I suppose I'd better put something new in this blog! I am the world's worst diary keeper. From one moment to the next I am far too busy with things to sit down and actually write down what I am doing. Since I am a writer, one would think that this was second nature to me. But since I am a writer, I feel no urge to write anything FOR FREE!!!

However, nowadays I am told that you have to use the Internet to promote yourself and your work, especially if you are making films! One is meant to Twitter about it and Blog every moment, and engage the potential audience in the process, thus building a fan base.

Unfortunately, I know the statistics behind websites, especially those devoted to film and those short film competitions. And the truth is that people are fiddling the votes and artificially boosting their hits rates, and more to the point, they are still getting pathetic results! The only results that count on the internet are those that can be counted in the millions. Only then can you be certain that nobody has fixed anything and that at least some of the hits are people genuinely interested. Since Paris Hilton isn't in my movie, nor Brad Pitt, the only way to ensure a million hits is to set fire to my trousers and I'm not sure that will do the trick either. In which case I will just have to leave it to the good taste and intelligence of the mass of humanity with broadband connections.

Even so, here I am. Listen up! I'm making another film. It is going to be funny. I'm having fun interviewing lots of beautiful girls who I want to play parts in the movie and wondering how I can write them all in to it. I hate turning anyone down, especially if they are pretty.
I should be shooting it this month, but the weather is looking horrible! I procrastinated all through the hot summer months thinking it far too hot to shoot anything in Hong Kong and now suddenly it's far too cold. We have missed out on the usual pleasantly sunny and dry autumn, if that's the right term for the season here in the tropics. The Topless Volley Ball scene will not look the same at 4 degrees centigrade. I shall just have to cut that out and replace it with a knitting competition, culminating in a parade of woolens and balaclava helmets.

Now who will be interested in watching this film? I hate to say it, but I am under no illusions whatsoever. The answer is no-one. There is not a single person on the planet who wakes up with a sudden craving to watch a short movie on the Internet that isn't pornographic. Similarly no-one is flocking to the cinemas to see movies shorter than the magic 70 or 80 minute length that separates features from "shorts".

The point of making a short though is to test a concept, to practice a technique, to train oneself up in the use of various equipment, and to play with untried and unsung actors and actresses. After that, one sends it off to short film festivals in the hope of it winning a prize. Then it can become a show piece to enable one to get funding for larger and more commercial prospects.
The odds of this happening are somewhere between nil and zero and so those of us who do this sort of thing must really love doing it or have something devastatingly important to try and express in film form. The other possibility is rank stupidity, but then as I chat to yet another beautiful girl or go to another event full of the bold and the beautiful, and get  excited about another idea for a script, I don't think stupidity quite explains it.

The Hong Kong (Screen) Writers Circle Newsletter
November 3, 2009

CONTENTS:

*Casting
*Meetup 10th November
*Speak Up!
*48 hr Film Challenge Screenings
*Web Wednesday
*Creative Editing

If you wish to tell us about your Hong Kong film projects, please send your
information to lwgray@netvigator.com

_______________________________________________

About our publications
The HKWC has published four critically acclaimed anthologies of short
stories - Haunting Tales, Sweat & the City, Hong Kong Whodunnits and Love &
Lust - which are available at selected Dymocks bookstores and from our
website. Read more at:
http://www.hkwriterscircle.com/Publications/Publications.html
_______________________________________________

*Casting

I am planning to shoot another short film and so am looking for three
actors. My previous movie, "Gong Neui", was very well received at the I Shot
Hong Kong Festival. And so I am raising the bar and increasing the
complexity of the shoot and the story.

The roles are two female and one male.

The man should be forty plus. He is a business, professorial type, a drinker
who drives too fast late at night and sleeps in his underpants.

His wife should be thirty something. She is attractive but feels that they
need to get fit, get toned, get exercising, and lay off the Snickers Bars.
However, so far she has failed to stick to a regime.

The other woman should be in her twenties. She is very fit, very sexy, and
has a streak of sadism in her that turns her into an impromptu personal
trainer with interesting psychopathic tendencies. Because I am a rather dry
humoured Englishman writing this stuff, I should, if you can, imagine this
to be a female Basil Fawlty as a Pole Dancer, in short, a bit of a
comedienne.

