My favourite podcasts - International Podcasting Day

30^th September is International Podcasting day! I've always who gets to declare a day an international day of something . Surely the UN should be involved at a minimum?

Well no. Turns out anyone can if they can get enough traction going. Although it does help if you have a link to the field in question.  In this case Steve Lee (founder of the Modern Life Network) decided in 2013 that Podcasts needed celebrating more and thus International Podcasting day was born.

In celebration I thought I'd give a quick run down of some of my current favourite podcasts. If you're looking for something new why not check out an episode or two of these.

Spoiler Podcast 

A pop culture panel review show. Each episode covers a specific  film, book or TV show/episode  with a big old Spoiler warning in the very title of the show. They WILL discuss the plot twists so this is one to dip into episodes when they cover things you have already seen. But there is a fantastic selection from episodes reviewing stuff that was released decades ago to more recent releases of the last few years.  As well as the funny and insightful round-table discussion on the subject in hand  every episode also has a more built feature element covering a subject linked to the main topic. Like the Dumbo episode's feature on Walt Disney films most scary moments. One of my favourite episodes is the one covering the 80s classic "The Breakfast Club". Although that may have something to do with the fact that listening to it helped me to win a quiz night a few weeks later.

The Alusionist

Queen of British Podcasting, Helen Zaltzman, hosts this delightful delving into quirky aspects of language. A topic that in other hands could be dry is here thoroughly engrossing due to the choice of fascinating subjects (such as - why Americans and British can often think each other is rude due to the way they use "please"), Zaltzman's almost perfect presenting skills and the bite size nature of the podcast (most episodes are sub 20 mins)

Plumbing the death star 

A comedy one for the geeks, a free-form discussion between the two hosts about a question  posed about a geeky property. Some of the topics they delve into "Is the Empire Racist?" "How would you survive Groundhog day" and "Which Super Mario Bro would make the best Step-Dad"

It's quirky, Its fun but FYI it can get rude and sweary. But hey, choosing a Mario Bro for a step dad is passionate stuff, things are bound to get a little tense.

Welcome to Nightvale 

The First audio drama on my list and it is surreal genius. It takes the form of a community radio broadcast from the fictional town of Nightvale. A town where some very strange things go on.

Think 'Twin Peaks', or  'Eerie, Indianna'  and you'll get a feel for the weirdness level.  For the most part the only voice you hear is Cecil, the presenter of this fictional small town radio show. But other people do come in occasionally, being "interviewed" on the station or as a station intern (the equivalent of Star Treks Red-shirts). One guest recurring guest star has been Will Wheaton (Wesley from Star Trek TNG, or more recently playing himself on Big Bang Theory)

At first the episode seem quite self-contained but there are continuing plot points and arcs (such as the town mayoral election race) so it's well worth  starting from the beginning and working your way through.

British History podcast 

If you love history and want an in-depth guide through British history this is the podcast for you.  And I do mean in-depth. It starts at "pre-history" (before written records) and takes a very long route through every aspect of history you can think of. There are whole episodes dedicated to the food of a particular era, ones exploring aspects of the culture of average people, and when it deals with kings even that is subdivided into many episodes  to cover every possible angle the producer can think of.

To give you an idea of how in-depth this podcast goes, it has been going for over 5 years now and it's not even up to 1066 in the time-line.

But it's a fascinating and very well researched podcast that you will certainly learn things from.

Wooden Overcoats

The second radio drama on my list this one is a sit-com. Episodes follows the obstinate Rudyard Funn who runs a funeral home on island of Piffling. In the first episode a rival funeral home is opened by island newcomer Eric Chapman – a man who is more competent, more attractive and better liked than Rudyard. The rest of the series follows Rudyard's multiple attempts to sabotage Eric's business.

It is both brilliantly performed with great comic  timing and slickly produced, sounding  as smooth as anything  from the much more resourced BBC's radio production studios.

The Why Factor

A BBC podcast from the World Service and another one for people that like surprising fact they weren't necessarily expecting. Think of any question starting "why…." And it could be the topic for one of their episodes. Some recent episodes include "Why do crazes take off" and "Why do we find some voices so irritating".

Reply All

One in the American documentary/storytelling genre of podcasts made famous by This American Life, Reply All is a podcast about the internet.

Each episode they find a different real-life story or stories  that have some link to the internet and tell us that tale through narration and interviews. Sometimes its stories of internet dating at 60, Sometimes of those online messages you wish you could take back. The theme of the internet is only a starting point that sometimes leads to some gripping and personal stories.

Also check out

In the also-ran category for this this, worth checking out if you have the time

Answer me this  - Another Helen Zaltzman podcast (this time along with co-host Olly Mann). They answer listener's random questions

Home front – The BBCs World War one serial Drama, each episode originally released exactly 100 years after it is set.

This American Life – The grand-daddy of the US storytelling/documentary podcasts

Serial – The sensation that brought podcasting to the attention of the mainstream. 2 seasons available and a third apparently on the way.

Let me know any great podcasts I've missed out in the comments below.

For more information on International Podcasting day visit https://internationalpodcastday.com/ 

My week at drama school.

This time last year I was preparing to take part in a week long acting summer-school at the Guildford school of acting. 

Acting has been a hobby most of my life. Inspired by my mum and step-dads involvement I've been acting in amateur theatre almost constantly since was 8 years old. I even briefly considered applying to drama school before the cost put me off (£10k a Year was just too much and while may be norm for uni now, back then it was only £1.5k per year for a regular BA - so I went and did Media Production instead) 

But my dreams of attending a drama school were able to be (at least slightly) fulfilled when, many years later, I found out they did short summer courses. In the years leading up to a big birthday I floated the idea that paying for the course might be a good present idea for said big birthday to my significant other and a few family members and come my 30th... err, I mean undisclosed big birthday... I had the course booked for early August. 

Prep work included choosing and learning a monologue. so I scoured the various monologue books I could find to come up with something suitable. 

This is not easy. Nothing in these books seemed right. The ones I liked were for characters wildly differing in age from myself and one thing I did know was that it should be believable that you would be playing that role. Eventually I did find a comedy piece I quite liked but I had the nagging worry that it didn't have enough serious emotion in it to stand muster. But I was running out of time and I had to get learning, so I stuck with it. 

