good will writing

A couple of years ago I wrote this blog post about a night in a bar on the 16th of September. What made this night special is that 16th September is Independence Day. I wrote that post two years ago and promptly forgot about it - the post that is. I haven't forgotten the evening nor the sentiments it invoked. Oddly enough, well odd to me, someone hasn't forgotten the post. In fact, it now turns out, this someone has been regularly the post to people up and down Mexico. He loves this post.

He's also a good friend, Efraín. We have spent many nights drinking and telling stories. Now, none of you have ever met me in real life, so you have never had to actually sit through me telling you a story (lucky you). But it appears that I am a good story teller. I tend to be an active story teller, I am passionate as I speak, I am engaging. Efraín loves watching me tell my stories.

Under normal circumstances these two facts wouldn't lead anywhere but these are not normal circumstances. Efraín is a qualified engineer who works very hard (and successfully) at his job. He has now reached a point where he is so successful that he can satisfy his one major desire - to make films. He is attending night school where he is studying a course in film direction and he is, already, writing/directing/producing short films.

He wants to make a short film about my blog post.

At the moment it is still in the negotiating state. He has his ideas, I have mine. I think that it is mainly going to be a "talking head" type of film, with me sat at a table telling the story. However, it will also include cuts (ooo, get me with my movie-talk) that will include me re-enacting events of the night as I tell the story - yep, there will be two of me on the screen at the same time...or not,it depends on how he wants to do the whole thing.

Anyhoo, all films start with a script. And that is where I come in. Before the project goes any further (into the storyboard section for those of you who are enjoying this slight brush with the bizzness) I have to sit down and write a script. Which I've done. Obviously, there is a good chance that this will go nowhere. So, rather than have my script hanging around in limbo I've decided to publish and be damned!

For your reading pleasure:  Download script_for_a_short.doc

Comments

[neil h.]

Viva Mexico indeed! It sounds like a great idea for a short film - good luck with it!

[Blue Witch]

I can't say I understand this mid-life-blokey-crisis need-to-be-a-film-director thing, but I do know several men having it.

This perfectly explains why I hate England these days. There is no sensee of patriotism - if one displays any, one is termed a racist.

What is the intended audience for this film? Only asking as I think things usually come out better if one has that in mind.

[will]

Those men suffering it? Would that include a certain person who packed up his bags, left England, and moved to Mexico? Or a certain person who is "exchanging bodily fluids" with a car?

I think that sometimes men get pigeon-holed - hell I think that everyone gets stuck in a rut. We all don't get to do what we wanted to do. We leave school, take the first job that comes along, and climb the ladder. When we reach a certain height it becomes possible to achieve those dreams we had, thanks to security (financial or personal).

And yes, I am proud to be English. But it is very difficult to be English without being tainted by the stigma of racism. And it can be slightly annoying that being Welsh or Scottish is deemed acceptable and being Irish is to be loved the world over. That is why I love the Mexicans patriotism. It is unforced, it isn't particularly in your face, and yet it is always there.

Dunno who his intended audience is. I only know what he wants me to do. And, because he is a friend, I have fulfilled his requirements. What happens next is up to him. If the worst comes to the worst, nothing will happen. If the best comes to the best, expect a link to youtube :^)

[Blue Witch]

I meant specifically successful men wanting to become film directors (and I don't just mean stuff to put on YouTube - hell, even I could do that (probably, if I read the instructions)!). I'd be the first person suggesting that people feel free to do what they want at any time they are not feeling maximally fulfilled.

I'm sure I must be on many governement databases as 'racist' as I always add an 'English' box to any official form. Why can people be Irish or Welsh or Scottish but not English, only "white British"? Oh, silly me, for the same reason that every other constituent nation of the UK has its own national representation (and cheaper education, healthcare, transport...).

[Vanessa]

On their passports they're all British, so it doens't matter what the fuck they call themselves on the web.
I certainly feel much more patriotic, since I left, and realised having a flag isn't a crime. I have a 6 foot british flag hanging from the window at work, and a tiny one above my door where I live. There's a peruvian one too, same sizes, as well as some others.

Anyway, I came here to say, congratulations, Billy. There's not any time in life when you can't do something new.