FEBRUARY/ MARCH 2008

I'm currently editing my own film, THE RAGE, (above pic by Iain Farrell) which is a 15 minute short based loosely on the 28 Days Later films. The film is in the action/ horror genre and has been an interesting and worthwhile endeavour. When complete it will be posted on the internet for free, for people to watch and hopefully to enjoy!

So why am I making this? For a few reasons really. I have worked a lot in the crime genre, a format which I do enjoy and more recently been involved in the genre of Soap Opera. Although I appreciate and enjoy working on this it is not what I watch upon an evening. I enjoy action, thriller, horror and sci fi formats amongst other things and I rarely get the fun of working on these things!

Last year I was unavailable to work directly on OUTPOST, a horror film which my associate Jim Fleming ended up doing, and on which another friend Jim Eliot was working as armourer. I had to sidestep being in this as it clashed with River City. Although I did advise on this film I was not paid to do so. DOOMSDAY also shot last year and I never got near that and then BOOK OF BLOOD happened and lo and behold I never got on that either. I also advised to the tune of about 7 phonecalls on PHOO ACTION but never got a penny from it. Weird show that incidentally. Well done but too weird for me.

So THE RAGE is being made for FUN above all things.It's been like a mini film school for me and I have met a lot of really great people with worthwhile contacts for future projects. It's long been in my mind to move into directing film, as so often as fight direction my job borders on this. As FD I have to co-ordinate sequences, relay information and set up shots, and have a real understanding for the drama of the scene anyway. So as director I can take that a good bit further.

THE RAGE is currenly in post production. I am doing the initial edit, with two other editors advising. Post production sound and CGI will begin once I have locked down the visuals.

GO TO THE RAGE MYSPACE PAGE FOR MORE INFORMATION AND REGULAR UPDATES. I AM MAKING FILMS UNDER THE COMPANY NAME OF "ICKLEPIX". (Little Pictures)

PLEASE NOTE - I AM CURRENTLY AVAILABLE FOR OTHER WORK!

GAMERZ on THIS LINK was in CINEWORLD cinemas in February. Don't worry if you missed it as it'll be available on DVD very shortly. Gamerz was directed by an old friend of mine, Robbie Fraser and features D&D gaming sequences not unlike Lord Of The Rings. A great wee film.

28th February 2008

I haven't updated the site since August or something so please forgive me. I have been hassled by so many people to update so have been round a few pages and will continue this tomorrow. Look out for changes to my DIRECTING CV, My ACTING CV and of course my FIGHT DIRECTING CV which now is akin to some sort of ancient tome. I have been extremely busy with 8 productions under my belt already in 2008. I need to write my CV updates sooner, because I had real difficulty remembering jobs that happened just 3 weeks ago! Other updates to the GLOSSARY etc will follow.

HAMLET went stormingly well at THE CITIZEN'S THEATRE with my fight sequence described by THE TIMES as "The most convincing sword fight" the reviewer had seen on stage, "in years...". You can't argue with that when you're a FD!!!!

So before Christmas I was working on RIVER CITY for three weeks acting, but also found time to get in 2 or 3 fight sequences for them. Cut backs within the BBC mean that there will be less work from this direction in future. FOLLOW THIS LINK FOR A RATHER FLATTERING RIVER CITY DISCUSSION ABOUT ONE OF MY FIGHT SEQUENCES...

My main job at Christmas was on PETER PAN with a very long contract and a devil of a fight scene. It was for kids and it was for fun and certainly the audience loved it. An online review said, " the swordfights were thrilling and the subject of much excitement after the show was finished."

By the way GAMERZ is CURRENTLY IN CINEMAS. Go and see it and appreciate and enjoy the shadowplay stuff. We had great fun making it, but see if you can spot me. I'll give you a clue I'm just about the first thing you see in the gameworld and I kill goblins!

Since Christmas I have been mainly working on THE RAGE pictured above and below. See pics etc on the MYSPACE page. Or Alternately click DIARY below for more information....

original diary below...

I'll continue here as I want to give further information of my film project THE RAGE.