If possible, because I wish to torture myself, we'll do two versions of this
simultaneously, one in Cantonese, the other in English. Though I might
change my mind depending on who comes my way. I'm nothing if not flexible.
So don't let language be a barrier. I'm just looking for people who can leap
off the screen in a larger than life manner that if nothing else, makes me
laugh.

So, if you have an outrageous streak all the better, as we are in comedy
ghost story territory. And be prepared to speak complex dialogue and then
have me tear it up and rewrite it on the spot and expect you to deliver it
all in one take. This is what you get when the writer and the director are
the same guy.

There is a bit of a budget here, but think more of the experience than the
rent money. It might be pot noodles on location but it'll be the extravagant
luxury of a Big Mac and fries at the end of the days shoot.

Send your CVs and pics to me, especially if you are available this November.
If you aren't available this November, send me them anyway as you never know
what else might come out of it.

Contact: lwgray@netvigator.com
______________________________________________
* Hong Kong Screenwriters and Film Makers Meetup 10th November

Come along to the Fringe Club for an informal meetup at the roof top bar at
7pm on 10th November. Derrick Lui will be with us to discuss his work, have
a drink, and generally mingle.

His film "When Night Falls" caused a bit of stir when ex-Miss Singapore
Jessica Tan got hot and steamy with Desmond Tan. You can see a trailer at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3yRJl4J6yk

RSVP just in case there is a change of venue at the last minute.

Contact: lwgray@netvigator.com
_______________________________________________
*Speak Up!

Another of the infinitely cool Kate�s Artist�s E.V.E.N.Ts will
take place on Wednesday Nov 4th at M1NT - 108 Hollywood Road Sheung Wan

Performances Start at 9:30pm so if you want to talk before the volume is
cranked up, come along earlier.

Alice Amu and TEAL will be performing, among others. And if you ask Kate
nicely you can get up on the stage and do whatever your thing is including
flog your book, promote your movie, or do a back flip... Yes, there are
people who can do back flips and they do go to the Speak Up! gatherings.
_______________________________________________

*The 48 Hr Film Challenge Screenings

I chickened out of the 48 hr challenge as it looked too much like a job for
masochists, and since I make my films as a one man crew, writing, directing,
editing, and driving the van, I realized that there would be no just doing
my bit and handing it on to the next guy in the chain. So rather than court
a heart attack, I stepped back to give others a chance.

If you are interested in discovering what can be done in forty eight hours
by enthusiastic teams of Hong Kong film makers, come to the screening on:

Friday, 06 November 2009
8:30 at Agnes b Cinema,
Hong Kong Arts Centre,
2 Harbour Road, Wanchai.
Tickets cost $50 each

_______________________________________________
*Web Wednesday

This is an event I have not been to yet but it looks very interesting,
especially given that film makers nowadays are inveterate users of the
Internet to promote their films and distribute them.

The Internet is changing all the time and whereas in previous years there
were three basic areas for a filmmaker to make a living, that is, features,
TV, and various promotional/educational area, there is now the Internet
itself with its webisodes and on-line shorts festivals.

And with a new medium, there are new ways of financing your output, new
audiences, new expectations, new technical requirements, and an everchanging
landscape of opportunities and dead ends!

If you want to keep ahead of the game, then get off to the Web Wednesday
Social Mixer on November 6th.

This week's guest speaker is Charles Chuang, an Internet entrepreneur who
will talk of the Secrets of Running a Successful Online Presidential
Campaign
18:30 - 19:30 at
"Roxie"
G/F, No 24-30 Ice House Street, Central
_______________________________________________
*Creative Editing as Audiovisual Creative Writing

Here is one for the most dedicated filmmakers among us. Ostensibly it is in
Cantonese, but as most technical terms are spoken of in English, and there
is a one on one component in the Master Class, I should not let your bad
Cantonese put you off. My experience of these things is that the discourse
is carried out in both English and Cantonese, despite being billed as
Cantonese only.

Mary Stephen, the long-time film editor of internationally renowned maestro
Eric Rohmer, will host a seminar and Master Class in Hong Kong from this
November till March 2010.

Through her seminar, classes and one-to-one meetings, participants would be
able to learn and explore the aesthetics of editing and moving images from
the veteran film editor who has been working extensively with numerous
independent filmmakers from countries such as Canada, France, China and
Turkey. To conclude with a public screening with all new works produced by
the participants and Mary Stephen's new film.

