Folly locked!

The flick I shot over Easter has finally been locked in. Due to college work piling up at this time of year, the flick fell by the wayside in terms of post-production, and was sitting there half-cut for a couple of weeks with only minor adjustments. It's fnally done, and runs a little over twelve minutes without credits (making it the shortest film I've shot) and is all the better for it. It is more than likely the best thng I've done, for what that's worth, and that is entirely down to three beautiful, natural performances from the people in it. I hesitate to use the word "actors", as the three characters: a hyperactive 8-year old with a vivid imagination; his mother; and a gruff but soft-hearted stranger, are just that in real life. And the subtle, sensitive performances feel so real and so natural that a bloke who considers himself a "proper actor" (me) is shamefaced watching back the rushes.

The edit was certainly a challenging one, as the level of improvisation was tough to cut around (it shows how much bloody critiques our college makes us write when my blog starts to sound like one). But it looks good and is something that will hold up next to anyone's work, I hope. Anyway, I'm gonna be throwing it around a few festivals and hopefully make a few bob out of it (as beautifully crafted and personal as I like my pictures, I'm ultimately in ths for the cash and the skirt). I'll try get it up on the interwebnet soon freisin.

Next up, I'll be reuniting with actor Stephen Considine (No Turnin' Back, Audacious, and ths as of yet untitled film) and my own brother Paul for a film about a pair of brothers. And I'll be acting in what promises to be my first foray into badass territory in the western "Once Upon a Time in the Glorious Revolution", also featuring Conso, and directed (mariachi style) by Seán Clancy. It's a role a million miles away from anything I've done before, and it's gonna be a blast. It's also the first time I get to work with Steve in a purely acting capacity instead of directng hm. Which means far more craic. That and a certain men on a mission script should keep me occupied for the time being......

Sin e

Pete

McGann's Folly

Tomorrow morning I am going into the shoot which may be the most challenging I've worked on. Never mind the stunts of Suckers and The Suitors, or the lesbian subplot of No Turnin' Back. Páiste stuff. This is the first time I've had to work with a child actor. At age 8, my cousin Ben is making his film debut alongside "Audacious" actor Stevo Conso, and for better or for worse I'll be attempting to direct him. It could go wonderfully well, it could go disastorous. Either way, it's gonna be an experience......

Vultures

What I am about to write is more than likely going to be seen as a shameless exercise in promoting a series I have a recurring role on, but I can assure you that I am writing this as an independent observer. I do the series for the love of it, and because I want my name to be associated with something of this quality, not because I have aspirations to be the new Simon Pegg.

I have just returned from an intense weekend in Kilkenny of what is possibly the final time I will ever play Matt McLoughlin, the boozehound, skirt-chasing lawyer who represents the gentlemen detective agency of Vultures, in the increasingly popular and very, very funny webcom that can be found at www.vulturespi.com. In what has taken over a year to accomplish, those responsible for the story, a Kilkenny-based production company called Mycrofilms, are bringing the series to a close. While my involvment with the show has been limited to showing up for a day or two in order to shoot whatever scene I have in the episode at hand, I still had the opportunity to observe the blood, sweat, tears and semen that has gone into making the thing. Many of the cast and crew have given so much of their time (not to mention themselves) to this project, it is hard not to be seduced by the passion that they have for it, and this passion certainly comes across in the finished product.

In an era of weak, weak Irish scripted comedy (Soupy Norman, Bachelor's Walk and Aprés Match are some of the excluded, obviously), it is easy to be underwhelmed at the thought of an Irish series by twentysomethings, but this is no "Love is the Drug". Instead, Mycrofilms have set out to give audiences something that is purely entertaining, accesible, meaty and inspiring. Working with a micro-budget, they have crafted something which is filled to the brim with vivid performances, superiour writing, meticulous and evocative costumes, superior camera work (the lads are all clearly big film buffs), and, of course, grade-A gags. Be it the minor characters, like an Italia 90-obsessed wheeler-dealer who aids the detectives in their investigations, or some truly barmy sight gags (psychotic informant Jack Street's "ad for the telly" is my favourite joke in the whole series so far), it is clear that the term "low-budget comedy" is a disservice. At once buddy tale (the three detectives are, of course, mismatched, but in delightfully original ways); character comedy (the gallery of supporting characters keep things fresh, and give a sense of an ongoing world the detectives inhabit); and genuinly exciting detective serial (the ongoing series arc fleshes out the story, and the gothic churches of Kilkenny and the "Scarlet Lady" sublot give it a distinct Sherlockian feel). For some of the shite cranked out by broadcasters nowadays, this crowd are a breath of fresh air. As obnoxious teen/top-notch detective Janine Drew might say, "It's class as ya like, boy!"

