2 month Update

Hi.
very sorry about the almost 2 month absence of updates on films and novels.
me and rob have moved house in this time and are now living in fair ol' london town. we also spent a good month of this move without the luxury of home internet - hence a lack of updating.
i couldnt even do it at work because they dont let you onto any interesting websites.

anyways - now for the update
basically due to now having full time work - the novel and scriptwriting that im doing has become a slow process. before i could just get home from uni and blitz it a little every day - now i have very little sociable hours or days off (and even then have to be motivated)
however the novel is going well (albeit slowly) i have recently finished chapter 8 and am working on chapter 9 now. the book is now an unedited 170 pages long. quite a whopper! the characters are all becoming real and fleshy and the time jumping narrative and scenes are working well in my opinion.
in a few chapters time i should hit the point of part 2 and this seems to me a great place to start finding representation from an agent.
but thats still a ways off.
the script Bitch Katana is on a bit of a standstill as im in a samurai and novel speak zone. and jumping out to write modern biker slang is not easy. its stalled at 25 pages. But it is very good.
there are a number of other ideas and works floating about
a final fantasy esque story involving a winged girl set in our world.
and a horror involving the misplaced guilt of a child manifest as a haunting.

to my knowledge Rob is not writing. i think he has put Nemaria on indefinite hold until he feels he can take on such a project.
in my experience you don't know until you try - hence my attempting novel.
im loving some of the chapters in blood red moon. they really feel interesting and the characters are great.

thats the update.
now im off to spend today (my day off) working on chapter 9
wish me luck
credits roll.

A Logo for Blood Red Moon

without any trouble i'm sure you can see the logo just below. and yes before you say anything - it looks like every other logo ive done - i know!


but its a TwistedMyth Toby Andersen style and i can't stop at the moment - anyways its just a preliminary logo to work under for a while


check it out - simplistic as hell - im no designer but i kinda like it anyway.

Blood Red Moon - a taste :D

Hi folks
not such a large break between posts this time
i have just finished a small - 4 page - section which i think shows off Blood Red Moon nicely.
it introduces Katsuyori - the lead guy - and sets the scene for some of the main topics and forthcomings (?:S) of the novel. it is a nice self contained little bit from chapter 5. (yes the lead doesn't even feature til chapter 5 - its a long novel)

anyways - lots of motifs and demon lore that are expounded throughout the novel are begun here. i hope it feels full of potential - exploration of those concepts later in the book.
hope you enjoy
please comment - but do remember its only a first draft :P
please note - a 'netsuke' is a small wallet weight made of wood, and a symbol of status amongst samurai.


Chapter 5
…the carver of netsuke…

On the outskirts of the Shino forest, one of the main Tokugawa hunting grounds, there is a small clearing. The trees are knarled and wrinkly like an old woman’s face. The foliage is dead and rotting. The rocks are black and cold, with heaps of diseased white lichen and moss growing in all directions off of them. The tree trunks are peeling and the branches have withered.

The locals have a legend about this particular clearing. They say that long ago there was a huge demon in this forest, a twisting dark presence that bent men to its will and harvested their very souls. One day, the Tokugawa Lord, then a Tokugawa Masashige, ventured out into the forest after he heard the sounds of screaming. The sound of little girl’s screaming. He ran into the forest following the noise with his trained hunter’s instincts and soon came across the demon. It had taken a barely humanoid form; large red muscles, a tiger skin loincloth and the face of a snarling beast. In one of its monstrous hands it held a screaming, struggling girl-child and the demon was about to eat her. Masashige could see its slobbering chops bearing down on her.

He pulled out his bow and shot an arrow into the Oni’s leg. The thing howled with the force of a hurricane. But the important thing was it turned and forgot about the girl in its grasp. It fixed its eyes on Masashige, who pulled out a second arrow, strung it and shot the beast in the eye. It groaned, lunging its hands to its face, throwing the girl to the forest floor, and then fell with a mighty crash. Dead.