Seminar: In Conversation with Mary
Nov 15, 2009 (Sunday) 2:00pm � 4:00pm
Venue: Agnes b. CINEMA, Hong Kong Arts Centre
Guests: Mary Stephen, Prof. Leung Ping-Kwan
Host: Shu Kei

Workshop: Creative Editing Master Class
Nov 22, 2009, Nov 29, 2009, March 13,16, 2010
*Details please refer to the application form: www.ifva.com/form/mary.pdf

Programme details: www.ifva.com/sub-web/mary-web.htm

(Yes, I know. They are in Chinese. But you can e-mail direct and get further
information. )

CONTENTS:
•    Develop Develop Develop
•    Film Makers and Writers meetup: 12th October
•    48 hr Challenge
•    Thinking and Seeing Through Films
•    Hong Kong Indie Production – Audition and Techie info.
•    Seeking Funds – Have you a spare hundred grand?
•    Mui Ling’s Song – Mark Sung looking for collaborators
•    Speak Up – Who says you can’t be a writer and be cool?
•    Alivenotdead Halloween Bash – Start prepping your costume
•    STILL GET PRODUCED

If you wish to tell us about your Hong Kong film projects, please send your information to lwgray@netvigator.com

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

About our publications
The HKWC has published four critically acclaimed anthologies of short stories - Haunting Tales, Sweat & the City, Hong Kong Whodunnits and Love & Lust - which are available at selected Dymocks bookstores and from our website. Read more at:
http://www.hkwriterscircle.com/Publications/Publications.html
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

DEVELOP DEVELOP DEVELOP

Here’s an article by an old friend of mine, Phil Parker…
http://www.screendaily.com/5006085.article

He’s bemoaning the lack of original screenplays being produced in the UK. I have to say that twenty years ago when both Phil and I had stints as Chairmen of the London Screenwriters’ Workshop, we were pretty much saying the same thing.

Then came a lot of “development” funding that, as far as I was concerned, was disgustingly monopolized by a small group of people and not available to fair competition. I.E. they weren’t giving me any! In fact, I was running writing courses with people turning up telling me how they had been given six grand to write screenplays and thought they had better find out how to write one! How, I enquired, did they get the commission then? Oh, they said, I just knew the guy from school etc. etc.… or words to that effect.

I left for easier territory where I merely had to learn an entirely different language, culture and writing system, instead of continue fighting the endless class war of the UK.

Anyway, the argument now is that “development”, i.e. optioning original scripts, does not work and that optioning novels or remakes does. Or - and get this drummed into your head - commissioning a writer/director!

Now, one can spend one’s entire life arguing the unfairness of a system that marginalizes the Screenwriter, or claim that there is an art to script development that talentless frustrated writer/producer/editor/development executives just aint got and thus need to get their act together or get out of the industry and leave it to those who really know how to write - i.e. me and you - or you can just say, OK, I’ll be a writer/director. (Or write for television, which is another story altogether.)

If you have any opinions on this or anything else for that matter, just head off to www.hkwriterscircle.com and leave comments on the newsletter. Or even better… come along to ….
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
THE FILM MAKERS AND WRITERS MEETUP

Come along and meet fellow writers and filmmakers at The Amici, Lockhart Rd, 7pm, on Monday, 12th October.

This is a social event aimed at bringing together writers of all kinds, to let each other know what they are up to, exchange ideas and to collaborate on projects.

It is also an opportunity to eat pizza and gossip about nothing in particular!

If you are not a member of the Hong Kong Writers’ Circle then this is your opportunity to meet some of the members in an informal setting and even join:

HK$490 per annum.
Download the membership form at http://www.hkwriterscircle.com/form.html

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

THE 48 HOUR CHALLENGE

The 48 Hour Film Project comes to Hong Kong on the weekend of November 6th. Filmmakers from all over the Hong Kong area will compete to see who can make the best short film in only 48 hours. The winning film will go up against films from around the world.

Enter today! Space is limited.

This year, teams will be accepted on a first come, first served basis. Once the initial registration is complete, we will accept teams for the Waiting List. If a registered team must drop out, we will go to the Waiting List. If there is enough interest, and we can secure additional theater time, we may be able to add more teams from the list.

