Do not open this printer cartridge. Death may like it.

Images surround us. They could be seen as the most prominent communicative device of the modern era. Perhaps even more so than words, in certain ways. And in this cultural shift, it could be said that modern generations (those born between, say, 1970 and today) understand, interpret and analyse the image in almost identical ways to how older generations perceived the written word.

This is random, I know, but these are the things that were going through my mind this morning.

I noticed a correlation in a discussion this morning between media and politics. No one else figured it out and I didn't get a chance to bring it up, and it in parts extends from a line from one of my favourite movies, Tomorrow Never Dies, in my opinion the best of the Brosnan Bonds (I may never get sick of Bond, so prepare for more 007-esque allusions in the next few days, weeks, months, just in case). The line occurs just as Bond is about to kill evil media magnate Elliott Carver (Jonathan Pryce) in the typically grand way of making a two-foot wide underwater drill plow into his body. As the drill runs on its track towards the now meek and terrified Carver, Bond yells in his ear: 'You forgot the first rule of mass media, Elliott! Give the people what they want!'

And if we take Bond's... uh... cutting analysis of the modern era of media as law, then why can't the same be applied to politics? And it so obviously can. Look at election campaigns. The entire things are built around what the public wants, what they think they need, or what they've been informed by the corporate-driven media to want or need.

We've also been looking at news framing - myself in particular, as this is what I wrote my essay around - and how certain issues are given priority. This happens a lot nowadays with so-called 'human interest' or 'consumer affairs' stories, and even more with celebrity waffle. Public discourse is what's at stake here. People aren't participating in 'deliberative democracy' because between advertising bombardments and celebrity tales they're not getting a bloody chance! Obscure international stories that might interest Australians aren't being seen apart from on the ABC or SBS, and even then they only have a half hour to condense the world's news - hence framing comes into it again.

But enough of my public opinion gripes!

Checkmate has been pushed back by a week or so, as production of my latest project Switch takes priority - as it's for a uni assessment. Don't panic, though. I'm still doing bits here and there.

Until next time...

Thursdays bring the ownership of returned parlours into view

My anti-capitalist ramblings aside, it seems I have to wait for the Hovel to be 'approved' before I can start blogging my soul away. Sigh. Oh well. On with the regular blogging for the time being (don't worry - I'll still blog 'normally' even after this here blog be approved).

Everyone will be pleased to know that Stanley the goldfish is feeling much better after I cleaned out their tank and put a new sponge in the filter. He's doing loop-de-loops and all sorts of fancy jazz. And he's eating, which is most important.

The first cut of Checkmate is done, but with the complete soundscape and video filtering to complete, my tentative release date of tomorrow is looking pretty shaky. It'll probably be another week before you guys'll see it on the Tube of You. That said, it cut together very very easily this time, and I'm incredibly happy with how it all turned out. But yeah - another seven days and you can see for yourself!

I've been struck today with just how good the movie The World Is Not Enough is. If you've caught the trailer for Checkmate you might have noticed, as one commenter did, that the accompanying music was taken from that particular Bond film - notably the opening 52 seconds of the track 'Submarine'. I was a little dubious about David Arnold at first, as I'm sure most Bond fans were. It was weird not having that completely orchestral, wonderfully underscored and themed John Barry brilliance; and no Shirley Bassey title theme - for shame! But once I saw Tomorrow Never Dies (still my favourite of the Brosnan Bonds), I was hooked. The crazy techno riffs and the bizarre yet awesome mix of old-school orchestral movements with electronica really brought Bond into the twenty-first century.

So having listened to the soundtrack for the past week, I thought it might be time to bung in the DVD and at least have a look at the opening sequence, the pre-titles Bond teaser. And I'd forgotten just how brilliant it was. It's got everything - the dodgy one-liners, the girl, the shady villain, action, and a crazy boat chase from the headquarters of MI6, underwater, then through the streets of London and finally out onto the Thames with an explosive finale in a hot-air balloon hovering above the then-just-completed Millennium Dome.

And that's just the teaser!

The great and lasting thing about Bond is that it gets you in that opening 10 minutes or so, then hypnotises you with those alluring titles, and then you're hooked. You can't look away. Every single Bond has done it. And with the new ones still coming (Quantum of Solace, which picks up a mere 10 minutes after Casino Royale finished, is due for release here in Australia on the 27th of November this year) and still breaking box offices around the world, it's unlikely that the Bond formula will ever fail to satisfy.

That said, though another 'typical' Bond movie probably would have worked post-Brosnan, the injection of a reboot into the franchise was a stroke of genius on the part of the producers. Bond really did need a kick up the bum, and a punch in the face, and all the other stunts that look like they actually hurt when inflicted upon the now-appreciated Daniel Craig. Bring on November nevertheless!

Meantime, only four more days till Indy!

Until next time...

