23 June 2011

Welcome

I thought it would enhance the value and interest of this site if I added a blog. That's the idea, anyway. Be sure to let me know, once I get comments enabled (not as easy as it should be, when you've had to put your own template together... OK, seem to have done it, let me know if it doesn't work.)

I've been working in the independent film industry in the UK for about six years, and this blog will contain my thoughts on my experiences, as well as ruminations about the industry in general.

My background's in editing, as the rest of this site shows, but these days it's no longer enough to have one string to your bow. Youv'e got to have two or three strings and, really, you're only at the top of your game when you've got enough strings to play the Concierto de Aranjuez. At this end of the sector you're only worth anything if you can make the entire film by yourself (you might be allowed actors too, just to save you having to press 'REC' and then run round to the other side of the camera to deliver your lines).

So I find myself moving into areas of work I swore to myself I'd never touch - specifically production, the single most thankless task in film-making. More on this as things develop (they develop slowly, so don't hold your breath).

Coming up in future posts: what is the film-making 'industry' really worth, when any mug with a DSLR can sit in his bedroom, rant for five minutes into the lens and become an overnight sensation? Why are most films left unfinished, unreleased, even unshot? And why can't anyone make a decent film these days? (Except one or two people...)

Stephen Coltrane

A blog about films and film-making