The Castoffs - State of things / L'estat de les coses

After a long time, two days ago I eventually managed to finish The Castoffs' third draft! And when I say a long time I REALLY mean it. The second version of the script dates back to March 2011 so it's taken nearly two years to rewrite it. Not that I've been working on it all this time -there have been many things that have kept me away from it- but it feels good to have it finished at last. It somehow means that, despite the latest setbacks, the project's moving forward.

Well, "setbacks" may be too harsh. Let's just say that during the last couple of months we -that's Xavier Ren and me- had been thinking of and starting developing a side project -about which I wanted to tell you soon-. I had already done some attempts and drafts on the story and I was looking forward to start properly working on it. However, some professional issues have forced us to postpone it until further notice. I have no idea about when are we going to get back to it, but I want to believe it will be in a relatively short period of time. The ideas we had were good, we were on the right path... I think that by June we could have had something really cool and that could had been commercially successful... but we'll have to leave it on hold and wait for the right time to keep on with it.

Back to the script... I've got quite a long and boring work ahead. When we first started with the whole The Castoffs thing we didn't know how much it would grow, and so I didn't consider writing it in English. I don't think it was good enough then but anyway I didn't even think about it. So since then on I've been writing most of The Castoffs' stuff in Catalan, with only some bits and pieces -mostly from older drafts- translated into English for pitching purposes. So now I'll have to take my 88-page script and start going through it once again to translate it and work it in English from then on. As it happens when you're translating your own stuff I'll probably change things here and there on the way so I'll end up with a sort of 3.5 version of the script... which is not bad but can be tiring when you've just finished redrafting. I guess I should also translate the rest of the documents (e.g character bible, environment descriptions, synopses...) but I don't want to think about it. By now I'll focus on this and on the Old Folks Project, that's going all right but I think needs an impulse. See you soon!

The Castoffs. Illustration by / Il·lustració de Xavier Ren.

Després de molt de temps fa un parell de dies que, per fi, vaig aconseguir acabar el tercer esborrany de The Castoffs! I quan dic "molt de temps" vull dir MOLT de temps. La segona versió del guió és de març del 2011 o sigui que m'ha costat gairebé dos anys reescriure'l. No és que hi hagi estat treballant durant tot aquest temps -hi ha hagut moltes coses que me n'han mantingut apartat- però haver-ho acabat per fi és molt agradable. D'alguna manera vol dir que, tot i els darrers contratemps, el projecte segueix endavant.

Bé, potser "contratemps" son massa fort. Diguem que durant els darrers dos mesos hem -en Xavier Ren i jo- estat pensant i començant a desenvolupar un projecte paral·lel -del qual us volia parlar ben aviat-. Ja havia fet algunes proves i esborranys sobre la història i estava desitjant poder començar a treballar-hi seriosament, però afers professionals ens han obligat a postposar-ho fins a nova ordre. No tinc ni idea de quan ens hi tornarem a posar, però vull creure que serà ben aviat. Les idees eren bones, estavem en el camí correcte... crec que al juny hauriem pogut tenir quelcom realment bo i que podria haver tingut èxit comercial... però ho haurem de deixar en espera i esperar el moment indicat per seguir.

Tornant al guió... tinc una feina bastant llarga i avorrida per endavant. Quan vam començar amb tot això de The Castoffs no sabiem com podia arribar a créixer, o sigui que ni tan sols em vaig plantejar escriure-ho en anglès. No crec que llavors fos prou bo però de tota manera no em va ni passar pel cap. O sigui que des d'aleshores he estat escrivint la majoria de material per The Castoffs en català, amb només algunes parts and mostres -la majoria provinents d'esborranys antics- traduits a l'anglès de cara a pitchs. O sigui que ara he d'agafar el meu guió de 88 pàgines i tornar a mirar-me'l de dalt a baix una altra vegada per traduir-lo i treballar-hi en anglès d'ara endavant. Com passa sempre que tradueixes el teu propi material, segurament canviaré tot de petites coses i acabaré amb una mena de versió 3.5 del guió... cosa que no és dolenta però que pot ser esgotadora quan tot just has acabat de refer l'esborrany. Suposo que també hauria de traduir la resta de documentació (bíblia de personatges, descripcions d'escenaris, sinopsis...) però ara mateix no hi vull pensar. De moment em concentraré en això i en l'Old Folks Project, que de moment va bé però crec que necessita una empenteta. Fins aviat!

