Did you see that explosion earlier?

Episode nine of how to be god is being made. Honestly. It'll be the last one, so it needs to be a bit good. I've probably rewritten it about four or five times now. The main problem, now more than ever, is that I can't show any action. I can't have ambulances or hospitals or that deep sea diving accident I've been so keen to write in. I can only have people talking about what's happening. It's like someone in a no-budget action film saying 'Did you see that explosion earlier? Yeah, and then there was that car chase. It was really exciting'. But I shouldn't complain, it just makes it more of a challenge. Understated is good. I wouldn't want any of the characters to be trapped a house fire or something, it wouldn't fit.

So instead I'll talk about what I have got. I've managed to make a story with almost no resources and some friends who were willing to help. Without them it wouldn't be much of anything. And I don't just mean the acting. Many, many times they've pointed out that something I've written is mostly rubbish. So I write it again and then I'm told it's only half rubbish. It takes longer this way but the show is a lot better for it. It's easy to say what the show could have been - if it was being made 'properly', if it could have another year - but what we've come out with is a nice little show about students who are a bit strange. I'm pleased with that.

Weeping Angels by the beach

The Weeping Angels are Doctor Who's best monsters. Unlike some rubbish metal things from space, they're based on real, everyday objects. They take (already quite creepy) church statues and turn them into nasty, feral objects of not-so-mild terror.They're a combination of very simple, powerful ideas. For a start, they're never seen moving. They appear as a series of horrible statues, reaching out to the characters with vicious hands and snarling faces. They only move when unseen, so a blink sends them hurtling forwards, sometimes stopping only an inch from somebody's face. It's this staticness, the idea of something horrible happening behind your back, that makes them so scary. And the only way to stop them is to keep your eyes on them. The idea of not blinking is genius. Anyone can see how hard that is. If you join in it makes the episodes tense and painful.

Hopefully this new two-parter won't go too far with them. Don't want to over do it. 'The Time of Angels' places them into a far more elaborate setting than 'Blink'. This time there's hundreds of them in huge caves. Although more is not necessarily better they are still scary, even if this is more of an action episode than last time. And now they've got a whole new bunch of rules, like how they can kill someone and adapt their consciousness to use their voice. This leads to one poor army boy being mercilessly torn down and used as a speaker - 'They snapped my neck sir. Not as painless as I thought it'd be but quite quick'. As an episode it's all fun stuff and has a few good eerie scares. The full picture's not here yet though. It'll be interesting to see what the second half turns up.

where you go when you're born

It occurs to me that I've almost finished a creative writing degree and I haven't posted any creative writing on here. I'm not really going to start now, this is still Mildly Interesting Films (even though, technically, I haven't made a film in about a year). But I've just finished my final writing project, an epic little story about things happening to people. With a 6000 word limit, it turned out to be an exercise in compressing a novel into a tiny space. As a result some of the chapters are no more than a few lines long, and at their most no more than 700 words. The thing is, it turns out I like writing like this. There's no room for filler. It just has to get straight to it. Some of the chapters are so short they read like little prose poems. Now I've written like this I'm not sure I can go back to the proper way, with all those extra words.

I've been told I have a fear of adjectives. I don't know why. I like to write with a childlike simplicity. I switch off with flowery language. I've been told my words are good, but I'm convinced I just don't know how to use the ones that are longer than two syllables. The writing project is called where you go when you're born. It's a semi-serious fantasy about sad and funny things. I'm not sure the internet is the best place for it, but then where else is it going to go right now? Maybe in some years I'll start writing longer things. Right now I have a collection of speedily written short stories and one longer chunk of words. I don't want to be a writer though, I just like it when a story comes together.

Five things about Lost

Lost is wrapping up now, so its probably time to make lists or something. Like a list of favourite characters:

Five favourite characters:

1. Desmond. Why won't they just let him be happy? He's always being dragged around and locked up. Can't they see he just wants to be with Penny and call everyone 'brother'? Just let him get on with that. Although, when you get a Desmond episode you know you're in for a treat. It's usually a bit surreal and might involve him being reunited with Penny again. Which is nice. Happy endings are nice sometimes. And Desmond will have a happy ending? Right? Right?
2. Sawyer. At first he was just the gruff one that liked to take his shirt off. But somewhere around the fifth season he became interesting. Stuck in the past (literally) he made a life for himself that he never had in the 'real' world. It doesn't last, because nothing ever does on this show, but somewhere in there he had about three years of smiling. Before, you know, he tragically lost the 'love of his life'.
3. Daniel. Daniel Faraday is a loser. Even though he's a genius and a bit of an authority figure, he's still there to be pitied. He wanted to play the piano. His mother made him be a scientist. His whole life became about his parent's obsession. He's even had a few tragic love interests. And he has the sort of voice that might be good on a DVD commentary.
4. Sayid. Sayid is the get-things-done guy. When everyone else is dithering and arguing, Sayid just walks off and solves the problem with violence and explosives. Sometimes that's what you need. Also, he loves a woman but but he can't be with her. It's, you know, tragic.
5. Ben. Ben is annoying, but he epitomises the show. He's confusing and compelling. Is he good or bad? It doesn't seem to matter anymore. The other characters seem to have lost interest in that question anyway. 'He's evil, lock him up.' 'No, we trust him now.' 'He's evil, kill him.' 'No, we trust him now.' 'He's clearly ev - oh, just let him do what he wants.' He's also probably had some tragic relationship with a woman, but I can't remember.

Why are all these characters men? Because all the woman just get killed. Seriously, there aren't many left. It's all the tragedy that does it.

Least favourite Lost character:

1. Jack. Whinge. Moan. Complain. Cry.

Alright, it's a jammy dodger

Daleks are boring. I'm sorry. They are. I know they're iconic. I know they're the Doctor's arch nemesis. But I've lost all interest in them. They're predictable. They always come back. Maybe if they only appeared once every few years it would be a big deal, but it's always the resurrection of the Daleks, it's always their big evil comeback. The Doctor kills them all, one ship survives and they plot their new masterplan. This has happened about three or four times now. They can't be that threatening if they're always there. And they look rubbish too. Metal tubs with a plunger and whisk. It's as if the writers feel like they have to shove the Daleks in somewhere to fulfil some obligation to the fans, but they don't have to be in every season. I'm the sort of heathen who doesn't care about Doctor Who's heritage, I'd rather they focus on new ideas

Maybe I dislike them because they're always the mark of some lengthy 'the-universe-is-ending' action epic. Thankfully this time we haven't been lumbered with a two-parter. They've just turned up in World War 2 with a plan to make new, slightly cooler looking, colourful Daleks. The episode itself is alright. It's mainly seen-it-all-before stuff, although there is a nice bit with Spitifires in space and a showdown with a jammy dodger. Like I said, it's fine. Fine. Although next week is a Steven Moffat two-parter with Weeping Angels. Yes.