I recently participated in my second 48 hour short film competition, helping out the lovely Cat & Jo, as well as Mooch. It does what it says on the tin, essentially you need to come up with a concept, write a script, shoot and edit a short film in 48 hours all based on a theme that they give you at the start of the stint. The theme this year was ‘War’ or ‘Peace’. The film was called “Make Piece”.

We have been fortunate enough to get our hands on the Canon 5D Mark II. We shot entirely on there, using some in camera sound, but recorded most sound on a separate camera. The 5D is a magnificent camera, pumping out beautiful, crisp, high quality footage, but of course comes with the downside of being 30 frames per second. So we had to deal with that side of things within the 48 Hours as well!

It was freezing cold on the day, we spent the morning out on the beach in Southend-on-sea and then went to a factory. This factory had the most amazing equipment that all had a specific purpose.

Anyway here is the end result. If you are interested.

If you haven’t heard about it, a crazy comedian, Mark Watson, occassionally hosts a 24 hour show. He has done them in Edinburgh and in Melbourne. I had heard about them for a while, but was never in the position to go. So when I heard he was hosting one this year, and that it would be the last one ever, well I had to go didn’t I?

I didn’t know what to really expect. There’s a lot of activity during the night, but then I never hear about the aftermath or how it all went. There were perhaps 70 or so people, we were squeezed into a room, that had no air conditioning, not much by way of drink/food access and you had to walk half a block to get to the toilet. The energy and the atmosphere in the room was enough to keep you going for the entire 24 hours. We as an audience were sitting on our butts for most of the 24 hours but Mark was pretty much on his feet, having to be nice, entertaining and being a general host for the whole night.

My intention was to stay the full length of the gig. It started at 01:00 on Tuesday 18th of August 2009. Previously i endured a 9 hour bus ride overnight on the Megabus from London to Edinburgh. I slept for maybe 2 hours, then unpacked quickly, had a quick bite to eat, and headed onto to some other comedy shows I had already booked in. Straight after those, no time for more sleep, headed to the Pleasance Dome for the start of the 24 hour stint. I was thoroughly unprepared for this gig. I didn’t bring water, didn’t bring food, deodarant, cushion or blankets. All I had was a large bag of sweets, which I then ate over the course of the 24 hours.

The gig actually started 20 minutes late. This threw everyone off because we couldn’t really celebrate each hour passing at the o’clock we hadn’t really stayed for the full hour. So began a discussion on how to overcome this situation. Well about 15 different options were proposed by various members of the audience and comedians. Eventually it boiled down to two options:

1. Move the clock on the computer 20 minutes back, convincing ourselves that it was actually only 1 o’clock. Thus creating a new time zone within the gig called New Scottish Time (NST for short)

2. Keep going as per usual and just add a 40 min encore that would take us up to the o’clock mark

Two members of the audience were the main driving force between New Scottish Time, whereas Adam Hills threw his weight behind an Encore. A vote was taken and the audience agreed that New Scottish Time was the way forward. But why stop at just the gig? We had all deluded ourselves that New Scottish Time was a legitimate time zone and thus began the quest to convince the public that NST was here to stay. To put weight behind the story, it was ‘discovered’ that the UK was located 240 miles to the west of where it should be. All maps would need to be re-drawn and the NST should be employed. We put in entries in wikipedia. It kept getting taken down. A press release was written under the guise of the University of Edinburgh. News crews picked up on it, BBC, CNN were calling the university.

Rove McManus twittered about it in Oz. All the comedians began checking their phones trying to find out who they could convince to write or spread the word about NST. It was discovered that Simon Amstell had Stephen Fry’s mobile number in his phone. Well, this just opened up a world of possibilities. Such a huge twitter network! Stephen tweeted twice.

For the rest of the gig, any newcomers were specifically asked … so what time is it? Falling into the NST trap.

