Tag: matthew

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The cinematographers who influenced me…

The best cinematographers are German, or were Dutch and worked in the new German cinema of the 70s.

As a freelance film director for hire, I think I’ve been influenced by cinematographers almost as much as I have been influenced by directors.

Certainly two cameraman had a very big impact on my visual style – these guys both started their careers in the new German cinema of the 70s and 80s and both guys finished their careers working in or around Hollywood.

Both guys have passed on now, but their work is still celebrated.  They are Robby Muller and Michael Ballhause.

Muller, to me, had a style so cinematic it taught me to see – his German films with Wim Wenders are famous for their imagery. But later in his career, his work with directors like Alex Cox, William Freidkin and Jim Jarmusch showed he could fit into American films, and see America like no other cameraman.

Ballhause started his career with Fassbinder in Germany, working fast, on low budgets with strong visual ideas, but he ended his career in the USA, and added amazing cinematic style and imagery to the worlds of Martin Scorsese – certainly Ballhause’s work on Goodfellas, and The Color of Money showcase some of the most stylistic camerawork from that era in American films.  

When I took on the camera work in my own low budget film debut as director Markham , the work of Ballhause and Muller was always on my mind.

Below are two videos celebrating these maestros…

Matthew Cooper has been a script writer for hire, UK Script editor  and UK script consultant for over 20 years. He’s written for most of the UK soaps, including writing award-winning episodes of Emmerdale, EastEnders, Hollyoaks and Family Affairs and has been BAFTA shortlisted and Royal Television Society nominated as a script writer. His UK script coverage service, Script reading service and script development service are highly sought after.

You can find some of his broadcast credits on the IMDb.

His directorial debut, the rubber reality horror thriller Markham was released in 2020. You can find out more about Matthew’s work as a director here.

You can contact Matthew directly to purchase his ebook The UK Soap Opera Script Writers Handbook.

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Matthew Cooper Director – Markham – buy the DVD

Matthew Cooper Director

My feature film debut as a director Markham  was released last week, sales have being going well – both on DVD (scroll down this page to buy the DVD) and on demand screenings on Vimeo

Now that the film is finished and released, I’m hungry to start work on my next project asap. I’ve already been working on some test SFX shots.

My next project will be another zero budget horror film (part of what I’m lazily referring to as the Covid Trilogy).

Also, in the last week, almost by coincidence I’ve had a few fairly nice jobs come in as a  script writer for hire and script consultant – scriptwriting pays my bills and helps to fund the low budget films I’m working on at the moment.

We haven’t as yet, done much PR for Markham.   But there’s some coverage in the pipeline hopefully, at the moment we’re testing the sales and fulfilment of the DVD, we’re literally learning about indie distribution as we go along. 

Hopefully, these lessons might pay dividends with the next film.

Keep checking back on this website, as we move into production on the next film I’m going to start a regular blog that actually follows the production, so people can see the process, the problems and some of the fun we have with making a low budget movie.

As well as being a freelance film director for hire, Matthew has also enjoyed a long career as a script writer for hire, and UK script consultant.  He’s written for most of the UK soaps, including writing award winning episodes of Emmerdale, EastEnders, Hollyoaks and Family Affairs and has been BAFTA shortlisted and Royal Television Society nominated as a script writer.

You can find some of his broadcast credits on the IMDb and you can get in touch with Matthew on matcoop23@yahoo.co.uk.

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Markham – available for pre-order on Vimeo now

My feature film debut as a director, the low budget horror Markham is now available for pre-order on Vimeo here.

Markham is a snip to buy on Vimeo at just £4.59

Markham will soon also be available to buy on DVD – so keep checking back.

It’s been a mad ride getting here. We started shooting Markham over 18 months ago with a tiny budget, no script, and only a vague idea of what the story was.

Through shear hard work the film developed through a complicated shooting process that required a lot of improvisation from all of the actors. A lot of material was shot, that we never used as we fine tuned the plot in the editing process.

Markham has been described as a film that deconstructs horror tropes and so far the film has had excellent feedback.  

Considering the low budget, and the process we went through, I’m fairly pleased with the end result, and myself and the same team are moving onto two new horror feature projects with very low budgets – call it the Covid Trilogy!

I’m also preparing another two feature films for me to direct, and we’re hoping to raise some funds for the other two.

Matthew Cooper has been a script writer for hire, UK Script editor  and UK script consultant for over 20 years. He’s written for most of the UK soaps, including writing award winning episodes of Emmerdale, EastEnders, Hollyoaks and Family Affairs and has been BAFTA shortlisted and Royal Television Society nominated as a script writer. His UK script coverage service, Script reading service and script development service are highly sought after.

