Music Video Treatment

I am so fuckign annoyed that I am still waiting for OTHER PEOPLE to sort out their shit and do what they have to do so I can finish the two biggest projects on my new showreel.

It has left me with my cock in my hands just waiting around for fucking weeks.

So I need something to do - and I want to shoot another project - and I suspect that if I do, it will be finished WELL before these other projects even though they were shoot AGES ago.

This weekend I have spent a few hours writing a music video treatment for a house music tun that is gonna be released by a big record company.

BUT - It is very sneaky thing that these record labels are doing - the budget for the video is only £1000 and they want it played on MTV dance. So they basically NEED something of a high quality but they won't pay proper money.

So they get desperate wannabees like me to respond to an open call on a newsletter that they send out. I have no idea how many others are replying but I know my idea is strong and simple enough to be able to shoot on the shoestring they are offering as a budget.

On the plus side, my producer has dealt with the label before so at least that raises me above some of the monkees that will be responding to the advert.

And it is still good practice for me to write a treatment because it forced me to come up with an idea and then develop it so that it fits the logistical constraints of such a small shoot.

Which I actually think I have done quite well.

Personality Baby

A coupld of days ago I spend a few hours walking around and taking photographs with the local politician whom I've agreed to help. It's quite amazing watching this quite unassuming old man talk people silly.

Outwardly he looks like a complete madman - a few years ago I asked him to come along and help me out by appearing as an extra in a short film I made... I was desperate to fill up a church with as many black and asian looking people as possible.

Anyway, he is quite a character and one of the most connected people I know. Even when we were shooting the movie I assured my producer that he was not just some random madman that turned up.... still, people like to make assumptions...

But, but back to now - it was a real lesson to watch this guy walk around and chat people up. Take the combination of:

a) A very intelligent, travelled and experienced man,
b) An man interested in politics with 50 years experience
c) A delightful extrovert with supreme people skills
d) A 70 year old who - quite frankly - does exactly what he wants.

And you have some idea of what he is like. Amongst other places we went to a an old peoples home, a hindu temple and a local mosque, and we were met with such hospitality and politeness throughout.

He is a good friend of my dad and they were both interested in local politics when they were younger... and hearing him introduce ME to these people as the son of a local blah blah blah made me chuckle on the inside.I was there to take photographs - but I could tell that the 'secret' agenda was also for him to also have a young, well presented, good looking man accompanying him. Almost like a minature entourage. I don't mind as it's all a learning curve.

I suppose politics isn't that disimilar to the media world - it's ALL about appearances.


Peace and love baby.

x

Politics and the Art of War

Out of the blue I got a call from a friend of my dad. In short he is running in a local election and he wants my help and assistance in his campaign.

Basically I have agreed. But in a much smaller capacity than he wanted. Since I am not working I could do with some things to do. But not too much so it interferes with my own projects,

The role is unpaid but it will only add up to a few hours each week.

As a politician he, naturally, a liar - but he is a charming one and he could talk the ears off an elephant. There are things he is promising in return - and perhaps in a few months time when I have put some other stuff together I can merge his promises with my own ambitions and hopefully solidify my present plans.

What I am going to need is private investment, and quite a lot of it - he may be the perfect connection.

Anyhow,

For those of you interested, next friday is Sunglasses and Scarves night at Pacha. I'll be there. And wearing my mother fucking Gucci Sunglasses.

Peace, and love, as always

doom

x

Munich(2006) - A review

Todal I saw a preview of the new Steven Spielberg film: Munich.

Now, I always work on the belief that the better something is the higher the level of criticism that can be thrown at it is. And here is my 2 pence worth:

TECHNICALLY
Munich is almost perfect. Well at least 75% of the movie is the perfect film. Stylistically it copies the mise-en-scene of films of that era. E.g Telephoto zoom lenses, jump cuts and no steadicam. The film handles a phenomenal amount of information and conveys this excellently. However, the last 25% of the movie is too long and the pacing suffers. (it does have over 200 speaking parts)

STYLISTICALLY
As I said above, the film is lit, coloured, designed and shot like a film from the 1970's. The editing is very well paced and the performances are masterful. Oscar worthy.

CRITICALLY
The biggest failing of the movie is obviously not a technical one. Spielberg has put together such a beautiful film with such rich talent that that is is faultless - the biggest criticism is at the very heart of the movie. On a conceptual level this films fails.

WHY?
For a film thats underlying message is anti-war annd condemns the never-ending cycle of retribuition - it takes a one sided view of the events. This is the fundamental failing. The film follows the Jewish perspective. (no surprise here) and as a consequence the underlying message is undermined.

Strange But True

I need to operate with precision and planning - as part of this I need to re-establish contact with the head of a Promotions company whom I know from my university days.

To do this I will casually 'pass by' her soho offices after a 'meeting' - stick my head in the door and give her a bottle of wine. I will tell her that, "I don't drink alcohol and that I thought she'd be the perfect person' to give this 'gift' that I had just been given from somebody as a 'thank you' for something else.