Awww yeah.....

A Ring-a Ding-Ding

As I wrap up me new script and prepare for my "Vultures" bow, I got to thinking about what would be an ultimate "dream project" for me to work on. James Bond and any number of crime epics spring to mind, but the one that would truly allow me to die almost completely satisfied would be something just as obvious: A Rat Pack movie. it's been done on telly, with Ray Liotta as Sinatra, but imagine a bigscreen, full-blown movie event that could be made of these blokes. The next book I intend to pick up is "Rat Pack Confidential", as apparently it has it all about them, and I'd love to take a crack at a swaggering, epic look at a small group of men who lived life to the full and how they played a part through an explosive political time in the world. It has it all: style, romance, comedy, a dazzling location, political intrigue, high drama, racial struggles, the Mob, and heartbreak. And, of course, the fucking songs............Anyone have ninety mill in their back pockets? Fuck the recession, it'd be some craic.....

No Turnin' Dead Sexy by being an Audacious Bad Bastard.....

Due to the recent work done on me old mucker Pig's projects, such as his tribute to our mutual "acquaintane" Jamie Doyle, he has spurred me on to start organising and talking about my body of work. And, given that I've worked with him on more things than most, I value his opinions. On film-based things, if not how to handle social situations with attractive women. I jest...... 1. "No Turnin' Back" - A project, like all of my flicks so far, born of neccessity, yet it's the one that has retained the most emotional ressonance with me, and it's the one I am most happy with and had the most craic shooting. I knocked out the script in a few days, following a day and a half in the life of three 17 year old lads, as they handle women problems and bickering amongst each other. It lays down some of the traits that will mark my work from then on in: copious improvisation; a semi-verité feel (before I knew what that poncy French term meant) and the theme of man's hapless struggle against the female race. It also marked the first appearance onscreen of the persona I have, to be frank, been trading on ever since: that of the sleazy, arrogant but clueless lecher. The other main parts are filled out by the stellar Stephen Morris, who blows his "leading man" part out of the park, and me old mucker Ryan O'Hara playing the laid-back "best friend" role he'd carry on into "Dead Sexy". Supporting roles are filled by my go-to actress at the time Emma Doyle and my mate Gearóid O'Briain in the first of two parts they'd play in my films. Anna Martin plays the bi-sexual girlfriend of Ben, Steve's character, and Eoin O'Grady plays his smarmy love rival. It's my most fully formed film, and one which I hold up all the rest to. It also has a last minute appearance by a Mr. Considine...... 2. "Dead Sexy" - The black sheep of my lot, and one which I hated shooting, editing and watching. Until I re-edited it, changed the soundtrack and grew to slightly appreciate it more. A black comedy about a failed relationship ending in a brutal murder, it saw Gearóid and Emma returning as a psycho hitman and bitch from hell with the smile of a angel, respectively. It also saw a scene-stealing cameo from Ryan, referencing his role in NTB (his part ended up being a combination of two parts, one of which Steve Morris couldn't play). The new adition to my stock company of actors is another director, Pádraic O'Byrne, playing a coked-up, Beethoven-loving wannabe gangsta, in a part he created himself and made his own. I was the bland, scumbag lead. Spaghetti Westerns are invoked, and the music video spoof would anticipate "Audacious". Tracking shots, Paul McGann songs, improv and rampant sexism are also the usuals on the menu. That would be all I filmed for almost a year, until finally: 3. "Audacious" - The third, and for now final, in my unofficial "Fistful of Fanny" trilogy (well, I just did), this is the most different to my last two films in that (a) I only show up in two brief appearances, and (b) nobody has any clue what the hell is going on. The first where I operated a camera myself, it was an almost entirely improvised film about a drunken, womanising stand-up comedian/wannabe director, played in a tour-de-force performance by the shameless Stephen Considine, in his attempts to shoot an adaption of Macbeth. I wrote several scenes, most of which now lie abandoned in favour of his rambling, drunken non-sequiters. It is the first time he has ever had to do something like this, and he truly steps up to the plate. He is supported by Luke Bulmer (who originally had many lines but saw them cut because it was pointed out he was funnier as a Silent Bob type); Ellen Whelan in the typical "bitchy" part; Mark McGann, my brother; myself playing twins (don't ask) and the almighty improviser that is Pádraic O'Byrne as a pretensious wanker of a singer-songwriter. Pádraic also contributed the beautiful main theme of the film, which is played throughout. The film is a mess, but to my mind an interesting one. For the most part it has the feel of a documentary, with pseudo-interview footage, concert footage and long takes of Conso spieling, intercut with dreamlike, time-hopping instances reflecting his state of mind. It's my most foul-mouthed, un-p.c. work to date. 4. "The Bad Beat" - The abandoned project, co-written and directed by myself and Seán Clancy. What footage exists of this includes some nice work from Steve and Luke, pre-"Audacious", with myself and Seán changing halfway through to play the main part. It also sees nice work from Dermot McKee as a cockney private detective. I intend to return to the script very soon to rewrite it, as there was some good stuff there. But for know, it wasn't to be.......