The next month's worth of commutes to work were made up of learning this monologue. That's pretty much when I learn lines for any acting I do. If I didn't have 2 hours of commuting on a train a day I honestly don't know when I would learn lines. 

Finally the week arrived and I made my way to Guildford for the first day. The strikingly obvious thing I noticed while waiting for registration was that the average age of attendees on these summer course were more than a decade younger than me. not that I was the oldest student there mind you. There were a couple of guys who looked in their 40s who were there for the singing course and one person I got chatting to in a coffee queue who was a year older than me and there for dance. And once I was registered in my acting class I found out that a couple of the people were only a few years younger than me. It's no doubt that these courses are primarily taken up by a-level students looking to a) try out different drama schools before applying for a full 3 year course (many were going on 2 or three courses at different schools over the summer) and b) to develop skills and learn techniques that would help them in the auditions to those drama school.

But whatever your age don't let that put you off if you're a non-teenage acting enthusiast. It's a worthwhile experience for anyone interested in acting regardless of if you aspire to make it a career or just a hobby, and you will learn a lot. 

Be prepared to be put through your paces though. Every day started with a vigorous effort half an hour warm up. Basically a full on arobics session complete with catchy rhythmic music. At the start of the week it almost killed me, but by the end I was coping much better and I could see that doing this everyday I could actually get quite fit. 

We had a lesson schedule for the week. Days were divided into different sessions covering different acting techniques. We had lessons on Laben movement technique (analysing ways the body moves that can be used in everything from interpretive dance to how your character in a play flicks a piece of lint of his jacket), lessons on Shakespeare performance (damn that iambic pentameter is tricky) , lessons on voice,  (How to use it, how to carry it).

All of these were useful in some way or another but I think the class I gained most from was the 'Actioning' sessions. 

Actioning is a rehearsal technique that aids in interpreting the text and deciding on a performance of it. I'm sure I won't do the technique justice here but, in an effort to sum it up, it's essentially the giving of each of your lines... Well actually each of your characters thoughts (which basically translates to each of your characters sentences) an 'action verb'. Something that could fill the blank in "I ........ you" 

So, "I scold you" or "I caress you" could be examples. These should be the desired effect your characters wants  to have on the person they are speaking to and they should be chosen to achieve your characters 'objective in that scene' 

You can see quite quickly that playing a line in a play with the action 'Scold' would produce a very different reading to 'caress'.

and remember these aren't (necessarily) physical actions. They are the intent behind the word. You can play a line with 'caress' as the action without actually physically caressing the other person. 

That's a very quick summery that doesn't do justice to the full scale of the technique so I'd recommend anyone to read up more on it. It's a very time consuming and often difficult process but you may well find your performances transformed by it. 

Or go take a short course. You may find there are still some slots on this year's summer courses but if not there is alway next year... And that will at least give you some time to hunt out that perfect monologue. 

when is a 'Living Wage' not a living wage

So the Government are introducing a 'living wage'. My first thought on hearing this news was a mixture of happiness and surprise. It wasn't something I was expecting to hear from a current government budget. Had they actually listened to reason? I started thinking of writing a "well-done" Facebook post aimed at them and then remembered that reacting to anything you see on the internet based just on a headline is unadvised and thought I'd better just read up a bit more on it first. 

Now let me preface this by saying that any raise to the minimum wage is a good thing, and it can be argued that this pledge raises it more than other parties had promised in their manifestos. (Although this is less clear when weighed against cuts to things like working-tax credits also announced) 

I was looking for facts more than opinions and the most useful was The Living Wage foundations site (http://www.livingwage.org.uk/calculation) 

Well, if you look at that link you'll see that the living wage for the UK in general is considered to be £7.85. Quite a difference from the £7.20 that the government have announced and labeled "Living Wage". And that's just outside London. Within London the living wage is considered to be £9.15. A massive £1.95 difference to the just announced amount. 

So this is already looking a bit shaky. Add on top of that the fact that they have already stated what it will raise to within 5 years, not as a minimum but as an exact amount, without knowing what inflation will be over those 5 years and it become very likely that the best we can hope for is that the disparity between the new minimum and the Actual living wage stays the same, however if the economy improves (as the government obviously hopes it will) that gap could actually become bigger. 

Taking this into consideration it's clear that what this announcement is isn't a "Living Wage" at all, it's merely a current (and possibly temporary) lessening of the gap between the minimum wage and the actual living wage. By trying to inaccurately co-opt the "living wage" term they are deceiving the electorate and trying and make their policies appear better than they are. Which is a shame because if they had been honest and called this what it is, just a 70p raise to the minimum wage, they would have deserved a bit of credit. 

I say a bit because I haven't even gone into the fact that this only applies to over-25s. 

Hopefully the living wage foundation and others who support a true living wage will make sure people know the difference. 

The Interview ..... Don't let the Terrorists win

“The Interview” was not a film I was planning on seeing at the cinema, I probably wouldn't have paid to download it or rent it from a digital rental service. I MAY have watched it if it came to a service that I already have like Netflix. That’s not to say I thought it would be bad but I only go to the cinema a handful of times a year and I have to be picky, for me comedies don’t usually win in that battle.

However following the news that Sony has decided to completely cancel the release of this completed film in the light of the cyber attack hack against them last week and the further threat of physical terrorist attacks if the release goes ahead, I am now determined to pay to see this film at the earliest opportunity and I think everyone else should do the same.

We should not live in a world where terrorists can suppress free artistic expression and by giving in to their demands Sony are setting a dangerous precedent. If terrorist groups like this see that they can be successful in influencing behavior with their threats it will only make them more emboldened to make even more outrageous demands.

Currently Sony has said it doesn't plan any kind of release for the film, not even a digital only one. I hope they change their mind, and when they do I’ll be ready with my money to support the filmmakers. The people who put years of their life into making something only to have it pulled from under them.

I hope you will do the same, Even if you wouldn't have seen this film normally, even if you've never enjoyed a Seth Rogen film and generally dislike comedies, because this is about making an important stand to say we refuse to be threatened. 

What could Marvel Phase 4 hold in store?

If you’re a Marvel Cinimatic Universe fan they you, like me, will have gotten very excited a couple of days ago by the announcement of the next 5 years worth of films. Cap vs Iron man in “Captain America: Civil War”, Black Panther and Captain Marvel movies, Avengers: The Infinity War Pts 1 AND 2. I could barely sleep for the excitement.

