Horror and Thriller in a Cinema near You

The Story (by Germaine Gilbert, director):

It is a gothic horror movie in the style of the expressionist films of the 20's such as Nosferatu. It is set in 19th century. The central character is a professor of psychology and parapsychology. He has come from london to Edinburgh in order to study and disprove the existence of paranormal activity. He is told of a local legend involving a ruined 15th century chapel. They say that every time a person walks around the chapel whilst the church bells are ringing on a Sunday morning, you summon the devil himself. Intrigued he tries it out, only to conjure terrible phantoms from his past that he is desperate to forget.

The characters needed for this film are:



Friar Tuck

The Friar: Male, 25 + years old. The director is looking for someone with the right 'look'. A character face that could potentially look mad and terrifying.

This man rings a phantom bell inside the chapel in the hope that people will hear and come to worship once more. He is angry to see that the parish chooses to ignore this bell and as a result bitterness has decayed his mind.

The Girl: 15-21. A young lady who could pass for a 13-16 year old.

The girl is innocent but she has a seductive and sinister nature that leads the professor to commit great evil.

Academics (Several required): 17-25. Short hair. Preferred if without facial hair.

These are the bright young things of the scientific community. The professor meets with them in order to present to them the results of his research.

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This Sunday I will audition for the role of Friar.... an order of the church considered lower in rank than a monk. Is it the age, or my spiritual believes that would make me a suitable candidate for this part? I don't know. At least I get a chance to scare the hell out of my audience ;o)

Speaking of which...

We have started the Freshers' Film project as part of the new membership program of the Edinburgh Movie Production Society (EMPS).

As a mentor for one of the five groups, our film genre will be horror cq thriller!



Film Genres and their main point of attention

So far we have come to the description of our Main Characters:



JIM

• 30 years of age, poor, he can be charming.


• His parents want him to study Economics.


• He failed in the 2nd year, because he didn't care.


• Worked in Tesco petrol station.


• He is unemployed and angry, and he stole money from the station.


• Jim looks dangerous, so girls like him, but employers don't go near him.


• He plays football.


• He has a bad temper on and off the pitch.


• His rich family disowned him, because he was a Uni drop-out.


• Only his big mad dog pays attention to him.


• Jim likes his dog better than people.


• He is bitter, since he was betrayed when he was younger.


• With brown hair, a slight tall figure, brown eyes and a dark jacket, wearing old clothes with two ear-rings, Jim looks distinguished.


• He likes mainly his own company, and spends a lot of time in a quiet pub.


• The only one he respects is his older brother, but he is bitter because his brother doesn't like him.


• Jim is selfish.

ELOISE

• Suffers from a personality disorder, like Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde, two extremes.


• She drugged her parents as part of her disorder.


• We are unaware of her current mental state.


• She is HOT, European.


• Her age is between 18 and 19.


• She has an illegal state and a foot fetish.


• Eloise feeds her pet rat, named after her brother.


• Her looks are a facade, she steals and commits credit-card fraud.


• Her characters - Ella & Louise - drink doggy liquids.


• There is still a lot unknown about her...

Hmmm... can you imagine a story coming out of this?

Next week we will describe the relationship between them and what happens to them that will make this Freshers' Film .... scary!!!!

You can Count on Them

Characters

"... when a movie begins, the audience immediately starts looking for who the Main Character is, so they can take part in the story.

Give it to them. Make it clear. Make the Main Character's first appearance be a metaphor for the person he or she is, or an allegory for the journey he or she is about to undertake." - Dan Decker, The Anatomy of a Screenplay

So characters make a story.

And the making of a story can be very healthy, for us, characters, too!

Listen what Daniela O'Neill, professor of psychology at the University of Waterloo (hmm..do I know a story about this?) in Ontario, has to say.

"...[We have found] a relationship between math and specific storytelling skills. Kids who ranked highly on certain language skills at age 3 or 4 did better on a math test two years later."

(source:http://whyfiles.org/shorties/158math_lang/)

Testing time

O'Neill and Co. rounded up 48 Canadian kids who did not have learning disabilities and showed them "Frog Goes to Dinner," a 12-page picture-only book that shows a boy visiting a restaurant -- with his pet frog.


The amphib gets into a bucket of trouble. No duh! The tester gave each kid a puppet and asked him or her to describe the book's action to the puppet.

Results

Taking a character's perspective. At one point, the frog jumps into a lady's salad. As he pokes his amphibian snout from the escarole, the diner silently screams. A child who could take the character's point of view might say, "Eek, there's a frog in my salad!" O'Neill observes. "They are going into her shoes, speaking for her. ... We looked to see how well the children captured the movement of events from character to character. Some children would tell only about the frog's action, and you would hardly know there are other people in the story."

Number of events the kids noticed. A more detailed picture of events in the story predicted better math skills two years later.

Using mental-state terms. Some kids could express what the characters were feeling. For example, when the frog appeared in the salad, O'Neill says, these kids might observe that the unlucky diner was "surprised."