Needless to say Masashige saved the girl and returned to his castle, but not before using his sword to severe the Oni’s head from its body. He dragged the head, fully as big as a man, back with him, but he didn’t get as far as the city. The head was evil and he could feel its taint as he carried it. The head got heavier and heavier, as he got closer and closer to the forest’s edge. Eventually, he couldn’t carry it any longer and before he was tainted irreversibly, he ditched it in a small clearing. He and the girl rode off back to the castle and he made her his wife many years later.

Where that head fell, the locals say, is where this dead clearing lies now. As the evil seeped out of the head that didn’t want to leave the forest, it suffused with the surrounding nature: the trees, leaves, fungus and rocks. And either killed them or turned them black and knarled. The head rotted and disappeared, but the clearing remained and never grew back.

It was in this self same clearing, on one of those black rocks that Katsuyori sat while he worked. He loved those old folk tales, every village and town and city had their own. This dead clearing didn’t feel evil to him, only forgotten, safe in a strange fashion, from the potentially dangerous wildlife in the rest of the forest. They would give it a wide berth.

He was a tall lad; all of twenty-one harvests old, with wavy black locks down around his ears, dark brown eyes and the beginnings of some stubble. He was handsome and roguish, just having grown into his frame and was a travelling sword-for -hire. And a damn good one too.

A ronin then, but never disgraced and left master less. He chose to wander without a place to call home and he had good reason. He was a mercenary and his skills fetched a good wage in many towns.

But his katana skills were not what he was flexing right now. He had loped a large chunk of branch off a nearby tree, one of the slightly less dead ones, and had sat down to carve. Katsuyori had a small whittling knife, barely the length of a finger, which he would use to carve into the wood and find the art within. He was a netsuke carver and when the swordsman jobs were scarce he would feed himself royally off the money he made selling netsuke. And he was skilled at that too.

He often thought he could see the creature or demon or animal inside the wood before he even began, and his buyers often commented (after the sale) how skilfully realistic the carvings looked. Although what he saw and chose to carve didn’t have to been seen within the wood. The carving he was working on right now was of the demon Oni’s head as it lay when the long ago Lord had severed it. It was lying right in front of him.

And this was another of Katsuyori’s skills. He often found he was able to see that which others did not. He supposed the city folk didn’t come to this clearing because they felt an evil presence, but he doubted they could see what he could. And it was undoubtedly that that was keeping them away. Below the rock at his feet, lay the evil head itself, decomposed and rotted yes, but gone, no. Though its eyes had dribbled out, the skin still hung on it and the skull was clearly visible between the scraps. Katsuyori could see more than just this skull though. I can see the whole bloody mess, as it must have been at least two hundred years ago. The pool of black blood mingled in the dead leaves, the trail that stretched off deep into the forest, the evil eyes still searching for their vanquisher. He could see the forest as it had been before the demon’s blood had permeated the soil and killed the trees. The clearing had been green and lush, full of life and promise.

The images Katsuyori saw seemed to fall one over the other, like when a child places one piece of paper over another and copies the faint image through from behind.

His eyes saw that which was, and that which really was.

The world as a normal person saw it and the underlying world, where spirits and demons really existed. Places where they affected the other world, like this clearing, were special places in Katsuyori’s thinking. Places where both worlds seemed to fold together like kneaded dough.
This head might well have been vivid to him, but it was rotted and gone to any other passer by, along with any other demons. The country of Naganowa had seen off the last of it’s demons more than five decades ago, and all that remained now were the trails they had left or the bones and presences like that which lay before him. He wondered, not for the first time, what had happened to all the demons. Had they been hunted to extinction? Had people stopped believing in them? Were they hidden, waiting for the right time to strike and pillage once again? He didn’t know, but it seemed a shame that they were gone from the world. He could have made quite some money vanquishing them.

