Limerence :: The Movie

BBC rejection

2008-08-01T10:08:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately (for me) I was given notice on 30th July that the BBC have rejected the opportunity to develop 'Limerence'.

I don't really know the next step as I don't have an agent and there aren't exactly a flood of production companies willing to take a chance on funding an unknown's film.

I shall take stock and plan my next move.

More location pictures

2008-07-28T12:48:00.000-07:00

More random location stills.

Decided to tackle a local field which is the location I envisaged when writing the part of the story on and around page 211. Practically speaking this is probably not the best location seeing as local activities include fire starting and bottle throwing.. but, you get the idea.

First one is the basic set up, the band set up in front of the trees.

Another shot of the same thing here, just a different angle. And, as it goes, the more I think about it, the more I think in front of the trees may not be such a good idea. Time will tell.

On Page 213, after the field gig, two of the characters (Trout and Tony) are accosted by a couple of Park rangers who find themselves ridiculed. Below is the wall they would be sat on.

Or.. something like that anyway. Some of this is vague, some of it is visualised almost as I like it, others are just a guide.

First Location idea stills

2008-07-20T01:14:00.000-07:00

So the past week I combined holidaying with the taking of some initial location stills, if only to give a greater idea to anyone reading the story of the settings. Admittedly the holidaying / photography ratio was favoured overwhelmingly by the holidaying, nonetheless a couple of pictures were taken. And not even by me, by my good lady. I had attempted to start storyboarding but when she reliably informed me that my guitar case looked like a machine gun, I decided to hang up the lead drawing instruments and leave as much in the way of visualisation as I could to her.

Ah, the Havana bar in Ingoldmells, on the beach no less, a fine place to start your morning. Unless I'm mistaken they don't do breakfast. It's the setting for either the bar scene on page 200 or 235 (235 being the penultimate scene in the story). I started out believing that it would be better in the scene in 200, that's how I worked out, but fate transpired to give me an alternative.

The alternative, you may say, is merely an indication that I spent all my time in bars. That is untrue! Very untrue! The curse (or gift, some may think) of writing is that no matter how accomplished you feel your final piece is, after having spent so long consumed in writing your story, and then it's just over, you suddenly start to discover lots and lots of things or new ideas that would have been excellent in the story. So was the case in "The Garden City" pub in Skegness, where the excitement of a stage in a bar was enough to give me food for thought in regards the changing of two locations. It doesn't make a great deal of difference to the reader of the story, nor really the potential viewer, but to me it looks better. Now I believe that the bar above works better as the bar on page 200, while the other works better on 235.

Having always known the setting for the final scene I don't think I would ever encounter the problem I had above. A Northern England non-pebble beach. Hardly the most glamorous of settings and perhaps a slight element of cheese factor, I just feel that it's perfect given the path of the characters in the story.

There is more to come - as you can tell already, these pictures are not in any particular order. Apologies for the lopsided-ness of the pictures, I will be uploading an online picture diary at some point in the near future so all pictures will be okay to see.

The Soundtrack

2008-07-11T01:10:00.000-07:00

Before I get into writing this, I must stress that any music and any artists I propose for use in any production of my screenplay will be subject to agreement with the artists and representations, and as everything, subject to change anyway. Consider any songs listed purely as fantasy at this point.

A soundtrack can be as powerful a tool in a picture as the setting, action or dialogue, sometimes even more so. Sofia Coppola's Kevin Shields based sound for Lost in Translation was an incredibly powerful choice, while there is the legend of John Carpenter presenting his horror classic "Halloween" to a female exec who found it "not scary at all" minus sound effects and music.

I won't pretend that in writing 'Limerence' that I would think I could have adopted such a powerful presence as those two movies, they are unique. What I have done however is attempted to portray the emotion of the characters with the mood of the music at certain, pivotal points. While writing the story I mainly listened to music that inspired certain moods within myself so that I could help myself fully empathise with the character.

"I'm always in love (acoustic)" by Jeff Tweedy of Wilco was the perfect pace setter for the train journey after a romatic rejection, and conversely, "True Love Way" by Kings of Leon seemed like the ideal tension and passion builder. When, Seth, to that point the central character, leaves, "This City Is Bound To Do Us In" by Break and Repair Method (Paul Doucette of Matchbox Twenty fame's side project) matches the scene almost word for word and blow for blow - it's my favourite part of the story, hopefully that will come across in any possible production..

The second favourite part for me is the use of "Arizona" by Kings of Leon, the ultimate clear night, long drive home after a hell of a time.

The story is concluded and everything is wrapped up, though I'm still as yet to think of a definite "end credits" piece, if any. "Surf's Up" by Jim Steinman, "You Won't Be Able To Be Sad" by Break and Repair Method, or even the full band version of "I'm always in love" by Wilco.

By the end of July I will have produced some location videos and photographs, and will upload them.

Initial response

2008-06-23T05:09:00.000-07:00

As fortune would have it, a day after creating this blog and just under two weeks after I sent "Limerence" to a major company, today I received notice stating that it is being considered and will be read and evaluated..

It's only a small step but it still a source of great pride to see my story title recognised there in print...!

The greatest danger I suppose will be to sit around twiddling my thumbs.. I have yet to complete (or to be honest, make any kind of worthwhile progress on) storyboarding or such... I need something to occupy the blog!

introducción

2008-06-22T13:27:00.000-07:00

So this is the place I'm supposed to hook everyone in with some snazzy soundbite, some four sentences or less summary of the story.

To do so would do great injustice, in my opinion, to a true labour of love - from conception to completion of the story, it's been about 18 months, and how far it goes from there is anyones guess - but this blog will chronicle the journey, however depressing the lows or however great the highs.

In a sense, then, the blog will become almost a case of life imitating art. "Limerence" is a story about a working class man and his friends, identifying a dream and pursuing it to the best of their capabilities - not being restrained or bound by social convention, but instead endeavouring to prove that by way of belief in your own conviction, that anything you want is possible - that living the dream is as easy as you make it, any dream can be lived by any dreamer. Of course, the story doesn't start and end there. Life throws up its own unexpected obstacles..

On June 10, 2008, "Limerence" was submitted for the perusal of a major media company, and I am waiting to receive the response of the company. Hopefully the response will be favourable, but either way, this will be the place where I chronicle any developments with my story.

If there are any questions, please feel free to leave a comment and I'll attempt to address them via the blog.