The Shadow Play / El Teatre de les Ombres

While shooting Cosmik's music video this past couple of weeks, I found myself saying the same sentence quite a few times. The situation was always pretty much this one: We would shoot a take. Right after that somebody -the actors, the client...- would come and ask to take a look at it, and if we did they'd say they didn't like it for some or some other reason. Then, I'd say "If you see the threads, all the magic goes away".

Shooting at Palazzo. © Clip Promo.

Cinema -and what has spawned from it since that distant day in 1895- is nothing but a forgery. Movies, TV series, documentaries, commercials... are fictional or fictionalised stories told in a way that doesn't have much to do with how we actually see and understand things in real life. We don't live in close-ups, cross-cutting, flashbacks, montage sequences... But when we watch a movie we "read" it through a set of rules -pretty much invented by Edwin S. Porter and David Wark Griffith during the 1910s-. As with oral language, you can understand it even if you don't know the rules as such. But as it also happens with both languages you can't create anything proper if you don't study its rules and ways (e.g rethoric). Audiovisual production -leaving the writing aside- is a process with many parts involved and with loads of rules, techniques and methods we use to create the best possible product, even when everything starts falling apart during the shooting. And it happens more often that you'd imagine. Therefore I don't think it's fair to judge a part of it halfway through if you don't know the big picture. Moreover, doing it can either change the product -probably for worse- if the outsider opinion's taken into consideration, or create tension between him and the team, especially if the aforementioned outsider's the client. So, and I think there would be a general agreement among media professionals, it's better not to show anything to anybody unless you really have to or you actually want their opinion. In the first case you'd probably have time to do a rough cut -allowing you to choose the right takes and make your idea clear- and in the second it would be your choice so it wouldn't be that much of a problem. But having people looking at your takes and giving their opinion on it all the time while you work can't have any good effects at all.

To sum up, and without having any intention of offending anybody whatsoever: What you will see, what really matters, is the finished product. Even if you've paid for it to be made. If you have any comments or complaints feel free to make us know so we can bear them in mind next time or try and do another cut before the final release. But do it once it's done, or ask for a rough cut to watch while reading the script. Don't interfere just because you didn't like a teeny-tiny part of it. Be patient and let the professionals do their job. After all, would you criticise a magician because he doesn't like having you peeping on his tricks?

Mentre rodàvem el videoclip d'en Cosmik aquestes dues darreres setmanes, em vaig trobar repetint la mateixa frase unes quantes vegades. La situació era sempre més o menys la següent: Rodàvem una presa. Immediatament després algú -els actors, el propi client...- s'acostava i demanava de veure-la, i si el deixàvem deia que no li agradava per algun motiu. I en aquell moment és quan jo deia "Si veus els fils es perd la màgia".

Rodant a Palazzo. © Clip Promo.

El cinema -i tot el que n'ha derivat d'ençà d'aquell llunyà dia de 1895- no és res més que un engany. Les pel·lícules, les sèries, els documentals, els anuncis... tot són històries fictícies o ficcionalitzades/adaptades explicades d'una manera que no té gaire a veure amb com veiem les coses a la vida real. 

No vivim en primers plans, montatge en paral·lel, flashbacks, plans seqüència... Però quan mirem una pel·lícula la "llegim" a través d'una sèrie de regles -pràcticament inventades per Edwin S. Porter i David Wark Griffith durant els anys 10 del segle passat-. Com passa amb el llenguatge parlat, el pots entendre tot i que no coneguis les normes com a tals. Però com també passa amb ambdós llenguatges no pots crear res si no estudies les seves normes i mètodes (p.e retòrica). La producció audiovisual -deixant l'escriptura de banda- és un procés amb moltes parts implicades i amb moltes regles, tècniques i maneres de fer que utilitzem per crear el millor producte possible, fins i tot quan tot comença a esfondrar-se durant el rodatge. I passa més sovint del que us imagineu. Per tant no crec que sigui just jutjar-ne una part a mig camí si no en coneixes la idea completa. És més, fer-ho pot canviar el producte -probablement cap a pitjor- si el que diu l'opinador extern és tingut en compte, o bé crear tensió entre ell i l'equip, especialment si l'esmentat opinador és el client. Per tant, i crec que hi hauria una confluència d'opinions general entre els professionals del ram, és millor no ensenyar res a ningú a no ser que sigui estrictament necessari o el director ho decideixi. En el primer cas probablement hi hauria temps de fer un muntatge preliminar -permetent seleccionar les preses bones i deixar clara la teva idea- i en el segon seria una decisió interna i per tant no suposaria cap problema. Però tenir gent mirant les teves preses i donant la seva opinió tota l'estona mentre treballes no pot tenir efectes positius de cap de les maneres.

