Spike's Film Blog

This was easy enough to draft up, with reference to my storyboard and script - what it encouraged more than anything was a consideration of equipment needs and the practicality of actors on each of the two shooting days. All considered, I arranged for Stan (the Boy) and Alistair (the Spider) to travel to my house on the respective days and booked out the equipment. Furthermore, I've arranged for two friends to head over in order to aid the rigging of equipment and general help - with the dates set for next weekend I'm very excited to really get going. This will likely be the final post I make other than the uploading of my final film, with shooting and editing to be covered in my evaluation. As for how I handled those processes, you'll have to judge for yourself - but whatever my final product looks like, it is ultimately the conception, conjuration and development of HEADLESS CHICKEN that matters, to me at least. Signing off, Spike.

 The storyboards for Headless Chicken , hand-drawn with notations - the intention almost certainly being to use them as a guideline on-set and in pre-production, but just as essentially the very act of drawing them up served to stretch my mind visually. Considering shot types, movement and lighting, all to the effect of visual communication was another step towards really forming this story in a mode more tangible than just my imagination. I found myself particularly conscious of the styling and pacing of Slap as a visual reference, with the semi-skeletal and highly detailed profiles of the protagonist similarly thoughtful and evocative to the visage of troubled youth I want to portray. I can only hope that the equipment, lighting and conditions will align in order to capture the fragility of the boy, along with an eye for casting - this at least I think I have sorted, with a friend willing to hack it in the cold for a night.

LOG: A DISTURBED YOUNG ADULT FINDS HIMSELF INEXPLICABLY DRAWN TO THE DISTANT CRY OF A WAILING CHICKEN. FADE IN. - INT. YOUNG ADULT BEDROOM, NIGHT The WHITE NOISE of a spent record runs maddeningly alongside another sound, piercing and inexorable; a distant yet unmuffled WAILING OF CHICKENS. A window cracked half-open shines a white light into the room, mingling with the weak flicker of a small BEDSIDE LAMP that illuminates a lonely figure. Strung taught in fear under a thick duvet, tiny amongst the clutter of his bedroom lies our unfortunate protagonist of 18 years. A sweaty mess of hair and an unshaven chin define a shivering, grimacing face - deathly awake. Swaddled in sheets, his eyes fix strictly into nothingness, attention seized by the echoing cries. A jagged few seconds pass before he shoves the covers from himself and arises, half-naked. A cold dredge rattles up his spine. He slumps forward with the grace of a zombie, dragging towards the RECORD PLAYER; stumbling b...

It seems appropriate, now that I have a solid concept, synopsis and logline - along with consideration of the structure of my piece - to really nail down what it is I want to achieve on a larger scale. I have hinted and skimmed this topic before in reference to surrealist traditions, but I want to really pin it down in writing. The main drive behind my project as a whole, as I have stated before, is originality. I want to create something both unique and reflective of myself, something that is utterly unapologetic for being unusual. In theory, at least. Ever since studying the work of the surrealists, the way in which they bent the medium to their psychological ambitions has fascinated me - I don't, however, wish to imitate this exactly. I mean to use surrealist elements of narrative subversion and ambiguity to the effect of opening up my story to personal interpretation, but not to the limits of rending my story unwatchable or unattainable for the (presumably single-time) viewer...

With my idea asserted, a few tasks face me before I can realistically write my actual script: namely the introduction of a logline, plot synopsis, the use of a 3-act structure in relation to my story and the conception of what I want my film to do : the reasons and ambitions behind my thoughts. Logline:  A DISTURBED YOUNG ADULT FINDS HIMSELF INEXPLICABLY DRAWN TO THE DISTANT CRY OF A WAILING CHICKEN. This seemed to offer enough intrigue and a taste of the surrealist aspect of my story; enough basic substance of plot to offset the lack of distinguishable ambition. At the very least it's distinctive enough in my view to make the reader think through it again, if only subconsciously. Plot Synopsis: A young man begrudgingly wakes to the muffled sound of wailing chickens in distress. He resists at first, but when the noise becomes louder he cannot help but be drawn from his bed outside, to investigate the noise. He trawls through the garden, before confronting a chicken coop at th...

The next stage in development was the writing of a coherent screenplay - naturally, this needed practise and some guidance even despite my (albeit limited) previous experience, as this piece was to be assessed by professional standards. Taking three primary ideas (a nightmare narrative, a dark comedy of natural vengeance, a schoolboy drug kingpin), I evaluated each and essentially decided to begin to write the beginnings of each, with a mind for available resources, to decide which I would pursue in a creative and organic sense. By far the most vexing to write was the darkly comedic story; I found it almost impossible to relate the boy's body language and actions in a way that wouldn't come across as cheesy or cartoonish and at every turn, I doubted the abilities of myself as a director and of my friends as actors to pull off the subtle comedy that would be required. Blending the aspects of characterisation with moments of slapstick violence also proved difficult and as such,...