Blahblahblah making movies (or not)

You may have noticed that I've been away. You may recall I was taking a trip to England to make a no budget feature film. Now I'm back and I've got almost nothing to show for it.

Making a no budget feature film is a giant headache and relies on a lot of people doing a lot of work for next to no money or in most cases nothing except the experience and the pleasure of your company. In that kind of scenario you need to expect things to go wrong, or at least not as smoothly as you would like, especially in an industry that is as notoriously fraught with logistical nightmares and giant egos as film making.

I'm ready to accept that ultimately the failure of Good Times to get in to production is my own, as head of the production the buck stops with me but there's only so much one person can deal with and only so many times that person can be let down by broken promises before things reach tipping point.

During pre-production of Good Times I met some really great people who were willing to do anything they could to help my creative vision come to fruition but sadly they were few and far between and when it comes to outlining what caused my film to not get made they don't really factor in to the story, but just so you know, it wasn't all bad.

The majority of my experiences were bad, friends from film school who showed enthusiasm for the project, for finally getting out in to the world and making something that they trained for instead of sitting on the dole or in a call centre, were the first to let me down, from something "small" like not doing something they said they would do right through to taking back an offer of accommodation and leaving me homeless.

After that we move on to so-called industry professionals, and I'm talking about crew and actors here, people who didn't have the decency to return phone calls, text messages, emails or, you know, that other thing that people do when they can't make it to a meeting or simply changed their mind about a project, phone me and tell me so that I knew where I stood.

But most disappointing, from my point of view, was the equipment hire company who I was actually paying the majority of the budget to doing exactly the same thing. I can't see how a business can function with such bad service. Maybe this is just the way of the world and at 30 I'm old fashioned but to me this kind of behaviour is unacceptable in any walk of life.

So yes, no film to share, no trailer, no behind the scenes footage, nothing fun or exciting at all.

The trip wasn't a complete bust, I have one small video to share with the few of you who might care; I had the distinct pleasure of living with two members of the band The October Game whilst in England during the time they were preparing to release their third album, Balancing, and produced a promo video for them. Shot behind the scenes of the music video shoot for their first single We Built This Wall To Destroy It. I'm actually a big fan of the album and if you feel like checking it out you can find it on iTunes and direct from the label Scylla Records, something I highly recommend you do.

Currently Listening: Just Dreaming by Owen Stephen (2013)

You may recall the name Owen Stephen from the credits of my short film Until Now. The Hertfordshire, UK based singer-songwriter was responsible for composing and performing the original music in the film and now after six years of solid touring with a variety of live acts has released his debut EP, Just Dreaming.

Originally making his name as a bass player for English alt. rock band The October Game he has performed a variety of roles, including as part of former Savage Garden singer Darren Hayes' touring band on recent world tours and this debut EP demonstrates the confidence of a man who has mastered his craft in front of thousands of screaming fans. His sound belies his relatively minor stature in the world of pop music and instead of becoming shoe-gazey and introverted like a lot of fledgling singer-songwriters, Owen aims for the stars.

His experience playing stadium tours shines through, his songs are wide in scope, offering the kind of large radio friendly sound that characterises such acts as Matchbox 20, The Goo Goo Dolls and Third Eye Blind, complete with catchy choruses and soaring guitars. I expect that it is only a matter of time before he is called upon to provide a song for a massive Hollywood romantic drama.

Owen recently toured this EP coast to coast across America, supporting Ramin Karimloo and it is the country influenced track ‘Place Called Love’ that stands out on first listen. It also garnered a lot of attention for him with several radio appearances and a review from KKYR that was quite effusive in its praise, calling it "effervescent and reminiscent of fifties era rock and roll but with a bluesy, modern twist...the beat is catchy and joyful...perfect listening on a sunny summer day." The same could be said about the entire EP in fact.

He wears his influences on his sleeve with clear joy; taking in Tracy Chapman, the aforementioned American radio rock acts, Barenaked Ladies and Jack Johnson amongst others, and yet never sounds derivative. The only negative that I can draw is the lack of overall direction in the EP, these are six very enjoyable tracks on their own but as a collection they work better as a demonstration of Owen's enthusiasm for his music and his versatility as a songwriter. The variety of sounds give a disjointed feel to the whole which might not be so noticeable on a full length album, which I'm told will be released towards the end of 2013 or the early part of 2014.



I fully recommend downloading this album from Bandcamp and if you're so inclined follow Owen on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube for updates about live performances, new releases etc.

Comment below or why not tweet #justdreaming @bbbgtoby?

Blahblahblahgay Makes Movies: Until Now (2007) & Canard (2006)

You may remember that I posted a link to my short film, Until Now, in the recent past and that for some reason the music was missing from the upload. Well fear not I discovered the finished article in a drawer this week and have made it available on Vimeo. As before, I appreciate all feedback especially the constructive kind.

To bring the rest of you up to speed, this was my university graduation piece from 2007. A two man crew of myself and Simon Bonner, shot for around £200 if my memory serves me correctly. The script was a finalist in some international competition that was so unimportant to me (because I didn't win) that I have forgotten what it was called.

The all important rediscovered musical composition was written and recorded by Owen Stephen who has recently released his debut EP as a singer-songwriter. He can be found on facebook, twitter and bandcamp.

Until Now (2007) on Vimeo.

I'm working on something new for the first time in many years, so consider this a show reel page of sorts for when I start begging for help with expenses or making like I'm Zach Braff or whatever. Leah suggested I show you my other film as an example of how I prefer to use a camera and tell a story; so this is Canard, a short piece created for "Experimental Cinema" class. A video that one user has described as being "hypnotizing and relaxing...absolutely wonderful!"

So yeah, comment away by all means, I like it when you tweet me @bbbgtoby so do that too if you feel like it.