17th November 09

Archive from last front page update.

Above: Idris Elba in Black Camel's latest film Legacy.

It's terrible when a chunk of time passes and I don't manage a web update, as people start to think I've given up or some such thing. But the real reason is that I've been run off my feet, and not just on my regular gigs such as Taggart (RIP).

I've had some terrific gigs in my last few months. Of note is One Night In Emergency with Kevin McKidd, Ewen Bremnar, Gary Lewis and my old River City buddy Tam Dean Burn. This one hour BBC drama was directed by the terrific Michael Offer who really stood out for me as a director. From a fight perspective it's so good to have a director who's thought ahead and Michael certainly did that. He understood the necessity of a fight director, and of the inclusion of safety apparatus, and didn't ask for anything ludicrous as some directors do. Michael was the opposite and working again with Kevin McKidd was a pleasure. I've known him since college and he still is a terrific actor.

Above is a still from Dani's House, a childrens BBC programme I've been working on intermitantly, with a great and funny cast and a real nice feel to it. I've enjoyed that one, with sumo wrestling fat suits and all. Again a great and experienced director with an eye on safety and clever staging was Graeme Harper  of Doctor Who fame.

Finally I'll have to say a little about working on Black Camel's latest feature, Legacy. Black Camel in themselves stand out from the crowd as they are a Glasgow based company who are actually out there making genre feature films such as Outpost. Legacy is perhaps best described as a psychological thriller with action elements. To be truthful, they brought in stunt boys and doubled the actors for the real big nasty fight and I did the piddling small actiony bits around the edges, but it bought me 5 days with some AMAZING ACTORS. Idris Elba and Clark Peters from THE WIRE - a programme I love as you can see from my links to the left - were totally charming and totally briliant, in fact many of the actors were. Anyway look out for that one as it's going to be worth a watch.

Below: Kevin McKidd, One Night In Emeregency - BBC.

25th June 2009

Archive from last front page update.

ALTHOUGH VERY BUSY THROUGHOUT THE YEAR AND WITH REGULAR GIGS AVAILABLE TO ME, I AM ALWAYS SEEKING NEW WORK, AND VERY KEEN TO BUILD NEW RELATIONSHIPS WITH POTENTIAL EMPLOYERS. PLEASE GET IN TOUCH IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO DISCUSS A FUTURE PROJECT OF ANY KIND.

As always my primary role in the January of each year is in the area of promotion.

It's never a good month for work with very few productions shooting or rehearsing within this period and 2009 is proving to be no exception.

Throughout the next few weeks I will be updating people with my latest CV's and publicity materials. It's a good opportunity for me when people are less busy to catch up with producers and directors and find out what is coming up and how I can best serve their needs.

I am starting with this website and this is a standard CV update and a revamp of this and a few other pages.

I'd love to completely rework Fightdirector.com at some point but as is the information is all there. I will do my very best to add additional material wherever I can and to update old infomation.

If you have any specific suggestions or have spotted a dead link or error please feel free to get in touch. As my career lately has gone way up in profile, so my time to do basic things such as web updates and maintenance has evaporated.

Above: My last film The Way. The Way is simply an extended action sequence based on Sun-Tzu's manuscript The Art Of War. It can be viewed on THIS LINK It was shot in Glasgow in November 2008 on a budget of just £300- Pic by Iain G Farrell

Well, a MASSIVE amount of stuff has happened since my last update in December. Fight work last year ranged from almost dead to barely containable, with really great stuff happening in the second half of the year starting with the Gaelic film ELVIS directed by Robbie Fraser and ending with a HOPE SPRINGS, BBC Scotland and Shed Productions new drama, which I have a feeling will be very big. I love working on all these things, it's the variety which makes my job really interesting. I have a great time on River City and working on the Taggarts.

In December however I completed post production and dvd authoring on three films which I had written, produced and directed myself. The first of these, The Rage (pic of William Ruane above) was a fan film made for fun which has taken youtube by storm. We currently receive 4000 hits a week on this and its building all the time. My next film Shadow Play will be released on the internet tomorrow (check the icklelix website for details - Shadow Play pictured at the bottom of this page) and hit film festivals worldwide throughout the year.  The Way which I shot late November went online last Monday and can be seen HERE. It is also pictured at the top of this section.