You can find some of his broadcast credits on the IMDb.

You can contact Matthew directly to purchase his ebook The UK Soap Opera Script Writers Handbook.

His directorial debut, the rubber reality horror thriller Markham will be released in 2020. You can find out more about Matthew’s work as a director here.

You can get in touch with Matthew on matcoop23@yahoo.co.uk.

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Markham – locked and ready for release

As well as being a script writer for hire, UK Script editor  and UK script consultant for over 20 years, it now appears that I’m in the feature motion picture business, as my debut as a director – the horror film Markham is now locked, finished and set for release at the end of August.  It’s been quite a journey.

Markham is an experimental, rubber reality horror feature that was shot for a zero budget, and used improvisation in nearly every scene.

As well as being the director, and DOP, I also act in the film under the name Thomas Cody, I did this because of the way the film was shot, and the lack of budget.  It meant that the actor ‘Thomas’ was always available when Matthew Cooper the director was… It helps with scheduling!

As an actor, I try to do as little as possible and be as naturalistic as I can. I’ve been around and worked with some great actors in my career as a script writer for hire, so I picked up a few things from people like Ewan McGregor, Brian Bovell, Dean Smith, Tom Gibbons and writing for some soap actors like Dominic Brunt (in Emmerdale, he’s an amazing actor and very underrated) has taught me the odd thing about acting and performance.   So, I can get by as actor, but what people don’t recognise is that acting can be, physically and mentally exhausting.

So, the strain of acting, coupled with being THE DIRECTOR of the film is double whammy.  I also, don’t particularly enjoy being in front of the camera, which I was a lot in Markham.  I like to be behind the lens to check the shots (and often make last minute adjustments).  And again, to save money I also acted as the director of photography (DOP) so that’s three roles I was often doing in each shot. All three require terrific concentration.  It was miles tougher than I expected or even considered.

The film, so far has had good feedback and a warm response, especially from fans of the horror genre.  My performance even got a few mentions, but gladly I’m dwarfed by the pro actors we used such as Ashe Russell, Tony Coughlan, Dan Martin and Gareth Parry.  All these guys knew what they were doing (thank god).

I won’t be in a rush to act again, but it’s always useful to know that while I’m not comfortable in front of the camera, I can serve up some prime ham if needed.  

As well as being a freelance film director for hire, Matthew has also enjoyed a long career as a script writer for hire he’s written for most of the UK soaps, including writing award winning episodes of Emmerdale, EastEnders, Hollyoaks and Family Affairs and has been BAFTA shortlisted and Royal Television Society nominated as a script writer.

You can find some of his broadcast credits on the IMDb You can find out more about Matthew’s work as a director here.

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Scoring Markham – All killer – no filler

This morning I’m due to sit down and watch the latest cut of my feature film debut as a director Markham.

Markham is a zero budget horror film, which was shot in Staithes in North Yorkshire, and a few other locations up and down the Yorkshire coast.

One thing I can firmly say about Markham is that it pretty atmospheric. Partly thanks to the moody locations and stark black and white photography. But, the music has added an extra dimension too.

I commissioned the score from LA based composer Mariella Nelson Renaud, and gave her free reign to come back with a horror soundtrack which would befit the movie.  She did an amazing job.

Music makes such a big difference in film, and especially in horror cinema. The score can make or break a movie. Watching Markham with all the cues in place makes such a difference to the experience.

Working with composers is one thing directors rarely consider. Directors happily work with writers, actors and technical crew – we speak the same language, but how do you work with a composer, musician or someone from a discipline that’s different from film, and who might not speak the same language? With Mariella, I gave pretty specific examples of scores that I like, and that I considered a ‘type’ that would work with Markham.

Mariella took these examples, ran with them and added her own unique style and personality.

The score feels like a cross between Wendy Carlos and Rachel Elkind’s work on Kubrick’s  ‘The Shining’, Carpenter and the late great Ennio Morricone’s work on ‘The Thing’ and Giorgio Moroder’s music for Paul Shrader’s Cat People (1982) – a personal favourite amongst all these great works. These are great scores to be compared to by Mariella’s work really warrants the comparison.

When I heard the score the first time I was over the moon.  If anything comes from Markham at all, it should be that Mariella Nelson Renaud’s work should be recognised.  She’s a really talented film composer with a great work ethic and ability to interpret what’s on screen in music; she was also a pleasure to work with.

As well as being a freelance film director for hire, Matthew has also enjoyed a long career as a script writer for hire he’s written for most of the UK soaps, including writing award winning episodes of Emmerdale, EastEnders, Hollyoaks and Family Affairs and has been BAFTA shortlisted and Royal Television Society nominated as a script writer.

