FIRST POST

This new blog will cover my Final Major Project at the Hereford College of Arts. If you don't know already, my most recent project is being continually showed with the Hereford Museum.

However, this is an entirely different project.

The script comes from an original idea I came up with over the previous summer
(summer 2009) which followed the story of a soldier returning home from World War II and having trouble adapting to home life. My brief was also to give three seperate pitches to propose that they are filmed and the one that my tutor liked the most out of all of them would be used.

The first pitch followed the story of a terrorist whose guilt over a man he murdered comes out when he meets the victim's girlfriend. It was sort of a film based on the world of the IRA and films such as "Odd man out" and "Fifty Dead men Walking".

The second was a more whimsical story where a man meets a flirtatious and sweet natured woman in a train carriage who coincidentally gets off at the same station and checks in at the same hotel as him but he unwittingly discovers that she's an assassin.

As you might have guessed from reading this post, the story of the soldier returning home was chosen. Fortunately, none of these concepts were concepts I wouldn't have been entheusiastic about making (something which I worked very hard on doing).

The script has been changed to the present day, which is relevant in the current situation that the British Army faces today. It has undergone some degree of change but not a huge amount. However, what change that I have made to it is fairly significant as I feel it is much stronger as a result.

Another challenge facing me at the moment is casting as I have to use professional actors as part of my brief. My fellow colleagues have been organising auditions and like myself looking at agencies. However, I have my eye on someone who may well be more than suitable for the role of Guy's wife Sylvia.

Alex Reid, who has performed in a number of independent Film and Television productions is currently my primary choice. She has also done a number of short independent films and has a mild degree of recognition so having her on board will be a boost to the project. I'm drafting an e-mail to her agency but at the moment I'm not too sure as to whether I should send a draft of the script in the opening e-mail or not.

Finding someone to play the character of Guy may also be difficult but I haven't found anybody yet either. That is something I want to speak with James about ASAP. Most actors I know would be far too young to fit the role.

The daughter character of Esme might be a little bit easier to find as I can ask youth drama groups a little more freely (The courtyard youth theatre for example) as I won't be needing a professional actor to play Guy and Esme's daughter.