Intro: Have submitted Troy to the Edinburgh New Writers Collective competition. I always like a competition that Troy is eligible for.
Am searching for sound jobs around February as my first set one isn’t until March.
So on to the update!
Scripts Update: My goals for this year are to contact agents, now I have The Legend of Aramelle as a showcase of my writing and a growing portfolio. My other goal is to finish one of the four scripts I have in various drafts. From my gold rush script to the 1960’s script (Which still needs a name) and finally two scripts that are not set in a specific time period for once, but are about two sisters and two actors.
Am still writing the second series of Legend of Aramelle. I hope to finish the first draft by the end of January, but the speed I’m going at the moment it will be closer to the end of February.
Things Learnt: The Edinburgh New Writers competition needed a one page CV – something which I was able to do by taking out most of the description of my non-writing jobs. The difficulty is in keeping in information about transferable skills, but I do have a spearate skills section of my CV, so crowded them all into there. In an aesthetically pleasing way, of course!
Intro: Have finished editing everything from the film course! (Except for one where my video files got corrupted.) As I currently only have the free version of Vimeo, I’ll have to switch the Brighton School documentary with the film Somewhere Below. I do think this is a better example of my work, as it showcases my screenwriting as well as editing and sound skills.
I also have a version of the film that uses the song that inspired it (Grand Hotel by Regina Spektor), but the one I’m uploading uses good old royalty-free music from the Adobe library!
Have two sound recording jobs lined up for the new year – one without a definite date yet, and the other filming one weekend in March. The one in March will be my first profit share job – which essentially means I will get paid if the film makes a profit (and not if it doesn’t). This is a step up from the expenses only ones I’ve been doing so far!
So on to the update!
Scripts Update: Put Last Witch in Swanage into BBC Writersroom. I edited it a bit, but not too much before submitting.
The as yet unnamed 1960s pilot is definitely the script I’ll be submitting to most competitions next year, just as soon as I think of a title.
My goal for 2026 is to contact agents. I have a big enough portfolio of scripts now that I can do this.
Things Learnt: Tailored cover letters in job applications can make a big difference. I knew this already from when I was a retail manager and in charge of hiring new staff. I was much less likely to interview the people who sent generic applications! However, I think it is even more true in crew jobs. I have had three jobs offered to me without an interview, just based on my cover letters being tailored to the job and person I am applying to work with. While part of this might be a scramble to fill roles as the shotting dates get close, it is also clearly making an impact on the hirers to see that I’ve read about the film and found out their name before applying.
Intro: Have nearly finished editing everything from the film course. I only have two items left now. Have uploaded my short documentary film about the Brighton School of film-makers to Vimeo. I still want to add some narration to better tell the story, but am very pleased with how it’s turned out!
Ended up with two sound recording jobs in October – the second was Behind the scenes interviews for a film. Very fun, the difference between sound for films and sound for interviews is interesting though. Sound for films is lots of short takes, and interviews are obviously conversations so can go on for ages with just one take, as I did not have a stand available, this made my arms very tired by the end of the day!
I have an interview for another film coming up, which doesn’t start shooting until January so I can try to save up money to use hireacamera.com again!
I also had an idea for another pilot set in 1960, which I was able to write the first ten pages of in one day! So obviously, it wanted to come out of my head! I’ve already begun to edit the first draft of this, and am hoping to put it into some competitions by the new year. It might be ready for BBC in December, but I’ll probably stick with Last Witch in Swanage for this year, as that way I know I’ve put the same thing into both Channel 4 and BBC and can’t repeat those submissions next year.
Things Learnt: Depending on how early you need to be somewhere for a film shoot can make a big difference to how much your ticket costs! Peak times are obviously more expensive than non-peak times but I had a train ticket double in price to nearly £90 when I’d only budgeted £45! From now on, I’m just going to assume it’s the expensive ticket and go from there!
Intro: Have been spending the last few weeks in September enjoying the fact that I don’t have Legend of Aramelle episodes to edit and upload. I have started my first draft of series two, though, so it’s back to the writing for the last part of this year!
I also have another sound recording job! This one is at the end of October and is only one day, but I will be recording in a church, so I’m anticipating big echoes! I have to acquire my own equipment for this shoot and as I’m still saving up to buy sound recording equipment (altogether it’s about £5000, so I can’t buy it in one big go), so I’m hiring it from hireacamera.com
So on to the update!