Registration is HKD$975 per team. http://www.48hourfilm.com/hongkong/english.php
http://www.twitter.com/hk48hfp
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

IN DIALOGUE WITH ANN HUI AND PETER CHAN

You know you are in for a bit of Film Theory when the term Dialogue is used instead of Conversation,  but even so, Peter Chan and Ann Hui are big names in Hong Kong Indie Pantheon and so this is a not to be missed event, even if it isn't a conspicuously cool one. Ignore the ageist rhetoric about them sharing their "visions" with the "young." It says all are welcome.

Dates:     8 October 2009 (Thursday)
Time:     6:00 p.m.
Venue:     Rayson Huang Theatre, The University of Hong Kong
Speakers:     
Director Ann Hui
Director Peter Ho-sun Chan
Dr Esther M.K. Cheung (Associate Prof., Comparative Literature, HKU)

A dialogue session with two of our University Artists, Ann Hui and Peter Ho-sun Chan where they will talk about their visions on film art and filmmaking.

Topics include:

   1. Film art as sources of creative thoughts and intellectual stimulations
   2. The current state of Hong Kong film industry in light of the impact of globalization and the rise of China
   3. The future of Hong Kong cinema

The two directors will also share their valuable experiences in filmmaking with young people who aspire to work in the creative industry.

Free admission via online registration. All are welcome.

The programme will be conducted in English.
      
Enquiries: 2219 4724, arts@hku.hk
http://arts.hku.hk/uas/filmmakers
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

HONG KONG INDIE PRODUCTION- Audition and Techie info.

Craig Addison, a long term Hong Kong resident, is producing a Sci-fi thriller set in Silicon Valley: DISCLOSURE!

If, like a fair old number of Hong Kong bold and beautiful, you are heading San Francisco way any time soon you might like to arrange an audition with him.

Craig will be in San Francisco in October for auditions and again in December for the shoot. The story is about a Silicon Valley high tech blogger who uncovers an alien presence that threatens to destroy the high tech world.

The micro-budget feature will be shot using producer funding, after which a trailer will be cut from the footage in order to raise finishing funds. The intent is to promote the finished film on the festival circuit in 2010-2011 in the hopes of securing a TV/DVD distribution deal.

The film will be shot using the new Canon 5D Mark II digital SLR camera, which has changed the cost paradigm for low budget films with its HD capability and 35mm lens system.

Craig and Disclosure's director, Tony Urgo, have both produced short films using the Canon Mk II, and the experience gained from those projects (including a double sound system for the Mk II) will be leveraged on this feature, enabling higher production values at lower cost.

After Disclosure wraps up shooting, Craig will be back in Hong Kong to begin script development and pre-production on a feature to be shot locally in the second half of 2010, also using the Canon Mk II camera.

Using SLR cameras for feature work is not quite as straightforward as one would like. There were some early issues with the Mk II related to a lack of manual exposure control that were solved with a software upgrade, but two issues remain in terms of criticism:

1. It doesn't *feel* like an HD camera, because it's the SLR format, and this makes traditional DPs uncomfortable. An easy solution to this is to use a "fig rig" (for hand held shots) or simply a tripod for fixed or pan shots.

2. A dodgy audio system - and that's true. But you can get around that with a double sound system. We did several tests of up to 15 minutes each of separate video/audio, synced in the FCP timeline, and there was no drift.

Here’s a link that might be of use to people contemplating shooting in this way:
http://www.kenstone.net/fcp_homepage/h4n_audio_recorder_graham.html
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
SEEKING FUNDS

Hong Kong resident,  and Ventriloquist, Jonathan Geffner is seeking funding for an R-rated sci-fi/suspense/mystery feature film that he wrote, set in Shanghai.

The production company has a matching funds deal for fifty per cent of the budget, estimated at US$2 million. So they are seeking funds up to a million dollars. 

The story:
Once Upon a Time in Shanghai

The ventriloquist/dummy detective duo of Van Trillo and Sam Suede flee both brutal gangsters and crooked cops who have put them on their hitlists in their native New York City. They land in China, in a Shanghai Neverland - a dark, violent, seductive, neo-noir landscape of cold-blooded killers and femmes fatales, where dummies and humans co-mingle in an uneasy mix of mutual envy and distrust. Will Trillo & Suede find and kill the hitmen hot on their trail before the hitmen kill them?

