I took delivery of a master CD the ROBOT OVERLORDS audiobook today, and have been able to listen to a couple of previously unheard clips and I’m delighted to share them with you today!
The audiobook is read by Rupert Degas, one of the best readers in the business, and I’m absolutely thrilled with what he’s done. Rupert hasn’t seen the film, so his voices are based entirely on the characters’ descriptions in the novel (Mr Smythe sounds like Brian Clough!), and he’s made the story his own, giving fresh readings to lines familiar from the film.
It’s also been beautifully produced by audiobook veteran Peter Rinne, who has seamlessly woven in excerpts from Christian Henson’s movie score, and the film’s original sound effects. The audiobook also includes the short story THE MEDIATOR PROTOTYPE and my behind-the-scenes shoot diaries, and it’s available to order now from Audible UK and Audible.com and iTunes.
The first clip is from the prologue, THE DAY WE LOST THE WAR and features multiple vaporisations – enjoy!
And this clip is called BEWARE THE SENTRY and finds our heroes on the run from the clankers…
You will also be able to hear my dulcet tones as I’ve recorded my ‘Afterword on living life dangerously’, and shoot diaries as added extras. In early May I found myself in the beautiful Gloucester countryside recording in producer Peter Rinne’s start-of-the-art recording studio/garden shed…
The home studio that I want when I grow up…
The audiobook will also include the short story THE MEDIATOR PROTOTYPE, an abundance of stomping, clanking and blasting Robot sound effects from the film, and excerpts from Christian Henson’s magnificent score, so it’ll be a full-on audio treat.
I found myself with a free afternoon yesterday, not something that happens often these days as any spare time I have tends to be dedicated to writing, but I’m in a lull on one project and stuck on another, and so I found myself plugging my guitar into a pedal board and amp, and I started thrashing out a few chords.
Inspired by its inclusion on the GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY soundtrack, I thought I’d have a go at learning David Bowie’s splendid MOONAGE DAYDREAM and was surprised by how simple it was: lots of nice major/minor chords, a very easy riff and a straightforward melody.
And it got me thinking about a half-baked music analogy I have about creativity. When rock bands start out they begin with the simple stuff: twelve-bar blues, major chords dropping to minors, and a cool hook. Stuff that’s basic, but highly effective, hitting people right in the feels…
Major chords. Easy peasy, lemon squeezy and making people feel totes emosh since the dawn of time.
But as an artist progresses in their career, they understandably want to try something more complex and challenging, and, if you’re a guitarist, this means that sooner or later your favourite band will start using complex jazz chords…
Jazz chords. Evil bastards. Not to be trusted.
Don’t get me wrong; I enjoy jazz, but in quite small doses. It just doesn’t engage me emotionally in the way that a big, stupid rock song does. Just as I prefer Bowie’s early stuff, I suspect that it’s songs like STARMAN and LIFE ON MARS that are paying the mortgage at chez Bowie, rather than anything he’s recorded in the last twenty years. It’s also why the musically straightforward 1970s-era Pink Floyd continue to sell more than the jazz odyssey stylings of their early Syd Barrett stuff or, say, Captain Beefheart…
Of course, this theory is full of holes: if anything, the Beatles’ songs became more straightforward as they progressed, Kate Bush’s stuff was always complex musically (though her early albums are arguably more tuneful), and it probably doesn’t apply to classical or opera, though Beethoven’s Fifth (Duh-Duh-Duh-Duuum!) is as rock n roll as classical gets.
But you get the idea: the simple stuff works. It will always have a greater reach, audience-wise, than the introverted, “clever” stuff.
And here comes the big, clanging, G-major analogy that I’ll be trying to apply to my writing: I won’t be putting too many jazz chords into my stories. I might think I’m being clever by killing the hero on page 35, or starting in the middle of my story and working backwards via flashforwards, but some poor producer has to pitch that idea to raise money, and nine out of ten of them will always go for the simple sell.
That’s not to dismiss “simple” as “easy”: keeping a story truthful, engaging and emotional is hard enough as it is. So why make life more difficult for yourself?
And so my creative aim in life is to hit the same simple and moving peak as Bowie who has Mick Ronson open a song with a big, fat D-major chord as he cries, “I’m an alligator!” There’s no greater achievement in art…
Come and see a screening of ROBOT OVERLORDS this Sunday 24th May at 2.30pm!
As part of the Greenwich Book Festival, I’ll introduce the event with a ‘From script to screen’ presentation, followed by a screening of the film. I’m pretty sure this will be your only chance to see the film before the DVD release later this year, so do please come along!
STOP STOP PRESS!
