Thursday 23 September 2010

"Chilling" - Tales from the Fridge: 3 & 4

In these two episodes, after love's young dream has been cruelly shattered, our hero begins to contemplate those profound question that we all ask: How did we get here? How do we get back? Are we getting paid for this? Perhaps he must also consider the bigger, universal enigmas: What is eternity and how long does it last? If the Night has a Thousand Eyes, how many noses does it have? Don't worry, these philosophical conundrums will be followed by some stunning dramatic sequences and kinky vegetable-on-vegetable action in the next episode. Possibly.

Friday 17 September 2010

"Chilling" - Tales from the Fridge. Part 2

This episode is a real tear-jerker, or what audiences in 1940s Britain used to call a "weepie," which is a reference to the weeping sores that afflicted most Britons at the time, along with rickets, scurvy, and optional teeth. In the above sequence love blossoms and is then cruelly thwarted. However, as I've noted elsewhere, "It is better to have loved and lost than to risk yet another restraining order." In the next episode our plucky little hero, the innocent red chilli pepper, turns to the consolations of philosophy. Coming soon.

Monday 13 September 2010

'Chilling' - Tales from the Fridge: episode 1

I'm developing this comic strip, set in a fridge, with my friend Dan Pearce. Screenwriters will recognize the start of a classic 'hero's journey' in which the protagonist is an innocent young chilli pepper and the mentor is a wise old chunk of Parmesan. Of course, thinking in these terms about everything you write will eventually turn your brain to loose porridge which would slop over the edges of your skull if, in an amusing reversal of convention, a monkey should slice off the top and try to scoop out the contents. My immature attitude to the disciplines of screenwriting is outlined in the mercifully unpublished thesis "The writer's journey, and how to get home after you've been thrown off the bus for fooling around."

More episodes of Tales from the Fridge will appear here very soon.