THE RAGE is a a further collaboration with Foghorn Film's Colin Ross Smith, whom I'd originally worked with on SANDWICH as fight director. We then entered and did rather well in a BATTLESTAR GALACTICA shirt film competition on which I asked him to direct. I took the role of designer/ producer. The Galactica film BY YOUR COMMAND seen on THIS LINK didn't win the competition, however SCIFI.COM took us undertheir wing and helped promote our film with a direct link send out on their newsletter which also featured a still from BY YOUR COMMAND. We also made it on to the front page of SCIFI.COM as they genuinely seemed to like what we'd given them.

ABOVE: STILL FROM FILM. DOP JOHN MCPHAIL

On THE RAGE we used the same premise of the Galactica film. we chose a film we loved and made what can be classed as a fan film based on it. So it's a 28 days later spin off. The benefit of making a fan film is that it's easy to get people involved. They know exactly what they are getting into and we as film makers have a pre created world with a fan base to make and appreciate our end product. I've gotta go get ready for a do I'm at tonight but will add some pictures to whet your appetite. More updates to follow when I have a mo. Pic above is BATTLESTAR - BY YOUR COMMAND, Pix below from THE RAGE

PIC BY IAN MCFADYEN

PIC BY IAIN G FARRELL

PIC BY IAN MCFADYEN

PIC BY IAIN G FARRELL

October 2007

THE VCR BILL.  HEADS UP FOLKS!!!

OK, this is a heads up for all in the UK regarding the iminent Violent Crimes Reduction bill.

This basically indicates certain changes in the law that will affect much of the theatre, film and tv world. Sections of this new bill will include restrictions on REPLICA FIREARMS and THE USE OF SWORDS. Of course there will be allowances for theatre film and television productions however that will not change the fact that weapons will become much gharder to obtain, to carry from one place to another and so on and this will have an affect on COSTS. Potentially,  this also means that dedicated persons wil be required to take care of replicas when in use, to insure their safe transit delivery and usage in productions.

23rd August 2007

Above: HAMLET at The Citz. - Photo by the excellent Richard campbell.

My main project for August and September is HAMLET at Glasgow's Citizens Theatre, directed by Guy Hollands. This runs from the 20th September till the 6th of October and features Andy Clark in the title role. Andy is a regular at the Citz and also played the lead in the hugely successful No Mean City, on which I was fight director last year.

The Hamlet fight is ostensibly a rapier fight sequence. There's textual evidence in the play referring to the weapons as foils, and I take this to refer to (not the modern sporting weapon) but a training weapon of Shakespeare's own time. Textual evidence is only half the game however as I must also take into account the wishes of the director and the designer on the subject of weapons. The director and designer both wish this to be a heavier dirtier play, tangebly "rough" and ready. Because of this I've veered the fight away from later thrust based play to an earlier cut and thrust style. Frankly this is more interesting to an audience with far more cuts than thrusts giving a more showy, slower and therefor more easy to follow sequence. It'll get dirtier toward the end with the change of swords and a more hand to hand style leading to Hamlet's killing of Leartes and the King. I'm blocking the fight at the moment using a basic sabre style and will tweak and alter as the actors become more confident to a more recognisable, period rapier style. Once the actors start to feel the blade play, get used to the heft of the swords and the shift in balance with the lighter training weapons they will be far more open to accept new movements etc suitable for a period fight.

Come October I'll be working on TAMBURLAINE MUST DIE at the Tron. This piece is written and directed by Kenny Miller and runs from

3 - 11 NOVEMBER at Glasgow's TRON THEATRE. Could be very interesting from a fights perspective.

Incidentally, follow THIS LINK to watch a trailer for 16 Years Of Alcohol, the first feature film I ever directed a fight on. The film is directed by Richard Jobson, a nice guy with a real passion.

I finished with River City for a summer break in June and had only a week long turn around before beginning work on His Dark Materials. This has proved an exciting time and although hard work (The SYT summer festival always is) was positive and a good general experience. I was directing part two of the production, originally produced by the National Theatre. Overall the best part of the production for me took place in the rehearsal room, working with talented young actors from not only Scotland, but Canada this year as well. Frankly we had a great laugh put on the best show we could in the time we had and generally had a great time there.

