Chris Jones's Blog, page 10

Writing The Score for Escape From New York

I love this video essay by Alex Ball with long term, John Carpenter collaborator Alan Howarth. It harks back to a time when innovation was profoundly inventive and deeply analogue, even though of course the score is ‘digital’.

John Carpenter was a massive influence for me as a kid and while I was making Zombie movies, I was simultaneously writing and recording very basic synth horror music. Sadly none of it exists now, but I loved being locked away over long weekends with a Korg, drum machine, mics and a four track.

Looking back I realise that the act of creating, when the act in of itself required innovation, challenge and patience, was a brilliant way to discipline myself. Of course you can download an App that does 85% of the work now, which is possibly why very few ever managed to top Assault on Precinct 13, The Thing, Halloween, The Fog (my favourite) and of course Escape from New York.

Onwards and upwards!

Chris Jones

My movies www.LivingSpiritGroup.com

My Facebook www.Facebook.com/ChrisJonesFilmmaker

My Twitter @LivingSpiritPix

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Published on April 23, 2019 11:31

Help Me Save Lives in Far East Prisons

One extraordinary man fights for lives, reform and justice in the most forgotten jails in the world and I want to help. Will you help too? LINK HERE

This is the cause we have chosen got Talent Campus 5.0 and it’s very personal to one specific screenwriter in our community.

Imagine you had a daughter, son, brother, sister, wife, husband, friend, neighbour on death row in Indonesia. That’s the situation a close friend of mine finds themselves in. As you read this, that person is sat in a cell most people would never even house an animal in. Under constant fear of possible torture and… much worse.

When I heard their story, I knew I needed to act.

When I heard the story of their lawyer, who works for free AND also fights to save the lives of marginalised people, the innocent, and the vulnerable, I was set on fire with a desire to act now.

So in invite you to support Ricky, an extraordinary lawyer, who is FIGHTING tirelessly to improve conditions, saves lives and make an enormous difference in his country. Listen to him speak in the video on this page, it will move you deeply.

This whole experience has helped shed light into a deep shadow and I am deeply grateful for the perspective that helps me see just how good my life is, and how I enjoy liberty and freedom from tyranny. CONTRIBUTE HERE

Join me in my goal to raise £3k for an amazing human being, to pay to keep the lights on (and remember he takes no fee for these cases). Give what you can, it will remind you how wonderful life is for most of us. Then let’s smash that £3k and stretch to £5k…

CONTRIBUTE HERE

Thank you.

Onwards and upwards!

Chris Jones

My movies www.LivingSpiritGroup.com

My Facebook www.Facebook.com/ChrisJonesFilmmaker

My Twitter @LivingSpiritPix

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Published on February 04, 2019 05:37

How You Can Define Success for Your No-Budget Guerrilla Film by Brian Barnes

The film market can sometimes be seen as a battle for eyeballs between the studios and lowly independent filmmakers – a kind of David versus Goliath showdown. There is no way your no-budget indie will ever make as much money as a studio film. No way you’ll ever be as well-known, and no way you’ll ever be as popular.

Therefore, in this landscape, what does success look like for your no-budget indie?

I found part of the answer to that conundrum by reading Chris Jones’s books and attending his Guerrilla Film Masterclass a number of times. To say he’s been a major catalyst to me in my filmmaking career is an understatement.

He was the man who inspired me to believe that I could actually make a feature film in the first place.

But, more than that, Chris and other mentors taught me that one of the first things you need to do when undertaking a big project like a feature film is to define your success before you start. What will a successful outcome look like for you and your film?

Chris encourages you to visualise your success. See yourself standing on the red carpet at your premiere with flashbulbs popping. I visualised that. I wanted that for my film. That was what I was aiming for.

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And I didn’t want just any old film premiere. I wanted mine in the flipping West End of London! The Big Boys’ Playground. We successfully crowd-funded, sold out and held a West End Premiere. That box has been well and truly ticked!

Beyond that, we’ve had lots of other unexpected successes. Horror maestro Kim Newman said that ‘The Redeeming’ ‘Delivers some subtle chills’. The BBC described our film as ‘Psychologically terrifying’. BritFlicks crowned us 2018’s Number 3 Trailer on their website. We were the number 1 thriller on Amazon Prime UK for 6 weeks and we peaked at number 7 thriller on Prime US. We’re making some steady income on VOD and on track to be in profit in about 3 or 4 years.

