"Think You Know The Police?" ("Home" Viral Teaser, The Completion Of 'A' Shift Scripts and End Of The Year)

The be-all, end-all of this last portion of the November month, we've been busy... Very busy.

"Home", the first in a series of viral adverts to be shot for the series, was completed over the weekend awaiting some eventual tweaks. The image is a teaser for the eventual published release of the trailer, hopefully come start-December. By this point, we are hoping to move onto one other viral entitled "Club", stylisitcally similar (dark visuals, dynamic flowing camera-work) but importantly, including what we would refer to as our 'considered' final cast.


The whole series, our tag as it were refers to "Think You Know The Police?". With cop drama in general, the focus within the genre has been to concentrate on the job; what it's like to be a cop. Our focus subverst that common conception by looking at 'real' people who are cops. I think as a tag, it's a big slap in the face; like what you know thus far does not tell the whole picture.

What we want, is to invite you to see more of the picture, whilst maintaining a profound sense of realism matched with a dramatic sense generated from the realism.

The Job: 'A' Shift, the initial first series, is looking at a completion within the script stage, for end of the year; to follow a series of workshops with the principal writing team, and our producer and myself as director going through each of the episodes to get the best possible drafts we can muster. I reckon this is a process, very much like our initial read-through from the feature draft of the script, that will highly enjoyable.

Now that time remains short and the end of the year approaches, we've decided to bat out as much footage for The Job as physically and as mentally possible for us.

The time for us to do this now and with as much attention as we've had since we started this project 18 months ago, this could slowly be the time, with every single one of us involved, to make some daring and important decisions.

Certainly, from my own point of view, the time is now to prove what we all have to offer and thus far, it's looking pretty tremendous.

Thanks and keep showing your support.

Ryan Jon Amey Henderson

Co-Creator/Co-writer

"I'm sure if I wanna' go, I'll find the door, cheers" (Development Hits It's First Year, The First Internet Viral and the Completion of Ep's 3 & 4)

The first new update in a while but well worth at this stage, some sort of clarification and excitement.

The Job has been going through a very real moment of drive. Before, we could always be comfortable in the fact that we were working to our own deadlines which never seemed to be a massive problemhowever, with a certain deadline looming, now has been the test of whether or not we can do this, organise it within a small period of time and have something that had a clarity and professionalism of an established production company.

Since the announcement that we would only have till the the 22nd to complete the first internet viral, Home, the week has been complete madness. The initial comfort in knowing that we would come out of this week with a final moving, emotional portrait that illustrates the essence of what The Job is created a massive buzz within the group. A real sense of excitement that things are moving forward. Obviously, once we've completed the advert, you'll be able to find the link to it once we feel it's ready for the dispersion into the cyberspace.

This is more so it doesn't get lost and is able to pinpoint an audience. Our research has always pointed towards a market for this kind of programming, a real interest in genuine drama; real characters, real worlds and a focus on an aspect of cop life we have never seen before. Audience is everything with TV, as with film also, but without a tapped audience. In specifics, a target audience that can catapult this drama, be interested in thisa drama and want to see this drama.

We have been following the Channel 4 documentary series Coppers. A perfect template that tells more about "the job" and the people who have to deal with it everyday than 100 hours of conversations of back stories. It illustrates perfectly, the attitude, the people, the humanistic aspects and the very essence of what we started over a year ago, yet set in Scotland. What we want to see is what happens when they get home, how their relationships are affected and what they become when they are, essentially, off duty. That is what The Job does.

So, we have the viral coming up end of this week, the completion of the final two episodes before the end of the year and whatever else we have in the pipeline before anything else changes really.

It's all very exciting. I hope you like what we're doing.

Ryan Jon Amey Henderson

Co-Creator/Co-writer

"Future? Fucked if I know what today holds..." (The Future Of The Job)

There was always a profound sense of what we wanted to achieve with The Job. Did we want to go as far as The Wire had done and focus on the criminals and the politicl side of society that creates a rounded and highly perceptive aspect of human life. It is hard at this early stage to pin down where this project will go eventually, as it is yet to, even with it's profund amount of interest, gone anywhere yet. That's not to say that is won't.

The dream aspect of doing this project is that it receives funding. We all have our own space in which to plan production and we are able to work on the project full time. The only other thing was to work on the project over a long period of time with whatever funding we had at our disposal, working within our own homes, whatever locations we could muster; a genuine peice of independent programme making. From the inital episodes we have written, a total of four for the first series, the development of the project would be in it's long life, introducing the different shifts.

