Year in Review...PART TWO: ELECTRIC BOOGALOO

Films of the year 2014. (Part One in review is HERE)

I have to say, this year has been an absolute stunner.  Compared to last years HERE, the quality, variety, and balls of some mainstream and indie movies has been outstanding (complete with some guilty pleasures).  Every week something came along and sucker punched me in the chops.

Again no real order.  If you ain't checked them out...what are you waiting for?

The Raid 2 - Gareth Evans
How to Train Your Dragon 2 - Dean DeBlois
Under The Skin - Jonathan Glazer
Nightcrawler - Dan Gilroy
The Babadook - Jennifer Kent
Gone Girl - David Fincher
Snowpiercer - Bong Joon-Ho
Interstellar - Christopher Nolan
Housebound - Gerard Johnstone
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Jonathan Liebesman
Dawn of the Planet of The Apes - Matt Reeves
Maps to The Stars - David Cronenberg
The Guest - Adam Wingard
Guardians of The Galaxy - James Gunn
Cold in July - Jim Mickle
Edge of Tomorrow - Doug Liman
Joe - David Gordon Green
Godzilla - Gareth Edwards

Honourable mentions -
The Machine - Caradog W. James (someone to watch out for)
Dom Hemingway - Richard Shepard (Jude Law turned into a real man's man actor)

Adding to this was Celluloid Screams Horror Festival 2014.  Which I have to say had more variety, surprises, and quality than previous years.  Here's what went off -

The Canadian Troma-esque troop Astron 6 ('Manborg', 'Fathers Day') were there with their new flick 'The Editor' - a Giallo (Italian slasher/horror films from the 70's and 80's) piss take. Fair play to them, they were at every screening over the entire weekend.  I would've buggered off after the film, but no, they stayed and met with lots of fans.  Good guys.

They also brought Lawrence Harvey who pops up in the 'The Editor'.  Really nice bloke.  However, seeing him just standing there after you've left the toilet did make me have a sleepless night.  If you don't know who he is, go see The Human Centipede 2.

Yeah, he's that guy.

Anyway - the biggy was meeting the big man below - Brian Yuzna.  Director of 'Society' and 'Return of The Living Dead III', as well as writer of 'Re-Animator', 'From Beyond', and...'Honey I Shrunk The Kids'.

The man is an absolute legend and also the nicest bloke you'll ever meet.  All he wanted to do was talk movies.  Had the pleasure of a brief chat with him after the QnA over ran - could easily have spent hours talking over his films.

Another fanboy moment was getting to meet Graham Humphrey.  "Who the fuck?"  You ask.  Here the fuck...

Go re-educate yourself when you see the art the man has created HERE.  When you've created iconic posters like the one above, you'll pay respect where its due.

As for the movies?  Well apart from seeing an all time fave 'Society' in a 35mm print, only two really stood out that I saw.

The first was 'Housebound'.  A New Zealand effort from director Gerard Johnstone.  Apart from thinking that the only thing New Zealand churned out were films about sheep and Hobbits, this little gem pops up.  Like a laid back version of 'The Burbs' meets 'People Under the Stairs' the film was funny, clever, witty, and had enough invention to set it above the usual horror fodder.

The 2nd impressive movie was actually a short film called 'Ink' which had its première.  While I find 98% of short films nowadays either a drawn out scene or FX reel, the short by Glasgow filmmaker Andy Stewart gave everyone a slap across the arse and made people take notice.

The short is a final film in a body-horror trilogy he's made, each with a similar theme but with noticeably bigger budgets.  However, its the overall craft of tension building coupled with the what-to-show-and-what-not-to-show-nature of each film stays constant and what makes it stand out.  It's one of the best shorts I've seen.

Go check out his first flick HERE.  His website HERE.  And follow the chunt on twatter HERE.  He's gained a fan from moi and you should like it too.

So that's that.  A list of great flicks, fun flicks, and ones to make you say "you liked that shite?".
  
See ya on the flip side in 2015, Danny.

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

A gentle reminder...