In addition, Sammy J arrived and as is tradition, dressed up in clothing from the audience. We managed to fit 50 items on him. He was despatched to Edinburgh Airport along with Heath McIver and Dave Quirk to try to convince the airport to switch to New Scottish time to avoid collisions in the sky.

We also played “What’s the New Scottish Time, Mr. Wolf?” Resulting in Mark prematurely trying to attack a sheep.

Some other events/tasks that took place that night:

* There was a triple jump off competition between David O’Doherty, Dan Walmsley, Dan Atkinson and John Bishop. DOD and John both did theirs in their pants (undies for us Aussies). DOD pulled it out of the bag and beat Dan Atkinson on the final jump.

* There was a dance off between Mark and DOD, DOD tried to do the snake and robot dance and ended up rutting a big cardboard cut out of Rhod Gilbert instead.

* Chris Cox dazzled us with his mind reading skills on multiple occassions.

* Chris Cox and Mark attempted to punch Brendon Burns.

* Adam Hills always wanted to take an entourage to his gig, so he fulfilled his dream that night. A group of girls were chosen to accompany him to his gig, they went into Starbucks and flanked him while he ordered, they brought him out on stage, and remained on stage for the entire gig.

* Simon Amstell participated in blind date

* DOD introduced at the start of the night the idea of singing a Christmas carol every hour finishing with “Do they know it’s Xmas Time”

* Tiernan Douieb became our onstage pet (decorating balloons)

* Adam Hills opening the Kirkcaldy comedy festival with Emma and Al Kennedy, visiting Gordon Brown’s local office and giving them a letter stating the claim for the introduction of New Scottish Time

* Mark wore his Producers clothes for a period

* Matt Crosby from Pappy’s fun club date to see Antichrist with a member of the audience

* All the aussies on stage for rendition of 6 white boomers

* Everyone’s attempt at getting Bono or the Proclaimers to come to the gig

* A Unicyclist trying to teach Mark how to cycle (tradition – he apparently can’t ride a bike)

* Oompa band doing Queen Bohemian Rhapsody

* Introduction of the revolutionary product called the Slanket (it’s a blanket with sleeves)

* Hugging competition to win a slanket

* An audience member got a tattoo that said Mark Watson Edinburgh 09

* we moved across 3 venues throughout the night

And finally the Comedian Guests: Simon Amstell, Tim Key, David O’Doherty, Dan Atkinson, Chris Cox, John Bishop, Lionel Blair, Stephen K Amos, Lloyd Langford, Idiots of Ants, Phil Nichol, Ali McGregor, Josie Long (over Skype), Sammy J and of course Adam Hills plus many more I am sure.

All in all it was certainly a gig I may never do again in my life. So it was nice to be part of something like that once.

I am huge fan of noodles.

I visited a Ramen museum in ShinYokohama, Japan. I am a facebook fan of the famous ‘Chinese Noodle Restaurant‘ in Sydney. Being in the UK, it is difficult to get fresh asian ingredients. When I was in Australia, I just had to go to my local shops and I could pick up my favourite rice noodles ‘Ho-Fun’. The only place I have managed to find them in London is pretty much in Chinatown. Not only that but it costs £2 for a small packet. I used to pay AUS$2 for 1kg worth.
I stumbled upon Lo’s Noodle Factory yesterday and my gosh. It’s fantastic! You go through a side alley off Wardour Street, and walk into what looks like some strange butcher. It has a conveyer belt that has rows and rows of rice noodles all lined up. I didn’t quite know where to look. Rice noodles everywhere. I’m getting quite giddy thinking about it. They are open to the public and it cost me £1 for a big pack. So I am a bit put out by the fact that I didn’t discover this place sooner.

I recently participated in the London Friday Night Skate organised Easter bash the Easter Stroll. Essentially, it’s a bunch of rollerbladers who have gathered together and pound the cobblestones of London every Sunday (weather permitting). This one was Easter themed, so naturally they had a wide variety of chickens, lead by the head Chicken. It was a great way to see the city, be part of something incredibly cool and just be able to skate again.