Other projects I've been on since June include DEAR GREEN PLACE, a new comedy series from the same team that brought us STILL GAME. Note the scathing review someones put on the IMDB. Phew! I also worked on the series of LEGIT, after working on the pilot version this time last year. This was notable as the fight sequence involved A MONKEY. ???? Yes A MONKEY.

BELOW: A pic from the POLAR BEAR FIGHT in HIS DARK MATERIALS part 1, directed by Mary McCluskey. I directed part 2 and was fight director on both sections of the play.

1st August 2007

Well most of the summer I've been on HIS DARK MATERIALS directing part two of the production as part of Scottish Youth Theatre's summer festival 2007. Here's some pics to give you a taster.

22nd April 2007 BACK UP DIARY FROM FRONT PAGE OF SITE

Above: ICE CREAM DREAMS at the Citizens Theatre. Photograph by Iain Farrell.

Before I begin can I just say that as predicted, as it was so very good, REICHENBACH FALLS was repeated on BBC2 after its initial screening on BBC4. Keep an eye out for this in the future if you've missed it thus far!

Ive been working on a hefty number of productions since the last update. Ice Cream Dreams went very well at the Citz. This was a TAG theatre production directed by Guy Hollands. With a cast of 2 professional actors and 31 community, including 10 or so recovering addicts. This proved to be so much more than just theatre and came across as a hard hitting and reality based insight into a family in trouble.

Most of my time for the past 11 weeks has been spent working on River City. I've been playing the character of Harry Black in the show on and off for two and a half years and have just completed work on another significant plotline. I no longer update my acting CV by the episode, but by the year. During the past 11 weeks I've worked on about 40 episodes, not including fight sequences! This plotline can be seen on screen at the moment.

Just released is the trailer for a short film I did last year for a friend of mine, Robert Harrison, in which he plays a former gangster, out of jail and trying to go straight. Of course with a fight director involved you can see that this didnt work out quite as he planned. Made on a no to low budget by Foghorn Films and directed by Colin Ross Smith. The film is called SANDWICH and a still can be seen below. FOLLOW THIS LINK THIS LINK TO WATCH THE TRAILER.

BACK UP SECTION 2

Anyway that aside, my current projects include a tour of The National Theatre of Scotland's Tutti Frutti, which is playing here and there throught the uk. Details can be found HERE.

Secondly, I've been doing another Theatre project at the Traverse through in Edinburgh called Carthage Must be Destroyed.

This is directed by Lorne Campbell and has an excellent cast. Ive been through for 3 rehearsals on this show,and its quite an interesting one. Noteworthy too, is that its designed by the talented Kenny Miller.

My work primarily this coming week will be directing fight sequences for BBC Scotland's River City. I've all but completed my acting work on the programme for the time being but have changed hats once more and have risk assessments aplenty to write this afternoon and tomorrow. Unfortunately due to confidentiality agreements with the BBC I am unable to discuss these sequences in detail. What is interesting about them however is that the underlying "threat" of violence is far more powerful than the few acts of actual violence the audience will be exposed to. I certainly find that the fun of the job these days comes from exploring this tension, and in supporting the vision of the director and actors by staging action which allows the actors to "act" without the hinderence of remembering complicated moves or the fear of hurting themselves or the other performers.

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Here's some nice action stills from Foghorn Films SANDWICH.

10th March 2007

The following paragraph printed in white is copied from the front page of the site as it was seen on the above date.

I'll talk first about the pictures that are pasted above and below in this section. These are from a BBC4 drama I worked on last year, called The Acid Test, but which has been released as REICHENBACH FALLS. This felt so good when we were shooting it that I dearly hoped that it would be successful and well received which I'm pleased to say, it has been. I have a feeling it will be cropping up again as it was so good, possibly shifting onto terrestrial TV sometime soon. KEEP AN EYE OUT. The first two pics show a fight of mine which took place at the top of the monument in Carlton Hill in Edinburgh, the highest point in the city. Frightening to shoot but breathtakingly dramatic for the viewer. The pic at the bottom shows a fight sequence which took place in the city, and involved firearms. Great performances from both actors help sell this stuff.

10th March 2007

Felt I should do a continuation from the main page as theres been quite a lot happening since I updated last month.