Conclusion

The brain circuits that help us move through the various parts of a story also help us look at the world from a logical, numerical, mathematical viewpoint.

More research has found yet another means of healing through storytelling. Jody Koenig Kellas of San Francisco State University and Valerie Manusov of the University of Washington conclude in their paper 'What's in a Story' that:

"The construction of narratives has been shown to assist sufferers of emotional or traumatic events - such as the ending of relationships - in making sense of and coming to terms with the event."

Audition for Edinburgh Magic Circle

It had been raining all day.

Me and my Magic Books had cuddled up on the bed and cards, coins, and ropes could be found all over my room. Tonight was AUDITION for the Edinburgh Magic Circle.

History of the Edinburgh Magic Circle, courtesy Richard Phillips

A long history of magical performing exists here in Edinburgh.

Professor John Henry Anderson, The Wizard of the North, one of Scotland's greatest ever magicians, performed here in the late nineteenth century. The original 'Wizard of the North' was the writer Sir Walter Scott. The title was later, and more fittingly, applied to a magician.



The Wizard of the North, John Henry Anderson

Anderson who was a showman in the grand manner, is credited with moving magic from fairgrounds to the theatre and was believed to be the first conjuror to ever pull rabbits from a hat.




He had some wonderful tricks and illusions in his act. These included: the Inexhaustible Bottle, which produced any drink requested by the members of the audience, and the Great Gun Trick, in which Anderson was seemingly able to catch a bullet fired at him from a musket.

The Gun Trick was described as "the most wonderful feat ever attempted by man; an extraordinary deception" was always kept as the finale of his act in order that "ladies might withdraw, to avoid witnessing the Gun Trick".

Early in the twentieth century, a brash American performer named Houdini packed the theatres for an extended run. A few years later, in 1911, another famous magician, The Great Lafeyette, died in a theatre fire in Edinburgh on the site of the current Festival Theatre.

Several amateur magicians began associating, and in 1912 formed the Society of Scottish Magicians.

Soon, however, the lights were going out all over Europe, and not only in theatres. The members of the Society of Scottish Magicians were not to see them lit again in their lifetime. By the end of the Great War the Society of Scottish Magicians had ceased to exist. However, there were many professional and amateur magicians in Edinburgh during the next two decades - as in most cities.

Several boys who had recently left school began associating to practise magic, and in the summer of 1939 resolved to form the Edinburgh Magic Circle after the end of the summer holidays. But the stormclouds were gathering again in Europe.

=== They agreed that whoever returned first from the war would found the new Circle. ===

The Edinburgh Magic Circle was eventually formed in 1946. In its early years it performed a full evening show in a theatre every autumn, and took a coach load of members to the magic convention at Newcastle.

With the rise of television, live performing declined, and fewer places existed for magicians to perform. There were still children's magicians, but few adult stage shows. Instead, adult performing began to turn to close-up magic, at dinners and other functions. Magic also began to be popular for corporate entertaining and promotion.

For many years the Circle has held the Scottish Young Magician of the Year Competition, and also had a junior section. It now meets in licensed premises, and has no juniors at present.

Edinburgh Magic Circle continues to be a lively club with a Day of Magic convention in the autumn, an Open Night in the spring, and a high proportion of active performers.

... some of them will be me, hopefully ;o)

So, what to startle my professional magician brothers with?

No rabbit at hand, I decided to do some close-up magic tricks.

TORNALDO'S AUDITION PERFORMANCE

First, a slik handkerchief tighly knotted to a preexamined piece of rope mysteriously de-attached itself from the rope with a pinch of magic salt.
Wow.

Next, the Royal Family in the deck of cards had dinner with me at the magic table. Whenever they got separated in a shuffle, they always returned in their seats, next to their husbands or wives!

Then three fellow magicians have been invited to sit at my 'dinning' table and eat cards for supper ;o)
Of course, since it was a Royal meal they had to borrow coins of me to pay for each dish. Whilst turning away, I could predict who would borrow which coin of me; 1 pound, 2 pence or 50 pence. Again applause!

Moreover, each of my 'guests' left a coin in one of three glasses, then filled them up with Scottish mineral water (see figure below). The moment I was blindfolded and tasted the water I again could tell them which coin was in which glass. Amazement!!

Coin prediction trick by me, the great Tornaldo

Finally, the Grand Bet. I betted with two assistants that the one who would empty their glass of water with a straw first would keep all coins. After the count of three, we al sucked our water out of the glass, but no wonder mine got emptied first.... I got to keep all coins ;o)

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NOTE: Would you like to win a bet with your friends? Try the Great Bet as I did at the end of my audition.



Make sure you first pierce a hole halfway straight through each plastic straw, with a needle... and secretly cover the holes whilst you suck the water out of the glass with the coin. Your friends will have a hard time getting any water out of their glasses.... You win all coins!

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In two weeks time from now the Edinburgh Magic Circle will have come to a verdict. Either I have become an honourable member, or they will turn me into a rabbit... eeeeks.