Flicks of The Year 2013

Howdo.  Xmas is nearly upon us.  Die Hard, Gremlins, Long Kiss Goodnight, Lethal Weapon are on loop. And unlike most I tend to keep my end of the year lists until...well, right until the end of the year.  

So below is a list of flicks I dug this year.  Again no real order and it also contains flicks that I found rather memorable, some of which that weren't even that good :  

Trance - Danny Boyle

The World's End - Edgar Wright

This Is The End - Seth Rogan and Evan Goldberg
Now You See Me - Louis Letterier
Django Unchained - Quintin Tarantino
Evil Dead - Fede Alvarez
A Place Beyond The Pines - Derek Cianfrance
Wreck It Ralph - Rich Moore
Filth - Jon S. Baird
Rush - Ron Howard
Gravity - Alfonso Curron
The Impossible - J.A Bayona
Only God Forgives - Nicolas Winding Refn
Alan Partridge : Alpha Papa - Declan Lowney
Motivational Growth - Don Thacker
Cloud Atlas - Tom Tykwer, Andy Wachowski and Lana Wachowski

Pacific Rim - Guillermo del Toro

The Wolverine - James Mangold

Piss poor variety really but still some cracking films on there.  And you'd forget that a Superman film came out this year too (poor).    I do need to see more foreign language (although I did see a few but nothing great).  More updates soon.  Comment below or on the various social sites.

See ya on the flip side, Danny.

New Screening ahead

Hello. Just like buses, hey?

Quick update. Another Film in The Woods is going to be screening at the Canterbury Arms, Brixton, as part of Exploding Cinema (the monthly film showcase) on Friday 8th November.

Looks like a great night kicking off at 7:30pm with DJ's, Film QnA's, and lots of other Bonfire Night festivities.

Gutted I can't make it, but I'm gonna try and get some of my London peeps to pop their heads in.

Hope to get some feedback if possible to.

See ya on the flip side - Danny

Finishes and Thank You's

Shoot finishsed. Day 3 shoot done and dusted.

We've bagged plenty of great footage over the past 3 weeks. Long days but worth it in the end, the rushes look superb.

Massive thank you to everyone who worked and helped out on the shoot. It wouldn't have been possible without you all and I'll always be grateful for it.

Thanks to:
Rachelle Shaw, Ryan Meehan, Julia Bisby, Rob Harris, Ed Cartledge, Mel Lampro, Braver Than Fiction (the rest of the band), The Rutland Arms, the staff, and The Film Pool.

Follow these people:
@braverthan
@film_pool
@dwarfmaiden

Now... The hard graft starts here.

See ya on the flip side - Danny

Shoot Day #2

Test

New Project Teaser...

Cahiers du Short Flick Review

Hey again!  Bet you never saw this one coming.

We've been hit by our first review folks.

The blog SHORTS AND SHIRTS reviews shorts on a regular basis.

Lee Hamilton watches a LOT of shorts and gives brief, sweet, and honest reviews by request. This time he gave his once over on Another Film in the Woods.

What did it say? Well, head HERE to read it in full with the film embedded into the blog.

Skipping to the end...he gave it a respectable 3 stars out of 5. Basically hit that Michael Bay/Paul WS Anderson benchmark they get from your mainstream critics. And with that comparison it would probably be a 2 star review if it were from the Guardian or troll movie website.  Tee-hee.

Anyway, as for its content...well, its very honest. As me and Chris knew, it notes the technical downfalls mainly from the sound recording of the dialogue. Personally, it seems fine but I'm that attached to it I can't separate myself from it. I know every line, so when a line is quiet I hear it clearer that normal (if that makes any sense). I think its more down to the fact its not clean enough than being decipherable.

It gives Amber Brookes a good overall review. It says she's very natural but notes her "lack of confidence on screen". For her first ever short film, its pretty good and she takes positives from it. She's already mentioned to me that she was nervous etc and takes the review on board. End of the day, this was my fault as there are only so many hats me and Chris could wear. We regret not taken more time with her and the other actresses more but the fact the acting overall is very good, this is a testament to how good they are themselves. The fact they stepped up, understood the characters, the direction and the rush for time - I can't thank them enough.

The biggest part I took from it was just clarity of the story. There's a fine line between very exposition centric, on the nose, or very subtle to explain plot points. I think I went too subtle. The review says the audio didn't help it, which can distract viewers, but I think that the big plot points aren't focused enough when presented.

Case in point from the review is why Mandy end's up in the woods and is chased. The reason was that she cheated on her fiancé. Its her sin. It's not on the nose, its a brief one line in her dialogue. This should have been focussed on, clarified more. Maybe a few more lines or dialogue to give it emphasis before she hits the woods.

