Red: A Kubrick Supercut

Red: A Kubrick Supercut from Rishi Kaneria on Vimeo.

Rishi Kaneria's collated the clips from Kubrick's work to highlight the auteur's penchant for red, from The Shining's elevator of blood to the colour's prominence throughout 2001.

Nightcrawler - Film Review

Jake Gyllenhaal is a creep. He's a thief, a liar, a sociopathic reporter, and he's fantastic at it.

In Nightcrawler, Gyllenhaal plays Lou Bloom, an out of work nobody scavenging a living by stealing from scrap yards when he discovers the world of ambulance-chasing video journalism. As he watches a freelance news crew heartlessly record the police rescuing an injured woman from a burning car work, the unscrupulous anti-hero realises he may have found his calling in life.

Read the full review on Spindle Magazine.

Zoom Shots Supercut

What zoom are you staring at from OFFBEAT ESTUDIO on Vimeo.

The 5 Plot Points

Most stories, be it on the screen, stage or page, have plots that can be broken down to five major turning points. These turning points alter the protagonists' direction, either by changing his goal or introducing new obstacles that set him further away from achieving it.

The Inciting Incident - This is the event that kicks everything off. It will typically turn the main protagonist's ordinary world upside down and open a door to a new realm of the unknown. It occurs about half way through the first act and sets up the conflict to come.

In Back to the Future, it's the moment when Marty witnesses Doc invent time travel.

In The Godfather it's when, while at his sister's wedding, Michael Corleone tells his girlfriend that Luca does the dirty work for his father saying, "That's my family Katie, it's not me." Of course, the story is Michael's descent into that world.

The Lock In - Occurring at the end of Act 1 and propelling the story into Act 2 the lock-in outlines the main goal for the protagonist. The door of the inciting incident that opened and invited the protagonist into a new realm - that closes, locking the main character in the new realm, and if it he wants to return home, he'll have to achieve his aim.

In Back to the Future it's when Marty travels back in time to prevent Doc's murder at the hands of the Libyan terrorists from whom Doc stole plutonium for the DeLorean. This leads him to stealing the affection of his teenage mother Lorraine, when it was supposed to fall on his teenage father George.

In The Godfather it's when Michael's father - Don Vito Corleone - is gunned down in the street. When Michael hears of this he rushes to his father's bedside and into the family life he'd tried to distance himself from.

Midpoint - Also known as the first culmination, the midpoint occurs in the middle of Act 2 and marks either the first major success, or the first major failure of the protagonist so they're either closer to or further away from their goal. 

In Back to the Future it's when Marty realises his brother is gradually fading from a photograph he has, because Marty's disrupted the space/time continuum by meeting his mother and father in the past.

In The Godfather it's when Michael murders The Turk and dirty cop McCluskey and flees to Italy where the family will protect him.

All Is Lost - This is the point that propels us into the third and final act, when the obstacles against our protagonist seem insurmountable, they're staring defeat in the face, victory couldn't be further away and you're wondering "How the hell are they gonna get out of this?"

In Back to the Future it's when Biff has his goons lock Marty in the trunk of his car allowing Biff to make unwanted advances on Lorraine, and with Marty's dad free to play the hero, however it's already been well established George doesn't haven't have the balls to stand up to Biff.

In The Godfather it's when Michael travels to Las Vegas to buy out Moe Greene's stake in the Corleone's casinos and Greene derides the family as a fading power. To add injury to insult, Michael sees his brother Fredo falling under Greene's influence.

Climax and Resolution - In the most exciting way possible the climax resolves the ultimate problem posed by the inciting incident, as well as wrapping up any loose story threads set up along the way. Our protagonist either leaves the new realm to return home a changed character, or stays and becomes King. So the inciting incident provokes the question - what will happen? and the climax declares - this!

In Back to the Future a storm brews and a fallen branch disconnects the cable Doc has run from the clock tower to the street in order to harness a lightening strike which Marty needs to pass under in the DeLorean in order to get back to the future. But Marty can't start the car and Doc struggles on the clock tower's ledge trying to reconnect the cable. Marty manages to get the DeLorean up to 88mph as the lightning strikes the clock tower and electricity flows through the cable. Doc's murder is prevented thanks to Marty's letter telling him to wear a bullet proof vest. Marty wakes up the next morning and finds his family changed - George is a successful author full of self-confidence, Lorraine is happily in love, and Biff, rather than being a bullying superior, is now subordinate to George and Marty.

In The Godfather Michael orders the assassination of the New York dons, Moe Greene and Tessio. Michael questions Carlo on his involvement in Sonny's murder and after admitting he was contacted, Peter Clemenza kills him with a wire garrote. Kay then confronts Michael, who denies killing Carlo, an answer she accepts. As Kay watches Michael warily as he receives his capos, who address him as the new Don Corleone. All this occurs at the Christening of Connie's son, for whom Michael is the godfather.

