The Far Reaching Talents of El Director

I have to say, although I would not usually admit this but El Director is pretty talented!! Having worked with El D all my life I have to say that his work is truly genius! With new and exciting projects:



...to his timeless comedy:


is there no end to his talent?!

Watch out for the next installment of Caution, Wet Paint the comic , out October 10th..

Mondays

Why is it that when we sleep more, we are even more tired? I did not take the time to read wikipedia before I wrote this blog, but it was just something I always wondered - when did taking a nap become so tiring?!

Anyway back to the title, Mondays are hectic, too hectic, at work, home, eevrything! However I was invited for dinner to a colleague's home and it was lovely, food fab and company also.

And in the thread of CWP, I am going to have a glass of milk, then go to bed goodnight!

Tax

Oh my goodness! El Director has gone on holiday and I have been left with the tax:( tax is msot definitely taxing, and my eyelids are shutting down just by looking at the pile of receipts...HELP ME!!!!!!

Holiday

Prepare yourself earthlings for warrrrr, your leader el director has come to our side and holidaying on the planet plov, do your worst HAWAAAHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!

Going back to India!

I am so under prepared for this holiday. Despite spending the best part of three months planning my getaway to India, I still have not booked my hotel room nor have I secured a ride from Guwahati to Shillong. For those that do not know the geography of the North East, I am landing in the region's gateway and heading off to the hills. A three hour drive at the best of times.

Oh, and I still do not know how I am going to get round to Calcutta....ohmygosh, Calcutta! Oh man! Well, it will be the fifth biggest city I have visited (after Mexico, Cairo, Shanghai and Jakarta), so I am expecting the usual belch of megacity fun! Plus, being an India city, the delights of the local street food!

All right, I have a rough plan in my head, and I am going to do the five things I recommended to the casual visitor while I was last in India. To Recap:

1: Meet the Khasis. I am off to Shillong for a couple of days and so will get a chance to sample the unique culture of these great people.

2: Hop on a train. I have to get to Calcutta somehow, right?

3: Cross a bamboo bridge. Maybe not exactly bamboo, but I am planning to do one very special river crossing while on my travels.

4: Catch a flick. Oh yes! A must do!

5: Eat well: My tastebuds are tingling in excitement!

See you back here on October 13th,

El Director!

Da Crew! (Comic)

I love those guys. Really. Well, maybe not that much. But, I had to immortalise the folks behind the camera. The ones, who normally, do not get the glory, but who have as much 'fun' as anyone else on set. The crew!



Right, El Director is off on holiday and so the comic strip will next be up and running on Monday October 19th! Until then...;)

'Da Crew'

'Business'

While the pleasure of film making is always apparent, there is a lot of 'business' in the background to do. Usually, before I jump off on holiday, I have to conclude such business. It makes everything seem...jointed...more in sync with the rest of the world. Two bits of business I need to finish before I jet off to India this month. First, sort out the bank account as I am renewing my website and secondly, send off CWP to a few more film festivals. That will give me a good number of submissions before I head off on holiday.

'imdb'

I still do not get how the whole thing works, but for some reason, even little people such as myself makes it top the database of all that is good and great in the film making world.

IMDB page for Jay and Kay Save the World!

Autograph

Can I have your autograph please Captain Gold Top? I promise not to drink anymore milk...

Kay xx

El Director's Milk Preferences

I like milk. I've made that quite clear during the whole run of CVWP. I drink the stuff on an almost daily basis. Last week, by a freak of supermarket sweeping, I inadvertently bought full fat milk instead of the usual supply of skimmed and semi-skimmed. While my tea tasted decidedly more 'Indian' as a result of the richness of the milk in it, the real treat was just drinking the milk pai9n. Normally after work, there is nothing i like better than a glass and a half of milk (not a famous milk chocolate brand's worth) before hitting the sack.

This week I am backed to the skimmed/semi-skimmed variety. While my tea has gone back to normal, I simply find that drinking this watered down milk and abomination on my palette. Sigh...

77...

Shocking. Five years in the thoughts, and I am on page 77. Can I attain the holy number of 91???

Hello,

I love Caution Wet Paint da Movie: Jay and Kay Save the world!!!

la producer

El D's weekly. Update.

Busy. In one word. But. Doing thing. Stuff. Not. Procrasrtinating. Let me spell that. Again. Procrastinating. Yes. That is better. A lot. Better. You see. A lot of things to do. Before holiday. Again. Editing away. Actually. More impressed with it than normal. And writing. I will finish. A little. Surprise. ;)

Milk! From Outer Space!

I really liked doing this, both as a short film and as a comic strip.

Originally, Nick came to me and asked me to shoot Jay and Kay in the back garden, just chatting, and most importantly, having the milk bottle 'disappear. He then told me to 'trust him'. So I did. A few weeks later, he brought me the animation sequence and so was born the two alter egos of Silvertop and Goldtop.



