tell you my five top tips that help me on a daily basis, they are loosely linked with work and writing, but they help in all aspects.

Now I'm not saying I follow my own rules, and I'm not trying to be hypocritical or condisending in any sort but I know when i follow these tips it does help.

So here's my tips, some of them may contridict themselves, but lets see what happens:

Tip One:

The way I work the best is to have a set deadline.

Even if it's not as important as, let's say a university essay deadline, or a work deadline. It is still important to think in the back of your mind: 'I should have finished this much work by this time'

Not only will you get more work done than normal but you will have more time to do other tasks and finish the tasks quicker than normally.

Tip Two:

Enjoy what your doing.

If your not enjoying it? why not, think it over, make it more fun.

Now for me I like to listen to music whilst working, and also in life, I try and have fun, keep young and not get too involved in situations unless I really have to.

Tip Three:

Base your work on things you know or have seen.

It's going to come to you easier.

Of course you still may stumble on some of the finer details, but there's a difference between writing a story about a character who feels lost when you have, at one stage, felt the same; than writing about a character who is lost and you don't know how it feels properly.

Tip Four:

Don't try and rush into anything,

don't rush your work, or your life.

It does not help, if anything standards start to drop and things get a little bit out of shape.

And Finally

Tip Five:

Live for the moment.

I know how cheesy that is, but you should understand what I mean.

There is no point in sitting around, compalaining that nothing happens and you don't do anything and it upsets you.

If your bored, go out, find new friends or join a club.

If you want to go somewhere or do something, just go and do it.

I'm not saying drop everything and put other people out by doing these things.

So, as I said, I'm not saying these are the hints and tips for a perfect life, not even saying it may help and I'm guessing you already knew all these hint, but isn't it obvious?

It's what we already know but we forget them all the time, I know I do, so not only am I trying to remind and help you, I'm also trying to remind myself and keep myself inspired.

If there is any tips you would like to share, or any advice you would like for next week, let me know.

Stay safe,

Matt

Mull-over Monday: The Use of 3D in Film

2012-08-06T14:00:00.000+01:00

Hey Guys,

Welcome to Mull Over Monday, This is the day where I pick something that people discuss and have different opinions about. These things will normally be to do with film or writing or something that obviously affects my life directly.

So this week we are going to discuss the use of 3D in films. Is there any difference between a normal 2D film and its 3D version?

Well I still remember the first thing I ever saw in 3D, it was not a big blockbuster film or anything you would watch at a regular cinema. Instead it was a documentary on at an art/theatre gallery.

This 3D documentary was about fish, and the depth of the oceans. It informed of creatures far in the undiscovered parts.

Now this documentary was probably one of the most realistic, most Three Dimensional film I have ever seen. The creatures and fish seemed to swim, float and glide out of the screen towards the audience.

In places this film even shocked and scared the audience when certain fish and creatures’ jaws splashed out of the screen.

Ever since seeing this realistic 3D documentary/film I have struggled to find 3D entertaining or realistic. Either Directors don’t use enough of it, or they only use it in certain places.

I find that some ‘3D’ films just do not reach the expectation. Certain films say that they are 3D, but instead they have a few minor scenes with depth of perception and not much else going for them.

Think about it this way, why pay around £8, plus your expensive cinema food, for a 3D film which has one pathetic 3D moment in it? That is quite a lot of money for something that doesn’t come out of the screen.

When 3D is done right though, it can be amazing. A lot of people and reviews enjoyed the 3D spectacular Avatar (2009) by James Cameron. Now my own view: The story line; not the best, The Idea: Great, The imagery: Amazing.

Another film where I thought the 3D was great was The Final Destination (2009) by David R. Ellis. Even though once again the story was the same as the rest, just in a different location and with different characters, the objects that killed the characters did actually seem like they flew out of the screen in certain scenes.

So 3D is not always a waste of time and money. Some films are great and spectacular, but I don’t think we are all the way there yet. We need to focus on impressing the audience and making the feel as if everything is flying towards you, Instead of just having the depth of perception.

If you have any opinions of 3D films that were great or others that were not worth the ticket price then please comment below and discuss your views on the growing trend of Three Dimension Films.

