Today marks the 40th anniversary of the release of JAWS, a film that arguably launched the summer blockbuster phenomenon, sent the career of Steven Spielberg into overdrive, and had us all fleeing from the water.
It was such a shocking film that even the headteacher at our school was moved to make it the topic of assembly the morning after a TV screening. And I would join my friends in the playground recollections of the best gory bits.
It was one of a holy trinity of films I would watch on VHS when returning home from school (well, it was preferable to doing my homework), along with Star Wars and Raiders of the Lost Ark (the latter shared a 240 min tape with two-thirds of The Spy Who Loved Me, a movie featuring a different kind of Jaws. The tape ran out just after the Lotus launched itself into the sea…).
At first I was thrilled by the shark and the bloody deaths and the explosive finale, but the more I watched it, the more I realised that I really liked these guys: the landlubber cop, the cocky oceanographer, the old sea dog. That, of course, is the real secret to the film’s success; these characters are so rich and layered for a monster movie. This is famously put down to the delays in filming caused either by the weather or the faulty shark. These setbacks gave Spielberg and the actors added time to develop their characters. There’s never been a better argument for rehearsal time, something often lacking in the hectic schedules of film making.
It all inspired this fledgling 11 year-old filmmaker who had ambitious plans to remake it: all I needed was a film camera, a few willing classmates as cast and crew, and a papier mâché shark… You can see the flaw in my scheme already, can’t you?
Thankfully, those plans came to nothing but a few enthusiastic storyboards, but sooner or later some idiot will try to remake it. In the meantime, today’s celebrations have reminded me of this excellent documentary by super fan Jamie Benning.
Enjoy, and farewell and adieu to you fair Spanish ladies…
PAGE AND SCREEN: ROBOT OVERLORDS & GEMINI FORCE ONE
4.30-5.15pm
What are the differences between writing for the page or the screen? Find out in this session bringing together co-creator of Robot Overlords Mark Stay with the team behind Gemini Force One, MG Harris and Jamie Anderson.
Mark Stay will be talking about his experiences of writing both film script and novelisation for Robot Overlords, and sharing some behind the scenes insights; whilst MG Harris and Jamie Anderson will discuss how they collaborated on their new series, originally devised and developed by Thunderbirds creator Gerry Anderson before his death.
This should be great fun. The Gemini Force project is hugely exciting (especially if you’re a Gerry Anderson fan!), and over the whole weekend YALC will be hosting panels with the best names in YA lit, including Charlie Higson, Malorie Blackman, Joe Abercrombie and Patrick Ness, so you’re guaranteed to have a great time!
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…
Mark Stay Writes 