Question is, Where’s Wally?

Thanks to Maximillian_Viking and skate roggie’s flickr images for the above

I sometimes find it difficult to sleep. So at night I listen to my iPod to kind of clear my mind. Not music, but podcasts. The most recent one I have been listening to is the Radio 4 show Banter. Essentially, it’s four comedians discussing their top 3’s to a variety of topics. I thought I’d list one of mine but extend it a little to top 5.

I still love kids books. I have tried to keep as many of my kids books as possible, but there are some that I can’t find anymore. I therefore find myself browsing the kids book section to see if I can find them again.

There are many authors that could have fit this list. Ann M. Martin (The Baby Sitters Club), J.R.R Tolkien (Lord of the Rings, duh), John Marsden (Dear Miffy), David McRobbie (Mandragora), Beatrix Potter (The Adventures of Peter Rabbit), Jacqueline Wilson (Double Act), Gary Crew (The Watertower), Margaret Clark (Care Factor Zero), Morris Gleitzman (Blabbermouth) and , ahh so many, but I can only include top 5. So here we go…

1. Roald Dahl:
A pretty obvious choice. Anyone who can write stories about giants, witches, gifted children, elevators made out of glass and enormous fruit gets a vote from me.

2. Judy Blume:
I was introduced to Judy Blume when I was in year 4 and my teacher got into the habit of reading books to us. She started reading ‘Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing’ and I absolutely loved hearing stories about Fudge. I then discovered her other books and I am sure many women can agree they were great when you were growing up.

3. Paul Jennings:
Probably my favourite Australian author. They even made my favourite Australian TV series ever (Round The Twist) based from his short stories. I got sent a graphic novel of the Round the Twist series from Paul Jennings that was signed … a highlight.

4. J.K. Rowling:
Alright, controversial because she has only written the one series unlike the other authors on my list, but what a series.

5. Diane Bates:
Probably not as well known as the ones above, but when everyone in the school library had borrowed all of the cool books, and I was too slow I had to find something else. I stumbled upon the Grandma Cadbury series, essentially about a Grandma who is still out and about and active, taking her grandson on adventures.

As my mood changes, or different things happen in my life this list will change. That’s what I find fantastic about books, they evoke different memories or feelings at the point in time that you read them. I suppose that is why I have two Australian authors in my list, because they were entwined with my childhood. As Children’s books should…

I left my blog for way too long. You know the usual excuses … I don’t have internet access, I have nothing to write blah blah blah. Slap myself on the wrist. I must keep writing.

For one thing recently there was much snow in London. Not being from London it’s quite a giddy experience watching white stuff fall from the sky as opposed to fat rain drops.

So will start posting again…

It’s funny how things work out. When you aren’t working you want to work, when you are you want some time to relax. I will get the time to do a proper post. There are a few things that have happened:
- A month worth of work
- A work Christmas party (first one!)
- cold weather
- moving into a flat! yay

And then of course there is Christmas!

So here’s the story. I left the comfort of a great job, surrounded by great people, on the road to a good career, with some great friends, in a beautiful country where the sun shines. What did I decide to do? Chuck it all in, move to the UK and try to get a job in one of the most notorious industries for being incredibly difficult to get a start! The lovely land of Film and TV. HA! I love a challenge.

So what I’d thought I’d do, is plot my path so far. I think for me, as a learning curve, to look back on this time, and to really appreciate this experience, I need to write it all out.
First off, went travelling. Probably the best thing to do to get some life experience, visit some countries, see some new things and overall just relax and not think about things too seriously. I mean the only stressful thing to think about was, where should we go today? What should I eat? Nice!
Secondly, I was fortunate to have a partner in crime. That is my sister. Thankfully, she’s been around, and it’s great just to have someone to talk to, and also to have a familiar face.