Stay safe,

Matt

Flash Fiction Friday: The Two Suited Men

2012-08-03T12:11:00.000+01:00

Hey Guys,

This week I have used a prompt book to create my Flash Fiction story. The book itself is The Writer’s Book of Matches by the staff of fresh boiled peanuts, a literary journal.

The prompt I have used this week is the following, in bold, then my story follows shortly after:

As two teenage boys sat on the front porch of a house, a car with tinted windows pulls up. The doors open, and two men in black suits get out and start walking towards them.

The boy on the left looked at the other boy, wondering what these two men wanted. As they came closer both boys looked at each other, they take a slight gulp of air and sigh nervously.

The two men reach the house, they are both wearing black shades, even though the sky’s dull and cloudy; the air is close and thick. They stop by the steps of the porch and in synchronisation both take off their sunglasses.

The man on the left seemed to be slightly older, shorter and a little bit more worn than the other, but except from this they almost looked identical.

The slightly older man spoke first.

‘Which one of you is Harry?’ He asked, glancing between the two boys looking for signs of weakness. One of the boys stood. He had dark brown hair, was very tall and slim, yet thought he was tough and strong.

‘Who’s asking?’ He demanded as the other, blonde haired boy, sat, watched and wondered.

‘I’ll take it you’re Harry then, shall I?’ The younger man said, stepping forward onto the first porch step. As soon as he did so the brown haired teenager took a nervous step backwards. Making him trip and almost stumbled back into his wicker chair.

The other boy, who had been quietly watching, gulped and took a step forward and out of his chair. He headed towards the suited men and placed out his hand.

‘Harry Foster,’ he announced with his clammy palm out-reached ‘How can I help you?’

Both men looked down at the feeble peace offering and sneered, rejecting all gratitude. Harry awkwardly dropped his hand back down to his side, then changed his mind and placed both his hands in the pockets of his brown leather jacket.

‘We need to talk to you alone.’ The older man demanded and looked across at Harry’s brown haired friend as he stumbled towards the group and interrupted.

‘Nobody talks to Harry without me.’ He paused. ‘I mean we don’t even know who you are.’ He looks at Harry for support. Then back at the two men. The younger, suited man looked angry and was about to take another step forward but the older man held him back. Harry then interrupted.

‘I’m sorry guys, but my friend here is right. My mum would go mental if she found out I was talking to strangers.’

Both black suited men looked at him simultaneously. The older man cleared his throat and spoke.

‘I’m DCI Mills and this is my partner DI Jones. We have come to ask you a few questions.’

Harry’s friend looked out the two officers, wary of what they were saying.

‘If you are officers, shouldn’t you be wearing uniforms?’ He questioned them. Both harry and his friend looked at each other, Harry nodded and looked back.

‘Patrick’s right’ He grinned. ‘Surely you would show us your badges from the start.’

The two men looked at each other and sighed. They both instantaneously reached into apposing pockets, which were inside their black jackets.

‘We didn’t want to do this.’ The younger man said and, in sync, both men pulled out revolvers and pointed them at the two boys.

Both boys stepped back in shock, raised their sweaty arms slightly, wishing they had never questioned the two suited men as much. They both looked at each other in terror. Patrick was about to open his mouth to question the men again but Harry glared at him. Patrick instantly closed his mouth again.

‘Get in the car.’ The older man ordered. ‘We have something to show you.’

Both of the boys unwillingly walked to the car whilst the men pressed the barrels of their guns into the back of the teenagers’ neck. He boys opened the doors of the car and climbed in.

The doors slammed behind them and the men got into the front. The younger man pointed his gun at the two boys as the older man started the car.

‘You should have just co-operated from the start.’ He said they set off to their unknown destination.

Hope you enjoyed it.

Stay safe,

Matt

Film Thursday: Mysery - Short Film (2010)

2012-08-02T19:05:00.001+01:00

Hey Guys,

This week for Film Thursday I have posted a short film.

This short film was created for my A level, Film Studies, piece. It is one of my first ideas for the Character Mysery. In this film she is a young girl who is upset about where her life is and wants to escape. She manages to finds happiness in her dreams, but knows that dreams can't last forever.