Quagmire of disbelief: oh how hast thou been undermined thus

See - the funny thing is that I never ever intended for this blog to be any kind of money-making exercise. The Hovel was always a place just to come, chill, relax and vent all my worries, hopefully eliciting some kind of reciprocation or at least empathy, understanding, in you readers. My pitiful attempts with AdSense and CafePress were best described as more hateful and pathetic than Reign Of Fire, and I swore silently to myself that I'd never fall again to the oppressive yet seductive lure of capitalism au blog.

And now I introduce PayPerPost, a service I've just signed up for, where, essentially, I whore the blog out to these companies to shamelessly advertise their latest widgets. Believe me - if this could be avoided, it so incredibly and unbelievably would. But the fact of the matter is that it can't. I'm almost completely broke, and with my government rent assistance dwindling with every slightly-more-than-I'm-allowed pay cheque, any little bit of money I can grab matters. And if that means slavishly blogging in favour of any product that's dangled in front of me, then I'm afraid that's what I gotta do.

However, that macabre introduction aside, I now add this disclaimer - PayPerPost offer the opportunity to select which products you know and can faithfully and accurately blog about, and you are more than welcome to criticise any negatives of the product as you see fit. So it won't be 'oh my god this is wonderful'. If it's crap, I'm gonna tell you. And when I say product - this includes movies, TV shows, DVDs, videogames and computer stuff; things I'd probably normally blog about any way.

So it'll all be my own words, my own opinions, etc. But I just thought I'd warn you. And I'll also indicate when one of my posts has been tainted by the subtle stench of corporate intrusion.

Just a cautionary measure...

Until next time...

Gumption cannot lift bread above the masses of incredible chocolatey wonder

All will be revealed in 7 days...

Until next time...

Feeling like a pat on the ankle and a tip of the tongue whip

Well, we have re-shot. The entire mission brief scene. We also managed to shoot 'X''s final scene in the film, as well as the apprehension of Brad Johnson. Yesterday was good. It was long, it was exhausting. It took ages to set up. There were more people there. But the day was great, and though it was hot and there were some stressful moments for everyone, it went really, really well.

Call was at around 9:15am for the principal cast and crew. I and my beloved were there at around 8:30, and made the call for security to come and open the doors to the building in which we were shooting. Where before this took around five minutes, this time it took around half an hour, by which time a couple of other people had shown up. This was a little annoying, as I was hoping to have the room set up for the first shot in time for the actors to arrive. So we eventually got inside, and set about getting the room organised for the first set-up. This took around twenty minutes, then with lighting and sound issues, we didn't end up going for our first take until 11:30am.

These initial delays aside, once we got going, the shoot went spectacularly well. I was so much more in the mood for it this time, as was my AD, Josh, and the other guys, Matt, Piotr and Iain were a great help, as usual. Jess, John and Rowan were all wonderful, gave better performances this time (last time was not bad, by any means), mainly due to the fact that this time I had my directors' hat on. I'd storyboarded the whole thing, I knew what I needed, and I just went for it.

The re-shoot I was incredibly happy with. We ran overtime, but just managed to shoot the two additional scenes before sundown, wrapping at around 4pm.

The biggest problem I have now is that I wasn't able to get almost any of the footage from the day to start going over, as it is in an almost completely impossible to read format on my mate, the AD's, camera. In addition we shot with two other cameras, the tapes from which I didn't think to grab as we were packing up. So I was left with only the footage shot on uni's XL2, that was shot by my AD, which will be great for cutaways and extra shots, but I needz the main footage! Not to worry - tomorrow eet shall be MINE!

Stick with me, though, here at the Hovel, because I'll be documenting the post-production process as best I can. Who knows - maybe I might even go all Peter Jackson and record a video diary. Only time will tell. Speaking of which:

Until next time...

But, sir - my Ewok!

Well, it's getting close to 1am; the reason I'm blogging so late is that I just got home from work - finished at 12 midnight. Good fun. But the main reason I'm writing is that over the past couple of days I've been getting back into the swing of pre-production for Checkmate, the re-shoot of which is taking place tomorrow.

It's been good, having a chance to go back over the script, map out the set-ups, re-think the lighting and the staging. I think I've got it pretty much set now, having drawn inspiration from the briefing scene in The Kingdom, as well as a mission brief in the Alias episode 'Detente'.

So yeah - the cast are ready to step back into their roles, and we've got a few extra sets of hands on deck this time so it should be a nice, easy shoot - but more importantly a very fun day.

In addition to re-shooting the meeting room scene, we have to shoot an arrest sequence outside, and the very last shot of the film, which will be 'faked' in the same room as we're filming the briefing. All being well, come mid-next week, you'll be seeing an early cut of the next instalment in my nod to the Bourne trilogy.

Until next time...

Bring under the table those that have fallen on mice of apocryphal proportion

Two things:

1. People who are so incredibly stuck in their ways that they use phrases like 'When you're as old as I am...' or 'When you've been around as much as I have...' and refuse to open their minds to the possibilities of new things, new ideas, new takes on old traditions.

2. Bizarre Eastern European or Middle Eastern nextdoor neighbours who leave their windows and doors wide open until you get home, when it's batten down the hatches and head for the bomb shelter. Odd.

Until next time...