And now we’ve been nominated for Best Thriller at the 2019 National Film Awards in the UK.

For a no-budget indie film shot for almost nothing, being listed with a couple of mega-budget films such as the US$40m ‘Annihilation’ and US$20m ‘Final Score’ is an extraordinary outcome. As Chris would say, ‘Truly remarkable – as in worthy of remark.’ Win or lose in this particular awards race, ‘The Redeeming’ has been a very successful no-budget indie film.

And it’s a dead cert that the film owes a large chunk of this success to Chris’s tips that he shares at the Guerrilla Film Masterclass.

If you want to make no-budget feature films, then maybe you should attend the class.

But, if you want to make SUCCESSFUL no-budget indie films, you absolutely NEED to be at the Masterclass.

Maybe I’ll meet you there and you can tell me all about your plan to make a no-budget indie?

In the meantime, please help us show the world that no-budget indies can take on the studios at their own game by voting for ‘The Redeeming’ in the National Film Awards. You can find the voting link on our website at http://www.theredeeming.com

Brian Barnes

About the film // Follow us on Twitter // Connect on Facebook // Join us on Instagram

Brian Barnes is a London-based director whose debut feature film ‘The Redeeming’ was released in early 2018 on worldwide VOD platforms. The film peaked at number 7 on the Prime US thriller chart and was the number 1 thriller on Prime UK for 6 weeks. The trailer has now been watched nearly 160,000 times. Brian’s short film ‘The Urge’ won a Best Film award under jury president Timothy Burrill (producer of Roman Polanski’s ‘The Pianist’).

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Published on February 03, 2019 02:27

Talent Campus 5.0… First feedback comments from shell shocked screenwriters

We just ran our fifth Talent Campus and the first emailed fedback is coming in. If you want to know more abotu Talent Campus 6.0 and apply, you can do that HERE.

‘Utterly transformative week. I am so tired I could (and may) sleep for a week, but my god it’s been monumental’

Angela Clarke, Author

‘It was creative, intense, emotional and at times terrifying. And absolutely worth it’

Mathew White, Screenwriter

‘Jump in. The water’s cold till you get right in. Then you won’t want to get out.’

Teresa Bailey, Screenwriter

‘It’s like a glass of Beroca with an espresso chaser’

Merlin Goldman, Screenwirter

‘Blown away, I’ve felt like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz from day one and I haven’t stopped spinning yet’

Chris Lang, Screenwriter

‘I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect before I came to TC, but everybody I knew who’d had anything to do with it had said it was awesome. I had some pretty fixed ideas about my capabilities as a writer, and in which direction I was planning to go. By the end of the first day, both had been overturned and upended. In just a few days, I had a much greater understanding of the working industry, what it’s looking for, and what it takes to make it. Not in a high-level ‘you must work hard’ way, but in a genuine deep dive understanding of what producers and commissioners are looking for. I think it would’ve taken me years to compile that knowledge and information myself. It’s like being catapulted forwards. Invigorating, inspiring, and bloody nail-biting!’

Angela Clarke / Writer

www.AngelaClarke.co.uk

‘I have never felt so awake. Talent Campus 5.0 was a life changing experience. I’ve learned so much and made such amazing friends over the past six days, and discovered truths about myself that never occurred to me. By the end I felt like Ebeneezer Scrooge waking up on Christmas Day – a better writer and better person!‘

James Alexander, Screenwriter

‘I had expected something demanding and challenging. What I experienced was way beyond what I could have imagined. The demands and challenges, it emerged, were all to do with my own fears of my limitations as a writer. I have never been through such a thought provoking and stimulating event where, along with fear, I experienced holding in mind and containment as never before. My confidence as a writer has bloomed way beyond what I thought I was capable of.’

Teresa Bailey, Screenwriter

‘Talent Campus has been one of the best things I’ve done in my life. I expected there to be some confidence building, meeting some peers, you know, like LSF. Boy, was I wrong. It was even better. WAY BETTER. I did things I’d never thought I’d do before. Usually when I do things I didn’t intend on doing, it leads to embarrassment or regret. Not at Talent Campus. I felt proud, I felt empowered, and I’d do it all again. Sharing my writing passion with peers felt so good. It always does, but in this more intimate setting, it blew my mind.’