I’m also delighted to announce that I’ll be joined by James Tarpey, one of the film’s stars! We’ll have posters to sign and give away to those who buy a copy of the ROBOT OVERLORDS novelisation.
Well, maybe not the whole occupying force… Okay, it’s just me.
As part of the Bradford Literature Festival I’ll be in conversation with awesome steampunk author David Barnett. We’ll be talking about how the film came about, and how it evolved into the novelisation. We’re hoping to be able to show some cool clips, concept art and behind-the-scenes stuff… it all depends on the availability of projectors and speakers and stuff… if not, I’ll have to do it via the medium of speaking and gesticulating. Don’t worry: I’m trained.
… a store I have very fond memories of as it’s where I first met Neil Gaiman. It was back in 1996 and I had dragged my poor wife halfway across the country to see what was then the only IMAX screen in the country at the National Media Museum to watch SPECIAL EFFECTS: ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN, a kind-of visual effects IMAX sampler complete with a colossal Star Destroyer and King Kong falling off the Empire State Building. Hey, it was before the internet took off and you had to travel to see the geeky stuff back then.
By complete coincidence Neil Gaiman happened to be in town signing copies of NEVERWHERE. I was kicking myself as I had a first edition of GOOD OMENS at home signed by Terry Pratchett and I wished I had brought it with me. Neil asked what Terry had written. “Burn this book,” I told him. So he scribbled a little retort on a Post-It note for me. I stuck it in the book where it still resides now…
In a couple of years I was working for Headline Publishing and selling Neil’s books into the trade and I got to meet him a few more times (he would greet me with a smile and the words, “Ah, the fanboy.”) and, more importantly, I got to read a proof of AMERICAN GODS before most of the reading public, and I would evangelise to booksellers about it until they caved and ordered a dumpbin.
So, yes, happy memories… I hope you can join us and maybe we can make some new happy memories of our own.
Then from 3-4pm I’ll be on a ‘From script to screen’ panel with Nvizible’s Dan Churchill. We’ll be showing how the film went from Jon’s initial idea through to the finished the film. There’ll be a Q&A afterwards and then hopefully we’ll be able to sign a few posters and there may even be a handful of those ultra-rare Robot Overlords T-shirts (for those bold enough to ask a question!).
The Birmingham MCM Comic Con was great fun, but because we filmed in Belfast I’m sure this will be an even bigger blast. I hope to see many of our crew and extras friends there!
A girl, a gun and a Spitfire… Artwork by Brian Taylor
The Black Spitfire is a script project that Paddy Eason and I have been working on for a couple of years now. Here’s our logline…
May, 1940: Headstrong young pilot Ginny Albion crashes in France as the Nazi Blitzkrieg sweeps across the country. Her passenger is Winston Churchill, and the fate of the world is in her hands.
Who could resist that, eh?
It’s a spec script – meaning that it’s not been commissioned by any entity – and we’re doing this in the hope that a producer or director will take it under their wing and make it fly (apologies for the abundance of flying metaphors throughout this post).
Spec scripts are nigh-on impossible to get off the ground these days: the studios are more interested in building on their existing brands, and anything original is branded as “untested”, putting the fear of God into those clutching to the studio purse strings.
But we’ve had a fantastic response from those who have read the script, and we’ve already met with a few eager producers. It’s still early days, but Paddy and I commissioned artist Brian Taylor to put together a poster concept (these things help when you’re pitching to producers and directors) and he blew our minds with the results, perfectly capturing the adventurous spirit of the film and our heroine Ginny Albion. Our model was actress Claire Garvey, who gamely posed for photos as I wafted slabs of polystyrene at her to make her hair billow (no budget for a wind machine, sadly) as Paddy snapped the pics.
If you’re in the industry and want to read the script, it’s over on the Black List, if you want the latest news do please follow us on Twitter @GinnyAlbion, and if you’re a producer with, say, £30 million handy, we’d like to buy you lunch.
We hope you like it, and we hope to see Ginny in action at the movies soon.
UPDATE: We’ve had some great reviews over at the Black List. Here are a few choice quotes…
“What a terrific read! The script starts off with a bang and our brilliant Ginny anchors a wonderful story about courage, self-actualization, love, and friendship. As our charming heroine, Ginny is flawed but never lacking in gumption or charisma. She leaps off the page and lights up an otherwise monotonous time period. Her rapport with Kit is absolutely darling, and the friendship that develops between her and Churchill is deftly written. Churchill himself is captured beautifully – from the wry commentary on his unlikely guide to the humor that arises from his verbosity, he’s all there and with a pout to boot. Although at times the narrative feels a bit predictable, it’s a delight to read. Tonally, it’s similar to INDIANA JONES, but this time we get a kickass female protagonist. Overall, a well structured story with engaging, dynamic characters, a commercial tone, and strong dialogue.”