You can find some of his broadcast credits on the IMDb You can find out more about Matthew’s work as a director here.

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Ten things I’ve learned from directing a feature film (part two)

You can read the first part of this blogpost here on my script writer for hire and script consultant dedicated website.

5. Next time I’d pick my locations more carefully. Markham was shot mostly at Staithes, a picturesque (if somewhat baroque) fishing village in North Yorkshire. As cinematic as Staithes is, it was a tough place to shoot. The beach area was slippery and dangerous, and  we had to work around the tides.  Also, practically, it was difficult to access by car/van.

This all meant that time was constantly added (for lugging kit around – from the van to the beach etc). Shooting days were shortened by travel, moving equipment into place and the wind on location made sound recording very hard. The film looks great (thanks to Staithes) but it came at a price, in time and energy.

4. While making Markham, I also used some old school techniques – from shooting Day for Night, double exposures (done digitally) matte painting (you’ll never spot it) and chroma key (green screen).  Green screen was going to feature more in the film, but I worked around it.  And the aforementioned use of software like Unreal Engine will soon mean Green Screen is a thing of the past.  There are a few old school practical effect too like a gnarly Zombie (a nod to Lucio Fulci!)

3. All the choices of distribution are available to the filmmaker now.  I’m going to release the film on Vimeo and DVD (for sale via this website).  But I also have the choice to release on Amazon Prime.  I’ve had a lot of interest from distributors too, who have promised they can get the film into ASDA or Wallmart on DVD and BluRay. 

I don’t want to do that now, but I could later.  I could also just distribute it on YouTube – free for anyone to watch (I might do that later too).  I own the film so I can choose where it goes and when. Partly because of the corona virus, distributors are desperate for films and low budget horror always does well. 

I’ve even had interest from some pretty major ‘Hollywood’ types.  But, at the moment I’ll hold on, and almost quietly release the film myself (I’ll use social media to slowly reach out to interested parties, and see how far, and how wide I can spread the film).  

2. You need a script! Markham was shot, as a kind of experiment, there was never ever a written script, and the actors worked together to kind of workshop a plot, from scene to scene this would change, and gradually as we shot and edited a plot came slowly together.

The actors, were amazing at this and gave it their all. And, this, is the way that directors like Kubrick and Terrence Malik sometimes work – keep shooting and shooting until you have ‘something’.  I can see why this appeals to them, but it’s not good for a low budget production. If you want to shoot that way you’ll get unique results, but it’s a lot harder process when you’re working with no cash – almost impossible.

1.  The main thing I’ve learned?  I can direct. Shot for shot I’m good, my stuff cuts together fine, and is visually arresting.  I can martial a crew, and a production too.  I have the energy and stamina to do it (directing a film is a physically hard job) but what gave me most confidence is that I can work well with actors and I tried all kinds of experiments on this shoot (including driving the actors a bit crackers) and these ploys paid off well.  At 46, I have enough confidence and life experience in the bag to confidently work with actors, and speak up when things don’t set well with me.  At 46, I have a gut instinct. It’s the main part of any director’s bag of tricks.

As well as being a freelance film director for hire, Matthew has also enjoyed a long career as a script writer for hire he’s written for most of the UK soaps, including writing award winning episodes of Emmerdale, EastEnders, Hollyoaks and Family Affairs and has been BAFTA shortlisted and Royal Television Society nominated as a script writer.

You can find some of his broadcast credits on the IMDb You can find out more about Matthew’s work as a director here.

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Markham (2020) shooting the Yorkshire Coast

Pretty soon my feature film directing debut Markham (2020) will be available to buy and to stream. We’re still putting the final touches to the film and next week we’ll be shooting even more material, which will mean another trip to the Yorkshire coast next week from our Leeds base.

Shooting at the coast brings up lots of challenges.  Most of Markham was shot in winter time, and that meant battling very cold temperatures. I remember shooting one day at Staithes in January (on what turned out to be the coldest day of 2019). It was a day when we needed to shoot a few sequences in the North Sea – and it was so cold that I began to lose feeling in my fingers, which meant starting and stopping the various cameras we were using became a big problem.

Other challenges included the howling wind rolling in off the North Sea making much of the dialogue tracks we shot in some sequences unusable. In some scenes, shot next to the sea, I used a small lapel mike on actors when I could, this worked well, but it couldn’t be utilised all the time. Anything using a boom, even with various types of wind covers really struggled with the persistent winter gale. Sometimes the sound of mad seagulls, especially the seagulls at Staithes, who make some fittingly odd song, became an issue too – lots of wild track needed to be recorded for continuity.