Susan Vermeer, Screenwriters

‘Talent Campus gives you a bunch of buddies who will root for you and pick you up when you stumble, just as you would do the same for them. It’s a collaboration of kindness, willingness and motivation. Do it, you’ll surprise yourself. I know I did.’

Mari Vindis, Screenwriter

‘The whole experience took me to places I would never imagine going. It shifted me to the next level and re-ignited trust, confidence, hope and gave me wings to fly. It was life changing.’

Deborah Hodgetts, Screenwriter

‘I was reluctant to apply as I thought I’d never be offered a place. I’m sooooo pleased I ignored my inner misery gremlin. I loved it. I met some gifted and talented people, heard from professionals at the top of their game and was treated to delicious daily doses of challenges, fun, focus and inspiration’

Teresa Bailey, Screenwriter

‘Talent Campus ended three days ago and I’m still absolutely buzzing. Holy shit, I had no idea how much I would grow/learn/change over the course of the week. I fancy myself a fairly bold, confident person, but TC helped show me just how much fear was still in control of my life. I started the experience as one of those introverts who prides themselves on how much they don’t need people, but that was just fear of rejection talking. I don’t think I would have figured that out so profoundly without Talent Campus. I learned just how much my own brain was stopping me from experiencing the joy of this career and I got practical methods to help dismantle that fear. I feel like a new person and a new writer and I know that that thanks to TC. Next year is going to look radically different and about a million times more exciting than it would have otherwise.’

Aydrea Walden, Screenwriter, Los Angeles

‘The whole event is like a huge invitation and reminder to ‘seize the day’

Desi Lyon, Screenwriter

‘Talent Campus is everything you expect from a professional course but so much more. Expect it to change your work, your confidence and your ability to succeed. I am planning to do things this year that I would have never even considered without this Talent Campus. So a word or warning, don’t even consider applying if you don’t want it to change your life.’

Jacqueline Davis, Screenwriter

‘Thank you to you and your team for the most amazing, transforming week I’ve ever had! You are an inspiration, a facilitator of dreams and total hero! The TC experience and love continues in the What’sApp group which is awesome and certainly helping with life on the outside! I am now a fearless screenwriting warrior – the future is now full of possibilities. Enormous, heartfelt thanks’

Ros Jones, Screenwriter

‘I was expecting Talent Campus to help with me with my writing but I wasn’t expecting it to challenge who I was in such a profound way. Any fear-factor I had has been wiped away and I’ve emerged a much stronger person with an absolute self-belief in myself as a screenwriter’

Fiona Hunniset, Screenwriter

You can apply for Talent Campus 6.0 HERE.

On a personal note, it was a challenge AND a privileged to run Talent Campus 5.0. Only directing feature films pushes me SO far out of my own comfort zone, and the energy generated when I do, makes the whole experience fizzle for me. Awesome.

Onwards and upwards!

Chris Jones

My movies www.LivingSpiritGroup.com

My Facebook www.Facebook.com/ChrisJonesFilmmaker

My Twitter @LivingSpiritPix

Sign up to my mailing list for updates on events, books and free film making tools

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Published on January 23, 2019 14:25

Test

8 Jan 2019 at 20.27

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Published on January 08, 2019 12:27

Forget mission statements, genres and log lines… Try three little words instead

Over the last week or so I have been doing some soul searching, as well as building the curriculum for Talent Campus. By chance, during research an idea I came across resonated with something I did over a decade ago and have done many times since (I even posted about it here in 2010!)

Three words. Describe it in three words.

Your story. Your career. Your business. Your… well pretty much anything that you actively put energy into and want to improve.

I first did this process when making my Oscar shortlisted film ‘Gone Fishing’. At that time I taped Cinematic, Sensitive and Confident to the front of my script binder. This would be how I approached the entire process of making the film.

Everything I did, every choice I made, creative or practical, had to serve these three words. If it didn’t, I was the wrong choice.