“A great piece of writing and a killer idea, demonstrating excellent world building and character work… it’s a fantastic read and at the very least, the writers should have no problem getting hired off of this.”
“This script is rooted first and foremost in a strong and engaging lead with Ginny… She’s brave, funny, and moody all at once. She’s compelling to follow. The action is also quite exciting throughout. It’s cleanly written and easy to envision from what’s on the page. Later on, Ginny saves a number of Allied prisoners from German executioners at the last moment. It’s tense and fun all at once. Ginny’s relationship to Churchill is also cannily drawn and entertaining. The two bicker and fight and like each other. At one point, he excoriates her for radioing details to the enemy in a panic, and they argue and she shoves him down. He then stomps off in the middle of a war. It’s memorable and gives the piece a good sense of personality.”
“This is an invigorating and original concept that is sure to catch the attention of industry readers. The dialogue stands out as the major macro strength to the project as it’s upbeat, quick and natural throughout. The banter between Ginny and Churchill is funny a lot of the time, but in a very grounded way — especially after they land. It adds a comedic relief, that is extremely dry and grounded… Churchill’s voice and character development overall is fantastic and will prove to be captivating for readers as his dialogue is accurate to portray his place in history, but shown in an exciting way. One of the coolest things about his character is the standard he holds Ginny to the entire time, but also how he begins to trust her and respect her more and more as they continue on and it’s a fantastic moment when she holds the knife to his throat… physically and emotionally. Ginny’s character gets comfortable around Churchill as well and it’s tracked nicely alongside her growth as a character. It’s very triumphant in the end when Winston’s calling out for Ginny over the radio and along with being extremely cinematic it ties up their story well for the audience.”
If you’re coming along to Dysprosium 2015 (EasterCon to the rest of us!), then here’s what I’ll be up to on the Saturday and the Sunday.
Saturday 4th April:
10-11am Build your awesome robot – Wright room
Described in the brochure thusly…
Build Your Awesome Robot: Child-friendly activity. Priority is given to children 17 and under. Children under 16 must be accompanied by a responsible adult. Using cardboard boxes, egg boxes, toilet rolls, metal food trays, cereal boxes etc, plus some coloured card, tape, and glue, you can build your own ready-to-wear robot. Zandy has an incredible book that gives suggestions on things you can put on your robot. We’ll make sure to copy the relevant bits and people can draw their own signs on card. Zandy Hemsley, Mark Stay.
Yup, Zandy and me will be helping kids build their own robots. What could possibly go wrong?! Assuming that we haven’t all been enslaved by the children’s automations you can always come to…
12.30-1.30 Author reading (following Jaine Fenn) – Johnson room
10-11am Robot Overlords from script to screen – Bleriot room
This will be great fun. Myself and Paddy Eason (VFX supervisor on Robot Overlords) will take you on a journey from a page of script right through to a finished scene from the film. It’s also a great way to show just how an indie Brit sci-fi film gets made these days (with great difficulty, as it happens). This will be a multimedia tour de force with never-before-seen concept art and behind-the-scenes material.
11.15-12.15 Gollancz Room party
This will be where all the cool kids will be hanging out. So be there, or be a giant robot cube…
On 13th July 2010* I received an email from Director Jon Wright with the subject heading ‘Two page idea attached’. In it he outlined a movie idea that had come to him in a dream: a world where humanity had been defeated by an invading alien robot empire and everyone is ordered to stay inside their homes. Back then it was called OUR ROBOT OVERLORDS. Some of those ideas have survived through to the finished film, some have fallen by the wayside and others could still be used in potential sequels or TV series, but already the world felt strong enough to start bouncing ideas back and forth and start working on a script.
And so ROBOT OVERLORDS was born, and a mere four years, eight months and fourteen days later it’s in UK cinemas for the public to see. That’s pretty fast for an independent British movie.
Jon and I met back in September 2006** when he became attached to a screenplay I’d written called WAITING FOR EDDIE (later EDDIE’S DEAD). We were introduced by a Producer called Dean Fisher who had optioned WFE and had got the project into the inaugural Film London Microwave scheme. Over the week of workshops and development we all bonded, but I knew I’d get on with Jon because when we first met in a Nero’s outside Liverpool Street Station, we banged heads as we sat down and were both too polite to say anything about it.