These films are just the start as we hope to make more films in genre styles that people will want to see and enjoy. The first ofthese new films is called Stone and will shoot in February 2009. Following this in teh summer we will begin principal photograpohy on our first feature provisionally titled "Speed Dating" which is a romantic comedy about love, life and fast romance.

I am currently seeking new fight and acting contracts so get in touch if you are interested in employing me!

Below: A still from our "on location" filming for Shadow Play. Pic by Iain G Farrell

18th January 2009

Archive from last front page update.

My latest involvement has been with Hope Springs, the BBC's new drama from the makers of "Bad Girls".  The production was as mad as they come with fast action and tight timescales - I put the last fight together in less than 5 minutes - having grabbed the actors earlier that evening for a rough rehearsal and talk through. That said it was nice to work again with Alec Newman of REICHENBACH FALLS fame and to work with Doctor Who/ ER actress Alex Kingston pictured below.

In October / November I was back on to STV's Taggart police drama. My involvement in Taggart has become less with only 3 episodes under my belt this year and I advised unofficially on a further 2 episodes. Still good stuff though. Nice sequence with gunfire and special effects involved on the last one and previous to that some clever direction with Mike Alexander at the helm. As the mysterious figure pre-credits I have now killed 20 people over the past 8 years! And they aint caught me yet..!

Other recent projects include two with Sotland's National Theatre COCKROACH and NASTY, BRUTISH and SHORT which were co-productions with Edinburgh's Traverse Theatre.

I worked on several episodes of another new BBC drama PA's which will be released in 2009. Look out for this it will be very high profile.

With the exception of a possible episode of River City December will be taken up with film projects. These include the completion of my latest action flick, THE WAY of which you can see a pic below and a couple to the right to the right.

The Way is ostensibly an action sequence. I wanted to try and push the bounbdaries a little of what can be achieved on a low to no budget flick. On £300 I was able to plan a sequence with a 15 way fight sequence including gunfire, a sword, bullet hits, the removal of a hand and moving vehicles. With £200 on vehicle hire for a weekend you can see just how little the action element actually cost. This is not high art but for a fight director it was an opportunity and for those involved it was also tremendous fun. Things like this just DO NOT SHOOT in Scotland. As with my previous film THE RAGE this film will be offered for free on the internet and will ask the question WHAT HAPPENS NEXT to viewers. We will encorporate viewer thoughts and ideas into another film at a later date.

Other current projects include DVD creation for THE RAGE, THE WAY, BY YOUR COMMAND AND SHADOW PLAY. This ICKLEFLIX compelation will go out to all cast and crew and anyone who could potentiually fund future work.

In production we have a short Gaelic horror story called STONE or CLACHAN in Gaelic. This will shoot late January not in December as previously planned.

Also in production is our first feature SPEED-DATING which we plan to shoot next summer. This is currently being written by James McCreadie who also appears as the sword carrying villain in The Way.

Lastly I am working on The Finnigan's latest movie (pictured to the right) in which I play the part of HUGH MANN a nerdy nervous father of the main character Danford. This film is called COLA DAN.

These last few months have been crazy with work coming in from all angles. I've worked on just about every high profile gig shooting in Scotland. STV, NTS and BBC as well as various films. So much so in fact that I couldn't remember them all for my CV update.

One of my primary fight gigs however has been the latest Ickleflix project THE WAY and as I produced it I can even release pix for it for this website. Here's another for whet your appetite.

www.Ickleflix.com is just a holding page at the moment but before the end of the year this will host information on all past present and future film projects.

Please add me as a friend on myspace by the way. If you prefer informal then thats the place to be. The bands and film makers of the world have made it into a vibrant happenin' place to be. Im HERE if you want to join me.

As I'm about to go out and shoot the last two days of COLA DAN (shown below) I'll just mention that you should keep an eye out for it. Gotta dash...

Below: This is a publicity still from Wilma Finnigan's latest feature Cola Dan in which I play "Hugh Mann" an inept father with Ross Currie in the foreground as my son Danford. Wilma finnigan's last film MY LIFE AS A BUS STOP It is a mockumentary about people just trying to get on. It is well worth a look, so follow that link. Pic by Wilma Finnigan.

3rd December 2008

Archive from August

August has been significantly busier than the first half of the year for me...