  

All this got me thinking and speculating.  This is the whole of their Phase 3 revealed, but what could phase 4 look like?

I took the basic release principles Marvel has established of alternating established and new franchises, and the fact that in phase 3 they are moving from 2 to 3 films a year, also tried to factor in when Actor contracts might be up and a good boat load of pure guessing but this is what I came up with.....

2020       – Planet Hulk (Spring)

-          Blade (reboot) (Summer)

-          Ant Man 2 (Autum)

2021       - Black Widow (Spring)

                - Guardians of the Galaxy 3 (Summer)

                - Doctor Strange 2 (Autum)

2022       - Captain America 4 (with Bucky Barnes taking over the Mantle of Cap) (Spring)

-          War Machine (Summer)

-          A Sony/Marvel  co production Spider-man (Autum)

2023       - Black Panther 2 (Spring)

                - Punisher (Summer)

                - Captain Marvel 2 (Autum)

2024       - Avengers  4 (Spring)

I’m sure my views on possible line ups will change as I watch the phase 3 films but for now I think that’s a good potential line up. And here’s my thinking….

The first Sequels  

Assuming they do well at the box office is fair to assume that Ant Man, Doctor Strange, Black Panther and Captain Marvel will be getting sequels. There is one notable exception on my list and that is The Inhumans. Which to be honest I think has just as much chance at a sequel. I didn’t include it because it would have meant bumping Avengers 4 from it’s traditional May slot. Not outside the realms of possibilities of course but something had to give. I also suspect that in order to keep their slate manageable Marvel may have to start sitting out some franchises for a Phase. And of course if any of these new Phase 3 franchises don’t do as well as hoped they may decide that they shouldn’t get included in the next phase. (as happened with Hulk after Phase 1)

Hulk Smash.  

Yes, I’ve put it down as Planet Hulk. That’s pure hopeful thinking, I would love to see this story  from the comics up on the screen. It would require a bit of set up in phase 3 though. Particually Hulk doing something so bad (probably in Infinity War) that the other heros feel they need to shoot him off into space. If that doesn’t happen I still think we’ll get some kind of solo Hulk movie in Phase 4, it’s long over-due and Marc Rufalo is certainly worthy leading it.

Blade – Marvel have the rights to Blade back. This was the character that really kicked off the modern age of superhero movies back in the 90s. It’s a big potential draw and I can’t see Marvel sitting on it forever. I reckon phrase 4 is when we’ll see him back on our screens in a reboot that takes place in the MCU. It’ll also allow Marvel to start to explore a slightly darker area of their universe. Something that also comes with teh Punisher movie I’ve also put on the list. Despite his publicly stated interest in returning though, I wouldn’t expect to see Wesley Snipes back in the role. He was fantastic and perfect at the time but a fresh start and younger blade is needed now.

Black Widow

There was some disappointment that she didn’t get a solo movie in Phase 3. Perhaps one in Phase 4 could be set a bit back in time and allow us to find out just what did happen in Budapest.

Cap 4

I think it’s important that all the franchises that kicked off the MCU in phase one don’t disappear. We’ve already lost Iron Man from phase 3 (which I think is the right call), I’m calling Thor to be the phrase 3 original avenger that doesn’t have a solo in Phase 4. Out of the big 3 heroes his are the least performing of the movies. But just because there is a Cap 4 doesn’t mean Steve Rogers is still wearing the suit. I think, if it hasn’t happened already by that point, we may see Bucky Barns take on the Cap mantel after Steve is killed in action in the Infinity War.

War Machine

Ok, so we don’t have an Iron Man film any more. This could be the natural successor.  James "Rhodey" Rhodes has been firmly established over 3 Iron man films now and he’s due to pop up in next spring’s Avengers: Age of Ulton. It’s at least possible he gets his own film.

Spider-man

There are a lot of Rumours flying around at the moment that Marvel and Sony are close to a deal to allow Spidy to appear in MCU films. The most obvious place for him initially is the Captain America: Civil War movie. Spider-man was a big part of the Marvel comics Civil War event and it would be fantastic to have him involved. And if they pull it off perhaps a co-produced Spider-man solo movie, set in the MCU and with Cameos from some of our other favourite characters would be on the cards. Who knows. It makes sense for Sony to agree. Each Spider-man film since the very first Toby Maguire one has made less money than the previous one, a co-production deal would be a way for Marvel to make the film a more must see while Sony still gets a slice of the profits. 

Avengers 4

By Avengers 4 expect a very different team to the one we know.

Steve may be dead and Bucky may be Cap. Hulk may be off in space on another planet – (or he may return angry at being sent away and be the antagonist of this film). Downey Jr will be WAY too expensive by this point so Iron man won’t be in it. A whole load of new avengers who joined at the end of Phase 3 will part of the team and, fingers crossed, Spider-man.

No doubt it will be nothing like I’ve dreamed up here. It’s just one possibility. But it’s fun to speculate. Got a different idea of how it might pan out? Let me know in the comments. 

Welcome to Nightvale

The surreal American Radio Drama/fake community show podcast Welcome to Nightvale launched a couple of years ago now and in that time has built up quite a cult following.

If you’ve never heard of Nightvale it’s kind of a cross between a David Lynch film, the twilight zone, the TV series Eureka … and a community radio show.

I’ve been a casual listener to the podcast’s for over a year now, although I’m about 6 months behind their release schedule, and I’ve generally really enjoyed listening to them. I like slightly surreal stuff like this and, of course, I love radio drama, especially ones that do something new with the genre.

So when I heard they were doing live shows, and bringing the tour to the UK I thought it would defiantly be worth checking out.

I had sampled some Radio-drama-as-stage-show at the Edinburgh Fringe back in August courtesy of the Wireless Theatre Company. (which you can read more about here) and found it a really enjoyable and amusing experience.  But, you think, isn’t it just people at microphones standing on a stage? That’s a bit dull right? Well in the examples I’ve seen, not at all! These guys are professional actors, professional actors used to making radio dramas, they know how to entertain an audience with just their voice.  And little touches like amusing facial expressions,  Seeing Spot FX created live, and in creative lighting all add to it.