What If - Film Review

When Harry Potter Met Sally. As twee as a daisy chain, What If is sometimes so cute you think you'll vomit paisley, but instead you laugh, because the winsome script flutters along with enough observational humour, self-awareness and slapstick comedy to distract you from the painting-by-numbers plot. Read the full review on Spindle Magazine.

Christopher Nolan on 'Following'

Here Christopher Nolan talks through the making of his first feature - Following. It's a neo noir tale with a twisty turny plot that keeps you guessing right up to the end. In this interview he elucidates on how having no budget can be used to your advantage, from choosing to shoot black and white, to the use of sound, and elements to include or not to avoid betraying your lack of finance, as well as how it helped him develop directorial techniques he's been using ever since.

Despite his budgets increasing to astronomical figures, Nolan hasn't changed his methods, he still prefers to shoot single camera, still draws a lot from the crime and film noir genre, and still uses inserts for both storytelling and editing reasons. It's an in-depth interview where you can learn a lot about first time film-making, as well as the story behind the production of a very strong début feature.

Immortal Technique - Dance with the Devil

This here's some gut-wrenching storytelling. A ghetto Greek tragedy, Immortal Technique tells a brutal story of crime, greed and materialism, as New York projects kid Billy, desperate for money and respect, does whatever he has to in order to rise to the top. The consequences of Billy's desires and actions are as harrowing as Immortal Technique's ruthless delivery.

Cold in July - Film Review

Cold in July is a visceral crime thriller with a plot that twists and turns enough to leave your stomach in knots.

When shy and conscientious picture framer Richard Dane (Michael C Hall) kills an unarmed home intruder, the police inform him that the intruder's father, Ben Russell (Sam Shepherd), has recently been released from jail. Hunting for some patriarchal vengeance Ben starts to stalk Richard and his family, however when Richard begins to suspect the police aren't telling him the whole story he discovers he's caught up in a much more complex web of witness protection, deep south Mafia and brutal snuff-porn.

The dank, sweaty, shape-shifting plot from a novel by bombastic crime writer Joe R Lansdale (Bubba Ho-Tep) continually evolves, so what starts out as a Cape Fear-style stalker tale, becomes a story of police corruption and organised crime, and then changes again to become about fatherhood and parental responsibility. But rather than jar, the ambitious tonal shifts keep the audience on their toes, surprising either with a plot revelation, a new character or a wry flash of humour. At the mid-point, when Don Johnson's swaggering, self-parodying private detective Jim Bob Luke arrives in his candy apple-red Cadillac, it injects the picture with some dark comedy relief.

This is the fourth collaboration between director Jim Mickle and co-writer Frank Damici, and it's a confident, genre bending effort. The over-the-top third act full of cartoonish blood and gore is grounded by the character study premise of a mild-mannered man trying to clear his conscious. Richard, whose immediately out of his depth in the murky quagmire of Southern neo-noir, simply wants to find out who he murdered in the opening scene. But you quickly get the feeling the character was always out of his depth, long before the film's timeline, surrounded by the macho men of Texas.

"I didn't think you had it in you." Older, local guys keep telling our have-a-go hero while slapping him on the back. By the end, after some fierce tension and gruesome ultra-violence, his mullet and moustache remain the same, but Richard has definitely grown a pair.

Stark lighting and a synth-laden John Carpenter-esque soundtrack evokes the '80s setting and B-movie overtones, and has blood-soaked shades of Red Rock West and Blood Simple. But narratively it isn't as tight and plot threads introduced in the taut first half are left dangling loose in favour of the story switching focus. A twitchy Michael C Hall, and the character development of Richard Dane, holds it all together, and although this may not be the role to launch Dexter into the Hollywood A-list, it sure shows the man's got some respectable acting chops.

Cold in July's a gripping crime drama full of good old-fashioned thrills that are artistically crafted by a cinematic self-assurance that will leave you in chills.

Chef - Film Review

Street food's all the rage right now, making this family-friendly comedy timely and fashionable, if a little over done.

Jon Favreau writes, directs and stars in Chef, where the titular character is creatively frustrated but finds himself through his son, Twitter and a food truck. And although the recipe's a familiar one, Favreau's passion, pithy script and down-home performance instils the picture with a flavour that leaves a deliciously sweet taste in your mouth for hours after viewing.

Carl Caspar is the talented head chef of a trendy Los Angeles restaurant, whose creative drought is called out by a ruthless food critic (Oliver Platt). Some serious Twitter beef ensues after his tech-savvy son (Emjay Anthony) introduces Carl to the social network, culminating in Carl publicly berating the critic in the restaurant and consequently losing his job. Like my broken oven the sweary dialogue is hot and loud, and coupled with the bromantic comedy between Carl and his buds, keeps things snap, crackling along. But the story really comes alive when Carl gets his beaten up food truck and starts to ignite his culinary fires with foot-long Cubanos.