For further details visit: http://www.farnfilm.com/
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

MUI LINGS SONG

Hong Kong film maker, Mark Sung, is currently in post on his short film - 'Mui-Ling's Song"  -  about a young Chinese  girl abducted  from her village and sold into  slavery by 'snake-heads' .

So far he has edited 15 - 20 minutes - but still need a few scenes to flesh out the story.

He tells me that he will need help to promote it as a video download and perhaps web distribution.  So if these are areas you are particularly adept at, let me know and I’ll pass your contact address to Mark.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
SPEAK UP: October 7, 2009

The unashamedly cool Kate and Roger are hosting yet another must be seen at event for Artists of all kinds.

So come, strut your stuff, promote your work, philosophy, organizations and generally show off!

This is a fun event that involves a lot of shouting and having your photo taken so that you can show up on Facebook surrounded by all the cool people. Including me, which no doubt puts this in a fridge all of its own.

When: Wednesday, Oct 7, 2009 9:00PM
Where: MINT: Central, HongKong
108 Hollywood road

Contact:
E.V.E.N.T
info@artisteventscompany.com


++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

ALIVENOTDEAD HALLOWEEN BASH
   
This is another must be seen at event for local writers and artists: The 'Dead Not Alive' Halloween Party 2009
Saturday, Oct 31, 2009 10:00PM

Get to work on a good costume.

For further details such as the venue go to: alivenotdead.com

There is a little bit of exclusivity here, but not much. If you’re one of Alivenotdead’s artists you get to take one guest.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

STILL GET PRODUCED

I’m still looking for that script about the Hong Kong Writers’ Circle! It should be somewhere between 3 to 10 minutes long – though mostly 3 - so that it can fit on Youtube, be capable of being shot with next to no budget, and be entertaining and informative.

You can write it as a documentary, or a sit-com, or an opera or whatever you like! It must be shootable though and it must make me laugh! And I mean laugh in a good way. And it should make you want to be part of the Writers’ Circle and consume all the creative output of the membership… or at least some of if!

ALL ENTRANTS will get Three Months free membership of the Writers Circle and the winner will get a full twelve months free membership and the pleasure of having their script produced and shot in Hong Kong.

The deadline is the end of October.

Hint: with a short film, the concept is everything! A good, clever idea taking advantage of the nature of the medium has more impact than something that is no more than talking heads, no matter how witty their dialogue.

I am the judge, jury and executioner of this, so you have to suck up to me and pander to my taste for beautiful actresses and heavy doses of irony. And please, write it as a script and not a piece of masterly prose.

Even better if you can also Story Board the idea!

Want a sample of good piece of You Tube promo? Head off to:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmXi2-SjkOQ

Send your entries to lwgray@netvigator.com
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

JOIN THE HONG KONG WRITERS' CIRCLE

HK$490 per annum.
If you wish to join, download the membership form at http://www.hkwriterscircle.com/form.html

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
DISCLAIMER:

The opinions expressed in this newsletter are those of the contributors and do not necessarily represent those of the Hong Kong Writers' Circle as a whole.


To be removed from this specific mailing list, click here:
http://www.hkwriterscircle.com/mailinglists/mailinglists.php?p=subscr&mlst=writers_circle&rem=lwgray@netvigator.com


To be removed from all of our mailing lists, click here:
http://www.hkwriterscircle.com/mailinglists/mailinglists.php?p=mlist&rem=lwgray@netvigator.com

Dr James Lovelock of the Gaia Theory has spelt it out for everyone. The game is up. Climate change is irreversible and there will be massive loss of life. So, party on and start doing all those things that you have been putting off doing!

And what do I find myself doing in all this urgency? I find myself thinking how I should re-write those old scripts that nearly got optioned. I think how I should knock out those shorts that I’ve promised to collaborate on. I also keep thinking about new features, and all those scripts others have sent me, and the TV series I’m writing; not to mention finishing off working my way through the EP Budgeting Software, learning how to get a new compositing software functioning, finish editing the two hundred hours of travelogue I’ve shot in my pointless travels, and work on the documentaries that I’ve got buzzing around in my head. Then there is that collection of all my published short stories I keep going to put together and re-publish.