So when I arrived in London, what did I do? Well, what everyone does who has been on holiday. Bummed around a bit! Did some touristy stuff, went to see all the sights etc. Then came the moment of realisation after catching up with some friends here who are established here in the UK. “Crap, I don’t have a job, and haven’t really done much about it!”. Ok, so out comes my shiny mcshine laptop. Start, and restart doing my CV. My current one isn’t going to cut it, too wordy. Good for what I was currently doing, although in truth, people tend to hire people based on word of mouth, references and reputation rather than a piece of paper. So I blew off the dust, wiped away the cobwebs of my CV and slimmed it down. I changed format from Word. By the way, I hate word. I think it sucks. Formatting wise it doesn’t work. When you insert a pic it stuffs everything up. Anyway, so I decided to actually put my CV into Excel instead. The great thing is, it is really easy to add to it, delete, and mix things around. And in actual fact looks a lot cleaner, and I can fit more in, especially for production projects where it really is a list of credits. So my CV was more streamlined.

I began approaching companies. Since I have the bare minimum of contacts here in London, and in particular in film & tv, it would be starting from square one. But hey, that’s what it’s all about. If it was easy wouldn’t I be doing this in Oz instead? So I began cold calling companies, spending hours searching for not just the right companies, but also the right people. Luckily, I am quite good when it comes to searching for things online, and managed to extract some good names.

So far, I have come to realise it’s a combination of
a. Luck
b. timing
c. persistence
d. contacts

Although in truth, the above isn’t surprising. What a time to try to get some work though. It’s heading towards Christmas and we’re in the middle of a financial crisis. Way to go!

Luckily, the Producer at Quiet Storm Films, extended me an opportunity. I will never forget the fact that they extended this opportunity to me, it has been a blessing. I worked in their office, helping the team out in preparation for a few shoots. They were shooting a short film and a music video for a charity called Bondage for Freedom. Bondage for Freedom is the charity arm of the company Coco De Mer, which is headed up by Sam Roddick (daughter of Anita Roddick, founder of the Body Shop). She, alongside Jamie Catto (Faithless fame), pulled in Quiet Storm to produce these pieces to raise awareness of freedom of speech as well as justice. So I helped out on the shoots, worked with two amazing creative directors, worked with some fantastic crew, and became involved in very hectic but professional shoots. What did it prove for me? That this is what I wanted to do. I loved every minute of it. Sure there were late finishes and early rises. Sure I woke up the next morning with sore arms and legs from lifting and running everywhere. But it was worth it. I have the bug.

So what now? Well I did what I was doing before helping out at Quiet Storm, trying to uncover contacts and contacting as many as possible. It has been an interesting experience, because you contact about 50 + people, and may get one lukewarm hit. I have two contacts that have mentioned that they will be crewing for some shoots in Jan 09. So that’s pretty cool. And also got another contact that offers internship at their production company from a development capacity, which is quite exciting considering this is the very front end of a production, and the very start of the whole process.

I also managed to go in for three interviews, one an animation production company and two post production houses. All three are incredibly different, on different scale and of course two being post as opposed to a production house, different stages of projects. But so far, one has offered me the opportunity to come in for a trial, which is great news! I am really looking forward to it, if it does work out, I’ll be working for an award winning, reputable, global post house, therefore the opportunities are great.

On another note, I also have two contacts who are meeting me in the next couple of weeks. A chance to really pick their brains, see if there is anything on the horizon that could come up. So I am really excited.

My aim is to try to get as much experience as possible. Unlike other people who visit the UK from Oz, I don’t have the advantage of an ancestry visa, so for me it is about making the most of the limited time I have. And getting as much experience as possible, on as many projects.

Change is a coming, and I am getting all excited. So although I have been getting many slammed, or politely shut doors in the face. There are a couple of doors that are slightly ajar. I hope they lead somewhere and that I don’t look back.

–Completely self indulgent post–

What a classic. He is amazing. What an actor. In a nutshell that is acting!

It’s been a week of firsts. First snow, first cold snap and first Banksy. Too this close to soho. Need to keep my eyes peeled now to find some more. Apparently this one is fresh. And limited time offer too.