Making a Short Movie

In a summer of almost constant rain, there have been just a couple of dry, bright spots.

First, a family trip to Waterford, Ireland, to attend the Baha'i Summer School there. How come Ireland has a reputation for rain? I almost got sunstroke.

I can't speak about that trip without mentioning the attitude of the people there towards the arts. It seemed as if everyone I spoke to could play an instrument, paint, write poetry, or engage in some other form of creative expression. I find it hugely inspiring that people aren't prepared to leave creativity to an elite class of professional artists. Long may it continue.

The second dry and bright spot was the weekend when director Gav Irons set out to turn one of my short screenplays into a movie. It had been raining more-or-less solidly for months. But on the first day of the shoot the sun came out and shone down on us with such intensity that we had to apply plenty of the factor twenty to stay the same colour through the shoot.

Due to a last-minute cancellation by one of the actors, I had to step in and play the part of a somewhat unpleasant news reporter. Thus, suited and sweating, I found myself saying lines I'd written months before and imagined coming out of another person's mouth. It felt very strange.

The best thing about the weekend was working with such an excellent group of people. There were fourteen of us all-told. Behind the camera and in front of it, everyone did their bit with great skill and good humour. The contrast between novel writing and movie making seems sharpest in this - that novel writing is solitary whilst movie making is superbly collaborative.

The movie is called PIXECILLUS. When there is more news in that, I'll post it here.