Nightvale live started off well, introduced in a very stand-up comic way by the lady who’s voice is often heard at the beginning or end of the pod casts (sorry, I forget her name). Right from the off I found myself chuckling out loud to her witty one liners in her introduction. It was a good start. We were then treated to a fantastic music set from Mary Epworth. The regular Nightvale Podcast always has a music section in it, the weather (they announce that it’s time for the weather as any radio station would… and then music starts instead, just one of Nightvale’s many quirks) , but that’s just one song and, to get a good live artist along for one song for the live show would have possibly been a struggle and to fill a whole 2 hour live show you need to expand your format a bit from your usual 30 min podcast, so this 20 minute set was a nice addition to kick things off with (and of course, she came back for the weather later).

Then it’s in to the usual Nightvale weirdness, told to us, as always, by Cecil, the host of this fictional radio show from this fictional US city, our guide into it’s weird world and underworld.

If you don’t pay much attention to the podcasts while you’re listening you may miss that they do actually have plots running through them. There is usually some kind of event that is tracked through news updates and phone interviews with people on site. It escalates throughout the episode and is usually quite strange (Randomly appearing glow clouds, disappearing children, a mayoral race between a man who is “Literally a five-headed dragon” and “The faceless old woman that secretly lives in your house” … you get the drift). Not only this some plot points crop up In multiple episodes. Yes this strange little wonderful show even has story Arcs.

I won’t spoil the live episode too much (they will be releasing the audio I gather), but the main plot revolves around Liberians, and in Nightvale Liberians are not things you want to meet down a dark ally.

There were a lot of in-jokes, referencing back to previous episodes. Some I got, some I didn’t. but the ones I didn’t get didn’t spoil my enjoyment over all. I’m quite a casual night-vale listener. I’m about 6 months behind on the episodes and it’s just something I enjoy listening to. But there are some seriously dedicated fans of this show. A large number People at this event were dressed up in their own interpretations of the various characters (some costumes were really impressive as well… particularly glow clouds). Good on them, it’s great to be passionate about something but I don’t think you have to have that level of passion to have a good time at this show.

Sadly, due to train engineering works, I had to duck out early to avoid having to sit for hours on a replacement bus service so I still don’t know how the plot was wrapped up.

But then, not getting what the hell is going on is part of the fun of Nightvale anyway, so maybe I got the truest Nightvale experience by leaving anyway, 

Find out more about Welcome to Nightvale and where you can download the Podcast: Here

Fringe adventure: day 3

So my summery of my third and final day at the Edinburgh fringe is a bit late really. I mean, the other two days were written and posted sereral days after the events they talk about but this one? Two weeks after. Whoops.

And it'll probably be the easiest to write too. We only saw two shows that day. 

After very quickly dismissing the idea to do another breakfast play and instead have a bit of a lie-in, we checked out of our accomedation and made our way to our first venue. Just about sneaking in time to grab a quick bacon role to eat in the Queue. The reason we only saw two shows on this day (in addition to the fact that we had an early evening flight home) was primarily due to the fact that the first show was 2 and a half hours long (inc interval). It was a full blown musical. Our only musical of the fringe. But we couldn't resist because it was "The Addams Family" and it looked good. I'd heard rave reviews about this musical from around the country where it has been released to amateur groups before any full profeshional productions and it defiantly deserves a profeshional west end or touring production because it is a very good, very funny musical. The writing is witty and the songs are toe-tapping and fun. The famous Addams family theme is heard briefly in the orchestration at the beginning but my one disappointment with this show is that they didn't sing the lyrics as part of the curtain call, instead revisiting a song from the show.

It was performed brilliant by students of the Scottish Royal consevertoire. A particulalr highlight was the gentleman playing Gomez who absolutly nailed the comic timing and charactisation. 

If you see someone near you performing this show I'd definatly recommend it. 

We grabbed some lunch and found a seat at a bench table, sharing with a lovely couple and their son with learning difficulties for who it was also their first year at the fringe. But not their first visit. They had come up at the beginning of the fringe and enjoyed it so much that as soon as they got back they immediately booked another trip for the end of the month. Now that says something about how exillerating coming here can be.

The final production of the fringe for us was one I was very keen to see and which is very much linked to my day-job. Wireless Theatre company were doing live records of audio drama each day, in front of an audience. You may say that's a bit of a bus man's holiday but I'm lucky enough to work in an field I love, radio drama, so it doesn't at all feel a waste to take in a show that involves this. I wasn't sure what to expect, it was billed as stories about couples who had had a big impact on history. And the recording we were watching was Henry Ford (the car man) and Adolf Hilter (the sycopathic mass genoicidal murderer). I didn't know of any connection exsisting between the two and as it turns out I shouldn't have either... as these audio dramas were pure made-up satire. And what brilliant made up satire they were. Laughter out loud was had throughout. The actors were surpurb. Especially the guy who played hitler. 

It was fun to spot all the little radio drama tricks that I'm very familiar with. When the actor fluffed a line and paused a second before going back to the beginning of a previous sentence I knew why (so they can easily edit out the fluff - if you were wondering). I delighted at some of the spot FX they were doing and the way they would change their voice to make themselves sound in a different position to the mic without moving. 

All the audio dramas recorded at the fringe are going to be available to download from their website (which has an "all you can eat" subscription price to listen to as many of their dramas as you like. I'd definatly recommend checking them out. I certinaly plan on listening to all the others they recorded at the fringe. 

And then.... That was it. Back to the airport (again via tram) back on the plan and back home. 

When I planned this trip I had thought it was something that I really wanted to do, yes, but something that I could "get out of the way" before circumstances meant coming was impractical and too expencive. Now I want to come every year. I've caught the fringe bug. 

As it happens after we'd booked our accomedation for this year, my sister happened to mention that NEXT year she plans on coming up here with a show. in a tech or backstage capacity but either way it'll mean I obviously just HAVE to come back up. Small little human in pushchair will just have to come with. 

I can't wait. 

Edinburgh Fringe... Day 2

[note: this has been posted several days after the events it talks about ... In case you were wondering] 

Day two at the fringe. The day when I would pack in as much as possible....And we started early.