On the river City front, this fight sequence i mentioned on the main page has created a long discussion on the fan forum which is nice. It has armed me with quiotes such as " best fight i've seen on tv for a long time" and " normally tv fights are rubbish but that was top notch!" to mention but two. AND it wasnyt my mum that wrote them either. My family are banned by me from posting on that board! Follow this link for the full discussion thread. Bear in mind that this was a pre watershed fight sequence and the level of violence was cut down as a result. This makes the audiences opinions even more welcome as they didnt get the full bhoona as it were.

Heres a new link bar i made up for the front page. for Rechnbach falls. Click this one for another discussion forum chat on Reichenbach falls.

ABOVE: KILLING UNDERCOVER COPS IN EDINBURGH

BELOW: WELL THE RIVER CITY BUFFS MISSED THIS. I WAS THE COP THAT RUGBY TACKLED THE RABBIT AND APPEARED IN THE LAST SHOT OF THE FILM.

Its been a bit of a weird start to the year with my involvement in loads of theatre productions. Something I stopped doing about two years ago, but the gap I left doesn't seem to have been filled by other FD's. My friend Ramond Short has picked up a good bit of the stuff which I was glad to see but I've had many calls from theatre companies needing an FD that I decided to pick a few of them up and get back to the basics. Always a good thing as theatre work provides its own difficulties and artistic challenges. I think that an FD or stuntman etc who hasnt done a real grounding in the theatre (not just a passing association) makes a very poor fight director. You can see through these charlatans after a very short time, and their mistakes can be dangerous.

SO MANY FD'S I KNOW OF TALK A GOOD GAME BUT REALLY DONT HAVE THE TALENT OR EXPERIENCE TO BACK IT UP. I'D NAME THEM BUT I DON'T BELIEVE IN NEGATIVE PUBLICITY. I STAND BY MY OWN WORK AND DONT FEEL THAT NAME CALLING ETC HELSP ANYTING. WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND AND ALL THAT!

Anyway I've been working on a show for the Royal Lyceum Theatre in Edinburgh called MONKS, with my old friend David Mark Thomson, whom I worked with very regularly at the Brunton Theatre some years back. I was in as fight ADVISOR. This is a title I use when i only have a passing advisory role on the production and when the director and actors have already worked out or plan to work out the moves themselves. I'm doing this on The Scottish Youth theatre show, WHEN A STAR FALLS and on an episode of RIVER CITY also. The RIVER CITY advisory position is pre fight and pertains more to the coaxing of performace from actors as opposed to actual staging or safety matters.

MONKS (PICTUIRED ABOVE) is directed by Mark Thomson and runs at the royal Lyceum in Edinburgh from 16 March – 7 April 2007 

WHEN A STAR FALLS runs from 27th - 31st March and tickets cost £10 and £6 and a special rate of £3 for SYT participants and Young Scot Card holders and are availble from the Tron Theatre Box office (0141 5524267). (PICTURED BELOW)

7th February 2007

CHANNEL 4 VIDEO interview with Carter Ferguson.

Diary

6th February 2007   This month I'm back at River City playing the part of Sgt. Harry Black an ongoing character in the series. I originally came in to the series playing this role in 2005 and have appeared irregularly in it since then. Due to plotline security however I am unable to discuss the current action etc. I'm still on stand by for a NATIONAL THEATRE OF SCOTLAND show but havent had any updates on this. The Bevellers goes up next week at the Citz, as does My Bloody Valentine. I'll put details of these fights etc up in the diary section but here's a little info. The Bevellers is a Scottish classic set in the East End of Glasgow, Roddy McMillan’s celebration of West of Scotland working life follows hot on the heels of last years Citizens’ Company sell out production No Mean City. Pictured below. My Bloody Valentine will play on Valentines day and is a darkly comedic look at love, directed by Neil Packham and performed by the Community Company. I am also in prep for HIS DARK MATERIALS for Scottish Youth Theatre. As previously mentioned I am making a concerted effort to keep the website up to date. Luckily I have things to talk about even this early in the year. Some of which are protected for ongoing plot reasons, eg River City but most of which I can discuss. Pictured above and below are stills from the QMUC "fights for film" masterclass I led in mid January. With his back to us is Jack Brear, then Greg Millar and in the background Matthew L Hall.. Below can be seen Jack Summers who was working with Gemma MT McElhinney, Chloe Thorpe, Rachel Hudson and Zara CE Denneny. Regarding HIS DARK MATERIALS. I have been asked to direct the second play from the NT series for Scottish Youth Theatre during the summer. Mary McCluskey will direct the first, and both will play on the same set on the Citz main stage. Pictured below is a fight scene from the original NT production revival. Photo by Catherine Ashmore.