He concentrated hard on his netsuke carving. The head of the unnaturally large Oni was clearly visible now; it’s eyes hard hemispheres in the wood, its horns and tusks protruding just as Katsuyori could see them lying there on the ground. He carved carefully, bringing the small knife over and into the wood in small movements so as not to jerk his hand and ruin the netsuke.

Soon enough it would be finished and then he would make his way down the hill into Shino and sell it. He hoped the locals weren’t too scared by the thing’s origins and depiction, to part with quite a tidy sum. It was a large piece, would suit a burly hardheaded samurai well, he thought. The money would provide food and lodgings until he could gain employment or a contract.

With a quick flourish to pull off a wayward scrap of wood, he was done. He regarded his work with satisfaction. It was great, just like usual when he took on a creature no one else could see. He seemed to have a gift for carving the demons and spirits. He reflected on the fact that no one could judge this particular piece’s authenticity, but it certainly looked lifelike. He was especially proud of the ragged skin around the neck where the sword had cleaved the flesh. Katsuyori stood and tucked the netsuke into his travelling pack, which he then swung over his shoulder.

With a last look at the clearing he ventured back out in the last hundred strides of so of the forest and down towards the city of Shino and whatever awaited him there. Little did he know it would be the beginning of a story like no other, or that there would be no turning back from the path he chose.

hope u enjoy
Credits roll...

Bitch Katana on Hiatus - Blood Red Moon going well

hi folks

just a quick announcement that Bitch katana now has about 25 pages but has been put on a temporary hiatus
and instead i am concentrating much more fully on Blood Red Moon
which is now onto its 4th chapter and is going well - thats 85 pages worth of novel baby.
anyways - my brain is totally stuck in samurai mode at the moment and its not good jumping between the two all the time. soon enough ill probably get bored with the samurais and start up BK again. chopping and changing by two weeks each time is fine (u have a chance to get into it) but every other day is impossible.

anyways - sometime soon i will post up a chapter of BRM but i dont know when or which chapter - they are very long chapters - mostly around 20 pages each so far. gotta wait til i write a shorter one.

thanks for reading
credits roll...

A small taste of Bitch Katana!

hey avid readers
Bitch Katana! (biker gangs in Tokyo) has been underway for a almost a week now
it has a full bike chase and, when the bikers are arrested, a large interrogation split into 4 scenes.
this taster is one scene from the policestation - just features some funny lines
and this is the first taster of BK this blog has seen.

hope you enjoy.
so setting the scene isn't really necessary (the scene is quite self contained)
this scene is a flashback from before the bike chase the film starts with, and the result is that Lena goes all out trying to catch the bikers.

enjoy


INT. CHIEF’S OFFICE, TOKYO POLICE STATION, DAY.

CHIEF INSPECTOR KIMURA sits behind a littered and smoke-stained, paper-covered mahogany desk. With a cigar in hand and his feet up, he affects the presence of a bygone era of policing. Gruff and drawn, he speaks with a rasp.

CHIEF
Lena, listen to me. I want success and that’s all. I don’t care if you have to suck cock from here to Shinjuku, I want this fucking case solved, and I want the perp licking metal by last week!

Lena, sat across from him in a battered leather recliner, visibly recoils. She wears tight jeans, accentuating her thick thighs and a white shirt with loaded brown shoulder holster. Her Desert Eagle sits and waits. She blinks.

LENA
Sir. You can’t be-

CHIEF
Serious? Listen here missy. I didn’t get to Chief Inspector of this shitty station by sitting and waiting for evidence to fall into my fucking lap.

Lena opens her mouth to argue.

CHIEF cont.
In my day we had to actually trawl the frikin streets, pull the perps over, slash some tyres, piss in some coffee, get noticed! That’s how you find evidence, you go out and fucking pull it, kicking and screaming outta some perp’s ass, where he stashed the fucker.

Again, a look of utter surprise and wide eyes from Lena. She looks hurt but incredulous.

LENA
You’re saying I’m not doing enough street work?