The Traverse theatre do a great thing to tempt people out of bed and to the theatre early... They provide bacon sandwiches and coffee along with a 9am play. It's a rehearsed reading rather than a fully staged play but don't let that put you off, the quality was great.  If you're ever at the fringe and willing to get up early check it out. Although I did have to ask for a bit more bacon in my roll. One rasher was a bit stingy for the huge bap it was put in I felt. 

We had some time before our next pre-booked show. All part of the plan to be able to discover stuff while we were there: through recommendations, being given an interesting looking flyer or even just ducking in somewhere random to get out of the rain (thankfully that last one never had to be inplimented).

So,using the very handy official iPhone app, we searched for what was on nearby. 

First we thought we'd check out a free  thing running at the venue of our next pre-booked show. All day they were running short films. Could be interesting.... But it wasn't the sort of short films I was expecting. They were more visual art pieces. Black and white, no dialogue, no real characters just grainy shots, weird camera movements and a soundtrack straight from the student horror film handbook. Not bad necessarily, but not what we really fancied at that moment. So back to the app we went to find another option. 

Now it's fair to say that most of what we had pre-booked were more my choices than Emily's. Sure there were things we both really wanted to see like Al Murray but I was aware there were things we had booked Emily really wasn't interested in and nothing that I wasn't interested in. In my defence to this I have been wanting to go to the fringe since I was 15, but never the less I still felt guilty which is why I didn't put up much of a fight when she said she wanted to go see the children's show "The Snow Queen". I would take this for the team   (After all i had managed to fight off a suggestion yesterday to go see a children's show, my reasoning being that with a child on the way we'll have much kid's theatre to come in our near future why subject ourselves to it now, and instead we ended up at the phenomenal -in both ort opinions-  Feral) 

My fears were realised as in general the plot lacked substance and the acting was hammy, over the top and with no subtly. And before I get shouted down with "yes but that's because it's for kids!" I've seen some really well acted children's theatre where the characters are developed and have emotional depth and the kids in the audience have loved it. The idea that all kids theatre needs pantomime delivery is one that should be stamped out as soon as possible. 

I did feel a bit sorry for the company though as they only had 5 in the audience. But that, I gather, is the way of the Fringe. You may get great word of mouth and packed houses or your advertising may fall flat, your flyers fall on blind eyes and you end up performing to your mum who has come up from wiltshire to show her support. 

Next up was a play by Oliver-Award winning Lucy Kirkwood: NSFW. I had booked this because I had read the script about two years ago. It had been one of my random play purchases from Samual French bookshop. Every so often I'll go into this wonderful shop in Fritzrovia, London and browse for 20 mins until I find a play I like the cover and synopsis of. Partly this is an always on hunt for something to direct, partly it's just entertainment reading pleasure. 

But a couple of years ago I had found NSFW (which stands for Not suitable For Work if you were unsure) and really liked it so when I noticed it was being performed at the fringe it went straight on my list. It's a play about the magazine industry and the negative culture towards women,  from both the men's and women's mags, inherent in it. 

It was a really well done production as well.

We had another big gap to fill now so back to the BBC area. Where we were treated to a free sample of a very funny show "one man Star Wars". Where funny man Charles Ross plays all characters, racing through the plot of the film at hyperspace speeds. I only wish I had time to go the full show. 

At this point i tried to get tickets to something that had been recommended to me. But it had sold out. I tried another of their recommendations, also sold out. The lesson here being if you really want to see something make sure you book. Sure it may end up with only 3 People in the audience but it also may sell out. So better safe than sorry. Defeated I returned to the pink tent and cheered myself up in the BBCs free greenscreen photo booth here are the results ....

I particularly liked the fact that they had a W1A one and, as I happens to have my staff lanyard with me, I could really look the part in the pic (I was directed to pull a "think your better than everyone else" pose by the way, that's not normally how I pose... No really) 

I rounded out the evening with two productions from The Lincoln company, the company formed from current students and alumi from the university of Lincoln's Drama courses. I used to go to lincoln (although I studied media rather than drama) and my sister currently IS studying drama there (though she isn't part of The Lincoln Company this year) so I defiantly had to go see some of their productions (they had 6 on at the festival) . I went for MoJo by Jez Butterworth, because I had heard good things about this play from when it was on in London, and the ridiculously long titled "The Cosmonaut's last message to the woman he once loved in the former Soviet Union" (hence forth refered to, for the sake of all our sanity, as simply "Cosmonaut").

I really liked MoJo. As a play it's interesting, tense and keeps you guessing. Shane Humberstone was the stand out performance of this piece and seemed perfectly at home as the smooth talking Potts. 

This finished at 8:45pm. We hadn't yet bought tickets to Cosmonaught but I knew they were available cheaply  at the half price hut which, according to google maps, was a 15 min walk away..... And it shut at 9pm. 

I wonder if this is a sprint many have done at the fringe in an eagerness to get some cheap tickets? I bolted down to the hut and JUST made it in time. I was literally the last person they served before shutting up shop. While there I also got tickets for the following day for The Addams Family musical. 

We actually then had a bit of time to kill before the start of the Cosmonouts after meeting back up with Emily (funnily enough my pregnant wife hadn't wanted to sprint down to the half priced hut with me) we for once had a leisurely stroll to the venue and a nice sit in it's charming courtyard area. This was C cubed venue and I would defiantly recommend checking out it's courtyard cafe at some point on a nice (non-raining) night if you're after a bit of atmosphere. 

Cosmanauts itself was a very surreal play. One of those ones where your not always sure what's going on but despite that it's fascinating. With eariy use of music and lighting that made it more about the mood than the plot. You either love things like that or you don't. If they are done well I do. Emily very much does not. 

But you can't please everyone. 

She did have one positive thing to say about it though: the Russian accents were very good. I would have to agree. Especially those of the cosmonaughts themselves. (One of who had also been in MoJo) 

So that rapped up our longest day at the fringe. In my head planning the trip I had imagined all days would have been packed like this.  practicalities stopped that idea but I hope one day I make it up for a whole week when I can have many days of very busy theatre going (although I may die of exhaustion by the end) 

Ed Fringe Day 1....15 years in the waiting. Losing my Edinburgh fringe cherry.

About 15 years ago, when we were teenagers, a very good friend of mine went up to the Edinburgh festival with her dad. It was the first I'd heard of this festival in the distant land of the Scot but based on what she told me when she came back i knew I too wanted to go. 