16th January 2007

"Speak clearly, don't bump into people, and if you must have motivation, think of your pay packet on Friday." Noel Coward, advice to fellow actors. 1962

Today is the first day of the renewed and revamped website. I always like to get on top of things in January, and getting the website updated has been on my mind for all too long. In the diary section you'll find a lengthy update with plenty of new pictures, and a whizz through some details about particular jobs I've been working on over the last year.

I'd like to thank again the tremendous Gordon Smith from SDS for his assistance getting the site back up to speed, the man's a star. Hire him!

You'll also find updates on this main page - click the big picture above this section and you'll be able to view fifty images taken from jobs I've done over the past few years. there's clips from feature films, tv programmes and theatre jobs many of which show behind the scenes footage.

The ARMOURIES page has also been updated as have the GLOSSARY pages, my CV's and several other sections will be getting revamped over the next few days.

Above: Reference pic from old front page. JASON BEHR in Senseless, a Plum Films/ Matador Pictures feature film I worked on in 2006.

Below: Reference picture from old front page. Me as Sgt Harry Black In River City. I am also FD.

15TH JANUARY 2007

OK OK its been a serious amount of time since I updated the site, and it is my intention to not let this slip again. But I've said that before... Having to delay reporting on TV stuff due to protected storylines does make it more difficult for updates to be made regularly.

That said, I've been getting involved in theatre productions again, which is unexpected. No one has successfully filled the vaccuum left by myself when I decided to concentrate on tv work and therefor I've had to come in and FD theatre projects more and more, to insure safety if nothing else. Ive worked on three National Theatre Of Scotland productions, over the last year... pictured below is a fight rehearsal of TUTTI FRUTTI. Notably taking place on the set of THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW, which was touring in the theatre at that time. Pictured here are Dawn Steele and Alan McHugh (who was also in WILD COUNTRY a feature film I directed fights on). Other NTS productions have included HOME in Dundee directed by the talented Kenny Miller and MARY STUART at the Citz on which I was an advisor.

The citz has also proved to be an exciting source of work over the past year. The phenominal success of NO MEAN CITY has been very good for my reputation. This show contained over half an hour of extremely violent live fight scenes, with razors and blood galore. Somewhere I have the reviews written down, and I'll update this if i come across them. Rarely at best are fights mentioned but to have a theatre show of all things comapred to a Tarantino movie such as KILL BILL is extremely flattering.

The other notable theatre show I worked on (there were a few) was in the position of assistant director to Kenny Miller on MAN OF THE CROWD for my old regulars SCOTTISH YOUTH THEATRE. Notable in that it was a great show! Haha pictured above! Good fun this year too. Fight sequences in here too, and as usual with kenny miller different and outrageous and exciting. All that matters. Falling down stairs which gained an audible gasp from onlookers and a terrific smothering with a plastic bag. Again SYT prove they are a professional company and not just a "youth" theatre.

So let me just say a few words about TAGGART. My regular gig has been going well. It still throws up tricky little fights and situations which I have to be creative with. Heres a pic to prove I still work on it! lol its been six years now. You can never relax on a Taggart... This sequence was done in about 5 minutes at the end of a night and was seen on the episode screened about a week ago. Good actors make a world of difference.

Senseless, the feature I worked on in May has released a few pictures now for publicity purposes. this allows me a little space to talk about the films plot etc. This was adventurous from a fight point of view, and involved, well extras really, but screened extras who could ACT by and large fighting with the main actor Jason Behr.