The other point was how Mandy gets back home. Well, she begs forgiveness and says she's sorry. Repenting gets you home it seems. There's too big a gap from when she says this to when she gets back home. I think the Vicar character could've explained a theory about wanting forgiveness but they have to mean it (which the Vicar can't). That would've just added to the plot more.

Overall, for its faults he seemed to enjoy it. I take encouragement from that. I see it more like loving The Evil Dead. You can slate that film for its continuity, FX, etc some big technical basics but the film is great because its an experience - its fun, outlandish, and something different.

I tried to make our film fun, something from left field in terms of style (a dance music fuelled, 90's European tongue in cheek horror), as well as a change from dark, moody, horror/thriller's I tend to make. There was some ambition. 1 day shoot, 90+ shots, actions scenes, 2 man crew etc so with it came pitfalls. But also learning curves for next time.

And with that...some reminders.

-MERRIN- and the music video HENRY KANE.is going to get a screening at the SUPERNORMAL FESTIVAL the 9th - 11th August (clicky the link) in Oxfordshire.  Keep your mince-pies open drop us a message if you're going.

And don't forget you can still vote for the online festival that its currently doing the rounds here at the Shorts Non Stop Online Festival. Click the link, skip to the end, and click VOTE. Helpful tip...do it twice. Once over your phone data and once on your internet connection (it'll recognise your IP but not from your phone). Pass it on for others to vote and give it a push online via Twitter or Bookface.

Till next time. See ya on the flip side

Festival Season kicking off...

Heyo folks.  Hitting you with a quick update faster than a Jim Kelly (RIP) pimp roundhouse.

While I nurse a badly sprained ankle and float about high on painkillers, my good buddy Chris Purdie dropped some great news about his band -MERRIN- and the music video HENRY KANE.

The video is going to get a screening at the SUPERNORMAL FESTIVAL the 9th - 11th August (clicky the link) in Oxfordshire.

A breakdown of the programme is on the link. Below is a brief of the fest...

Supernormal is a festival like no other, providing a powerful antidote to the current malaise of festivals-as-big-business. Blurring the boundaries between art and music, performer and audience, it champions the iconoclastic and the experimental, allowing risks to be taken and leaps of imagination to occur. Somewhere in spirit between the original Glastonbury Fayre and an eccentric village fete, Supernormal is the alternative's alternative.

Pretty chuffed but slightly gutted as I know Chris has been trying to play that festival for a few years rather than screen a music video.

So, if you're out and about in toff-land or going the festival anyway, drop us a message and let me know what you think.
HENRY KANE by -M E R R I N- from Danny Naylor on Vimeo.

See ya on the flip side

Cushion for the Pushin'

Easy now, rude-boys (and girls).

The weather seems to be about as reliable as George Michael behind the wheel of a vehicle in old Blighty. Cracking sun one minute, drizzle of rain the next as though mother nature decided to spit down from the sky like a piss-head after too many Lambrini's.

Away from the bantrix and attempts at "wit", here's a few updates for your consideration and interest if you are that way inclined.

First up - Festival bashing. As you know I've been hitting the short ANOTHER FILM IN THE WOODS to a few festivals. The hitting is still ongoing and the wait for responses will still take its time. I'm sure there will be some hits and misses (more likely misses) but at least I'm trying.

Anyway, there is an online festival that its currently doing the rounds on here at the Shorts Non Stop Online Festival. Please feel free to vote on it, it would put a big old smile on my face and hopefully push it on further. The last winner had around 30 odd votes but I believe the judgement isn't around the votes. But either way, vote and pass it on for others to vote and give it a push online via Twitter or Bookface.

Next up - As that is a work in progress, what came and went last month for the Kino Shorts Experimental Short and Music Video night. A read of which you can find HERE. Below you'll see a excerpt of the interview QnA that took place last night with Jason Wingard. A top bloke who cleared house at the Virgin Media Shorts competition in 2011. A few chuckles and personally speaking I don't come across as a complete arsehole. A whinging arsehole, maybe, but not a complete one. Enjoy.

 

 More updates will get spat at cha'yall soon.

 See ya on the flip side. Danny.

-MERRIN- Screening

What a busy week. Always a good thing as it generally improves the monotony of the week, but as it drains the life out of you I've been taking shares out of Red Bull and Maxwell House.

My last blog I told you that there's was a screening of the music video Henry Kane -MERRIN- at the Black
Lion in Manchester on Wednesday

.

"Cut to the chase you blub, how did it go?" Well...Where were you? Just joking. In answer to the question, it went well. But it's an odd thing to gauge

It was only a small turn out, about 30 at a push in a upstairs screening room above a nice boozer not too far from Piccadilly station. There was some great music video's and experimental pieces that were shown throughout the night with most of the filmmakers there who took part in a Q and A after each screening.