Unfortunately, due to a variety of reasons (although most of them being "money"), it's taken me till now to get here. But with a baby on the way in Jan (have I mentioned that? I don't think I have as I haven't blogged since I found out) I thought it should be something I'd better get off the bucket list  while it's easier. 

In a way I've gradually worked up to the  Ed fringe. For the last couple of years I've been attending the Camden Fringe in London. A much smaller (although growing every year) festival with a similar array of types of show: plays, musicals, stand-up, dance.  

So, this year I took the plunge: booked accomedation, flights and pre-booked some tickets to shows (making sure to leave room in my schedule to discover stuff while I was there)

And I've made it through my first day. And boy was it a long day! Up at 4am to leave the house by 5 to get to Gatwick and catch plane at 7am. We were in Edinburgh City centre by 10am already tired and ready for caffeine. But not before paying a quick visit to the half price hut to pick up a bargin. 

That Bargin was well worth it too. Tortoise in a Nutshell productions' "Ferall" was a brilliantly inventive show that used puppetry, multi-media filming, soundscapes and drawings to tell a moving tale of Britain's  seaside towns in decline. The puppet town (gradually built up piece by piece in the first third of the show) is expertly filmed live and projected up on a screen in such a cinematic way, utilising multiple camera, transitions between then as well as  pans and sweeps . It much have taken a lot of planning and practice.

Next up was a talk on Arthur Conan-Doyle which I can't tell you much about ..... Because I was mostly dozzing off during it. Whether this was due to my 4am start or the content of the talk I'm honestly not sure. 

Finally though we could check in to our accomedation. Which we promptly did and had a bit of a much needed siesta.

Back into town for the early evening we checked out the BBC area (checking up on my lovely employers). Their area is a really nice one to go to just to relax. As well as their main ticketed event tent they have the "pink tent" with seating, a small stage for a programme of free events and bookshelves full of books if you feel like whiling away the time. Also in their area are food stalls, a bar, table tennis and a free greenscreen photo booth that I defiantly plan on coming back to have a go at. 

They even had funky branded headphones to listen to the large outdoor  sceen they had. Look, here me in all my BBC branded glory, doing my bit for my employers.

We had pre-booked tickets to the evening for Al Murray. We used to watch his weekly show 6 or so years ago and always were in fits if laughter watching it. So it had been the first thing we had pre-booked coming here. We weren't disappointed. Al Murray was as ever very funny as the pub landlord character with ever so slightly out dated views who you'd be slightly nervous to have as a real friend and yet can't help chuckling along to many of the things he says. 

So, after that, at this point it was only 9:30. Part of the reason I had booked an early flight was to be able to pack a whole days worth of shows in... But we had been up since 4am and despite a couple of Naps through the day I do still have a pregnant wife who was starting to get a bit grumpy about me dragging her from venue to venue. It was time to call it an early night, and save the real packed day for tommorow......

 

First they came for ....

So BBC 3 is going (subject to BBC Trust approval)
I won't go into detail about my thoughts about it. Many of them are summed up quite well in this Radio Times Article...

http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2014-03-15/never-mind-saving-bbc3-the-bbc-itself-is-in-danger#.Uyrdxj6Zav8.twitter

Reading the article it struck me that a famous quote works quite well adapted for this....

"First they came for the Asian Network, and I did not speak out--
Because I do not listen to the Asian Network.

Then they came for the BBC 6music, and I did not speak out--
Because I was do not listen to BBC 6Music.

Then they came for the BBC three, and I did not speak out--
Because I do not watch BBC 3.

Then they came for the BBC service I use, and no one was left to speak out for that."

Something Evil has arisen this Christmas

Something horrible seems to have crept up on us this holiday season. It’s clearly been lurking, biding its time since the 80/early 90s and has decided that now is the time they will strike.

I talk of course of the Christmas Jumper!

No Colin..... just no. 

It has to be mind control. Surly no other rational explanation makes sense as to why suddenly, out of no-where, this year these hideous abominations of knit-wear are appearing in every shop window on our high streets. In usually quite stylish chains, on attractive models who look like they would normally be seen in slinky dresses or sharp suits. They model their large reindeer heads or repeated snowflake patterns as if they were the height of style. Its all part of their mind control agenda. 

Don't be fooled ... she would look hotter in something else. Anything else

 

This is how the invasions start in sci-fi you know. First they take over the high street shops, then they come at you through the windows. I mean, Just look at the Autons!

The mind control has clearly already spread beyond the people running the shops. In recent weeks not only have I seen actual people on my commute wearing them but have also heard of charity wear-a-Christmas-jumper days and Christmas Jumper Parties!

Worse still I've been invited to one. Even worse still I think my wife has fallen under their control. She keeps mentioning them. I fear I will wake up one morning and she would have put one on me in my sleep and then it will be too late. 

It won’t be long before they’ll be made compulsory school and work uniforms and a slave force of workers is forced to churn them out 24 hours a day (actually that one is probably already happening).

And then my friends the evil wool aliens will have won.

Unless we fight back now.  The resistance starts today. Fight back against the oppressors and mind controllers and shout from the roof tops “Down with the novelty Christmas Jumpers!”

"Bonkgate" - Twitter, The innocent photo and the tabloid scandal

“Be careful what you post on twitter” is a warning often given to those that work for high profile places such as The BBC, you never know when your tweet written in anger will come back to bite you on the bum. There have been a few high profile cases where something someone has said has embarrassed them later (The recent motorist and their seemingly boasting of knocking a cyclist) , gotten them fired or forced resignations(The “youth Police Commissioner”) lead to Civil legal cases (even not explicitly accusing someone but just putting  *innocent face* after an otherwise harmless question can get you done for libel apparently) and even land you in prison (The frustrated traveller who joked they would blow up the airport if their plane didn’t board soon).

It’s a bit of a mind field to say the least.

And that’s just when you tweet something you shouldn’t. You see Twitter is a public platform. Tweets are there for everyone to see, take and use out of context. Completely innocent tweets can be hijacked and used against you. Even worse, tweets by someone else can. Something you have absolutely no control over.

And sometimes, every so often, it might embroil you in a tabloid scandal.