The reason why I have enjoyed this webisode so much is that the story is continued in the latest incarnation of Caution Wet paint, Jay and Kay Save the World! Yep, give me a chance, and I will string a story out far beyond the stars...into the realms of madness!

Milk! From Outer Space!

(el d.)

Sunday

Good news everyone! I have finished the layout for this week's CWP comic strip (out tomorrow) and it looks funky. Also have started the editing of 'Amigos, Amigos' and so I have put higher quality trailer out to view. By the end of the week, I should have the first few minutes cut, and then I will put it onto a showreel I am also editing. Two weeks to go until I jet off again, and things are hotting up in Baba land...

El Cycle is dead

El Director is sad today. My bicycle has broken. Damn.

Yo...

Ah, I have to think of a witty comic strip to do by this Monday. Will it be political, zany or something from the archives? All will be revealed...

El Director's Update

Just a quick update in the film world before I head off to India at the end of the month. At the moment, still sending off 'Save the World' to film festivals (24 done so far, or two per week). Will also get down to editing Amigos Amigos. Before I head off, I will cut one more trailer and get the beginning sorted out. And finally, I will also organise a showreel of my directoral work to date. Quite a few things to do in the next couple of weeks then!

Transforming

See the transformation between rehearsal and the final cut of CWP's 'Save the World!'



Click to watch!

Sorting

After an interesting day chatting with a fellow director yesterday, must get back to the stone today...

Quantitative Easing

This strip is a one off, for now. And I will see how this one is received, but I was feeling a little bit political, and so without further ado, I present Jay and Kay's take on the current state of the UK economy and farce that is known as Quantitative Easing. Enjoy!

Quantitative Easing

Comics - shoot!

In one day, I have to sort out a jumble of pictures into a coherent, funny and witty story. Damn.

Canary Wharf Film Festival

It has been two years since CWP got its first festival screening at The Canary Wharf Film Festival. It was a very exciting time, being the very first time anything had been shown in public, on the big screen. As a director, I learnt a lot in those few days, some good and some bad. But mainly, it was interesting to gain my first sight into the 'film industry'. And as it is returning for its third year, I will be off to it this weekend. See you there!

What makes a great alien?

Fear.

(You must be scared of them)


An unusual shape.

(They are different)


A funny voice.

(They sound scarily different)


A passion to conquer Earth

(Needed to inspire fear)


Milk

(???)

From Jay and Kay Save the World!

Angry, Cross, Irritated and Chasing your tail around...

At times I get annoyed with the film making world. And yes, it is probably the most competitive world that anyone could choose to enter. It is a closed world, surrounded by buddies, relations and other hangers-on. It is almost masonic, perverted in its nature. And there always seem to be a lot of people doing rather well in the film business except for the people who actually come up with the ideas. The writers seem to get particularly dicked over in the film world. Plus there is a lot of crap that is screened. For some reason, people in the film making world do not seem to gauge the audience very well.

Still, that's no reason to quit so soon into the race...

Autumn in the City

It's September. Summer is over, Autumn is here. The days are getting colder (hell, they are already freezing), the heating can now be turned on without guilt and all the hopes and dreams on the year fade away into oblivion. Reality, if it took a while to kick in, finally does for the year. Pessimism takes over from the joys of the climate and the boobies are covered up for another year. And how has your summer been? As for me, it has been an interesting (and busy) one. Most of summer has been spent editing and with the post production of Jay and Kay Save the World!

And so, that is why I am undecided on summer. My summer, while interesting has been working towards a future this Autumn and winter. And that is the big question to answer, has it been a good summer for me? Maybe. It depends on how CWP is received this winter

Scripting

I like writing. But I have quite a methodical way of writing. There are a few patterns in how and what I do.

I make sure there is a beginning, middle and an end. Although I can be a fan of life narratives', I personally like to have an event in my story that is linear, no matter how insignificant it is to the rest of the script.

ie: Boy meets girl, girl's father wants to kill boy, boy runs off with girl and lives happily ever after (the basic script for CWP the Feature length).


I also like to open with complete calm, and then a few moments later flip the adrenaline on. It wakes up the audience from their slumber.

ie: A calm opening credits is then slashed to pieces by a woman running desperately from an alleyway (opening moments of An East End Tale).


I also like to start the script in one direction, and change directions a few minutes later.

ie: Jay and Kay are arguing in suburbia, before they are beamed up into space by an alien milk bottle. (Jay and Kay Save the World).


I am also a notorious slasher. Especially when it comes to the beginning. I like to get to the point of the film as quickly as possible. And often on the second or third rewrite, I can loose twenty pages on a feature length script. My blog posts do not follow this pattern.

I have been sent a script by an acquaintance via e-mail. I had a look at it. The story does have a beginning, middle and an end. However, it takes a little while to get started. Also, there are no surprises in the script until much later on, when it does actually take a real turn. However, by this point the audience is long gone. Overall, I actually like the basic story of the script, but the way it is executed needs to be tightened up for film. For a first draft it shows potential. Now I have written up my thoughts, it is time to tell the acquaintance what I think...