As with most of these screenings I generally turn up to, something odd happens when I bump into someone I know or at least have working/know someone who has worked with them. In this case it was a director called Lee Bolton who runs Elerby Studios in Bolton. He had directed a music video for the band Blackheart who are, surprisingly enough, close friends of my wife's family and are currently on tour in Europe. Anyway, it was a good to break the ice so to speak, especially when I was flying solo with the worry that my video was going to make me look like a sadist.

As mentioned, there were some good videos. A short by Jason Wingard-Hasford who animates the rants of Artist Taxi Driver had me in stitches. A big highlight was screening of Biting Elbows video for Bad Motherfucker. Never seen it before and while its an already done concept, its execution is golden.

Anyway, back to Henry Kane. It was the last one of the night. Don't know if it was because of the tone and it suited a late night show, but hey, it meant I was getting home at half 1 in the morning after missing my train anyway so I was beyond caring.

The titles came up and those first bars kicked in....

 

I said before it was hard to gauge the reaction. It was similar to my Univeristy screening of Random at the Showroom Cinema, Sheffield in 2005. As the tone is dark, there's never any vocal reaction. There's no gasp, shock, or jumps (something I thought I'd get with Random back in the day) just pure silence. I can't even remember if it got a round of applause. I'm sure it did as everyone elses did, I just can't remember as I was going up for the Q and A and thinking out how to deflect the idea that I'm not some kind of fetish sex offender.

It was only in the Q and A that I got an idea that the video worked.

The Q and A was with another director from the night, his a far more personal and experimental series of films. I gave a brief overview of myself, what I've done, and the film itself. Hopefully the interviews get put up online as I'm sure I'll get rinsed for the blatant movie nerd cock-up (saying Henry Kane was a character in Phantasm rather than Poltergeist) as well as coming across like a whinging wannabe. 

Why do I say that? Well, I mentioned I want to get away from Horror genre and do something different because...I don't think I'm very good at it. The reply and consensus was? "It was pretty scary, mate."

And with that, I know it worked.  Silence can mean engagement, can mean they're "getting" it.  The biggest thing I'm enjoying with these screenings seems to be the fact that elements are working. Sure, there's loads to improve, but when you set out with a goal and it generally pulls it out the bag, you know you're on the right track.

Big thanks to Chris Purdie for letting me do the track, John Kino for putting the night on and showing the film, and everyone else that watched and "enjoyed" it.

And as for thanks...it always surprises me the amount of readers each post is getting. So if you're reading this, I say thank you. I seriously expected it to be about 5 people accidentally reading it. But no, 2000 views so far, nearly 300 of them last month. The short films too getting an insane amount of hits recently. Henry Kane hitting 500 views, Another Film in Woods 300. Imidiwan 800...True, its no Gangdam Style or Panda Sneezing hits, but its a start.

And you're from all over the world. So you American, Canadian, Russian, and European readers...drop a few comments, leave a message or two, good or bad. Its 2013 so social interaction won't get you convicted of abuse charges 30 odd years down the line, Opertation Yewtree style (Google it). And on that note...

See ya on the flip side...Danny

Mr Kane Returns....

Hello folks. Very long time since my last blog post.

You wanna know a reason? Well...nothing's been happening. Oh, apart from the personal life of getting married to my beautiful wife, honeymoon, work etc - you know, the non-interesting stuff that you didn't want to read on here.

Anyway, mixed in with all the jubilations, I haven't been slacking. In fact I've been getting up to speed with my festival submissions for...well, everything worthwhile. It may burn a hole in the pocket but I'm being selective on where I send them. The plus side of this is...

The music video HENRY KANE I directed for the atomsphereic, instrumental metal soloist -MERRIN- is going to get a screening in the city of Manchester next Wednesday.

"Where, you utter tusk!" I hear you say? Well, its for the KINO SHORTS 33 for this month (clicky the link). The venue is the THE BLACK LION in Salford and it kicks off at 7:15pm till 10:15pm.

My North Western buddies, come along. You've gotta pay for a ticket but you'll get to see me (worth the admission of course) because I'll be there. There's even a QNA session so if you do come, you can heckle the shit out of me and call me a sadist (I'm prepped for that question by the way, so come at me bro). If you're lazy, here's directions and it should be a stormer of a night.

Pretty cool and always a good feeling to get a flick shown as it makes it worthwhile. Will be throwing shout-outs to my good buddy Chris Purdie and his band and having a few mild-ales.  But if you can't make it, spend a few minutes checking the video below out and feel free to comment and support (if not boo to you). 

Hoping this is a good omen for other festivals later this year. I'll keep you all posted.

 
HENRY KANE by -M E R R I N- from Danny Naylor on Vimeo.

See ya on the flip side