On the surface Chef is about a protagonist trying to reconnect with himself and revitalise his creative flair, but really it's the story of a father trying to reconnect with his son. In the first act their relationship is tense and clipped, but after some second act bonding over the cleaning and refurbishment of the food truck, Carl's defences dissolve and the two grow close, with his son acting as a line-chef and learning the ways of the kitchen.

As they travel across America, with Carl's cooking and his son publishing their progress on social media, the food truck becomes a roaring success. Carl's happy, cooking an authentic Cuban menu he developed, and more importantly doing so with his son. This emotional backbone props up the rest of the story, and although sometimes saccharine, it always resonates with heart-warming clarity. Similar to Swingers, this feels like a deeply personal project for Favreau, and the autobiographical element makes it all the more charming.

Despite Chef being as predictable as Heinz tomato soup, it's also as warm and comforting. The pithy script has a kick of spice that makes the story fizz, as does the energetic soundtrack, and there's a fantastic natural chemistry between the cast of characters, like sweet and sour, they complement each other perfectly. Although it might not leave you wanting more, Chef certainly leaves you feeling replete.

Anchorman - Plot Point Breakdown

Anchorman's (2004) one of the most quotable comedies ever, ridiculous and silly but so fun with a cast that crackle and fizz off one another effortlessly. Anchorman 2 (2013) tried to recreate the magic, and for the first 10 minutes it did, but the remaining 130 minutes failed hard. The structure aped the original to the beat and they tried to hit the same comedy high-notes but it felt flat and contrived. However, the original is something special and despite the actors riffing off-script to their heart's content, it still adheres to a pretty traditional story structure.

Inciting Incident - Ron Burgundy is San Diego's number one anchorman but when Veronica Corningstone joins the Channel 4 news team Ron's title is under threat, his position in the top perch is rocked and he's forced to reassess the misogynistic culture he's become so comfortable with. (14 minutes)

Lock In - After taking Veronica out for a night on the town, during which both share their ambition to be a network news anchor, the two hop on the good foot, do the bad thing, falling madly in love with each other. (33 minutes)

Midpoint - When Ron misses his slot reporting the news because he's stuck in a glass cage of emotion after the man punted Baxter, Veronica fills in as head anchor and reports Ron's news. This leads to her getting a promotion as co-anchor, but Ron feels betrayed and their romantic relationship falls apart. (49 minutes)

Climax - Veronica sabotages the teleprompter, from which Ron will read anything, making Ron sign off with, "Go fuck yourself, San Diego." This results in Ron being fired from the Channel 4 news team and becoming a dishevelled, wallowing milk-drunk. (64 minutes)

Resolution - When Veronica disappears in the midst of the biggest story of the year, Ron gets his chance at redemption - to report the news again. But on arriving at the zoo he sees Veronica trapped in the bear pit and chooses to save the life of the woman he loves, over reporting the news. (78 minutes)

The Lost Room & MacGuffins

In a lecture he gave at Columbia university way back when in 1939, Alfred Hitchcock defined MacGuffins as, "the mechanical element that usually crops up in any story. In crook stories it is almost always the necklace and in spy stories it is almost always the papers." It's the thing that the main characters want, Marcellus Wallace's briefcase in Pulp Fiction, unobtanium in Avatar, and the meaning of rosebud in Citizen Kane. In the first act at least, it's what drives the characters and story forward.

The Lost Room is a 2006 sci-fi series about the eponymous motel room and a bunch of everyday objects that possess unusual powers. The protagonist, detective Joe Miller, has to hunt down these objects to rescue his nitwit daughter who got lost in the lost room. It opens with some shady deal to get the Key - the Key can open any hinged door and turn it into a portal to the Lost Room - the deal goes south and the Key ends up in the hands of Joe Miller. Each episode revolves around a different object, a different MacGuffin, and the more MacGuffins we meet the more we learn about the mythology of the Lost Room, it's objects and the numerous cabals searching for the powerful objects.

It's a great hidden gem of a show, and demonstrates not only how to use MacGuffins in storytelling, but also how ultimately meaningless most MacGuffins are - they'll propel the characters and story along for the first act or two but after that, the climax and resolution really revolves around the protagonist coming to terms with their personal flaw or solving some internal conflict, which will probably have been externalized with the MacGuffin or via the characters' relationship to it. In the case of the Lost Room it was Joe's stupid daughter and his anxiety about being an inadequate father - an anxiety which was fully substantiated when he lost her in a portal to another universe. Simply, find his daughter and he's a good father.