A few months back I attended the BBC Television centre staff closing party. It was a fun evening (despite the fact that I had a stonking cold, was on water the whole night and left early). We enjoyed the nibbles, chatted, had a bit of a dance and even got our photo taken with Scott Mills who was there to DJ. Genuinely a fun but uneventful evening, I wouldn’t say anything out of the ordinary happened.

I went home. Enjoyed my weekend. Started to get over my cold. Woke up on Monday morning and, as I often do, reached for my phone to have a quick look at twitter before getting out of bed.

While scrolling down twitter I see a headline “British Bonking Corporation” with a link to an article in the Daily Mirror. “ooo wonder what’s been going on” I thought., clicking on the link.

Reading the article I discovered that at that party I had been at there had, allegedly, been various frisky attendees who had snuck off to the abandoned offices for a quick bit of fun. Chuckling to myself I was thinking “Wow, I didn’t notice any of this going on” while continuing to scroll down. It was all very amusing.

Then I reached a photo.

The photo of me, my friends and Scott Mills posing for the camera. The photo that another friend had taken on their phone, presumably posted to twitter and now was included in an article about BBC staff sneaking off for some Bonking fun.

It’s not often that my mouth is literally hung open in shock but this was one of them times.

There were a couple of other pictures in the article but just crowd shots of the dance floor. Ours was the only photo of people looking to the camera. If you were just glancing at the article you might be forgiven for assuming that we were the “Bonkers” from the headline.  (which we weren’t…. just in case that still needed clarifying)

 I wasn’t exactly sure what to do next. My feelings were a mix between being quite chuffed that my photo was on a national newspaper's website, to worrying about any potential damage to my reputation that might affect work prospects, to being amused that the caption to the photo referred to us as Scott Mills' “Pals”.

What I did do first was text my wife. She doesn’t read the Mirror as far as I know, but just in case I wanted to guard agasint castration and assure her the Headline was nothing to do with me. Next I sent tweets to everyone else in the photo, all who were equally shocked and amused.

At this point I only knew that it was online, so on the way to work I bought a copy of the paper…..

 

Only a whole page spread on page 9!!!!

I then, am not ashamed to say, bought three more copies. (Well, It IS probably the only Time I’ll get in a national newspaper)

Finally I tentatively started showing people in my office to gauge reaction. To my relief everyone found it funny and reassured me I shouldn’t worry.

It was at this point I felt a bit more free to share the hilarity with friends on Facebook and fully embrace the amusement of it all.  We even started refering to it as "Bonkgate"

But it is a great example of how twitter posts can be used in ways you wouldn’t have intended. There was nothing we could really do about it. It was an innocent picture posted to twitter by someone else and just taken by a tabloid to put with a headline we had nothing to do with.

Does that mean we should all abandon twitter and forbid our friends of posting photos of us? I don’t think so. I love twitter and have found it very useful, paticually in the media industry for networking, finding jobs and getting advice.  

Just be wary, when your friends are taking pictures, not do anything that might embarrass you later and if you do end up, innocently,  in an amusing tabloid scandal try and embrace the funny side of it. It makes a great anecdote for parties.

365 days later.....

On February 18th 2012, long before I was on the production talent pool and back when I worked for a gold buying company in shopping malls, I was in London for the day. While there I took a photo of Broadcasting House, the BBCs home of national radio. I posted that photo on Facebook with the caption "I want to work here".

Well, exactly a year later, to the day, I started working there. How's that for prophetic timing?

The last year has been epic for me. It's amazing to think this time last year, when I took that photo, I had spent four years working in jobs that had nothing to do with the industry I wanted to work in. The prospect of ever getting that elusive career had never seemed further away.

But I decided I needed to take a serious shot at it one more time and 2012 would be the year I dedicated to it.

Getting onto the PTP was that shot. If it wasn't for the PTP I would never be working today at that building I took a photo of a year ago.

Applications opened today for the next crop of PTP applicants. If you're sitting there in a dead end job wishing you had fulfilled your TV or radio dreams this is your chance. Apply today.

I have no doubt I will look back at the last year as one of the best in my life, for both career and personal reasons. As well as now working in radio drama department of the BBC I also married the woman I love and went on an amazing once in a lifetime honeymoon cruise down the west coast of south America.

It's amazing how things can change in a year if you put your mind to it. 

9 months in the PTP an' counting

It's February. Already. Time is flying by.

I've now been on the BBC production Talent Pool for 9 months and nothing is bringing home the fact that I technically only have a few months left more than all the twitter posts I see calling for people to apply for PTP2013.

Applications open on the 18th Feb. so it seems a good time to review what I have gotten out of the scheme myself in the last 9 months. Perhaps if you are thinking of applying my musings will help you decided.

In fact I'll make it simple for you in case you don't want to read further....

If you want to work in TV and radio. APPLY.

Seriously you have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

Saying that don't expect to be constantly employed by the BBC during your year on the scheme should you be lucky enough to get on.

I was, with no exaggeration, ecstatic when I found out I had got a place. I literally jumped about my living room for a good five minuets. I couldn't wait to get started and getting started first meant 3 days of initial training. Some of this is long and tedious (a five hour health and safety on-line module or example) but I wouldn't have given up those 3 days for anything. It was a chance to meet my fellow PTPeeps (what we ended up refer to ourselves as on twitter) and as I soon learned networking is everything in media. It really is who you know and you'll make some good friends at the training.

At the training we were told they had a whole host of BBC programme makers  clambering at the doors to hire us and waiting for us to be trained and that while they couldn't guarantee it they expected most of us to be in some kind of placement with the first couple of weeks.

So it was a bit hard to deal with the silence of my phone for the weeks afterwards. Even harder when the weeks turned to months and no call came.

And it wasn't just me. No one from the Bristol group of PTPeeps had had anything and only a handful of others had.

I don't for one second blame the fabulous people running the scene for this. I think they may have got carried away in their enthusiasm for the scheme and their enthusiasm for us in predicting demand and I also suspect that demand told to them was over exaggerated but when they said it i do think they believed it.

The two people running the scheme: Don Kong (yes that is really his name, isn't it great!) and Simon Wright are your closest allies and best friends in starting out in your media careers  They are always there when you need it at the end of a phone line (or more often at the end of a tweet) With advice and friendly words and they will do everything in their power to get you that first job.

You have to do some work yourself as well of course and a lot of those first two months I spent e-mailing people within the BBC, telling them we were here and asking to meet for a coffee. Also attending Networking events, some organised specially for us, some external.