Song: Antony and the Johnsons - Another World (2008)
Mysery: Rebecca Hughes: https://www.facebook.com/Huuughes

MattThomFilm:
Blog: http://mattthomfilm.blogspot.co.uk/
Page: https://www.facebook.com/MattThomFilm
Twitter: @no1mattthom

Film Thursday: Batman: The Dark Knight Rises - Review

2012-08-02T13:00:00.000+01:00

Hey Guys,

This is Film Thursday.

This week we are going to review the new Batman film, The Dark Knight Rises (2012) directed by Christopher Nolan.

This is the third; and final, film in The Dark Knight trilogy. It is the last film that both Christopher Nolan and Christian Bale will both work on, but Nolan has left it open ended for other people to take up the chance.

The story is that Eight years have passed since the last film, The Dark Knight (2008), and everything is quiet, safe and calm. Yet as they say, ‘all is quiet before the storm’.

This storm starts when a new terrorist leader, Bane, overwhelms Gotham, and the Dark Knight is forced to resurface to protect the city that branded him as the enemy.

I did enjoy this film a lot and there was somewhat a wait between The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises. However for some reason, unknown, I felt that maybe something was missing.

For a start, I wish they would have explained how Selina was Catwoman, and referred to her more that way.

I also thought that, in parts, it was very slow to get into and a few unnecessary scene. In other parts it was very crammed up and too much seemed to be happening. Maybe they could have separated the film up into two?

The performances of Anne Hathaway (Selina), Tom Hardy (Bain), Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Blake), and Marion Cotillard (Miranda) were all at the top end. A few times there were certain things Hardy, Bain, said that were lost, but that may have been down to speakers in cinema instead of performance?

I thought that it could have been a little bit darker than it was also. As The Dark Knight seemed very dark, maybe due to it being released after Heath Ledger’s death, but in this one, even though still quite dark, did not seem as it should have been.

With all these things in mind and the fact that I liked The Dark Knight better I would still highly recommend going to see this film. Just for the pure fact that it is Batman. You can’t go wrong with a good comic book film.

Another thing, after my blog on Monday (Mull-Over Monday: Do special effects and CGI, improve films, or make them worse?) I can honestly say that the SFX and CGI in this film were outstanding. Loved the new Batman toy, 'The Bat'.

Finally, without giving spoilers because I know you are all dying to see this, (if you haven’t already, why the hell not?) I can truly say that the end sequence is one of the best cliff-hangers I’ve seen in an action/comic book film. With the fact that they have left the film open-ended, so that if another director to come in and play around with it or even wanted to create something different.

So all in all I do recommend the Dark Knight Rises and think it’s a good film, which contradicts what I’ve said, but what the hell. I think you should all go out and watch it, if you haven’t already.

Stay safe,

Matt

Writing Update Wednesday: You've Got to Read to Write

2012-08-01T14:00:00.000+01:00

Hey Guys,

So you’re wondering how my writing is going? You wanna know what I’m getting up to on my stories or what’s going to happen next? Well let me update you on everything so far.

Sometimes when writing a new book, or new chapter, etc. you need to do a little bit of research and this week has been no different to me. I have completed 5 chapters of my Mysery book, almost finished the sixth, and have started rough work on my next book, Bitter Shandy.

Bitter Shandy is a story about a girl, Shandy, who is rescued from a life of drink and drugs. She is given a chance to live her dream of being an actress, but the stress of acting and her new boyfriend, Malik, get too much for her. To add to this Malik confronts her when he suspects her of cheating. Can she handle all this new stress, or will she go spiriling down into worse situations?

This story is not like any other one I want to write, and it will be very hard for me, as it is in a non-linear form. It is not just about the two main characters, or even just about Shandy. All the characters are key parts to what happens to Shandy in the end.

To work in this style I have had to read through countless books and online blogs to see what I can muster from them to help me in this new style. Some are more helpful than others.

Also, whilst researching, I have decided to read Belle De Jour - The Intimate Adventures Of A London Call Girl as I thought it may help make my character more rounded and structured. Well seeing as I have kind of fallen in love with Belle I’m guessing the book will probably help me along the ways.

So my point today is that sometimes you don’t need to write as much in one week, because maybe that week you need to do more reading and research so that your characters, and story are more believable and creative.

Stay safe,

Matt