An interesting example of MacGuffins in modern cinema are the Infinity Stones in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In the Avengers, and Captain America: The First Avenger, it was the Tesseract, in Guardians of the Galaxy it looks to be the mysterious orb Chris Pratt's Star Lord is trying to steal in the trailer, and in Thor: The Dark World it was the Aether. These are the Infinity Stones and it's these MacGuffins (and the heroes) that tie the plots together of each individual movie, as well as the different phases of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, because, as will transpire in Avengers 3, the uber-villain Thanos is trying to get his big purple mitts on all six of the Infinity Stones - whoever holds all six stones in the Infinity Gauntlet gains omnipotence, omniscience and God-like power - so this Infinity Gauntlet will be the ultimate MacGuffin of not only Avengers 3 but the whole MCU and stopping Thanos will be our heroes' ultimate goal. Their first aim will be to keep the Infinity MacGuffins away from Thanos, except they'll fail, all will be seemingly lost, and there'll be an epic showdown, from which our heroes will no doubt emerge victorious. But not all of them, I bet.

Edgar Wright - How to Do Visual Comedy

This video compilation by Tony Zhou perfectly demonstrates not only the cinematic flair and comedic talents of Edgar Wright but also analyses how the English auteur uses every frame as an opportunity to tell the story visually. And it reminds me how pissed I am that he's now not directing Ant-Man. Stupid Marvel.

Tony's beef and disappointment with American comedies is well articulated, calling them out for their lazy filmmaking - "the use of picture and sound to deliver jokes is... boring." He rightly argues that when you're predominantly using close up shots of your actors delivering dialogue, you're not using the full potential of cinema. And this is what Edgar Wright does so well - visual storytelling. In Tony's words, "the frame is a playground, so play."

Pulp Fiction poster

Amon over at Pieces of Paint has designed this awesome Pulp Fiction poster in the style of the old pulp fiction crime novels from which Tarantino got the film's title, and Amon's totally nailed the aesthetic. Not only the creases of wear and tear but the editorial graphics like 'A Jules and Vincent Adventure' and 'Roger Avery Crime Drama' as well as the colour palette and 99p sticker really give it the feel of a dime store story from the early 1900s.

The main graphic is obviously based on the adrenaline shot scene after Mia Wallace accidentally snorts Vincent Vega's potent heroine and he has to get the mob doll to his dealer Lance's house in the hope of saving her life. Spoiler - they do. But it's an incredibly tense scene with Vincent and Lance arguing over who has to give her the shot. "You brought her here, and that means you're gonna give her the shot. The day that I bring an ODing bitch to your house then I give her the shot. Give her the shot."

If I ever finish a God damn story or that stupid novel I'm apparently writing, I'm definitely commissioning Amon to design the front cover, not only can he clearly invoke the old school crime noir vibes, but his minimal movie posters are also on point.

Creative England - Talent Development Scheme

I've been fortunate enough to get on to Creative England's talent development scheme - a series of seminars and networking events for filmmakers looking to shoot their first feature.

Last night there were 2 talks, the first on story telling from Kate Leys, was particularly interesting. Kate is a feature film script editor who works on screenplays at all stages of development from first outline to pre-production and she spoke about the dynamic between story and character, the importance of the hook, and the top 10 things that most commonly go wrong with a story. Below are the key takeaways. 

Story in General

Satisfaction at the end of a story comes from character and us caring/relating to the character on some level.

Character flaw - the story forces them to confront it and get over it.

It's interesting when characters DON'T want to change, rather, they want the world to change around them so put them in a situation they can't get out of and continually throw trouble at them.

In any story, you main character is facing something (could be small and simple) that they've needed to for a long time.

Ending is the answer to the question posed at the beginning. A tragedy might not answer the question. 

Character is more important than story. 

Most stories are about CHANGE.

A stranger comes to town and they bring trouble, and it's the thing that goes wrong that instigates change - the inciting incident. The 'stranger' doesn't have to be a person, could be love, death or a box of matches.

Film Story

Hook - tell the story in a sentence that makes sense and is interesting. Titles can be hooks - 'The Astronaut Wives Club'

Check big name/cult movie hooks on IMDB. 

Stories at their core are precise.

Strong characters - big, recognisable, they can be ambivalent but always FLAWED. 

Clearly defined characters that DO things, NOT well meaning, they need to cause trouble. 

What is your character doing wrong? Secondary characters add pressure to the central character.

Characters WANT things and they're going to do something about it. 

Got to have stakes, it has to matter - especially to the main character.

When planning try writing in bullet points and tell yourself the story out loud.

Whose story is this? What do they want and why can't they get it? What do they need? And remember, you don't have to give them what they want, as is the case in tragedies.

What does my character have at the end, that they didn't at the beginning?

10 Things that Most Commonly Go Wrong

1) Veering - sliding off track. 

2) Nothing happens - no problems, no confrontation, no action. 

3) Not knowing whose story it is.