Scripts Update: Have nearly finished the editing for Last Witch in Swanage. Hoping to put it into The channel 4 scheme today and then keep editing it in between now and the BBC Writersroom window opening in December.
The BAFTA Rocliffe competition still hasn’t opened. There doesn’t seem to be any news on this that I can find, so I’m beginning to think it’s not opening at all this year.
I have nearly finished editing everything from the film course. Am currently working on the documentary I shot about the Brighton school of Film-makers in the early 1900s, who, among other things, are believed to be the first people to use close-ups in film!
Things Learnt: Editing the documentaries is both similar and different to editing the short films. The short films are often roughly already in order; you pick the best takes and delete the others than switch them around to the order in the script. With the documentaries, it’s often just an interview, with some context shots of what the interview is about. So, the first thing to do is decide where you want to start the interview – which isn’t necessarily at the beginning – and then fit the context footage round it to form the story you’re telling without a script.
The film shoot I was on went well. The first day was recording on location, and there was an issue with one of the microphones in that it couldn’t be heard through my headphones. It was recording sound though, and both other mikes worked fine. If I had had an hour to figure out the issue, I would have been able to, but that wasn’t possible without delaying filming significantly. I haven’t heard anything from the editors, though, so I assume it did record fine in the end, just without me hearing it! The next day was on a set and I used a different microphone to avoid that issue and it worked fine. I am excited to see the final edit! It’s a very strange thing to be able to hear someone across the room more clearly than someone directly in front of you, if they’re miked up. Plus, it can be extremely tiring to hear things to that extent for so much of the day, but I do find it enjoyable and have already applied for my next job!
So on to the update!
Scripts Update: Am working on the feedback for The Last Witch in Swanage (puritan witch script). The channel 4 schemeopens on 22 September and as Troy isn’t eligible for that one, I’m hoping LWIS is at a good enough level to submit it this year.
The BAFTA Rocliffe competition still hasn’t opened.
The date for the final screening of the film course got moved again! This was due to building work being done over the summer, so I am hopeful I will be able to attend after all. However, there’s no update on when the screening will be now.
Things Learnt: I’ve made a spreadsheet for my expenses/income and coded it so the sums get added up automatically. I added my expenses for the film shoot and then subtracted them again once the expenses had been paid. For this first year, I’ve only made one spreadsheet for the entire financial year as it’s unlikely I’ll be making enough month to month to warrant monthly ones. I an hoping to finish all the projects before the screening and, now the editing for Legend of Aramelle is complete, I will have more time to focus on them.
Intro: Another late in the month update, but, I hope, one worth waiting for as I have my first job as a sound recordist! It’s on a short film shooting next week, and once edited, it will give me my first IMDB credit!
Scripts Update: Finally finished a draft of The Last Witch in Swanage (puritan witch script) and have received feedback from two people for my next draft. I hope to enter it into the BBC open call this year, so still have time to work on it.
The BAFTA Rocliffe competition still hasn’t opened but, when it does, I’ll be submitting my Troy script this year.
Finally, am in the process of editing everything I shot in the film course and am about half-way through all the projects. Sadly, I won’t be able to make the final screening as it’s the same day as my sound job starts. Though, I’m hoping I can meet up with people from the course in the coming months as I was looking forward to seeing everyone at the screening.
Things Learnt: As this first job is expenses paid only, I have made sure I’ve been collecting receipts and invoices for the travel I’ve booked. Now I’ve actually started doing it, it’s much less daunting than it seemed before I started and just need to make sure I keep everything in one place!
In this Episode: George Coyne played Orson Georgia Faye played Persephone Liam Harkins played Giant Gary Tayla Kenyon played dead guard, King Gideon and Voice Mariana Sa Sousa played Aramelle AM Stubberfield played Grin Reaper
Sound effects: Jean Loup-Pinson composed the music. His website is: www.jeanlouppinson.com/ Sound effects for this episode are from BBC Sound Effects Library, Adobe Sound Effects, Freesound.org, Pro Sound Effects and the cast themselves. Full credits for the sound effects as well as more information on the writing, recording and editing of this episode can be found here.