Soulful filmmaking

The coming few months, I hope, shall be the most fruitful in a long time for ECO Productions and for this handsome member. This month, I've finally been given a college project that isn't seen as a burden but something I genuinely look forward to: directing a doc! It is only four minutes long and a glorified interview, but as I continue to assert to the women who let me see them naked, it's not the length that counts, it's what you can do with it.

The subject I have chosen is, in a fit of typical McGann originality and daring, Stephen Considine. Maybe one day I'll work on a flick about a repressed lesbian nun with Down's Syndrome, but until then it's fair to say I've got a distinct "style". Style being an all-too-generous word.

He, as El Presidente of Waterford IT Urban Arts Society (congratulations, by the way), will be gabbing on about the nature of graffitti being art vs. vandalism, a subject that he is passionate about. I hope to shoot it in the GPO nightclub, where I work, but nothing has been confirmed as of yet. Either way, I've got few nice shots in my head, and hopefully some juicy cuts might get caught up in the proceedings.

Meanwhile, my mate Rasher's band Boy Dyson are in the process of recording a full album. One song of theirs, "Four Fingers", a nice little punk ballad about dodgy relationships, is about to get the ECO treatment. Shot between 1-3 days, it is going to be a fractured, abstract take on a simple story, with lots of unanswered questions at the end of it. And it's going to be sexy. Very sexy.....

The last definite thing on the agenda, bar numerous scripts I'm working on, is my cameo in the hilarious, sweet, dark and off-the-wall webcom that is "Vultures". So I'll be getting my sleaze on to the max. After at least two directing jobs it'll be nice to be bossed around for a change.

Keep gandering.

P........

New flicks

It's been a few months since I directed a damn thing, and although I've been doing a fair bit of acting and writing, I'm becoming restless. So I hope to keep myself occupied outside of college in the next month or so.

It's coming up to Crimbo, and I fancy doing in next short with a festive feel. But in the same dirty, dark but sweet vibe that seems to instill itself in my "Fistful of Fanny" trilogy. From working with the Deviants on Vultures, I'd love to write something that incorporates them, and get a chance to direct and act opposite them in my own zone.

First on the agenda, however, is a music video for Boy Dyson and a college-project short doc about graffiti, where I'll be interviewing my very dear friend, collaborator and expert on all things graf, Mr Stephen "Rory Furey" Considine. Speaking of himself, the dramatic short I'm trying to write will definitely feature him giving what will no doubt be as strong a performance as he gave in "Audacious". Easily the most fearless, natural actor I've ever worked with, Conso is on the same wavelength as his director all the time, and is more important if not more so to the enjoyment of the audience. And that is not hyperbole by any stretch.

So far, with the barrage of ideas I have for the short, it will have the feel of Springsteen ballad like "The Ghost of Tom Joad", with the boozy recklessness of a Pogues' tune. Mixing the improvised, documentary vibe of "No Turnin' Back" with the atmospheric, experimental vibe of the "Bad Beat" promo, and with a juicy female character part or two, in a change of place from the downright sexist flicks of my past. And it's set around Christmas! Everyone loves Christmas! Christmas in Galway!

Either way, I hope you keep watching. And anyone interested, give me a hearty shout.....

....P