Hello mucko's,

A little bit of a gentle poke to remind you good people that Another Film in the Woods will be playing at Showroom Shorts tomorrow (Tuesday 20th November).

I'll be spamming book of the face and twatter with further details but as this is another reminder...there's a few short films playing and a little bit of a birthday bash going on that kicks off at 7:30pm till 10pm.

The short is scheduled to be 2nd to last on, around 9:15pm - 9:30pm in the Showroom bar area.  Drop me an email/message/text/phone call/postcard/letter if your coming or want further info and I'll enlighten you.

I'll be there at 7:30pm till 8:15pm as I'll be running off to one of the screening rooms to watch a flick.  But I'll be out at 9:10pm for the rest of the night.  

And if you didn't know...its free.

ANOTHER FILM IN THE WOODS from Danny Naylor on Vimeo.

See ya on the flip side, Danny.

Screening of the Woods

Hey good lookin', whatcha been cookin'?

Currently having a very productive week away from the monotony of the 9 to 5.  What have I been doing?  Pretty much as little as possible aka old school fuck all (bath swishing and the like).  In between the nothingness, there's been a wind down of script re-writing and movie watching.

Anyway, as no one really gives a fuck about what I've been up to privately, its time for an update of the short opus that is Another Film in The Woods.

I was disappointed it didn't get into the 2 Days Later Competition. They've posted the winners up and...I enjoyed them.

The main winner has a good concept but severely overlong. The audience winner was funny. A bastardised product of the Human Centipede/Hostel torture porn "genre" where abusing innocent characters in amusingly gory ways without a real point apart from having a cheeky premise (Kebab shop owners is a nutcase) seems to be popular. Anyway, check em out and see what you think.

Compared to Woods? Make you're own mind up. I'm not bitter.

Which leads on to...Its getting screened in Sheffield! The film will be playing at the Showroom Shorts this Tuesday 20th November.

There's a few short films playing and a little bit of a birthday bash going on that kicks off at 7:30pm till 10pm. I'll be dotting about as ironically enough, I've tickets to see Army of Darkness (aka Evil Dead 3) on the same night.

Anyway, its free. So if you can come, let me know and I'll hopefully meet up with you for a chuckle. I'll abuse Facebook and Twitter to spam you all.

I'm off to listen to the new DEFTONES album.

ANOTHER FILM IN THE WOODS from Danny Naylor on Vimeo.

See ya on the flip side, Danny.

'ANOTHER FILM IN THE WOODS' is here!

Well, well, well then...

No OTT introduction.  No hype.  No ridiculous build up.

Watch.  Enjoy.  Comment.   Be gentle.


"Another Film In The Woods"
Woke up.  Bought Breakfast.  Had to survive.

A horror short where 'Run Lola Run' meets 'The Evil Dead'. On the way back from picking up breakfast, Mandy falls into mysterious and dangerous woodland where she has to run for her life and hope to make it home in one piece. 

See ya on the flip side, Danny.

Not the face...please...

Well, hello young roughiuns.

Punt a blog time while I sup a cup of Twinings Rich & Velvity smooth cwwwooofee and reflect on viewing a few depressing films over the weekend (Killer Joe, Tyrannosaurs, Inside Job)...

Anyway, updates smashed up on Vimeo. So if you're bored of watching blokes with snazzy camera lenses rendering shit in slow-mo on FCPro, check it out. Add me, slate me, do whatever that takes your mind from knowing you've wasted brain-cells commenting on something so meaningless.

Also, I've done a few promo posters for a couple of scripts, being that its apparently the "in thing" to do nowadays. Check out the Flickr stream to the right.

Back on to ventures of the month. I've been eying this for a few years, the 2dayslater film competition. Basically, they set out a brief which mainly involves certain items that the film has to have or a saying and you make a 10 minute short film in 2 days (supposidly, although there will be some cheating bastards). So, I've roped in Chris Earl again to see if we can bang something up together. I've got an idea...but keep thinking there's gonna be shit-loads of films set in the woods (its simple, its convenient, I get it) where shit goes off. So I dunno where to go...brainstorming is needed.