Fight sequences were aided by competent crewing and a very keen group of actors who played the "aliens" in the movie. Rehearsals took place on one day prior to shooting when significant action was covered in outline and as running rehearsals during filming. I've been given footage of the fight rehearsals that took place on set and will try and pull some stills off this for reference. The film was directed by Simon Hynd, a good guy who gives a steady guiding hand to the production and has a tremendous ability to keep his head lol, had excellent pro active producers and great actors including Tam Dean Burn of Citizens Theatre and River City fame and a great actor called Joe Ferrera watch out for him.  ps plus Jason of course! He was in The Shipping News, great film, watch it!

Theres so many things to report on. I did a wee film with a big fight in it about November sometime called SANDWEDGE with Robert Harrison and another actor whom I've worked with when they were just playing extras parts. They're both taking steps to move in to becoming pro actors, I hope they make it. They're good guys. Pictured below...

Theres really so many jobs I could talk about but I feel it may bore you, but I'll say a little about THE ACID TEST before finishing this post. This was a BBC4 feature film shot in Edinburgh and was really pretty involved fight wise. Loved the director and really I thought the whole crew were terrific. The armourer was great, the sound guy, the dop, I was working with stunt guys which can be tricky when they see an FD is on the job too, they were great ( a stunt guy called andy smart who was also on V for Vendetta) he was great, and Guynor Holmes was producing, and shes always been great.. cant wait to see it. I managed to hire an actor called Lee Hunter on it whos a QMUC student actor as a double for one of the leads. Here he is in his costume. Yes he had to do a fight sequence dressed as a GIANT RABBIT, theres a first professional job for him lol. By the way did I mention he was GREAT TOO.

Below: David Barclay who was the director of a two short films I've acted in, THE SHORTEST CASEBOOK OF SHERLOCK HOLMES and SCREWBELLY seen here after I kick him to death in a Glasgow alleyway on TAGGART. Never liked him much anyways...

Now a pic of me in RIVER CITY. My character Harry Black now promoted to SGT is back on screen for the next few months. I am very much enjoying doing the fight sequences and the acting work on RIVER CITY. Its a diverse workplace and theres a good atmosphere. Cant say much about the current plotlines so dont ask...

Below: I did this film about three years ago now but when looking through old footage I was reminded how good the fight sequences were. This is 16 Years of Alcohol directed by Richard Jobson. Kevin McKidd is pictured here beating Stuart Sinclair Blyth's head in. Two VERY good actors. There were two fight rehearsals for this film prior to shooting. The difference a fight rehearsal makes cannot be underestimated, but time and again they are avoided for budget reasons. This is false economy, as what matters is whats in front of the camera at the end of the day. The director when casting also insured that those he cast could handle the physical elements of the film without doubles.

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12th July 2006

No Mean City went down a treat at the Citz. Plenty of good reviews about the show which I dont have at hand, but the fights being so heavily featured got particular mentions. This is nice as they're often passed over. It was a good show by the way. Sold out in two days... Pictured Above. Picture by Richard Campbell.

Currently working on Scottish Youth Theatre's Summer Festival 2006, on Man Of the Crowd, a play about the last days of Edgar Allan Poe. The Play is directed and designed by Kenny Miller, whom I've assisted two times before on Snow White and on Smoking With Lulu at the Citz.

By the way I've been moving house over the last month (Whilst shooting both Taggart and River City amongst other things) and will be in a better place to do updates etc for this site come August/ September.

I've fitted in three Taggarts so far this year. As per usual I cant report too much about them for story reasons but so far they've been genuinely quite challenging and unique in their own ways. Fights on rooftops, hospitals and in and out of vehicles. I'll publish photos once they've been screened.

Even more challenging and of course enjoyable is my continued involvement on River City. Shooting has been off ona on fo rme over the past 10 weeks, with both fight action and acting commitments. A series of action sequences have been shot which was a good experience. All will be revealed shortly, as this stuiff will be screened over the next moth or so.

Below: Shooting continues on River City

20th May 2006

Just a note to the fans of Jason Behr. No more emails about the film just yet please. i've approached the film company about stills etc and when I have some permissions I'll show something. I'm afraid however that 1/ I'm not willing to sell my script  and 2/ I cannot comment on the films release dates etc. I suggest you contact Matador or Plum films. Nice to know Jason has so many fans.