4) No one wants anything.

5) Not enough going wrong.

6) Leaving the story off the page.

7) A plot with characters you don't connect with.

8) Whole 1st act is a set up. 

9) Not about anything, no emotional pay off.

10) Don't have anything to say and therefore nothing to connect with.

The idea of knowing whose story it is resonated with me. I'm currently working on a short about 4 hipsters who rob a bank to pay off their student loans, but they come up against this grizzled old bank teller who hates her job and isn't gonna take it any more. I've been struggling and think it's because I don't know which character owns the story - is it Horse (they wear animal masks for the heist) the ringleader, or is it Janet - the grizzled bank teller? I'm going to crack that tonight and then HOPEFULLY the prose doth flow.

The Inception Foghorn

Two new trailers came out last week, one for the promising-looking Gotham TV series, and one for Rise of the Planet of the Apes, which looks incredible. Thing is, trailers, their films, and TV shows are STILL using Hans Zimmer's BWARRRRRRMMMM foghorn from Inception.

It's a great sound affect, a foreboding subterranean growl that fills you with dread. Except it doesn't, not now, because since 2010 you haven't been able to go to the cinema without hearing that foghorn. We've been over exposed, so although it might still sound cool and lend whatever visuals it's scoring a grand and portentous feel, really, all I can think is, "Oh, there's the Inception foghorn AGAIN."

And it's always used at the end of the trailer, a deep grinding bass to drill it into viewers that this is gonna be BIG and it demands your attention. With the new Dawn of the Planet of the Apes trailer it's a more spatial, breathy iteration and it is used to fantastic effect, but we're a Wilhelm scream away from this groaning foghorn soundtracking shampoo commercials, bullying us into believing their pseudo-science coz the BWAAARRRMMM said so. And then all it's magnanimous foreboding glory will be lost forever, like tears in the rain.

Other Sound Effects to Replace the Inception Foghorn

Underwater sample of a boat hitting rocks.

A Brian Blessed yawn played at half speed.

A Brian Blessed sneeze played at double speed.

MN8's debut single "I've Got a Little Something for You"

The tell-tale plop of a turd hitting water.

Bryan Cranston & Aaron Paul read Breaking Bad finale Felina

Role Models - Plot Point Breakdown

I didn't think much of Role Models (2008) when I first saw it, but after revisiting the film a couple of weeks ago, it's got some good laughs, decent if obvious character development, and Elizabeth Banks. Paul Rudd's endlessly watchable and he's offset nicely by Sean William Scott who, when his crude humour and brash delivery are utilised well, as they are here, is a very effective comedic actor.

Inciting Incident - Danny (Paul Rudd's) and Wheeler (Sean William Scott) are two energy drink salesmen who go from school to school promoting Minotaur and encouraging kids to stay off drugs. Danny hates the job and soon his dissatisfaction and constant pessimism gets him dumped by his hot lawyer girlfriend Beth (Elizabeth Banks).

Lock In - When his relationship collapses Danny gets depressed and self-destructive, culminating in him crashing the Minotaur company car into a statue in front of a school. To avoid going to jail Danny and Wheeler have to do 150 hours of community service supporting troublesome or disenfranchised kids on the big-brother style Sturdy Wings program. Danny's paired with Augie (Christopher Mintz-Plasse), a reclusive nerd who loves a medieval LARP game called LAIRE, and Wheeler's paired with Ronnie (Bobb'e J Thompson), a foul mouthed streetwise black kid.

Midpoint - Augie kills the arrogant King of LAIRE, Argotron (Ken Jeong) but the King denies it. Danny supports Augie and ends up getting into a fight with the King which results in both him and Augie being disqualified from the game forever. Meanwhile Wheeler takes Ronnie to a party but leaves him unsupervised and Ronnie has to walk home on his own.

Climax - Both Danny and Wheeler are kicked off the Sturdy Wings program meaning they can't complete their community service and therefore face serious jail time and shower rape. As a result the two have an argument, break friends and go their separate ways.

Resolution - Danny convinces King Argotron to allow him and Augie to fight in the much-anticipated Battle Royale. Augie kills the King but then Augie's secret crush Esplin kills Augie, becoming Queen. Danny and Wheeler miss their court hearing because they were busy playing LAIRE but don't go to jail because the Sturdy Wings owner Gayle (Jane Lynch) knows the judge and is impressed when she sees Danny and Wheeler really do care for the kids. Paul reunites with girlfriend Beth after serenading her with the KISS song 'Beth'.

The Guard - script

John Michael McDonagh's feature debut is an Irish black comedy with Brendan Gleeson as the titular Guard. Gerry Boyle is an unorthodox policeman who doesn't shy away from confrontation, he's teamed up with Don Cheadle's by-the-book FBI agent Wendell Everett to take down a ring of international drug smugglers.