Putting aside THE RAGE which is well covered in the sections either side of this I have been shooting many different films and tv projects for teh past 6 or 7 weeks. Over all it has been an excellent summer with fun jobs, varied work and I've received a great deal of thanks and appreciation from the companies I have been employed by. This marks the 3rd year in a row where the unheard of thing has happened and I've received bonuses on top of agreed rates from people employing me as a fight director. Yes I speak no lie!

I've been shooting scenes most recently on F&G's second season of DEAR GREEN PLACE which is a particularly good laugh to work on. Yesterday I doubled for my old college's external assessor and "old man of the theatre" Michael Mackenzie who I just think is fantastic. Watch out in the next season for his characters theatrical debut, I shall say no more but Paul Riley and Mark Cox have created something really excellent in that episode.

I've also been working with my old friend Robbie Fraser who directed GAMERZ - see link  to left. He's been shooting a really nice little film called Elvis, and it's one to look out for. It was shot on the Isle of Lewis last month. It's in Gaelic, but don't let that put you off it looks amazing.

I've been directing fights on the first two episodes of a new BBC piece called PA's shot by 2AMTV out at the River City studios. It's gonna be big so check it out when it's broadcast! Oh and I've been called in to direct a fight on episode 3 now!!!

I've been co-ordinating for BBC Scotland on a factual tv about the history of Scotland. That said Jim Fleming my associate has ended up doing most ofteh work as I've been too busy elsewhere. I've been back out on Taggart, a job for me which has become almost non existant due to cut backs. I spent 7 years with this as a regular gig but this last year they've basically written the fights out which is a terrible thing for a fight director!

Other jobs include Don Juan at the Citz which I start next week, a CBBC programme called Half Moon Investigations, and River City in which I staged a huge brawl, which was fun. I am back on River City, Half Moon and PA's come September.

News archive from August

The biggest news of August 2008 is that my short film THE RAGE, has been completed and released on three consecutive Fridays as a mini web series. The film, set in the world of Danny Boyle's 28 Days/ Weeks Later films was made on a low budget and released free on You Tube. Follow the banner link to the top right to view it.

I have been directing theatre shows for many years now and have had some great successes during that time, but these theatre shows are fleeting and soon are gone. By making films I can create things which last much much longer and have fun doing it.

My other reasons for making films are more business related. I have lost faith due to some recent events in the reliability of my "regular gigs" - ie those that I rely on to pay my bills. Sadly I feel it is no longer enough to just be good at what I do. Cut backs have forced regular gigs such as Taggart and River City to actually write the fights out of the programmes. This is crippling for a freelancer, so my hope is that down this route I may be able to, at some point, stabilise my income, produce work that I enjoy and be able to work with people that I like working with. In the meantime... it's fun!

25th August 2008

Well I don't always find myself with time to write in this diary section, but here's a quickie. I hope to find the time for a minor revamp of the site sometime soon.

I'd like to spend a bit of time just going over whats in here and updating it as my thoughts have changed on some fight matters over the years. This is no easy task though as I'm spread very thin at the moment - my time is just not my own these days... I will attempt to get funding to help with this as it's getting hard to keep my head above water in this ever changing and cut backs ridden world. The recent decisions of production companies to cut fights out of their programmes or to "do it themselves" is putting real strain on my ability to stay available for work. It's a false economy if you ask me, and thats not just sour grapes talking.

Looking at the situation I see two MAJOR issues with cutbacks affecting fights;

1/ It's removing the "drama" from drama. That is, fights happen at the most heightened point in a drama, so to remove them from the plot weakens the whole concept. Its absolutely ludicrous to let an accountant limit the work. Completely unacceptable in any justifiable sense.

2/ It's a false economy and is frankly dangerous to just let actors and directors "do it yourself" on fights. It is the FD's sole job to look at reducing the risk to actors, crew props costume etc etc Those who have other responsibilities cannot possibly be expected to take on this role, which should have a dedicated person attached to it. Those who think that a fight directors role is just to "block" fights should step into my shoes for a day. I write risk assessemnts, liase with ALL departments, negotiate between those departments, guide the director, calm the actor, re assure the producer do my damndest to REDUCE THE RISK, which often cannot be eliminated, working with next to know rehearsal because they won't put out for this most basic of necessaties (TIME) and moment by moment talk to all those concerned in the production.

This is NOT an FD moaning about the loss of wages, this is a fight director pointing out what is absolutely obvious to him. That something's gotta give and sadly at some point it's going to be through injury or death of a crewman or performer. Thats unfortunately the only reset button on this stupidity that people will sit up and listen to. Is there anyone out there listening. Probably not... but please note the date on this diary entry when you are researching your story.