The dream, as it will be called from on, is to walk into HMV one day and see The Job box-set, collecting A, B, C and D shifts, with the two one- off specials we have planned; the Christmas episode and the more mad-cap, surreal episode I have planned around my own view of criminals, neds, whatever you want to call them, however, I hate using the word neds.

With the case being close to completing the final two episodes of series 1, the progression has to spurn the further second shift, leading into the third and so on. I can honestly say, we're not going to be short of ideas for this.

Ryan Jon Amey Henderson

Co-Creator/Co-writer

"... Now you realise, why it didnae work together eh?" (Marriage of Montage with Old-fashioned Storytelling)

I watched a film the other day (the name of which escapes me), where the for the first 5 minutes of the film I couldn't tell who I was rotting for in the story. I was blaming myself and thinking "I'm 25, things a re slowing down, I was never smart to begin with etc. etc." but then suddenly realised a number of things; the camera wouldn't stay still long enough for me to even focus my eyes on anything.

Apart from me resisting the urge to care for any character who I did finally focus on, the inherant boredom that proceeded completely killed it, stone dead, purely because there was no focus, the camera operator couldn't find a frame and the director couldn't peice together the story. Just an utter shambles. I'm saying this as an audience member and not a filmmaker. I know like anyone else, how hard the process is so the fact it was even in a cinema is achievement enough.

It brings up the whole cutting / time argument which I always found interesting and the advent of less structured cinematography.

The dawn of the MTV generation in the 90's, married with the forever dwindling attention spans of audiences in the last decade, has spawned a kind of overstylised kind of montage and imagery that attracts your attention by keeping your brain occupied by the speed of it as opposed to the clarity of what it is actually saying. You can conjure up notable directors like Michael Bay (although I quite like his films; The Rock, awesome) whose (5) second a cut has seen him hit billion dollar turnover's at the box office, yet very little critical  acclaim, which sometimes doesn't really matter when the money begins to roll into the pot. Music video sylings that erupt in a (2) minute video, maybe not tolerated so much in the course of a (2) hour film. I look at films like The Battle of Algiers or A Bout De Soufle or Shadows or The French Connection moving towards Traffic, when I refer to the slightly less structured sense of cinematography where the camera provides the sense of one watching events unfold as opposed to being structured for a significant dramatic effect, much how events unfold in reality. The camera holds a balettic sense of capturing the action to a tee, perfectly and within the confines of time within a single take. I look at Godard's Weekend or Altman's Short Cuts. The mark of a directors true talents unmasked and unhinged within the terrifying confines of a single take.

It's the balance between style over storytelling. When the style dictates your storytelling and gets in the way of providing the audience with the information they need in order to engage with the story, is when you fundamentally turn the medium into video art, as opposed to entertainment. Controversially, contradicting my own filmic aesthetic, I would rather strive for the balance, something lovely to look at, which only cuts when it needs to or for effect, that tells a fascinating and engaging story.

Engaging story is where it lies. It dictates everything. Dictates what you shoot, how you shoot and how decisions are made to visually advance the story so there is universal understanding from an audience. I guess, with The Job, what we have is story; just simple non-contrived story.

I am reaching the close date when I finished the orginal 100-page script end of last year, when the title was still working, there was four writers on the roster and everything got very exciting for us.

Only now, things are even more exciting, the number of people interested is increasing and you suddenly feel that what your doing is worth the years you will be spending on it.

I can only speak for myself but if people keep wanting it, I'll make sure it happens.

Ryan Jon Amey Henderson

Co-Creator/Co-writer

"... Cannae Mind..." (Memory Over Imagery: Signatures)

I instantly think John Ford's The Searchers, Wayne framed within the door, a mere silhouette, a shadow of himself. Harry Lime sneaking out of the shadows in Carol Reed's The Third Man. Al Pacino staring down DeNiro in that cafe' scene in Heat. Chow-Yun Fat sliding a bannister in Woo's Hard Boiled. Chihiro on the train with no-face in Spirited Away. Timophy Spall letting go in Secrets and Lies. Book with Samual before he leaves the farm in Witness. Clooney with J-Lo, a snow ladden restaurant in Out Of Sight. Mifune pacing the town in Yojimbo. John Voight falling in love in Coming Home. Hackman as Doyle wanting to kick someone's ass in The French Connection. Wong-Kar Wai's Chungking Express. Patricia Arquette on a thunderbird's hood in Tony Scott's True Romance. Swatting up on your favourite sins in Fincher's Se7en. Coltraine gunning down Carlyle in a battle of minds in Cracker: To Be A Somebody....

