Thank you!

Thank you so much for all your congratulations on my previous post! I really appreciate them. I'm behind with comments after the 48 Hours Film Festival, but I will catch up soon.

I don't know if you realise how helpful you have all been throughout this entire process. When I started writing this particular novel at the beginning of 2008, it took me a while to adjust to the writerly life of being a hermit and staring at a screen all day. This blog provided a way to connect to people with similar interests; interest in writing, and also interest in vintage clothing and thrifting. It was wonderful to be able to both record my progress and escape from my work through the fashion side of things. Your support through all the work and all the rejections has meant a lot - really. So thank you! I'm so thrilled that someone wants to represent me, and as soon as everything's all official-like, I'll tell you the whole story (as much as I can).

All right, sappy part over. The 48 Hours weekend was fantastic - exhausting and full of adrenaline, but fantastic. We had a really amazing team of people with great skills in lots of areas - we're very lucky to have such great friends. Our genre was 'Family Film'. I'm not going to say too much because the films have to stay hush-hush until after the official screening at the cinema this Saturday. Once it has screened, I'll post it here.

My brain isn't working very well today due to lack of sleep and far too much junk food. Thanks again, and I hope you all had a wonderful weekend!

Hello and goodbye

This will be my last post for a couple of days - the film festival starts tonight! Looks like the weather is going to be wet and freezing all weekend, so I look forward to much trudging through mud at 3am. I'm going to try and keep updating Twitter throughout the weekend as we progress - I guess we'll see how well that idea will work out.

I really loved wearing this outfit today - isn't it great when you're completely happy with what you're wearing? It makes even the rainiest day brighter. I'm also on a high because of some more exciting book developments. When and if things are confirmed, I'll tell you all about it.

Have a fantastic weekend, everyone!

The Window Cleaner

Here, for the interested, is our entry for the 48 Hours film festival. When we had to introduce the film at its cinema showing, LOML said, "While waiting to receive our genre at the launch, we said to each other, 'As long as we don't get Musical, it will be ok' ... enjoy."

Enjoy.



Genre: Musical/Dance
Required Character: Kerry Post, perfectionist
Required Prop: Brush
Required Line: "Wait a minute"

Review!

A review of our short film from the 48Hours forums, written by Spooceman:

Team: Lounge Pig Productions
Eligible: Yes
Genre: Musical
Title: The window cleaner

A classic boy meets girl musical, well edited interwoven plot cutting between two rather contrasting characters who change themselves in order to please each other.

The clean freak perfectionist trait comes out here again, which I personally find the most used and less thought about way of using the charater [sic], but in saying that, works well with this story, more so than others.

Some good singing on the female actors part and some nice camera work.

Favorite line: "Coasters don't matter when you're in love"

Overall Score: 3/5

Final contender: could well be.

In a side-note, when I was small I used to think [sic] meant "This incorrect spelling makes me sic!" But it doesn't.

Thanks, Spooceman!

Sucker for punishment?

It's official, I can't take a break from writing. I'm working on a young adult novel on my break, an idea that has been buzzing in my head for a while ... hence the appearance of the second word-count-o-meter in the side bar. I'm just going to do a bit of work on it while I'm on my holiday from the book.

We're about to go and see our 48 Hours film on the big screen at Readings Cinema ... I can't wait! Well, I can. Obviously. But metaphorically, I can't wait.

48 Hours is over!

Phew ... well, no time for writing over the weekend! We rolled up to Yellow Cross on Friday night to pick up our genre and required elements for the film. The elements were:
Object: Brush
Line of dialogue: "Wait a minute!"
Character: Kerry Post - a perfectionist
As we stood there waiting for our genre, I said to LOML, "Wouldn't it be hilarious if we got Musical?"
And, sure enough, that's what we got.

Friday night was spent sitting with the team in our living room drinking coffee and hashing out a storyline and script. The script was finished just after midnight, and we arranged to meet at 7 the next morning.


After breakfast, we started shooting. Our musical director composed the music to the lyrics I had written (there hadn't been any planning beforehand - he just wrote the music off the cuff. Pretty amazing) and the actors started rehearsing.

After shooting all the scenes for Act I, we had lunch.

Then back to work.

We spent a lot of time organising our sets.
The restaurant:

The dirty bathroom:

The messy living room:

We shot all our night scenes in the messy set, stopped for dinner, then shot our night scenes at the restaurant.

Most of us managed to get some sleep that night, but the director (LOML) and composer worked through the night editing and scoring the footage. The following morning, we were up bright and early again to shoot the final scenes in the park.


LOML, the musical director and I went to base camp. The rest of the day was taken up with editing the film ready for submission before 7pm.


Tension ran high, but we managed to finish the film and transfer it to DV tape by 6:30pm. By 6:40pm we were in Yellow Cross, the film safely handed in, enjoying a celebratory beer.

The showing of our heat is tomorrow night at Readings Cinema - can't wait! We're not allowed to show it before then. Most of our team hasn't seen the completed film either, so it will be an exciting night.

No rest for the wicked ... wickedly talented, that is! (Just kidding)

Oh, and tonight is the start of the 48 Hours Film Festival. 6pm, to be exact, is when LOML and I will go and pick up our genre and random elements from Yellow Cross bar in town ... then the cast and crew (most of them) is getting together this evening to brainstorm ideas. After they leave, it'll be my job to sit down and write a script until the wee hours. So this blog, temporarily, is no longer tracking the progress of a novelist, but the 48-hour-long progress of a screenwriter, second unit director and production assistant. Although there will still be coffee involved. I'll try and keep you posted!

Hibernation

Here we go ... after a fairly stressful and busy three days, I have four empty days stretching ahead of me, just waiting to be filled up with writing. I feel good about being able to finish the final chapters this week (she says for the hundredth time), and I'm going into hibernation to achieve it. I need to get a good amount of work done before 48 Hours this weekend. As you can imagine, it's going to be pretty crazy. So Tuesday to Friday this week are going to be all about me, the computer and some coffee getting together and trying to finish this thing.

48 hours

I have just got back from the cafe. It was especially busy today, because the sun is shining, so I huddled in the corner trying to look inconspicuous and ordered lots of coffee out of guilt. I really don't want to be That Person who takes up a table for hours and orders one thing. Sadly, I think I am.

I think I have solved a couple of problems with the ending. I have a new chapter all planned out that I think will patch a hole. Am getting there.

I don't know if I have mentioned this before, but LOML and I are leading a team for 48HOURS: Furious Filmmaking. It starts next Friday night (16 May) and ends on Sunday night (18 May, if my calculations are correct). On the Friday night you are given a genre and some random elements, like a line of dialogue or a prop, that have to be incorporated into the film. Everything has to be done in 48 hours - the writing, the scoring, the editing, everything. Which means lots of coffee and takeaways and no sleep. I am the writer and production assistant (and I think the continuity person as well), LOML is the director, and we have roped in friends to help with everything else. It should be a great weekend, if exhausting. Interesting to see the depths of crankiness we will descend to as well.