Tag: scriptwriter

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For the love of Super 8mm – big name directors first films on the shoestring medium

Matthew Cooper Director – For the love of Super 8mm – big name directors first films on the shoestring medium

My feature film debut as a director Markham featured a lot of super 8mm film, and I thought it would be nice to write a blogpost today, about super 8mm and its role in the careers of lots and lots of big name Hollywood directors.

The kids don’t know, but back in the day, directors starting out didn’t have mobile phones that record hi-def video or editing software that is pretty high spec (and often free). 

In-fact, directors starting out didn’t have phones or DSLRs and in most cases couldn’t even shoot on video because it was too expensive to buy the kit.

Matthew Cooper Director
Creative Director for hire

So, directors such as Steven Spielberg, John Carpenter and Jim Cameron made films on Super 8mm.

Super 8mm was (and is again) a film stock; it was made by companies like Kodak and Agfa.  Super 8mm film was designed to be played back through a projector, on a big screen at home.  It was a very cut down, small format (often called shoelace or bootlace because it was so thin – 8mm- compared to 35mm film, the standard film format for Hollywood films at the time).  Super 8mm was designed as a format that could be used by amateurs to record vacations and holidays, or weddings and other family events.

Super 8mm film, came in a cartridge (sound or silent). The cartridge was an easy load design and manufacturers  all over the world made cameras that could shoot this film – from low spec point and shoot super 8 cameras- to very high spec semi-pro cameras.  

Once you’d shot the film, it was posted back to the company who processed it into a positive print and then returned it to the users – the processing times could be anything from 3 weeks or longer, from time to time, the film you’d shot could go missing in the mail, or even lost at the lab!   You were given a unique processing number for each roll of film.  In the unfortunate event that the film got lost – all you received was a free blank cartridge.

Each cartridge held about 50 metres of film, which shot at 18 frames per second, would last about 3 and a half minutes, shot on 24 frames per second the film would last just under three minutes.

Matthew Cooper Director
Matt Cooper Director

For all the faults of Super 8mm filmmaking, it was the best medium to learn the skills a director needs, from the 60s right up to the mid 90s lots and lots of directors and wannabe filmmakers shot on Super 8mm.  Gradually video and digital video got more affordable, and Super 8mm died temporarily – it’s back now, and available again form Kodak as part of the analogue resistance.  It’s now much more expensive and harder to get hold of, but its making a steady return (Kodak have even promised a new camera – but this has gone on for years, without a firm release date yet).

Many of the old Super8mm cameras are still in fine working order, and can be purchased on eBay.  Models by firms such as Bauer and Nizo can be quite pricey still – but a good Bell and Howell or Eumig model (from the 80s) are still affordable for most people.

Editing these days will be done on software – back in the day, if you wanted to edit your super 8mm film it was done by cutting and splicing the film by hand – frame by frame. A real skill that lots of young directors cut their teeth doing (me included).

So, here’s a fun thing – a few big name directors’ Super 8mm productions are available online to see.

Let’s start with James Cameron – his short ‘Xenogenesis’ shot on Super 8mm and made in 1978:

How about Richard Stanley? – Director of ‘Dust Devil’ and the recent ‘Color out of Space’  – his film “Incidents In An Expanding Universe” is below, and feels like a very 80s UK art school student type project:

Sam Raimi made ‘Within the Woods’ a Super 8mm version of ‘The Evil Dead’ was he was in his teens. He used to go from investor to investor and project the film on their office walls.

Below is my little short showreel on Super 8mm – ‘Point Blank 1990’ made in 1990 when I was 16.  The film took nearly 6 months to put together in the end.

I’m really pleased that Super 8mm is back available and being used again – I shot a short funky film recently – it’s below.

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 was 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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Markham – notes on making a zero budget horror film

My feature debut as a director Markham is all but finished as of today.  It’s been around two years in the making.  With no budget and no script Markham has been an experiment to see if we could actually pull of a film of any worth, starting from scratch.

Well we did. Markham is a tight, arty, experimental little horror film, with a cool look, cool music, some very good acting and some great locations. 

It’s Grindhouse in a way as well, parts where shot on film, it’s experimental, and wouldn’t be out of place alongside a lot of Shameless films  or  Arrow films releases. 

But what have I learned from making a zero budget horror film?

Okay, when Peter Jackson made Bad Taste, he did it, in a style similar to how we made Markham.  Shooting on a part-time basis as and when cast and crew where available, without much of a script to go along with – it took Peter Jackson FOUR years to complete the film, and now I know why (it’s taken nearly two years to complete Markham).

When I started shooting Markham I thought it might take six months.

Working without a script is a crackers idea, especially in low to zero budget filmmaking.  Initially when we started out, me and the actors just shot scenes that were interesting visually and we improvised the characters, and narrative, eventually a fitting plot emerged. This is an interesting and creative way to work (Kubrick worked like this sometimes).  But, it means it will take years to finish and you never know (as a director) what you’ll need – from a simple coverage POV – right up to major scenes that are required that only become apparent later.

The first lesson for next time, is to write a script and stick to what’s written.  There’s always room for experimentation but have the blueprint in script form first.

Another thing I’ve learned never to ignore is sound, especially when shooting on location.  A lot of ADR work was required in post production that would have been better avoided with more attention to paid to the sound recording on location, although admittedly recording dialogue on the open sea, in a raging storm is always going to be hard. 

Difficult locations is another point of learning. We picked some spectacular coastal locations to use in Markham.  But we didn’t consider how difficult they were going to be to get there, or actually shoot in these out of the way, and often dangerous places. 

The locations look great, but I should have considered the impact on production of where we shot.   We filmed in places never used in productions before – these were startling virgin locations for UK film.  But there were reasons why nobody had shot there, and they became clear to us as we used the often dangerous locations ourselves…

Finally one of the main things I’d say I learned at this stage is that IT’S COMPLETELY feasible to now shoot a low budget film, post produce it and edit for very little money and have an end product that’s completely serviceable.   The film is going to be released on DVD and on VIMEO at the end of August, but I could easily in future put the film on AMAZON PRIME myself.

The whole process has been a massive learning experience for me.  And I can’t wait to do it all again…

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 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.