A whole manner of cliche' book cover answers, but single frames that transcend decades of debate, analysis and influence and inspiration that I remember anyhow. Missing thousands of signature frames; a single image that epitomises a moment, from Citizen Kane, The Godfather, Seventh Seal, Drugstore Cowboy, Breakfast Club etc. etc.

Images that tell stories and marry together to produce a reaction. In imagery, it is all about providing 'information'. Through the tools we use, whether is be a super 35mm arriflex camera or a DV-50, fill it in with diffed 300w or whack a 4 bank kinoflo on a stand, the principal is the exact same. We are providing as much information as we possibly can. Only in those magical moments, do we get the marriage right. I've strived for a time in the films I have made to produce frames that epitomise a moment, certainly within the constructs of the filmic structure. These are the frames that illicit a particular response, different from the manner of closes to wide converage we're all used to. I may be plucking this from the air, without much grounding, possibly slightly patronising to the number of people already practising film but I can count a number of times having to remind filmmakers, film is a 'visual' medium, with a whole manner of freedom and exploration to define a process, however mechanical, with an emotional stamp.

In the writing stages of this project I have been detached from making decisions towards the visual aspects of the project. The scripts themselves have a strong visual sense of storytelling, although structurally strong with a meanderring quality of realism. From it's beginnings I had already mapped signature frames that define the stortytelling, tell the story through images instead of ladelled through lacking intracies. This is why I think, dedicating years of our lives to something, would we not want something that felt like it had some thought put into it? With The Job, I'm covering every base so we can illicit those responses.

More to the point...

The Job: "Auld Cloutie" (Ep.3) is currently being written, initially mapped from the 100-page feature script I had completed almost a year before, this is the story of Ian and at the halfway point in the series, where things get incredibly bleak for our characters. At a stretch I am living with these guys, 10-12 hours a day, writing their lives into further complexity or, in some case, writing them away. Although more on that when we get to Ep. 5. We're essentially halfway through with the writing and so the marathon continues.

But thanks for the support thus far and stay put, things are about to get better.

Ryan Jon Amey Henderson

Co-Creator/Co-writer

"As it Stands..." (An outlook on 21st Century Visuals and referring to Neo-Reailsm)

Continueing with the concept that would be a bi-weekly added blog, The Job, episode 1: Bourac has reached a working draft level, as of a week ago, with a reknowned positivity beyond what we could wanted or even realised.

Currently, I am working on the next 3 episodes independently as one continuous story as, with the concept and expert writing of The Wire, moments that are not focused on detail in some scenes are revisited in greater detail later on. A literary exploration that should go farther than dictating legislation or flaws within that legislation.

For example, the liklihood of several "crime scenes" only really boil down to one or two when all the elements are in place. A sense of contrast that depicts many aspects of life. Old and new. Life and death. Beginnings and endings. Everything will feel understated as some moments are never fulfilled to their summary conclusion, as in life, everything is on-going long after you stop watching, like an alternate reality pictured within the confines of a 3464 X 2310 (referring to information in relation to size) window at which we can shut the blinds on you at any times. What we can't see doesn't mean it does not carry on.

Much like Visconti's La Terra Trema, and many other Realist films of the Post-War era, the definition of realism was showing the moments that say, Hitchcock, would remove. I'm not saying we are likely to include an Italian maid washing a floor for 20 minutes, but the concept of retaining images that would more or less be removed for pacing purposes, remain in one form or another. With the luxury of a long running series, whose to say our characterisation needs to be exacting and precise. One thing about each of our lives is that it gets boring and banal sometimes. We struggle for some sort of acitvity to keep our minds occupied but more importantly, to keep us feeling alive, hence we struggle with pattern and monotony. We may be of the MTV generation but I reckon dulling audiences with fast-cutting, overgraded visuals, moves nothing forward. The power of TV is intense and exact, the gimmicks of tabloid TV aside, cinema has become a fairground ride, the best of films sneaking away into the darkness of tiny cinema screens, someone's had-graft, blood, tears and sleepless nights little recognised personal picture, to maybe be remembered. But with all good, it it usually only appreciated to it's potential long after the artist has passed from this world.