Of course, all shooting days on the coast needed to be organised around the tides, especially when shooting sequences on the beach.  Sequence to sequence the tides need to match what was shot before. This can become a bit of a logistical nightmare day –to-day, and it was my responsibility as director to look at the tide tables and decide what was suitable to shoot and when.  

I’ll admit that on occasion I did get it wrong, and on one day scheduled for shooting in Staithes we had to give up when I got the tides mixed up. On that day we managed to move up the coast to Skinningrove, a small village further up north, and luckily we could shoot some pick up shots and other material that meant the day wasn’t a total right off (we couldn’t wait at Staithes for the tides, because the correct level wouldn’t have arrived until late at night).

Other challenges included general health and safety. The beach at Staithes is surrounded by some cliffs that have regular rock falls (which can, and have killed people, tragically).  Shooting any sort of action sequence with people running on wet rock, near water is always a worry. On top of all this, the aforementioned tides, which can change quickly, are always a danger, you don’t want to get your crew cut off and stranded from safety as the North Sea rolls in.

Luckily, the shoot went well from a safety point of view, but the challenges of shooting on the Yorkshire coast in winter are very real.  Markham was shot for a tiny budget with a tiny crew; clearer thinking in pre-production would have considered some of the issues we faced more seriously. On a positive note, the beach scenes shot at Staithes add massive production value and startling imagery to the film; much of where we shot is not normally used by film and TV crews, probably due to the issues I’ve mentioned.  That means, Markham was shot where no other crews dared to go – at times it looks like the moon, but was a tiny bit easier to get to.

As well as being a freelance film director for hire, Matthew has also enjoyed a long career as a script writer for hire he’s written for most of the UK soaps, including writing award winning episodes of Emmerdale, EastEnders, Hollyoaks and Family Affairs and has been BAFTA shortlisted and Royal Television Society nominated as a script writer.

You can find some of his broadcast credits on the IMDb You can find out more about Matthew’s work as a director here.

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Markham is coming…

Just wanted to add a really quick update to say that Markham, my feature film debut is on its way, and will hopefully be released by the end of this month (July 2020).

Next week I should be able to complete the final cut, with the ADR, music and final special effects sequences locked and loaded.

It goes without saying that this has been a huge effort, to produce a fully independent feature film from scratch, on a very low budget.

Keep an eye on this website and UK script consultant over the coming weeks, I’ll tell you when the film is released for sale, and much more about the making of Markham.

Matthew Cooper has been directing drama films since the early 90s, starting on super 8mm cine film and movie into video, long before it became digital.  His feature film directorial debut Markham was released in 2020.

As well as being a freelance film director for hire, Matthew has also enjoyed a long career as a script writer for hire he’s written for most of the UK soaps, including writing award winning episodes of Emmerdale, EastEnders, Hollyoaks and Family Affairs and has been BAFTA shortlisted and Royal Television Society nominated as a script writer.

You can find some of his broadcast credits on the IMDb You can find out more about Matthew’s work as a director here.

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And… Action

Matthew Cooper Director

Hi, and thanks for visiting my new website.

For those of you who don’t know, my name is Matthew Cooper and this website is dedicated to my work as an independent filmmaker and director.

I’ve a long career as a UK script consultant and script writer for hire and I have a separate website for that facet of my career. Have a look at matcoop.co.uk if you like.

I’ve started this website because I’m just about to launch a career as a director; with my feature length horror film ‘Markham’ about to be released (you can buy it on DVD on this website very soon).

So, I thought I’d put together some sort of manifesto for my first blogpost, set out what I intend to do and how I intend to do it. So here we go…

I’m going to attempt to shoot one low budget horror film every year, for the next fifteen years. I intend to finance the films myself, and retain as much control of the films as possible, from pre-production right through to the release.

I’m going to, as much as possible document this, and how I do it, on this website.  And starting next week I’m going to be blogging about how we made Markham, prior to it’s release…

So, please keep checking back, and take care in these odd covid crazy times.

Matthew Cooper has been a script writer for hire, UK Script editor  and UK script consultant for over 20 years. He’s written for most of the UK soaps, including writing award winning episodes of Emmerdale, EastEnders, Hollyoaks and Family Affairs and has been BAFTA shortlisted and Royal Television Society nominated as a script writer. His UK script coverage service and script development service are highly sought after.

You can find some of his broadcast credits on the IMDb.His directorial debut, the rubber reality horror thriller Markham will be released in 2020. You can find out more about Matthew’s work as a director here.

You can get in touch with Matthew on matcoop23@yahoo.co.uk.