Per resumir-ho, i sense tenir intencions d'ofendre a ningú: El que veuràs, el que importa, és el producte acabat. Fins i tot si has pagat perquè es faci. Si tens algun comentari o queixa ets lliure de fer-ho perquè la tinguem en compte el proper cop o per fer un segon muntatge abans del llançament. Però fes-ho un cop està acabat, o demana un muntatge preliminar per veure'l alhora que llegeixes el guió. No interfereixis només perquè no t'agrada una part minúscula. Sigues pacient i deixa que els professionals facin la seva feina. Al cap i a la fi, criticaries un mag perquè no li agrada tenir-te observant els seus trucs? 

Writing a music video / Escrivint un videoclip

Shooting at Palazzo. © Clip Promo.

I've been away for a few days and haven't posted anything -apart from the first of my Top 10 lists- in a while. Well, here's why: I have been working. Not as I always do, working in my own stuff and blah, blah. No. I've been properly working. Like in being paid for it. The guys in Clip Promo usually work with a Figueres' (Girona) club and were hired to shoot a music video for one of their deejays. They thought having an actual scriptwriter instead of writing the video themselves would be an important improvement, so the company's director thought of me as we were in the same class in uni and have worked together in a few things. It was the first time I was told to write that kind of script but I accepted as it was a good challenge, a new experience to learn from and another door to open.

I didn't know how to write a music video so I trusted my instinct and my experience in writing other things to handle this project. As soon as I was sent Cosmik's song I listened to it a couple of times. Electro latino has never really been my cup of tea -I enjoy electronic music once in a while but I'm mainly into rock-, but that said the song's catchy and I wrote down a few ideas during that first contact. I also watched some music videos to get the style right. Different music genres mean different videos, and although one of the reasons I was involved in this project in the first place was because of my position as an outsider I had to do some research. After all a music video's an advertisement and I had to know what would the target audience like to see on screen.

After that I seriously got to work: I listened to the song again and again, pausing it every so often to write new ideas or to develop the ones I already had, always bearing in mind the available resources. I must say my musical training proved to be extremely useful on this stage. I learned solfège and played piano and guitar as a kid, and although I have unfortunately forgotten most of it -especially my guitar playing skills- I still have an ear for it. I've got a good sense of rhythm and I also remember how song structures work so I divided the song into parts and worked from there, building the video's story following it to try and make it work together as a whole. I also had to pay attention to the thin line that sometimes separates the scriptwriter and the director. Giving more camera indications than those strictly necessary can annoy the director -he might feel you're telling him how to do his job-. This is especially true in these cases, as music video's a hundred per cent visual, making interminglings easier to happen. But then again I think it's just a matter of being a bit careful and/or to have a good relationship with the director.

After three drafts -and a final meeting with both the lads from Clip Promo and Cosmik- I handled the script's final version. At the moment it's being produced, so you'll have more news and a link for you to watch it as soon as it's finished. I'm really looking forward to it, I'm giving a hand there too (I reeeally missed shooting) and it looks great, so stay tuned!

Rodant a Palazzo. © Clip Promo.