As someone interested in sound recording in general, I thought it would be a good idea to combine the credits I have to include for the sound effects in each episode with information of why I chose them, plus how I edited them.
Here is the full list of sound effects including where I got them from, plus what the original script called for.
Mixed sound effects for: Persephone’s theme and Grim’s Theme – mixed together for when Persephone takes Orson away
BBC for: Persephone and Grim row across the river of Styx – Boats: Punting – Punting: Boarding and clambering about(Bought) Ship creaking: Thames Sailing Barge, Atmosphere Below Deck Under Sail, With Creaking Wood. (Recorded On Board S.B. Pudge.)(Bought)
Freesound for: Underworld ambience: The Underworld by erlipresidente — https://freesound.org/s/415886/ — License: Attribution 4.0 – Ideally I wanted something with a few more screams in the background, but this does do a good job of sounding sufficiently otherworldy and not likely to get kixed up with the Soothsayers Cave from the previous episode! Underworld crowd: Walla Crowd Inside French by Salomé_Lubczanski — https://freesound.org/s/733849/ — License: Creative Commons 0
Adobe Sound Effects for: Flood water – Liquid Water River Flowing Water Persephone unrolls parchmentand Gideon signs paper– Foley Paper Wax Paper Movements Orson walks alone – Foley footstep human walking through tall grass Orson begins to teleport – Multimedia Internet CD-Rom Flash Beep High Pitch 33
Music: The Village Krumhorn stem – to move between the different sections of the scene Grim’s Theme – Grim takes souls, also when Grim arrives to see Persephone again
As someone interested in sound recording in general, I thought it would be a good idea to combine the credits I have to include for the sound effects in each episode with information of why I chose them, plus how I edited them.
Here is the full list of sound effects including where I got them from, plus what the original script called for.
Mixed sound effects for: Exterior Castle Courtyard – Crowd Exterior Daytime Courtyard…Blenheim Palace(Prosound: Bought) mixed with Pirate’s in crowd – Pirate Murmur Constant Calm…(Prosound: Bought). Both of these together sounds enough like a crowd, though the crowd does sound annoyingly distracted. Though I do like the fading up of the pirates, as you can hear an “Arr!” just at the moment that “I can’t see no pirates either,” is said! Torch gets knocked over – Fire torch burn in wind, short(Prosound: Bought) Impact firewood grab (Adobe) – mixed these two together. It was too much noise for the fire to be burning the whole way through, so added it jsut before it gets knocked over. Crowd fights – Episode 9 general screaming fighting (Cast) mixed with Crowd panics – Human crowd footsteps running and screaming (Adobe) and Fire burning – Torch fire burning roar intermittent crackles(Prosound: Bought). Wanted quite a few noises here so you can tell it’s pandemonium and no-one knows whatr’s about to happen at this point!
Cast for: Soothsayer Faints – Episode 9 Soothsayer fainting Soothsayer wakes up – Episode 9 Soothsayer wakes up Crowd panics – Episode 9 crowd panics Orson gets hit – not a sound effect, just good acting!
Prosound for: Soothsayer’s cave – Breaths Creepy Ghostly Wind – (Bought). I originally wanted a more cave-y type setting for this, but it sounded too similar to the dungeons, think this makes it seem more like the soothsayer is sitting on top of a mountain! Aramelle and Gideon have tug of war with drum – Swing Set Swing(Bought). Could not for the life of me find anything that sounded like a drum being pushed back and forth, think this works though as it’s only a few seconds. Giant pours water over fire – Water pour –(Bought). Flood water – Water lap heavy sloshy crashing tidewater – (Bought). Aramelle puts Orson on tree branch – Water splash tree branch drop – (Bought). Aramelle bangs drum and giants hear – Distant Booming Muffled Thumps – (Bought). Very difficult to find drum noises, it turns out! This one works well, as I’ve added an echo and slowed it down.
BBC used for: Dungeon door opening and closing – Doors Prison Cell Open and Shut(Bought) – the same as used in episode 3
Adobe Sound Effects for: Leaving soothsayer’s cave – Foley Footsteps Cowboy Boots Debris Dirt Walking – Needed something so you’d know they’d left the cave before the soothsayer woke back up. Orson gives sword to Aramelle – Weapon broad sword hit metal tink Aramelle fights – Impact sword impacts
As someone interested in sound recording in general, I thought it would be a good idea to combine the credits I have to include for the sound effects in each episode with information of why I chose them, plus how I edited them.