CHIEF
Damn straight, Lena. Next lead you get, no, in fact, make one of your own, and I wanna see you out there, nose bloody and raw its been sniffing the trail so hard.

Lena looks concerned, sits forward and brandishes a finger.

LENA
But, sir this is unfounded. I have the best arrest record in the city, and the district chief commended my achievements. One hundred arrests last month.

CHIEF
Didn’t I just say I don’t give a flying F.U.C.K!? Those arrests mean shit to me, for one reason and one reason only.

Lena scowls, folds her arms and leans back.

CHIEF cont.
You got the biggest piano hanging over you I ever seen. An unsolved gang homicide of TWO FUCKING YEARS AGO! Jeezus H, I ain’t never had such a doozey in all my career. And that shit’s shadow hovers over you blotting out every other achievement you can come up with, blotting out the frikin sun! From now on you’re off everything but gang crime and that fucking case.

LENA
Yes, sir.

She makes to leave as fast as she can.

CHIEF
And I want it solved faster than a penny fuck.

what happens next chronologically wud be the bike chase - but in narrative film time the perps in the race are hauled in for questioning and the next scene is in the interrogation of Kazuki

anyways - hope u like it

feel free to comment

Credits roll...

Lucky Dragon Skies receives critical acclaim...

The results have come in from the end of university and i'd like to announce that Lucky Dragon Skies - my sci fi anime pilot episode - received a whopping 80!!
that right - * 80 *
anyways - i'd like to thank my friends and family, everyone who helped with ideas, Hollywood and my fans, you make it all worth while. *sniff*

i can't believe it.
well - the confidence is up through the roof now - i'm gonna sell that bastard! i didn't think it was that good
(i love it - the things u dont think r good get great marks - and the things you bum get shit marks)

I am actually going to get on with all the little things i've been planning for that series.
all the drawings and the other episodes. yay!

anyways
credits roll...

Bitch Katana! announcement and update

Hi folks
long time no spreken. sorry bout that:S

the blog hasn't been updated a whole lot in June:S
anyways the basic update would be that i'm going through the motions of applying for work as a runner at various post production companies, hopefully one of which will bear fruit soon.
i have also been looking into contacts in the film industry and hope some of them will also pay off soon. im sure rob is doing a similar job.
in the meantime we've been experiencing the ultimate in entertainment (bar films and FF) that is Metal gear Solid 4 - and its eats whole days (i have been job hunting and writing inbetween :P) it was a quite amazing experience in cinematic game making and storytelling. so long and complex.
i have been working on Blood Red Moon and it now has 3 chapters in full first draft which im very proud of. its amazing to see your characters take shape and come alive often within scenes you barely planned until you actually sit down to write. its amazing what a scene calls for when your actually writing that weren't needed in the plan. the scene lives and develops extra bits, back story and secrets. anyways the story is coming on nicely and im enjoying writing it when i get the time:P (and don't say stop playing MGS4 coz i write as well. too many jobs at once)

the final piece of news is the reason for this update!
Bitch Katana! is finished planning! (see i have been working) the whole story works now. it has its nice plot - simple and humanistic (no magic and freakiness) and based around the antics of Kazuki, his sister, his biker gang, and the sexy policewoman investigating his parent's deaths. a couple of new characters have emerged, namely the people Lena investigates in her Katana search, the criminals and dealers, her partner in police work and the barman at Seventh Haven.
there is also a helpful Homeless man, the sword shop owner, a helicop who films chases for World's Most Shocking Police Videos and a feisty mama'san in the sex district!!
The plan's finished - which means - i can (and have just) start(ed) writing!:D which is awesome - its a little hard to switch back to normal script writing style :S but its a fun story and i can dialogue it in normal slang etc instead of Samurai speak. i can swear :P anyways i can't wait to get into it - i reckon it should take a good month to get the first draft mashed out and then i can get refining that bitch!

hope you found this as exciting'a post as i did. Bitch Katana! - the longest script i have ever attempted is now underway, ready to go etc. the first full length feature script i have attempted alone. the last one was half done by Rob. (VPS)

i'll try to keep this page updated in future a little more than this month. - but i cant be sure anyone's reading - except my deligent audience of 2 - meg and Rob :D (much appreciated guys)
if you read this please comment - just say hi - so i can see who reads these posts

see ya
credits roll...