I have so many projects brewing or half brewed that I feel exhausted just thinking about them and as soon as I start working on one, I have all manner of life issues cropping up. There’s the rental arrears of a tenant, the idiotic solicitors I have to deal with, wayward business partners, and endless promises of instant directing opportunities if only I do all the work in putting together the proposal and script on supposedly other people’s projects.

It’s also coming up to National Day here in China and that means a Bank Holiday and as an Englishman I feel an irresistible urge to decorate the living room. Unfortunately B & Q have just closed down in Hong Kong and where one can easily buy Dulux Paint here is a mystery to me! And I bet that when I find out, nobody will speak English there, and the only selection they will have in stock will be all the wrong colours.

You would expect that the imminent destruction of most habitable environments on the planet would enable one to cut through all the clutter and get down to the important stuff. But no, it only makes everything of equal priority! It is just as important to sit around drinking Australian Wine before it is too hot to grow anything in Australia as it is to win the Oscar for Best Screenplay.

In short: my time is being wasted by others, being wasted by myself, and it does not matter one jot because nobody cares whether I make a decent movie, write a funny sentence, or have any deep and significant thoughts about anything at all. It matters not one jot. Hanging out with a few drunks and playing my guitar, is in theory as much of a viable sustainable life style as anything else.

I should make a documentary about it. So there you have another project on my to do list. Another project to be stymied by lack of money, lack of time, lack of support, lack of interest… but it does not matter. So party on! Because, just like when you were a student, nobody has to clean up afterwards! You just push all the bottles and pizza boxes aside, and scribble out that essay on the table while your housemates fart in the bathroom, fry up some sausages, and the pretty girl’s ugly friend crawls out of your bedroom inexplicably calling you George. You don’t correct her though. Because it does not matter and you’re just carrying on as usual, never reading all the reading list, never fully preparing the model answers, never getting in those ten thousand hours of practice that are supposed to make you a success.  But it does not matter. When the air-conditioning finally packs in, the only thing that will be done well will be you being well done.

On the other hand I could be wrong and the lizards in flying saucers might turn up and say only those with a post-graduate qualification or real achievement need apply to be saved. I bet they won’t though. So I think I’ll buy myself a flashy car and get that film on the topless ladies volleyball team up and in production. Sod art and bugger the pension plan. I think that is probably what I should do - once I’ve found out where I can get hold of some blue paint.

Hong Kong (Screen) Writers Circle Newsletter
September  2nd 2009

CONTENTS:
    
•    ROTTEN TO THE CORE
•    LUMINA LAUNCH
•    STILL GET PRODUCED
•    SCRIVENER
•    TEACH YOURSELF SCREENWRITING: The Movie

If you wish to tell us about your Hong Kong film projects, please send your information to lwgray@netvigator.com

_______________________________________________
* ROTTEN TO THE CORE

I decided to upgrade my Final Cut Studio 2 to Studio 3 in the hope that all those niggling performance issues that plague the software will go away. One hopes that it will be less prone to sudden catastrophic shut downs, and that famous round tripping between Soundtrack, Color, Motion and FCP will finally be a smooth process instead of a dangerous maneuver that may or may not crash everything. One also hopes that the peculiarly sluggish file opening that plagues my Mac Pro and seemingly nobody else’s will miraculously disappear - yes, I’ve had the engineers in. They told me that although it is odd, it is acceptable as far as Apple is concerned because it is a software issue.

So my hopes were high. The first copy of the upgrade came and refused to upload and so I got on the phone and after two hours, yes, two hours, finally got hold of someone who could order a replacement. They had to collect the faulty one and then re-issue a replacement.

Two weeks later a replacement arrived. I loaded in the first disk but none of the others would work. This means the applications upgraded but none of the “content” did. And so after another series of phone calls Apple promised me replacements for the replacements.

In the meantime I set to checking out what the latest upgrade does. At first, the peculiarly sluggish opening of files on my computer seemed cured! Everything went zip and zap as a Mac Pro should go. And then a security update turned up and put my computer back into its sleepy mode again. I love these updates, don’t you?

Then I opened up the project I was working on and found it would not render out into Apple Pro Res. However it rendered out into XD Cam, which in theory it was already, and then I could render it into Apple Pro Res. Something about Motion content seemed to cause the problem, though what I am not sure.