Here is the full list of sound effects including where I got them from, plus what the original script called for.
Prosound for: Waves, ship creaking – ship – Thames Sailing Barge, Atmosphere Below Deck Under Sail, With Creaking Wood. (Recorded On Board S.B. Pudge.)(Bought). Sparkles Glistening Metallic Swells – Jewel map being projected. I did want to use this for the rest of the scene, but it was distracting so I faded it down after a few loops.
BBC used for: Doors Prison Cell Open and Shut(Bought) – Dungeon door opening and closing – the same as used in episode 3
Adobe Sound Effects for: Multimedia Internet CD-Rom Flash Electronic – Spell – The same sound as used for the Witch Princess’s spells in episode 3 Foley Prop Coin Flip and Catch Ringing Spin – Captain Liam pressing the corners of the jewel down Foley Footsteps Cowboy Boots Debris Dirt Walking – Barry leaves – Needed something to show he was gone, before the door noise again. Household Wood Old Wood Door Close – Door closes – Needed a sound to show that the guards had entered the shop. Foley Coins Moving in Hand – Captain Liam hands coins to the potion man Weapon Sword Remove From Sheath – Guards remove swords from sheaths
Mixed Sound Effects: Oven Door Fall Open Metal Rattle (Prosound), mixed with Household Book Fall to Ground (Adobe) – Cage door opened – the hardest thing to find for this episode. I was searching for rattling cages and got nowhere. Think I searched for Metal rattle to get this one. Water dripping in cave (Freesound) mixed with Witch Princess Gamelan Melody Stem – Dungeon atmosphere
Intro: Now I am back at work full-time, I am having to plan my editing time for The Legend of Aramelle, more closely. I am still on track, though, with episode eight due to go up this Saturday (12th July). It can be listened to here on WordPress, on Apple podcasts, Spotify or Pocketcasts.
I have been applying to sound-recording jobs (and a few assistant director or producer jobs) on Mandy and Backstage, which has led to a few interviews, but no paid work, just yet. However, I am keeping track of how many interviews I’m getting and it’s over half of what I’ve applied for!
So on to the update!
Scripts Update: Am still waiting for the release date of the Bafta competition this year, as I will be submitting my Troy script into it. I am also nearly finished with my script for the BBC writersroom this year (will be nice to finish with plenty of time to edit). It’s my puritan witches script and I’m going to ask my writing group to give me notes in the next week or so.
Am in the process of editing the films from the film course. I may not finish all of them before the graduation, but should have a fair few edited and ready to be shown.
Things Learnt: Am getting better with writing succinct cover letters when applying to jobs. Have found the best way for me to write them is to write them in a Notes app and then add them to my application. I tend to follow the formula of mentioning things they have mentioned in the application and then adding my own skills where appropriate. It may not sound like much, but as someone who used to not add cover letters at all until I was about 28 (when I was a manager and realised I wasn’t impressed when people didn’t send cover letters to me), it has changed how I apply to jobs!
Intro: Nearly back at work full-time! I have also finished my Diploma in film-making and am actively seeking work in sound, production and writing! (I have availability for a month in advance.)
Scripts Update: Fewer competitions this month – though I did hear back from Large Format Films competition and sadly neither The Master’s Boots or Billy Frankenstein made the shortlist. I do like both those scripts a lot, so am on the look-out for more short film competitions to send them to.
I shot my short film Somewhere Below last Monday. Also managed to sort all the paperwork needed for it and keep track of all the shots we needed on the day as we didn’t have a 1st AD available. (Others on the course have praised my organisation skills in production.) We ended up shooting in a pub during the day, so there is a bit of re-jigging of the story I’ll have to do in the edit, but it still works great!
Things Learnt: Have updated my CV with links to my Linkedin page and The Legend of Aramelle feed. Have been trying to get my head around the best way to re-write my CV to show the new skills I have learnt on the course and market myself for jobs available towards the end of summer!