Finally I did get an interview; For a five week placement as an IT co-ordinator in drama. It wasn't the production or editorial role I had been hoping for. But after two months of waiting for an opportunity I wasn't going to scoff at it and during that month I learnt a lot about BBC systems that I may not have learned in another placement.

The moral there is don't refuse the roles in areas away from where you are aiming. You never know what you might learn.

It was five months till I was offered my next BBC placement. A 10 week contract as production management assistant in Radio Drama. It's my ideal role and I very much look forward to starting it next week.

But it is worth remembering that there may be long periods where you get no work form the BBC.

And now I'll tell you why none of that matters. Why if you REALLY do want to work in tv and radio why all the positive of this scheme outweigh the one negative of not knowing when you'll get your next pay (and really that's a good thing to get used to anyway, the whole media industry runs on short term contracts)

For starters you’re not restricted to just working for the BBC. If you get a full time job elsewhere that you love that's fine.  You might also get other short term work. During the 5 months between BBC contracts I filled my time working as a day-runner for various independent production companies. which ties in quite well to my next point....

Contacts! The PTP is amazing for making contacts in the industry. People within the BBC will (mostly) be more willing to meet with you for a coffee and a chat, which may not lead straight to a job but in a months time when they need someone they may just remember your enthusiasm.

Then there is your fellow PTPeeps. I've made some great friends through the PTP and some of those friends have gotten me jobs on other productions outside the BBC. The first runner role i had was because someone from the PTP who was already working on it recommended me. From that I got more work with that production company and my CV started to look appealing to apply for day-runner jobs off my own back.

And perhaps the best reason to apply for PTP is the opportunity to then apply to the PTS, the Production Trainee Scheme, the prestigious 18 month fast track that only those on the PTP can apply for.

I didn't quite make it onto the scheme  I did however get to the interview stage, not getting on to it may be my biggest disappointment to date in my life but I feel honoured that I got that far. To the last 33 from which the 11 trainees were chosen. That opportunity alone is worthy of applying for the PTP.

My 9 months on the scheme has been a roller coaster of ups and downs. And the only decision I've made that I might be tempted to change if I had a time machine might be to apply to London instead of Bristol. There were many more placements coming out of London (and also Manchester) than the others locations However there was probably also more competition in applying to London. Maybe I wouldn't have made it onto the scheme at all.

It would be a tough call to make. What isn't a tough call is to apply at all. If you have any desire to work in this industry do it. You won't regret it. 

This isn’t training..... This is Fast Train training (said in obligatory sexy M&S advert voice)

TV and radio training, it’s so expensive, isn’t it?  Just glancing at some of the courses I’d love to do on the BBC Academy website reveals prices of about £750 for a Radio features course.  On the Creative  Skillset website there is a Cannon XF305 camera course for just under £500. All a bit expensive for a freelancer just starting out with no money to his name.

Guess I’ll have continue without any extra training and just hope I get employed, at some point, by someone who is willing to foot the cost......right?

Well, no. You see there are these wonderful events, a few each year, called Fast Train. The BBC, Creative Skillset (the main industry body for training and funding), ITV and others work together to deliver a day of workshops and lectures for freelancers and it’s all free. Yep, completely and utterly free.    

How could I resist such an opportunity?

I eagerly selected the workshops I wanted. Not an easy task, I have the same problem in restaurants when trying to pick between three delicious sounding options on the menu, I just want them all. My choice was helped by the fact that some workshops had already sold out (note to self, book earlier next time) and I made my selection. I worked out I could fit in four workshops and the networking drinks at the end (very important that.... I’d barely left a gap in my schedule for lunch, and the food  and drink would be much needed by that point, and of course the chance to mingle with others in my industry is always worthwhile).

So on Tuesday morning I set off to Salford’s MediaCity. After last week’s Greater Manchester Road debacle (see “Foot in the door” blog from earlier this week) I was leaving no chances and left my house insanely early, arriving at my destination a good two and a half hours before my first  workshop.

But this at least gave me time to grab a coffee, say hello to Simon Wright (one of the people who run the BBC Production Talent Pool I am on), and take a quick jaunt in time and space.

Not only did I get to meet the TARDIS (yes ”meet”, it’s sentient you know) but before my first workshop I even won a raffle. My Prize? A Golden Ticket awarding me a £1500 training bursary through Creative Skillset. My day was off to an amazing start.

I went to my first workshop with a smile on my face and a coffee in my hand.

Now, obviously, you’re never going to learn as much on a 2 hour workshop as you would do on a full two day course, but you can get enough that you come away feeling you have learnt stuff you hadn’t known before.

My first workshop was an introduction to Pro-Tools, the industry standard audio editing package. For audio editing, I have always used Adobe Audition in the past but knowing that so much of the industry used Pro-Tools I have wanted to learn how to use it for a long time. unfortunately it tends to be another of those expensive courses.  So this was a workshop I jumped at the second I saw it. It was a chance to learn the basic tools in the programme so that if I was plonked at a desk in a job and told to edit something with it, I wouldn’t make a fool out of myself. 

Next, onto “Social Media and Second Screens”.  As well as professional interest here, I also had a hobbyist interest as I run the Twitter account of a local amateur theatre society and help with the Twitter account of my town’s volunteer-run theatre. Some good advice was imparted on finding your audience where they already are not trying to get them to come to your preferred platform.

Leaving me even less time to eat in my short lunch, I squeezed in doing a presenting screen test for the BBC academy. Who knows, one day it may be me introducing that clip of Anthea Turner getting her hair cooked extra crispy on the BBC health and safety training videos. 

In a Pitching workshop, one task we had to do was each read out a section of JFK’s presidential inaugural address. Being the eager amateur actor that I am, I did it in full American accent. No one else did.

Finally, I attended “Working with Radio Indies” which confirmed much of the advice I had gotten from indie people at last week’s Foot In The Door event, mainly that they want ideas and the best thing to do is just pitch them some. So I’ll be working on some ideas later today to send along to the helpful and friendly guys I met running this workshop.

.. I’m really pleased I went along to this event and I’m certainly eagerly awaiting the next one. In the meantime, I’m going to get shopping for a course on the Creative Skillsset website to spend my Golden ticket on.