A bit contrived, but if I turn up saying that I bought it just for her then that might seem desperate.

(even though my plan is obviously MORE desperate)

I'll tell her that my new showreel is coming out soon and that I am desperate to shoot more music videos ---

And I hope that will start the ball rolling...


ps.

I'll do that this week I think.

Pacha - Out Raving Tonight

Hey kids, tonight I'm off to Pacha tonight with me and five girls.

Yup.

Me and five girls. Six maybe.

If I can get my mate to fix it, I'll be off to Pacha again tomorrow as well... to the club night Kinky Malinki. I've never been to that night, but I've heard that it's awesome.

Now that I'm on an extremely limited income I need to make sure I do the things I want to do and only the things I want to do. And I LOVE funky house.

Anyway.

Time to get ready.

If you reside in London - and you like funky house - then be sure to check it out.

Look for me.

I'll be there.

x

THERE IS SOMETHING WRONG WITH ME!

I AM OFF FOR SUSHI AGAIN TONIGHT!!!

AND TOMORROW I AM GOING TO HAVE A GO AT MAKING IT AGAIN!!!


Mmmmm... tasty fatty tuna belly....

Task Master

Today I had some tasks to do, tomorrow I have more.

Today

1. File Personal Tax Return
2. Pay Excess taxation of 88 pence. (fucking joke)
3. Change up £25 of 10 pences and 20 pences.
4. Collect samples of business cards.
5. Write script notes for meeting tomorrow.
6. Pump weights.

My friend called me up and we went to his place and he cooked me a fried breakfast. This is always an awesome thing to do.

Tomorrow I have to:

1. Have script meeting with co-writer.
2. Register web-address for my new email. (I might change my company details to reflect this new name... I own a dormant non-trading company - and I want to change it to a non-specific name)
3. Transfer an old student film to AVI. file so I can edit it into my showreel.
4. Purchase blue-tac.

At some point this week:

1. Trade in my shitty PSP games for a new one. ( I have five games and all I am bored with)
2. Bleach highlights into my hair.
3. Buy more raw fish to make more sushi.


Oh yeah, according to the body fat indicator in the gym I am 14.2% fat with a BMI of 22. I am 71kg, and 5"10.

Peace and Love my dear readers,

Doom
x

The Morning After the Night Before

Dearest Readers,


After indulging my appetite for raw fish prepared for my yours truly I can report with 100% confidence that....


I AM STILL ALIVE!!

MY GIRLFRIEND IS STILL ALIVE!!

WOO HOO!!!

I ATE ONE PORTION ON WEDNESDAY AND THE REST YESTERDAY AND WE HAVE HAD NO ILL EFFECTS WHATSOEVER!!!

And truly, I feel like I have learned something wonderful... like I have been let in on a big secret. For those of you interested I will make a post outlining how I made the sushi,what I did and where I got it from AND I promise that next time I will take some nice photos too. Cos there will be a next time.

I am actually day dreaming about one day owning my own sushi restaurant.

Doom
x

PS.

For one month I have become a vegetarian, this is forcing me to give up eating the crappy junk food I have been eating far too frequently. I have done it as an experiment to find out what it feels like to not eat meat. So far it is going very well. Being able to have sushi now makes in much easier.

PPS.

I have another script meeting today. And yet again I will drag off this writer to another shop - this time the Japanese place to get more sushi ingredients!

...THE FINAL EVER POST FROM LORD OF DOOM?

This might be the last ever post from the Lord of Doom.

After 9 days of obsessing, researching, umming and arring... I did what I wanted to do.

Like most things, the desire was there and impulsively I just decided to do it today. For no real reason and with no planning. I was in a script meeting with my co-writer on a feature we have planned. I explained to him that I was daydreaming about getting some sushi grade fish but that I would not have enough time to do so as the fishmonger closed at 5:00pm. He suggested that I went and that he'd come along with me. So the soho meeting turned into a roving meeting and I took him to the fishmongers. I purchased the fish and then we carried on the meeting in the pub next door. Except now I had a bag of raw fish.

Contrary to what I'd heard before - this fish was not previously frozen at minus fifteen, in fact it was not frozen at all- and the staff were insisting that it did not need to be. After much deliberations, the staff in the fishmongers gave me their absolute assurances that I would not die. They promised me that I would return to the shop to buy from there again.

So I had to take the man's word for it, and I bought the fish - Yellowtail Tuna and Salmon.

After then meeting I went to see my girlfriend and after a couple of hours of preparation I served us sushi. Quite a balanced meal that consisted of:

1. Salmon Sashmi (Raw Salmon)

2. Yellowtail Tuna Sashmi (Raw Tuna)

3. Salmon Sushi (Raw fish on rice)

4. Tuna Sushi (Raw fish on rice)

5. Vegetable California roll (Crab, Avocado, Cucumber in seaweed with rice and sesame seeds)

6. Crab maki roll (Crab wrapped up in a rice and seaweed roll)

7 Avocado maki roll (avocado wrapped up in a rice and seaweel roll)

Garnished with pickled ginger and wasabi paste.