We worked on developing a number of scripts over the following years while he made TORMENTED and GRABBERS, but ROBOT OVERLORDS is the first of our joint projects to get off the ground, and I have to admit that there are days where I feel like I’ve jumped the queue. Because what you’re supposed to do is make a mega low-budget horror or two and then you might be lucky enough to make the kind of science fiction adventure that you loved as a kid.
And it’s been one hell of a ride. I’ve seen and done some incredible things during its making:
Felt a strange, other-worldly thrill at the first shout of “Action” on set.
The first take… ruined by a bunch of us taking photos on our phones. Photo by Paddy Eason
Watched actors of the calibre of Sir Ben Kingsley, Gillian Anderson, Geraldine James and many others take our words and bring them to life.
SBK gives it his all.
Not to mention watching our gang of heroes Callan, James, Ella and Milo genuinely become friends over the course of the shoot.
Jon chooses who get vaporised next…
Stared in awe at a bluescreen stage and wondered what the ten-year-old me would make of all this…
Blue is the new green.
Strolled around Pinewood Studios like we owned the place.
Author videos are so much cooler on the backlot of a major studio complex! Photo my http://www.mpsv.co.uk
And, bloody hell, Jon even let me be in it (and my family!)…
Me in the much-coveted role of shouty man in dressing gown…George, Claire and Emily in costume for our day as extras.
Being thrilled as Nvizible took our ideas and came up with stuff like this!
I attended the premiere at the London Film Festival like a proper Z-list celeb!
All the beautiful people at the LFF premiere… and me!
And did my first panel at a ComicCon:
2000AD creator Pat Mills ran our panel!
I’ve chronicled some of those events on this blog, and there’s a whole ‘shoot diary’ section in the book, and I’ll no doubt bore you with it some more over the years, but for a first film I could not have asked for a more incredible experience and I suspect I may never have it this good again. And now the film is now in the hands of the Great British Public.
Some folk have expressed dismay that it’s not on everywhere, and we do indeed have a limited release, but that reflects the reality of British indie cinema distribution at the moment. And you only have to look at the box office returns of the last ambitious Brit Sci-Fi Film to see why some lesser distributors were nervous about taking us on. But our bold and pioneering independent distributor Signature have a very clear strategy for the film over the coming year, and this is only the beginning. I have faith that you’ll all get to see it one way or another, but if you can see it on the big screen then do please go: plenty of people worked very, very hard to make it look and sound so magnificent.
See you at the movies…
*I keep a diary, so can very specific about dates.
Robot Overlords shows us a near-future where Earth has been invaded and occupied by an overwhelming force of Robots from another world. Everyone has been confined to their homes, and while the Robots’ purpose here is a mystery, they’ve promised to leave after seven years.
So what books would I grab to keep me sane during the occupation…?
As used by Connor (played by Milo Parker in the film) to identify edible mushrooms, this is the only book I know of with a chapter on how to survive a nuclear explosion, an essential bit of info when your enemy has defeated every army on the planet (though, to be fair, they do make it clear that the odds aren’t great for surviving a nuclear holocaust). Also check out the Homefront chapter, with excellent advice on food storage, rationing, vitamins and filtering and sterilising water. Of course, for when times are really bad, there’s the obligatory bit on drinking urine.
Also available as an App, not that you’ll have any use for that once the robots destroy your phone.
In Robot Overlords the Volunteer Corps are humans who have chosen to collaborate with the robots by delivering rations, making repairs etc. But these are exactly the kind of humourless sociopaths you find in every level of bureaucracy (best represented by Robin Smythe, Ben Kingsley’s character in the film), and so you don’t want to be relying on them to fix a leaky tap. I’ve had a copy of this for twenty years and it’s so clearly laid out that even an idiot like me can use it with only the occasional flood and mild electric shock.
There are many works of literature to inspire a burgeoning resistance against the invaders, but I can think of none finer than the seventh instalment in the Gaulish saga in which our heroes stage an enormous punch-up to save their village. A bit of genuine light relief in all the trauma.
When the Volunteer Corps deliver your weekly ration of unleavened bread, unidentifiable grey meat, and misshapen vegetables, you’ll need more than a little imagination to keep things exciting and varied at the dinner table. My wife bought me a copy of this when we first started living together and it set me in good stead when all we could afford was unleavened bread, unidentifiable grey meat, and misshapen vegetables.
And finally, something to keep you going through those long winter nights of the occupation. As a busking level guitarist (ie: a bit rubbish) I can select any one of over 170 songs from Keep The Home Fires Burning and We’ll Meet Again all the way through to erm… Careless Whisper and I Believe In A Thing Called Love. And if you do drive your fellow housemates mad with your caterwauling, then it’s big enough for them to beat you to death with, and makes for good fire fuel.
Mark Stay Writes 