Stylistically, we will be following the general rule that story dictates everything, whilst the visuals should compliment the telling of the story. Nothing flashy, nothing too over-the-top, just simple understated storytelling with interesting, true to life (as the stories remain true themselves), characters, hinting at aspects of Scottish culture, scenary, beauty and ultimately, humanity and morality. Universally understood factors that transcend outwith the boundaries of our culture alone. Something that can be spoken out to many and understood fully by a few.

Ryan Jon Amey Henderson

Co-Creator/Co-writer

"... Right, now here's the situation..."

The project has been on-going for the last year in script development, from the inspirations of the main contributing writers; Adam as an ex-copper and actor, myself as a filmmaker and the two other contributing writer-actors Ed Corrie and Darren Lightbody.
Inspired by American shows like The Wire, Cracker, The Shield, many other cop genre films and the unrealistic perception of the British police force from say, The Bill, we had wanted to produce something that changed that perception that we could all be a part of. We wanted a series about people who were cops; a series about cops without an emphasis on the dredgery of the crime.

The script had gone through an intense overhaul before the end of the year ending as a feature film draft at 100-pages long. Recently, we had held an actor read-through at our old University, The Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow, of the current first draft to see how the script played out initially in its first stages which proved to be a massive success. From there we had collectively decided to go back to the original model of making it a 5-part TV serial. Now the project is being re-drafted with an eventual script date of mid-August for the first episode (pilot) with the remaining episodes being written in conjunction.

In the pipeline, whilst we concentrate on the writing, I have planned a number of adverts in the form of virals. The first as two cheap virals to be played online to gather interest and the second, a high-production value teaser trailer to illustrate the mood, tone and essence of the project.

The second ad has been dubbed the “Red-Tape” trailer that shows two plain-clothed officers waiting on a man let off on a DTO (drug treatment order) by the Judge.... The remainder of the trailer plays out with a final tagline that reads, “Think you know the police?”. The advert has been storyboarded and looking for a shoot date of end of September.

We are hoping to shoot on RED ONE; a format I have had previous experience with as a DoP and Director. In addition, there is a selection of photographers who are willing to come on board to shoot some initial promotional material and possibly some on-set photography at a later date. Also, a friend of mine, who writes for a Scottish film website, is wanting to do a piece on The Job for some added small publicity, once we have shot the trailer. In the mean time, I have produced paintings and drawings to conjure up the various cinematic frames that will signify The Job, like the image posted below.
We have been excited about this for a while and with the added encouragement of the people around us, we are determined to make this happen and do it extremely well. More than not, this project will be self-funded so we can attain the creative freedom we started with on this project, knowing fine well that particular high-powered involvement could bring the project to a place neither want to be or taken from us comepletely. Although skeptical, we can't ignore the the fact that things like that can happen but overall, we are working within an industry that should welcome projects like this.

At the end of the day we are hoping for something we are ultimately proud of but, as the main goal, have a product that can be sold, screened / televised and developed further as well as furthering our own careers in our chosen fields.
Keep yourself posted on the various updates that will spring on here. Most obvious one being, from today, that episode 1 "Bourac" has been fully written, with the remaining 4 episodes in first draft, hopefully, by the end of September.

Anyway, thanks again,

Ryan Jon Amey Henderson

Co-Creator/Co-writer

"... the job's fucked..."

Welcome to The Job, an up and coming 5-part TV drama serial, looking to go into production mid-next year.

Real people, real stories but hardly any crime. Think of a drab realist Scottish drama, forget about The Bill, look at how people talk (the banter), realise that everything we're containing in this serial is true and inject it with a pace and energy matching that of an American TV series, to a soundtrack of break beats and down-tempo, humming to a style of Michael Mann and the Maysles Bros.

The brainchild of four people, our desire is to create something real, exiting, true and eventually established that we can ultimately be proud of but hopefully, entertains the fuck out of everyone.

Whether you've just stumbled on this or you've seen the Facebook group (http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/group.php?gid=247660129577&ref=mf) and wandered further down this rabbit hole, if you like the sound of it, stay tuned. The majority of the updates will appear on here first, including artwork, concept design, stills, recce's, trailers and more...

In the pipeline we have two viral adverts, a full trailer and promotional stills planned for the August / September period in conjunction with the continued development of the script. Anyone's interest should come directly to me either through here or by the Facebook group.  

Thanks for the, hopefully, continuing support.

Ryan Jon Amey Henderson

Co-Creator/Co-writer