As beautiful as it looked I stared at the veritable feast before my eyes and had to ask myself,


"What the fuck are you doing? You are about to eat raw fish? You saw it in the fishmonger, you brought it home, there is no doubt that it is raw - you most certainly did not cook it. There is no secret trick to sushi - that somehow it is magically cooked and disinfected by fairies. All your research about how the fish needs to be frozen has been contradicted by some bloke in a shop with a cockney accent. Who is he, he could be anybody. How can you trust this man? This is not a restaurant - this sushi was not made by an expert sushi chef who will commit hari-kiri if he poisons anybody... it was made by you. What the FUCK do you know about raw fish? You are an adult... ACT responsibly and ask...

Are you about to wrecklessly poison yourself AND your beautiful girlfriend?

Are you going to carelessly infest yourself with tiny parasites that will live in your intestines for years, maybe forever?

Are those parasites going to grow and grow and grow until they take over your intestinal tract?

Are you negligently going to KILL your girlfriend?

Are you going to willingly KILL YOURSELF?




Who fucking knows.



But I ate it. And she did too.

On the way out we kissed and I said to her,

"Either way, I'll see you tomorrow - If it's in this world or the next."


Love and kisses.

Doom(ed?)
x

(Please forgive the grainy and dark images - these were taken on the fly with my girlfriend's camera phone - these are specially for Mr. Ruksak. Next time I make it I will take proper photos... if there is a next time)

New Years Blues.

So what do I do now?

I am not working.

I have shot my latest short film which is waiting to be edited.

I am having to have the animation re-done on the test commercial I shot recently.

There *might* be a couple of low budget music videos lurking around the corner... but nothing concrete.

If I want to tout myself as a commercials director I am going to need to be able to demonstrate real talent and ability - my showreel (when it's fucking done) will not do this as well as is neccessary... I need more work....to keep on struggling - onwards and upwards... the reality of what I am trying to acheive is daunting....



But what do I do for money?

What DO I do for money?


But I want to make more films... always... I crave good ideas, good scripts, fiction, facts, pictures, words - images, emotions....

But a good short film will need money - there are some financing options available... but the UK is a barren wasteland....

Fuck it.

I'm having a bad day.

What did I learn today?

It is 3:02am and I got home about 30 minutes ago. Of that I have spent the 25 minutes shitting my mother fucking brains out of my ass.


I am a grown-up and there are ladies who read this - my apologies, I know this is no way to talk... but I feel like a rent boy after mardi-gras.

So what did I learn?

I have learned that over time of not eating spicy hot curry - ones tolerance drops - and vegetable vindaloo, might my satisfy my new (and temporary) vegetarian agenda, but it is still a vindaloo - and still fucking hot.

Aren't I glad I wrote this down?

About 18 months ago I shot a test commercial at Pinewood studios - I paid for it myself with the profits from a company I set up with my friend. It was a relatively big budget affair, shot on film with special effects and animation and blah blah blah. The fucking animation has to be re-done but that is a total digression.

Anyway, with such projects there are several aims and objectives for me and the others involved. One of them, as director, is to demonstrate your 'Artistry'.

Now, some argue that a large budget and big crew and high level of polish and organisation are not neccessary to accomplish this. Essentially I am am inclined to agree but of course, it is also of merit to be able to demonstrate that a degree of polish can be accomplished.

A good writer is a good writer whether he uses a platinum tipped biro or beaten up old typewriter. So whilst I am waiting for the edit to be done on my latest short film I really want to shoot another test commercial.

I don't have any money for it so it will be a total cowboy job. But I figure I should be able to shoot something on MiniDV (maybe even borrow a HD camcorder) and edit it and do the titles and graphics on my Powerbook.

Anyway, I am playing around with a few idea and I looked at a few old ones I wrote about 4 years ago when the X-Box was launched. I actually still like one of them and I could easily change the idea to work with the new handheld PSP. I totally forgot I ever had that idea so I am pleasantly satisfied that I made an archive of documents from my old laptop.

Who knows what others gems I have lurking around?

xx

Today I did something different

Today, after a shopping trip in London with my hot, young girlfriend, I went with her to the Japanese centre on Piccadilly. On a whim I purchased the ingredients and equipment to make sush. Then I went home and had a go and making some.

Of course I have a lot to learn, but altogether it was not bad for a first attempt.

I'll blog more about this, my latest obsession another time... but now I am on a hunt to find a place that sells Sashimi Grade Salmon in London. Because I want to make proper sushi next time.

Basically in Sushi, you eat the fish raw BUT salmon is considered a freshwater fish and contains parasites that can live in humans. The fish needs to be frozen at something ridiculous like -15 celsius for a week which most home freezers won't even come close to. (Stick it in your home freezer and all you do is put the parasites to sleep - only for them to later wake up on your plate and then move in to live in your intestines)

So I need to find a place in London that sells decent quality fish that has been properly taken care of.

And once I do... oh my goodness will I be a happy man.


"Syonara."

x