It's dark and hilarious with a cast of great characters and dialogue sharp enough to draw blood. I found the script here and it's well worth a read - funny, touching and an excellent example of how to individualise your character voices.

Calvary - Film Review

After his critically acclaimed action-comedy the Guard, John Michael McDonagh's second feature is a masterfully sombre drama with glittering thorns of humour and an eccentric cast of unpredictable characters, all grounded by the soulful central performance of Brendan Gleeson.

Teaming up again with the Irish writer/director, Gleeson plays Father James Lavelle, a hard-working priest of small county Sligo, who's life is threatened by a member of his parish during a confession in a hilariously twisted opening.

"I first tasted semen when I was 7 years old." Says the unseen man.
"... It's certainly a startling opening line." Replies Father James .

In the confession booth this anonymous parishioner informs Father James he's going to kill him because he's innocent, "There's no point in killing a bad priest, but killing a good one, that'd be a shock." and fittingly he's going to do it next Sunday.

This reverse whodunnit promises a murder from the beginning and then spends the film working through the line-up of suspects as Father James does his rounds through the coastal town, discussing the citizen's own ethical dilemmas while trying to glean clues as to who his prospective killer might be. As the clock counts down and he visits his parishioners the audience meet an angry community, a pack of frustrated, apathetic and listless wolves. There's the butcher (Chris O'Dowd) and his town-bike wife (Orla O'Rourke), her black lover (Isaach De Bankole), the menacing chief of police (Gary Lydon), the vehemently atheist doctor (Aiden Gillen) and the ludicrously rich businessman (Dylan Moran).

Although we get the sense that Father James always knows who his promised killer is, it matters not because the characters and dialogue effervesce with John Michael McDonagh's Anglo-Irish heritage, his playful love of language and his gallows humour. But even the sometimes absurdist comedy never becomes farcical, and there are moments of deep-seated melancholy, incisive moral contemplation and real courage - not least between Father James and his suicidal daughter (Kelly Reilly). The macabre themes and ominous end that slowly builds is complemented by Larry Smith's excellent cinematography, which perfectly exploits the harsh beauty of the local area, from the brutal flat top mountain to the desolate beach.

Its detective story plot and noirish undertones mean you could argue Calvary's a crime film, rather than a drama, a deliriously funny hybrid of Hitchcock and Agatha Christie. But neither genre does this finely-tuned picture justice. Against the backdrop of the Catholic Church's legacy of abuse, and with mentions of felching alongside the caveats of the Ten Commandments, Calvary emancipates itself from the shackles of labels and categories, and announces itself simply as a very mature, robust and brave film.

Calvary is a stunningly confident follow-up with a sense of humour darker than a pint of Guinness and a brilliantly deadpan and heart-felt performance from Brendan Gleeson that roots John Michael McDonagh's tragicomic tale in hope and humanism.

Elmore Leonard

Show Don't Tell

Nice little instance here of how much you can tell by showing. This is from an Elmore Leonard novel called Swag, about two armed robbers who devise a list of ten rules to successful armed robbery, but start breaking those rules and shit gets real. This here is the introduction of the cop who's on their tail when the proverbial shit is really getting real. From the character taking a simple sip of coffee we learn where he works, the type of office he has, and that he likes coffee.

It's not a long description, it's short, punchy and to the point, delivering the essential information snugly wrapped around the action of drinking coffee.

Elmore Leonard is a don of crime fiction, for seedy but sumptuous characters, dazzling dialogue, and unexpected story turns, he smacks it every time. Tarantino owes him big - his flair for dialogue, as well as Jackie Brown outright, and Pulp Fiction watches like three short stories written by Elmore Leonard. This isn't to take anything away from Tarantino obvs, it's just interesting to know where the masters got their influence from.

The Symmetry of Wes Anderson

Kogonada's doing his thing again, this time highlighting Wes Anderson's penchant for symmetry. It's just one of the elements that contributes to the auteur's cinematic style but the neat little montage shows how perfectly balanced his compositions are. Initially, this approach seems to go against the rule of thirds - the guideline to composing visual images that are naturally pleasing to the eye - however it's only vertically that Wes Anderson's symmetry eschews the rule, horizontally it often still adheres to it.

Wes Anderson // Centered from kogonada on Vimeo.

Kogonada's videos are wonderful gems that typically focus on demonstrating directors' thematic style, including the sound of Darren Aronofsky, Stanley Kubrick's one point perspective and Tarantino from below. They're all worth watching and here's to hoping he makes more.

The Bitter Script Reader

The Bitter Script Reader, AKA Zuul the Gatekeeper, has been reading scripts in Hollywood for nearly a decade and he's here to help you avoid the common mistakes. His blog's a great resource but it's his YouTube channel where the real fried gold lies. It's a veritable cornucopia of script writing advice, the short videos are rarely longer than a few minutes so you can have a quick binge while at work, or waiting for a bus, or having a pooh. And the '12 Step Screenwriting' strand provides a structured plan, that if adhered to, you'll have a first draft of your script finished in 3 months.