In this episode: George Coyne played Orson Georgia Faye played Persephone Liam Harkins played Barry, Guard and Giant Gunther Tayla Kenyon played The Witch Princess, King Gideon and Clive Mariana Sa Sousa played Aramelle Am Stubberfield played Various Crew Members and Birds
Sound effects: Jean Loup-Pinson composed the theme music, scene change music, Giant Country theme and Persephone’s theme. His website is: www.jeanlouppinson.com/ Sound effects for this episode are from BBC Sound Effects Library, Adobe Sound Effects, Freesound.org, Pro Sound Effects and the cast themselves. Full credits for the sound effects as well as more information on the writing, recording and editing of this episode can be found here.
If you failed to take my advice on covering the ears of any suits of armour in your household last episode, please be advised that wool of bat will be required to stop them now.* Wool of Bat is dangerous when being harvested from the bat itself.
Intro: Am finally back at my day job! (Albeit part-time for now) and not having to keep such a close eye on my finances is reminding me to look up the BAFTA Rocliffe competition for this year. The dates haven’t been published yet, but this year is the turn of Pilot scripts.
Scripts Update: Most of this past month has been focused on getting the first episode of The Legend of Aramelle ready. Submitted Troy into Oxford 42 and my time-travel script went into Scribe Lounge Elevate .
Am organising pre-production for my short film script – Somewhere Below – for the final term of my film course. Most paperwork is sorted, however I need to re-contact the hotel I hope to film at, as I haven’t heard back from them in the last three weeks.
Put in two short film scripts – Billy Frankenstein and The Master’s Boots to the Large Format Films competition. Am very excited for this competition as got good feedback on The Master’s Boots. It’s partially based on a story I recently learned about my great-grandmother (She was as stubborn as me apparently), so it would be lovely to get to make that story.
Things Learnt: Have been sleeping early due to being back at work (my current bedtime is 8pm). However I have been doing modules on the Screenskills website working through various lessons on how sets are run.
The first episode has turned out well and new episodes will be available every other Saturday for the next few months. However, I am hoping to re-record the credits as the levels went wrong and they’re barely audible for episode one! I should be able to do it no later than episode four, so it shouldn’t be too much of a problem.
So on to the update!
Scripts Update: Most of this past month has been focused on getting the first episode of The Legend of Aramelle ready. However, I am nearly ready to submit Troy into Oxford 42, and should be able to do that before the end of this week.
The time-travel script went into Scribe Lounge Elevate and I have made notes for a re-write on my script called Last Witch in Swanage; it’s about witches in Puritan England. Have been having trouble with this script for a while, knowing the story I want to tell, but it not coming out right when written down. Now, I have been inspired by Wednesday on Netflix, (being off work means I am finally making some headway on my watchlist) and have realised that I can tell the story better if I change the tone to a more contemporary one!
I will be making a short film – working title Grand Hotel – for the final term of my film course. I have the Easter break to organise actors, call sheets and production budgets etc. It’s a story inspired by the first line of a Regina Spektor song – also called Grand Hotel – with the first line being “Somewhere below the Grand hotel, there is a tunnel that leads straight to Hell.” There’s still some editing I want to do on the script, but it’s almost there.
Finally, I am trying to work out which of two short film scripts – the first being Billy Frankenstein, also originally written for the film course and the second being my second choice for this final-term film, entitled The Master’s Boots – to submit to the Large Format Films competition.The Master’s Boots was only voted down at the film course for production budget reasons, as it is set in the early 1900s, and needed Edwardian costumes, three locations, a certain number of extras and ideally a plane. However, the Large Format Films first prize is £5000 towards making your film, so I am heavily considering that one instead.
Plus, it has the added benefit of being inspired by something I learnt about my own family this week: That is, that my Great-Grandma had an argument with her mother about whether she was going to work as a servant in a big house nearby, or with her friends at a local factory.
Things Learnt: Have been trying to get my head around the various different podcast services, so can advertise Legend of Aramelle as much as possible. Lots of the services do have lessons and articles in various topics, that I am slowly working my way through.
Have also learnt a bit more about which type of microphone I want to buy once my savings have recovered from my sick leave. Also, that the levels I might hear in a Mix-Pre3 Sound Mixer don’t necessarily translate easily to Garageband on my laptop!
ChristyESWriter 