He estat absent durant uns  dies i no he penjat res -a part del primer de les meves llistes de Top 10s- durant bastant temps. Bé, el motiu és aquest: He estat treballant. No com faig sempre, treballant en les meves coses i bla, bla. No. He estat treballant de debò. Del tipus de treball pel qual et paguen. Els nois de Clip Promo treballant amb una discoteca de Figueres i els hi van encarregar que rodessin un videoclip per un dels seus deejays. Van pensar que tenir un guionista en comptes d'escriure'l ells mateixos seria una millora important. La directora va pensar en mi, perquè anàvem a la mateixa classe a la universitat i perquè ja havíem treballat junts unes quantes vegades. Era la primera vegada que em demanaven d'escriure un guió d'aquest tipus però vaig acceptar perquè era un bon repte, una experiència de la qual aprendre i una altra porta oberta.

No sabia com escriure un videoclip, de manera que vaig confiar en el meu instint i la meva experiència escrivint altres coses per espavilar-me amb aquest projecte. Tan bon punt em van enviar el tema d'en Cosmik el vaig escoltar un parell de cops. L'electro latino no ha estat mai sant de la meva devoció -escolto música electrònica de tant en tant però normalment sóc més de rock- però la cançó s'enganxa fàcilment i vaig escriure algunes idees durant aquell primer contacte. També vaig mirar alguns videoclips per fer-me amb l'estil. Gèneres musicals diferents signifiquen vídeos diferents, i tot i que una de les raons per les que em van involucrar en el projecte va ser la meva condició d'outsider vaig haver de fer una mica de recerca. Al cap i a la fi un videoclip és un anunci i havia de saber què era el que el target volia veure.

Després d'allò em vaig posar a treballar seriosament: vaig escoltar la cançó una vegada i una altra, pausant-la de tant en tant per escriure noves idees o per desenvolupar les que ja tenia. He de dir que els meus coneixements de música van demostrar ser molt útils en aquesta fase. De petit vaig estudiar solfeig i vaig aprendre a tocar el piano i la guitarra, i tot i que m'he oblidat de la majoria de coses -especialment de la guitarra- encara em queda la base. Tinc un bon sentit del ritme i també recordo com funciona l'estructura de les cançons de manera que vaig dividir el tema en parts i vaig treballar a partir d'allà, construïnt la història seguint-les i intentant que tot funcionés com un conjunt. També vaig haver de parar atenció a la fina línia que a vegades separa el guionista del director. Donar més indicacions de càmera de les estrictament necessàries pot molestar el director si li fa pensar que estàs dient-li com fer la seva feina. Això és especialment cert en aquests casos, perquè un videoclip és cent per cent visual, fent que sigui més fàcil que hi hagi intromissions. Però al cap i a la fi és només qüestió d'anar amb una mica de compte i de tenir una bona relació amb el director.

Després de tres esborranys -i una reunió final amb els nois de Clip Promo i en Cosmik- vaig entregar la versió definitiva del guió. Actualment està en fase de rodatge, o sigui que tindreu més notícies i un link perquè el veieu tan aviat com estigui acabat. Ho espero amb candeletes, també estic donant un cop de mà en això (trobava mooolt a faltar rodar) i té molt bona pinta, o sigui que estigueu atents! 

Lists - My Top 10 novels

I had never done one of these "10 novels I'd take to a desert island" lists. It's a cliché, but I've thought it wouldn't be a bad idea to do it. I haven't thought to it much as I've preferred to do it spontaneously to make the list more personal, that's why there aren't brief reviews or anything. It's just a sort of divertimento, and as I've enjoyed it I'll probably do the same with non-fiction books, films, TV series, video games... So, here's a short list of my models, in no particular order. It features both timeless classics and books that would be considered of lesser literary value, but then again it's not a list of best novels but just the ones that have impressed me the most for many different reasons:

- Illusions Perdues - Honoré de Balzac, 1843.
- Ender's Game - Orson Scott Card, 1985.
- Notes from Underground - Fyodor Dostoyevsky, 1864.
- The Silmarillion - John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, 1977.
- Uncertain Glory - Joan Sales, 1956.
- The Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas, 1844.
- Steppenwolf - Herman Hesse, 1927.
- Pnin - Vladimir Nabokov, 1957.
- Night - Elie Wiesel, 1956.
- Treasure Island - Robert Louis Stevenson, 1883.

PS. It's a short text and everything's pretty understandable so for this one time I won't translate it into Catalan. La mandra, nens, la mandra...