Motion behaved as sluggish and unusable as ever. I know it works on your iMac, but for some reason not on my Mac Pro. So no change there. And Soundtrack Pro, with a very promising Noise Cleaning function, immediately crashed just like it always used to. Color on the other hand, worked a treat and round tripped nicely.

Two weeks later, the replacement replacement disks arrived. I noticed that two of them were labeled Audio Content 1. That didn’t look too promising. I put Audio Content 1 in the machine and it loaded in Motion Content 1. Motion Content 2 however was an empty disk and so were all the rest of the pack. So I got some free recordable DVDs but no Content updates.

Considering that one is paying real money for this and not downloading a twenty-dollar gizmo from a Russian web site, one would expect someone to have actually checked the disks before bothering to send them. Once again I had a long conversation with several nice people who listened to my explanation of what had happened. And they said they would send me replacements for the replacement replacement disks. I await the outcome with a sort of morbid fascination.

I know this is not personal. Nobody is picking on me. And therefore I know that most of the upgrades they are shipping must have the same problem! So here is my handy tip: do not phone up Apple’s helpline on your mobile unless your battery is charged right up. You’ll be on hold for a long long time.

Lawrence Gray

_______________________________________________

* LUMINA LAUNCH

We were all wondering what happened to Jennifer Thym’s Lumina and wondering if the hype in July was a tad too early and that something horrible had happened to Jenifer’s hard drive.  However, here it is, starting on September 8th. http://www.luminaseries.com/

For those of you who do not know what the fuss is all about. Lumina is a high production value web series designed to launch Jennifer Thym’s directorial career. Normally the director’s career starts with some shorts, which they use as show reels to get attached to a respectable script. But nowadays quite a few people are using the web series as a launch pad.
What people are looking closely at is how this sort of product can recoup its costs. Some people have gone for DVD sales and some have hoped for advertising revenue. I have heard of some reasonable DVD sales for certain products and I have heard that some of the popular Webisode concepts, in particularly those from Performer/Writers, have helped them gain TV contracts in the US. But mostly I have heard doom and gloom and very low hit rates.

Fingers crossed because if this works, this is an arena in which Hong Kong’s independents can participate on equal terms with anyone else and it is much less hassle that trying to get accepted in various film festivals for exposure.

If you wish to know more about the Lumina project, then head off to the Launch Party and press conference:
Tuesday, 08 September 2009    
17:00 - 22:00
At:    
The Scirocco
1/F, 10-12 Staunton’s Street

lwgray@netvigator.com
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* STILL GET PRODUCED

I’m still looking for that script about the Hong Kong Writers’ Circle! It should be somewhere between 3 to 10 minutes long – though mostly 3 - so that it can fit on Youtube, be capable of being shot with next to no budget, and be entertaining and informative.

You can write it as a documentary, or a sit-com, or an opera or whatever you like! It must be shootable though and it must make me laugh! And I mean laugh in a good way. And it should make you want to be part of the Writers’ Circle and consume all the creative output of the membership… or at least some of if!

ALL ENTRANTS will get Three Months free membership of the Writers Circle and the winner will get a full twelve months free membership and the pleasure of having their script produced and shot in Hong Kong.

The deadline is the end of October.

Hint: with a short film, the concept is everything! A good, clever idea taking advantage of the nature of the medium has more impact than something that is no more than talking heads, no matter how witty their dialogue.

I am the judge, jury and executioner of this, so you have to suck up to me and pander to my taste for beautiful actresses and heavy doses of irony. And please, write it as a script and not a piece of masterly prose.

Even better if you can also Story Board the idea!

Want a sample of good piece of You Tube promo? Head off to:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmXi2-SjkOQ

Send your entries to lwgray@netvigator.com
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* SCRIVENER

If you want a cheap piece of software that will help you write screenplays, Scrivener is quite useful. It’s only available for those with a Mac unfortunately. It does cost some money, about $35 but it has a number of very nice outlining functions. The screenplay formatter is a bit basic and is nowhere near as user friendly as Movie Magic’s Screenwriter, but its outlining functions are very cool and force you to think in terms of well structured units.

This may or may not be a good thing. Some times you just have to write the whole thing as it comes, but mostly anything that makes you build a screenplay systematically is a good thing.

http://www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivener.html