Steak And Trumpet Blowing Day

I had steak.


Recently work was completed on short film Eliza's Prize. I personally believe that it is one of my best works. So it got me to thinking this evening, what other works am I proudest of.

DARKER PROJECTS:
THE BYRON CHRONICLES: STARLIGHT DREAMS

http://darkerprojects.dreamhosters.com/audio/thebyronchronicles/0204A_The-Byron-Chronicles_Starlight_Dreams.mp3


It may only be 17 minutes long, but this little episode marks a number of things.

1. The first accepted script
2. First performance of one of my scripts
3. It's fantastical, surreal and beautiful. 
4. It was the first use of my pseudonym
5. It gave me the confidence to think that I could write and do it well. 

DARKER PROJECTS: 
THE BYRON CHRONICLES: THE HOUR OF PORTLAND 


http://darkerprojects.dreamhosters.com/audio/thebyronchronicles/0209-The-Byron-Chronicles-The-Hour-Of-Portland.mp3

I won't lie to you, when I first decided to do this as a blog post I only had two thoughts as to what I was going to choose from my association with Darker Projects, Starlight Dreams and this one. The problem I encountered was I actually discovered that Dead Time is a cracking script, riffing on Most Haunted Live expertly and quite freaky in places. I also discovered that Alistair and The Strange Case Of The Christmas Undead, an episode that Doctor Who fans like to call "Pseudo-Historical" because it features history and the supernatural.  If you like Sherlock Holmes, Zombies and Werewolves then please check out this episode. 

But, I still stick by my decision, technically this isn't all my own work as the framework and basic structure of this episode was already in place by Eric Busby when he asked me (due to personal reasons on his part) to help him out by co-writing and finishing the episode off. I'm quite happy that at least 60% of what you hear after the first twenty minutes was mine.

My personal favourite parts include

1. The encounter on the bridge between Byron and Slate.
2. The death of Chris Sparrow
3. The line "I believe this belongs to you, we found it on the shoulders of someone called Branlaven. He begged for his life and told us how to find you." "Then we killed him."

Also, my personal memories include a 5* review from Leviathan Dances. (See below)
http://leviathandances.wordpress.com/2009/12/10/the-byron-chronicles-season-2-finale-aka-can-i-start-crying-now/#comments

Again, some fantastic acting from David Ault and Laura Post carry this episode hitting every emotional beat perfectly. 


SPIRITBLADE UNDERGROUND ALLIANCE:
SEARCH THE NIGHT. 

http://www.archive.org/download/OfTheNightEpisode2SearchTheNight/OfTheNightEp2_SearchTheNight_SBUA.mp3

Technically, this episode is labelled as Episode 2 on the website.  However, it is episode 1 of the series, because episode 1 was the pilot. (Are you confused yet?) I think that it's because this is episode 1 of the series that it holds a special place. I remember writing some of it on a train, in a happy place. Not that you'd know from listening to it because there's a lot going on, some extremely careful planning and set-up.

Paeter Frandsen who produced this series was an incredibly good editor. He asked a lot of questions and was very honest about where the story suffered.

In a very strange co-incidence, this also features the first appearance of Graeme Cook, who would later resurface in the short film "A Relaxing Day In The Country". Now I'm unsure at this point whether the two worlds are connected, is this Graeme the same one who orders his underlings to sort it out? Maybe Justine will turn up on the streets of Nunwood, bored with life in Greater Phoenix. So much potential. Lets hope that Spiritblade will one day release the last two episodes and complete the series. There's a fantastic finale, just waiting to be heard.