In other news...another rejection from Bath Film Festival IMDb Script to Screen competition. One maybe thinks about pulling out the most offensive thing I've ever written (if I can find it) and maybe put it forward for something.

There's still a few more in the wings (Amazon Studios, Back In the Box, etc) so when someone once asked me if I've ever paid my dues, I said; "Paid my dues? Yes, sir. The cheque is in the mail."

See ya on the flip side...Danny

Red Planet Fail

Ah yes....been a long time.

Anyway, got the dreaded email from the Red Planet Prize saying yo ass aint going to Mars.

Not really much of a surprise as when I read over the submission I sent...it was full of typo's. It pissed me off when I found out, but what can you do? Could've pinned my hopes on them liking the content and dismissing the errors, but then again its more than likely they hated the idea anyway so fuck it.

Getting good feedback on the feature script. All usable. All worthwhile. Quite happy with it and the response.

Time to polish (not the nob) up and eyeball competitions for 2012. Ye-fuckin-ha.

See ya on the flip side...Danny

FINALLY!!!!

"The Rock has come BACK"...we'll, not as awesome as TeamBringIt stomping all over the show but in my personal war of bringing foot to arse, I can happily report I have FINALLY finished my latest screenplay.

"Why are YOU so fuckin' happy?"  You may ask, well...this one has been a toughie.  I've tried to write at least one a year, and I did...till I began to write this ball-buster of a feature which I began tackling on 23rd September 2008 on the back of a successful pitch at a script writing seminar.  And yes, oh dear it took 3 years to write.  Now, its not the Godfather by any means but generally this was down to other "commitments" and the like.  But a large chunk was down to the story, the tone, and the struggle to write an anarchic black comedy heavy on the violence, light on being P.C that didn't end up being a Troma film.

I haven't read it over yet but I know instantly what needs to go, what needs to change.  The first 60 pages seems to be a mess but the rest seems clear and concise as it clocks in at 150 pages (WHOA!).  But that's the future.  The big thing now is that it's done, that all important 1st draft is done.  The hard work of refinement begins now.

Addition to this, while feeling like it was a large rock on my shoulders creatively (twat!) that has now lifted, its time for the Red Planet Prize competition.  No chance of getting anything out of it, but 2012 is just gonna be the year of hammering the comps and festivals...and also making something again after the 2Weeks2Makeit endeavour last year.

Kicking a mud-hole into 2012's bitch ass mo'fucker as Xzibit would say.  Rather...

See ya on the flip side...Danny.

Student Filmage...

Two blogs? In the space of a week? Stop whinging!

Anyway, short and sweet. As you know, Vimeo is our friend. Treat that friend with a nice night in and spend sometime checking out my student flicks from back in the day. RANDOM and CLARITY.

Both shot in my student years back in 2005 when no one knew what the fuck an IPhone even was. Clarity is the short and sweet number. It was shortlisted back in 2008 for a Horror festival judged by James Mullighan, Creative Director of Shooting People, makers of cult film The Zombie Diaries, Kevin Gates and Michael Bartlett and Ken Marshall, producer of the award winning LONDON TO BRIGHTON.

Random is the epic beast of a final year short I ended up shuffling around a few festivals such as the Leith Short Film Festival (now theEdinburgh Short Film Festival). Its 20 odd minutes long, so if you have some spare time check it out.

Anyway, dont be scared of leaving comments and reviews on the site, the blog etc as well as on RANDOM'S IMDB PAGE.

Chuckle, rinse, recollect the fun times or just lampoon this piss out of em. Feel free...bigger things await.

See ya on the flip side...Danny

Video killed the radio star....

Belting song that is.

Anyway, nothing much to report. But I do have my head down and I feel jazzy-jeff that I'm pushing some creativity out of my system. Will blog about that nearer the future.

In the meantime, as YouTube isnt the only place to find talking dogs and crazy ladies that sing about their genitals, I have created a VIMEO page full of delights.

So head over to Dereks Dont Run Films VIMEO if you dont like our YouTube page.

See ya on the flip side...Danny