| Click to view archived site | Click to view FB Page |
 |
 |
Eyewitness in Manchester, the website I produced from 1997 to 2005 is back online after a gap of several years and will be reborn as a Facebook Page.
More information soon.
Funky Island Stargirl media project
25/03/2013 By
The Train to Funky Island and Stargirl of the Edge are stories which together form a unique and ambitious media project. Aimed at a general audience, both stories involve themes of coming of age and young peeoples’ personal development, making them well suited for use in education.
The Train to Funky Island is a short film , a coming of age drama about a 12 year old boy living in a working class environment. He is withdrawn and unhappy, bullied by his older brother, misunderstood by his parents. He hears a song on the radio that stimulates his imagination and he resolves to escape on a magical journey in a steam train. But is it fantasy or realidy?
The short film stars Xav Quinn as Michael.
Stargirl of the Edge is an story to be presented as a fiction book and a possible feature film. It is showcased in a 10 minute taster film. It is about a 17 year old girl living in a middle class environment. Upset and unhappy after a bad day at school, she goes for a walk on Alderley Edge, the mystical wooded hill where she meets a princess from Ancient China who lifts her spirits and offers to show her the Secrets of Science. She continues at school and seems destined for success, but there are many trials and tribulations. The main theme of the story is how to cope under pressure and find hopefully find success. Stargirl of the Edge is written in clear English, based on my experience as a teacher of English as a Foreign Language.
The taster film stars Kelsey Walters as Olivia.
The Plan
Stage 1 (2013)
A) Complete The Train to Funky Island short film and submit to film festivals. Promote via trailer on YouTube (from early 2013)
B) Complete the Stargirl 10 minute taster film. Promote via trailer and place on YouTube/Vimeo (mid-2013)
C) Complete the first four chapters of the Stargirl of the Edge e-novel and make available as free download (mid-2013).
D) Complete the rest of the e-novel by August 2013, place on Amazon Kindle and other e-book platforms by the end of the year, with a Chinese translation to follow.
Stage 2 (from 2014)
A) Promote the book, build sales, look for opportunities and niche markets, e.g. for use as a reader for learners of English.
B) Based on feedback, research, availability of funding and an assessment of its likely success, move ahead with the Stargirl of the Edge feature film.
Key questions
People may ask why a photographer and non-fiction writer has decided to move into the dual areas of film making and fiction-writing, both notoriously difficult areas in which to find success.
The answer is: they just developed and came to life in my head. I believe in them, and I believe that in Stargirl of the Edge I have a precious, life-changing story that will appeal to a wide range of people in the UK, Asia and all parts of the world. They say everyone has a novel in them. Stargirl of the Edge is mine. It puts across themes that are important to me and draws heavily on my own life.
Feedback from people who have watched The Train to Funky Island is overwhelmingly positive. Stargirl of the Edge shares similar themes but is painted onto a broader canvas.
There is no going back. I intend to quietly push ahead with the project and see where it will take me.
Future prospects
Will the films and book be massively successful? The next blockbuster perhaps? Or are there other ways of measuring success? Follow the story on the Facebook page
www.facebook.com/FunkyIslandStargirlOfTheEdge
General information, photos and more on the website
www.stargirloftheedge.com
A few words about Karen McBride rock photographer
24/02/2012 By
This new blog is about creative success, and one of the most creatively successful people I know is the music photographer Karen McBride.
In my archive there is an article I wrote about her in 2003 entitled Karen McBride, Rock photographer with the X-Factor. Please note that article pre-dated the famous television programme of the same name! Maybe they saw my article and got the idea for the title!
Anyway, since then Karen McBride has carved out a unique career with her inventive, accomplished but often uncompromising photographs of musicians and performers.
A silly and superficial way to judge the merit of photographers is to look at how famous the people they have photographed are. According to that principle, Karen McBride has done pretty well, but I won’t mention any famous artists till further down.
Instead I will make the point that she has always taken a great interest in photographing obscure, unsigned bands who may or may not become famous in the future. In fact most of the artists Karen McBride photographs will never be famous.
But she takes a special interest in all of them and she tells me that the attention she gives them, making them look good in photographs, can be a great encouragement to young performers who may be lacking in confidence and self-esteem.
However a few of those obscure and unknown bands photographed by Karen McBride go on to achieve a higher profile. They include the Ting Tings and the Scissor Sisters.
And she has also photographed a singer named Robbie Williams on his European tour, as the official photographer for the sponsors of the tour.
I could reel off a long list of other well-known artists she has photogaphed but if I did, this post would turn into just a piece of publicity copy.
So instead, I’ll just finish with a couple of observations.
You might think that working with famous artists and being featured on the covers of magazines would mean she could bask in the adulation, rest on her laurels and not get out of bed for any but the most prestigious photo shoots. But it’s not like that in today’s world. She still works hard, still photographing obscure artists as well as famous ones, still striving to maintain her hard won creative success.
The other thing is simply that her style is very quirky and often goes against the rules of conventional rock photography. She takes risks – they don’t always work – but she is single-minded in her creative vision and a stickler for technical details. I think that is one of the keys to her success.
She’s done loads of other stuff as well, so take a look at http://www.karenmcbride.com And that’s all I have to say about Karen McBride – here are a few of my favourite images of hers.
444 words written on the 42 bus!, a few more added later Excellently concise Aidan (for a change!)