The 'Gemini' stills gallery

My personal favourite stills from Gemini - enjoy

My personal favourite images of Gemini - enjoy

it was such an awesome film - lots of happy memories there - can't wait to get the grade

(i know im gna be disappointed)

Blood Red Moon - titles and chapters

well hello there
warning - this post has nothing to do with film
this one is about my novel writing. which has begun thanks for asking ;P

first off titles - the series of novels is now 3 it looks to be a nice long trilogy and there is definetely a good 600+ pages in the first novel. so its long - especially for me
the trilogy or series has an overall title which i'd like to announce -
Blood Red Moon
and there are three novel titles - one fore each book
The Blooded Daisho
The Demon King
The Hyakki Yako

the second announcement is that i have started writing The Blooded Daisho (hereafter TBD) and its a lot of fun indeed. the prologue script (LDotRS) has been edited to correspond nicely with the new enlarged story and the 1st 2 chapters have been written in full first draft.
i think that is quite something in about 4 days :P (i might even post some choice parts up in future) overall im finding novel writing fun and liberating in strange ways - especially after only writing scripts for so long. in particular - writing in 3rd person, being omnipotent and writing thoughts! goddam it feels nice sometimes. (dont got actors to rely on to convey emotions:P)

anyways those are the announcements
i will continue writing wenever the feeling takes me but it could well take a very long time to complete this novel as i should also be working and filmmaking
look forward to more updates in future
credits roll

Writing Motivation and 'Blood Red Moon'

well folks

i feel this page is getting lonesome - the problem basically is that i have to get back into the self motivating habit of writing for myself instead of writing for grades. that takes a little while to come out again.
i am working on getting a job to pay the bills and in between times using up the rest of my days watching dvds and planning moviefilms. but my trouble is actually getting the drive to do the actual writing itself. i have written the planning plenty.
another setback is all the stuff that happens at the same time. i have a trailer to think of and job hunting and my planned stories, plus girlfriend, relaxing, sleeping etc
these things take time and i cant do them all at once.
i wonder about the viability of doing anything - i dont want to waste my time u see - so do a get started on a massive project that will take many days and hours - wen i cant be sure it will sell or work or go anywhere.

anyways - melodramatic career impatience aside - i am having fun with my current projects
Bitch Katana! is coming along well and almost has a complete plot plan - the next stage will be to blitz out the first draft. and see if it works:S
and in book news
the Rising Son/Blood and the Stars etc (many working titles) has had a renaming session - its now called the 'Blood Red Moon' trilogy with individual titles for each of the 3 books running along the lines of spirits - but not decided yet. it has become all the action fantasy epic i sed it wud - complete with a decade spanning demon takeover, the long feudal states war, the rise and fall of many great warriors and the multitude of blooded katanas, vengeful and helpful spirits and epic loves. there are too many characters to say its one characters story - like many other epic fantasies it has multiple viewpoints. this is an epic fantasy with an oriental samurai flavour (much in the vien of the Braided Path books by Chris Wooding) - set in a fictional japan where spirits exist. it chronicals the epic war and the destinies of a range of individuals caught up in them, and the emergence of demons to the world once again can only be bad news.

anyways - look forward to it
its a dynamite story - its gonna take me a good 6months to write it all - and then sell it to a publisher and then laugh and hold my belly while i do. then hopefully peeps will msg me saying - when the next part in the trilogy coming out Mr. Andersen' please write quicker - i cant wait etc
and i will laugh again
so dont epect to by seeing it on amazon for at least a year or so but hey you'll love it wen u read it!!
credits roll...