I cannot tell you how much this helps when under massive pressure, as well as at the other end of creativity, when there’s no pressure and shiny distractions everywhere.

Of course I don’t really mean ‘forget a logline…’, but I do think these three words are WAY more helpful than a logline during the long act of creation. They are flexible enough to unleash the full creative potential you and your work offers, yet clear enough to result in focus, often laser focus when combined with pressure (real, imagined or self imposed).

It doesn’t need to be the same words for everything. The London Screenwriters Festival is ‘Experience, Inspire and Connect’ for instance.

For me right now, I am considering a bold creative step, and with limitless opportunities, I need to focus on what really resonates with me and floats my boat.

My three words for what I want to do next creatively would be…

Mystery
Awe
Confident

Certainly Rocketboy which I have been writing with Judy has all three. And I am at the tipping point now where I think I will revert to the original title too, ‘Rocketboy and Vampire Girl’.

There are other words too, words I would love to add, maybe Magical, Melancholy, Entertaining, Touching… Constellations of emotions.

I guess I can have these additionally IF I can first pass through my three words. Again, this is a flexible enough guide to encompass so much, but also rigid enough to keep us on the creative straight and narrow.

The words… mystery and awe… are what I loved about movies as a kid. That sense of magical reality created awe, and all told through the lens of mystery.

I have taken Confident again, not as a way of being for myself (though it’s a good reminder), more about the story and treatment of the narrative. To avoid clever, tricksy, over engineered solutions. Keeping it simple yet bold.

Just writing this have given me tons of clarity an ignited the passion.

What are the three words that describe your next project? Your career? Heck, even your website…? It works really well, like ever finer filtration.

Do share your thoughts and breakthroughs.

Onwards and upwards!

Chris Jones

My movies www.LivingSpiritGroup.com

My Facebook www.Facebook.com/ChrisJonesFilmmaker

My Twitter @LivingSpiritPix

Sign up to my mailing list for updates on events, books and free film making tools

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Published on December 30, 2018 11:09

Reflecting On The Year… And why need to celebrate more

As creative people we often beat ourselves up.

We could have done more. We should have done more. Everyone else seems to be doing so much better.

Hmmmm.

Social media amplifies this as we watch other people share their successes with us. Even though we know these are often rose tinted, heavily edited, photo filtered versions of reality, they often serve to remind us that we may be under achieving, even when we are not, or didn’t feel like we were until we jumped onto Facebook, Twitter, Instagram… your drug of choice.

All too often we can end up focusing on the result and not the journey.

We long for the moment of success, because when we get there, everything will be different.

Won’t it?

Maybe any given success, failure or conclusion is more like a plot point on the BIG journey of life, and never a conclusion.

Of course, we get a short buzz when we do ‘get there’. And then, for that moment, we get to be that person on social media that makes so many of our ‘friends’ feel that little bit less.

Social media or not, that buzz around success and achievement is short lived. Very short lived.

And once again, and all too quickly, we find ourselves gazing up at the mountain and wondering what the hell we are doing?

All too often we find ourselves in a state of anxiety, FOMO, and general unease.

And paradoxically, these feelings of anxiety, generated by our success, or the success of others, often lead to greater creative shutdown.

So what is the answer?

First, I believe we were evolved in small social groups. For many many thousands of years we developed our social skills and relationships in groups numbering many tens, perhaps even a hundred. Now we live in an interconnected world of billions. If you have a news app, BBC, Daily Mail, LBC… we are bombarded with fear. It’s relentless. And that’s BEFORE we even get to social media. We are NOT evolved to cope with the quantity and relentless messages of fear. Maybe its time to delete those apps, yes delete, not just stop looking at them. Like crack, they are designed to lure you back in.

Second… Social Media. FOMO, the fear of missing out. Yes everyone appears to be enjoying a better life than you. Aside from those who are not, and posting about how they are not having a good life. Both extremes pull us in emotional directions while at the same time often leave us feeling a bit helpless. Maybe it’s time to break up with your phone entirely? Or at the least establish some healthy ground rules?