Using a puppet helps personify the tips and information and puts a face to the amusingly grumpy and irreverent tone. The BSR also interviews industry pros, from writers and showrunners, to producers and directors, and provides advice on breaking into the market, covering the LA scene as much as the value of pitch fests and networking. I've spent a lot of time watching and reading his great content, now if I just spend the same amount of time working on my script, maybe I'll actually finish it.

Brian Koppelman's Sixty Second Screenwriting

Brian Koppelman, the screenwriter behind Rounders, Runner, Runner and Ocean's Thirteen, has been recording six second Vine videos giving writing advice. They range from the practical, "Remember the last argument you had? Write it down." To the no-nonsense. "Today I'd prefer to be reading, playing in the snow, but I'm a writer - are you?"

His straight up delivery is sometimes unforgiving and sometimes comforting. In the latest #sixsecondscreenwriting Vine, number 176 states, "I promise you this, if you write every single day, a year from now you'll be a much better writer than you are today." The catalyst for these injections of knowledge were Brian's dislike of screenwriting gurus and their professed rules to writing, "All screenwriting books are bullshit, all. Watch movies, read screenplays, let them be your guide." You can find an archive of all Brian's Vines here, and with over two decades of experience these video nuggets can't be ignored.

The Art of Close Ups with Edgar Wright

He's got one of the most distinctive directorial styles of any auteur working today and his collaborations with Simon Pegg and Nick Frost have resulted in some of the best British comedy films ever made, not to mention my favourite British sitcom Spaced. Here Edgar Wright talks to Slash Film about the art of the close up, as well as whip pans and snap zooms, all shots he's particularly fond of and the use of which is a large contributing factor to his visual flair. He shares some tricks and techniques, for example the whip pan onto a close up is usually done in reverse, although their camera operator was such a don he didn't have to do this.

"I'm a big fan of getting into a scene late and getting out of a scene early." Good advice often cited for writing an affective scene, in any form be it for the page, screen or stage. Edgar Wright also references James Cameron's tooling up montages as a big inspiration in Shaun of the Dead where he applied it to typically mundane sequences of everyday life such as boiling the kettle and tying shoe laces. Then in Hot Fuzz he took the Tony Scott and Michael Bay fetishization approach of slick cuts and sexy visual affects to the usually boring parts of police procedure such as the paperwork.

Deep Blue Sea - Plot Point Breakdown

The second best shark movie out there after Jaws 2, Deep Blue Sea (1999) also has one of the greatest surprise deaths in any blockbuster movie. Yeah the plot's riddled with holes but it's got LL Cool J as a Jesus-loving chef, Samuel L Jackson as a tight-ass suit and errr...Thomas Jane? To be fair it's full of great moments, like when LL Cool J's chef - Sherman "Preacher" Duley - gets locked and almost cooked in his own oven by a super smart Mako shark. That's B-movie poeticism. Of course, he escapes the oven and uses a lighter to blow the shark to smithereens, which would definitely happen. It's also got Michael Rapaport, nuff said.

Inciting Incident - Dr Susan McAlester genetically engineers three Mako sharks in order to harvest their brain tissue for the cure to Alzheimers. After one of the sharks escapes and attacks a boat full of hot teens, Dr Susan McAlester must persuade her financial backers that her research is worth funding, so they send corporate executive Russell Franklin (Samuel L Jackson) to investigate the Aquatica facility. As he arrives at Aquatica a foreboding storm closes in.

Lock In - While pulling brain tissue from the largest shark to demonstrate their progress to Russell, the shark tears Dr Jim Whitlock's arm off. With the storm at it's peak the rescue helicopter carrying Jim on a stretcher, crashes into Aquatica's watch tower and the biggest super smart Mako shark uses Jim on a stretcher as a battering ram to smash the huge underwater lab's window. The facility starts to flood, the other sharks are freed, and the group of survivors must make their way to the surface without getting eaten.

Midpoint - Not-so-stiff suit Russell is in the underwater lab giving a rousing speech on how the group need to stick together to overcome adversity when one of the sharks rises out of the water and eats him whole. Meanwhile LL Cool J's battling a shark in his kitchen and manages to blow it up by throwing a lighter into the oven which was turned on and nearly cooked him alive.

Climax - After the ever-expendable Janice (Jacqueline McKenzie) dies, poor old Tom Scoggins (Michael Rapaport) is traumatized what with all his colleagues dying around him, but Carter (Thomas Jane) persuades him to return to the flooded lab because the controls to open a door to the surface are there. Tom Scoggins is eaten by a shark, obviously. Dr Susan retrieves her research from her locker but is almost eaten by one of the sharks when she drops her research in the water. Fortunately she gets down to her undies and electrocutes the shark with a live power cable, unfortunately destroying her research in the process.