Third… Acknowledging and celebrating successes. This is perhaps the most paradoxical. When we look back at our year, we often find that we actually achieved a great deal. We should celebrate that. We should acknowledge that. And we should take time, effort and compassion to edit, design and create powerful memories around these successes. Once the experience passes, which is all too brief, we are left with memories. Often, we allow these memories to fade away. Or because we don not consciously edit our memories, we can focus on the wrong bits, less inspiring bits.

Perhaps over these next few days, you should do a success audit and list all the things you achieved that meant something. Some small. Some large. And relive the memory, look at photos, read blogs, watch videos. And consider what you learned. What was the meaning? It’s THIS meaning that defines the quality of the achievement, not the achievement in of itself.

Design the meaning behind the success.

Make that the memory… of choice.

And so I want to reflect on my own personal successes this year and what they mean to me…

Shooting Never Too Late
Over the spring, we shot a VERY ambitious short film to highlight the need for exercise in older people, especially in the winter.
Memories… A very intense shoot that pushed me to the limit in terms of coverage, scene and costume changes.
Meaning… Trust the process, shooting an impossible schedule, trust the process.
www.LuminosityLondon.com

The Impact50 Trailer
Finally we had enough short films submitted to The Impact50 that we could cut a trailer, a trailer that became instrumental in taking this project to the next level.
Memories… The buzz of people finally seeing something that represents the ambition of the project.
Meaning… Always wonderful when creations are released into the wild.
www.Impact50film.com

Shooting The Presidents Speech
Shooting the ambitious opening for Impact50 really stretched us, but getting Olivia Williams involved proved a lighting rod for getting the killer location, working with a worldclass team and crowdfunding the budget fast.
Memories… Bringing it all together for a single memorable moment.
Meaning… Aim high, work hard, get the result.
www.Impact50film.com

Talent Campus 4.0
Running the fourth iteration of Talent Campus was perhaps the most fun yet. An amazing group of people who bonded, with the most moving of human challenges. The experience pushed my to go way outside my comfort zone and boy was it worth it.
Memories… A specific exercise I don’t want to share, needs to stay in the room.
Meaning… Deep human connection manifests courage and the most extraordinary storytelling. What a privilege.
https://www.londonscreenwritersfestival.com/whats-on/sessions/the-screenwriters-talent-campus

LondonSWF 2018
The ninth festival was our most challenging, for a number of reasons. But the team was the most experienced team to date, and it showed with a near flawless three days.
Memories… The best team ever.
Meaning… Trust in your gut.
https://www.londonscreenwritersfestival.com

The British Screenwriters Awards 2018
The fifth outing of the Awards was the first time we ALL felt we could nail it 100%.
Memories… Under-rehearsal terror
Meaning… Experienced team plus a little under-rehearsal creates the magic.
https://www.britishscreenwritersawards.com/

Jerusalem Awards
Our Christmas film from 2017 ended up winning best film at the Jerusalem Awards at BAFTA.
Memories… Seeing the film on the big screen, always a revelation.
Meaning… The magic lies in the dynamics between the push and pull of creative tensions.
www.LuminosityLondon.com

Launching Never Too Late
Our Christmas film about Santa needing physio launched in early December and reached over 1 million views over multiple platforms. Amazing.
Memories… Edit after edit after edit after edit… Refine, recut, polish until the diamond shines as brightly as it can.
Meaning… The joy of moving peoples hearts never gets old.
www.LuminosityLondon.com

Twisted50 and Singularity50 Book Launches
The Awards and Book launch began with a haunted house experience where we terrified our guests.
Memories… Ghosts and exorcisms in the dark, and the thrill of horror in the real.
Meaning… It’s SO much fun, this is not work!
www.Twisted50.com

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As for next year…?
Well there are plans afoot as ever. Let’s see how the game evolves.

My last thought. It’s been a pleasure to write down the main and public achievements of the year. Of course there have been failures (an opportunity to learn) and small personal successes also. All just as relevant.

But to revisit the big successes reminds me of WHY I do what I do, and why I love it.

Why not write your successes down, listen to music when you do, and celebrate like a five your old.

Onwards and upwards!

Chris Jones
My movies www.LivingSpiritGroup.com
My Facebook www.Facebook.com/ChrisJonesFilmmaker
My Twitter @LivingSpiritPix

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Published on December 27, 2018 09:32

Reflecting On 2018… And why need to celebrate more