Resolution - Carter, Dr Susan and LL Cool J make it the surface through a decompression chamber. Carter realises that the grand daddy shark is trying to escape and that they purposefully flooded the facility so they could jump over the fence Free Willy style. Dr Susan, in an effort to stop the shark escaping into open water, cuts herself and dives in so she can get eaten, which she does, deservedly. LL Cool J pierces Carter to the final Mako shark with a harpoon as it breaks through the fence. Not knowing whether Carter's still attached to the shark LL Cool J triggers the harpoon explosive and blows it up in a pulpy shower of blood and meat. Turns out Carter did detach himself from the shark and swims back to the facility wreckage in time to see the other crew members returning from leave, not knowing that they're all out of the job.

Lena Dunham on writing Girls

"Write stories that feel like yours and feel close to you rather than trying to fill a hole in the industry."

Lena Dunham

Girls is a pretty fantastic show, the first season never had a dull moment and from the opening scene where Hannah's parents tell her they're going to cut her off, you knew this was a generational sitcom that was going to talk to a lot of twenty-somethings. Although season 2 felt like it wobbled a little with a few missteps I'm excited that it's back. Here writer, director and star, Lena Dunham talks about the creation of the show, about being open with her drafts, getting feedback from Executive Producers Jennifer Konner and Judd Apatow, and soundtracking her writing process.

Character Traits

CHANDLER

So I have a flaw, big deal. Like Joey's constant knuckle cracking isn't annoying? Or Ross, with his over pronouncing every single world? And Monica with that snort when she laughs, I mean what the hell is that thing?

This fight between the Friends in season 1 is a great demonstration of individual character traits. The points Chandler makes at the beginning are the exact sorta thing you might write in your character's bios when you're first developing them. Here the writers get a lot of laughs out of the habits as each trait annoys or grosses-out another Friend. Chandler's habit of smoking, something he started after his parent's divorce when he was younger (also revealing some of his back story), is the catalyst for the argument which then reveals the other characters' annoying habits.

JOEY

Well, is it [his knuckle crackling] a little annoying, or is it like when Phoebe chews her hair?

Cut to Phoebe spitting out her hair. 

Ross's character trait of over-enunciation also helps distinguish his character voice - Ross is well spoken, educated and articulate. This scene is from the very beginning of the series, the third episode of season 1, 'The One With the Thumb', and shows a crafty technique employed to help the audience get to know the characters. By making the traits annoying they provide excellent material for conflict, so while the characters bicker among each other the audience are learning about each of them and the writers are getting a plethora of great jokes.

ROSS 

Don't listen to him [Joey], Phoebe, I think it's endearing.

JOEY

(mimicking Ross's over-pronunciation) 

Oh, you do, do you.

Cut to Monica snort laughing.

Traits are an excellent way to make your characters feel authentic and three dimensional, and even more so when the trait is the manifestation of a flaw or insecurity. Check this scene from Guillermo Del Toro's debut feature 'Cronos' - skip to 1.50 if you're particularly impatient.

Ron Perlman's character wants a new nose, it's a quirky trait that's unexpected for the thuggish archetype he's playing, and therefore makes his character instantly more interesting, relatable and amusing. You don't have to like every character, but you do need to empathise with them on some level. Here, we can all relate to a physical insecurity or wanting to change something about our appearance. Don't overload your characters with traits, just pick one or two things they can do - a physical tick, such as Phoebe's hair chewing, or a pattern of speech, their snorting laugh, or the way they drink their coffee - and know where this trait comes from, to make your characters leap from the page and onto the screen. 

Top 10 Films of 2013

Better late than never. As is evident from the list, I didn't go to the cinema enough last year and missed the likes of Captain Phillips, Stoker and Upstream Colour. I'd also liked to have caught Side Effects, Star Trek into Darkness, Mud and Elysium, although the latter's reviews were a bit disappointing.

1) Gravity

2) Much Ado About Nothing

3) Iron Man 3

4) Spring Breakers

5) Before Midnight

6) Django Unchained

7) The World's End

8) A Place Beyond the Pines

9) Life of Pi

10) This is the End

Other films that are worth mentioning - I didn't hate World War Z nearly as much as I thought I would, and thoroughly enjoyed the Evil Dead remake. Controversial perhaps, but the idea that they were staying at the cabin to help their friend come off smack or whatever, was an excellent plot device - they had to keep her there 'no matter what she said' and anything she did say (at least initially) could be written off as side effects from going cold turkey, rather then being raped by a tree and poisoned with a demonic being. Evidence that a remake with purpose and something new to say, is worth making.