So anyway my big news is still THE RAGE which has gone down a treat with 28 Days Later fans all over the world. The local press seem disinterested but boy the international geekdom has come out to view! Tune in to www.myspace.com/theragefilm to find out more.

Above: Jordan Mills as the WRAITH in my new film SHADOW PLAY. Photograph by Iain G Farrell.

24th May 2008

Today I have been going through the laborious process of installing Final Cut Studio 2 onto my Mac, and why do I put myself through such expensive and time consuming efforts? Well it's because my latest film SHADOW PLAY finished shooting on Tuesday night and I have had to invest in the technology to help process and edit it.

SHADOW PLAY is so new it doesn't even have a web page so I can't send a link, but I'll put a few pix up to let you see what's happening. I've been working on Shadow Play, my third self financed film and the second on which I've directed for 6 weeks now. It is aimed at film festivals and will be, like my other films, distributed for free on the web. The film is produced by my friend Alasdair McDougall and myself, designed by Kenny Miller of Citz fame, DOP'd by Jason Weidner, with sound by Daniel Goganian, and musical score by Nigel Dunn. It stars Cindy Anne Campbell and Christopher Francis Reilly as the parents and features 10 year old actor Bryan Wilson as the main character, The Boy. It includes excerpts from Laurel and Hardy's -The Flying Deuces. The film is currently in the edit phase. Stay tuned for more info.

My previous short film The Rage is still in post production and I havebrought in a new editor to bring an end to the editing saga. It is my hope that the edit will complete very shortly. At the moment it seems that unless I am actually driving it or editing it myself that things on the low to no budget scene just grind to a halt.

This month I have also been doing fight workshops in Stirling, fight direction for Romeo and Juliet with SCOTTISH BALLET, fight sequences for RIVER CITY, a short film for the RSAMD and have advised on several other projects. Having recently changed agents it was also important to update my acting cv and showreel which has now been done. You can see my showreel and acting cv through the links on this site or through my listing in Spotlight. Other wise follow THIS LINK TO MY ACTING SHOW REEL.

BELOW: Jordan Mills again in Shadow Play as the ZOMBIE - this is actaully a sequence shot for safety in case we get into copyright issues with our intended plot villain. Jordan somehow managed to get three acting credits in the film... and he's not even an actor - he's the stage carpenter! He's a good lad - someone give him a job! Photograph by Iain G Farrell.

May / June 08

Post production work on my short film Shadow Play has just begun. Here's s still from the film by the excellent stills photographer Iain G Farrell. This is Bryan Wilson the 10 year old star of the film.

My main drive at the moment besides completing on my current short films is to seek work, so if you need an experienced fight director or actor give me a call. You can see examples of my fight work on the links to the left, or click on the pic below to see my acting showreel! PLEASE NOTE this is actually a version I didnt use, but I thought it may be of interest to show this version here.

I am particularly keen on working with new people and building relationships with new companies. Please get in touch if you would like to receive copies of my show reels or cv's. Alternately try the links to the left or look at my cv's etc on the drop down menus above.

BELOW: Directing on The Rage. This film starts and ends with large ation sequences but is ostensibly a drama. The Rage has been delayed in post production but I have now interceded to speed things on. Itr will be released shortly on the internet as a free download.

APRIL 2008

BELOW: My friend and associate Tom Freeman in The Rage. Tom came out to help as an infected... as did I on the final action scene! Tom is co-writer with me on my new film SHADOW PLAY. Photographs by Iain G Farrell.

I am currently revamping my acting showreel having changed agents about a week ago. Its a long process, this with CV updates and the eternal search for good quality footage. My showreel edit will be complete shortly and a new one available at the end of the week. Please contact me through my agent Anne Coulter if you would like to see me in regard to acting work.

My short film The Rage is still in post production. Colin Ross Smith has nearly finished his refining edit and within the next few days will be reviewed by some keep members of the production team before FINALLY being farmed out to our CGI and Sound departments. This low budget film making milarky certainly takes it's time, but when people are not getting paid for their time what can you do? Anyway stay tuned and join us on myspace for more information.

I am currently directing some fairly complicated fight sequences for River City. Would love to give details but sorry all plotlines are CONFIDENTIAL. The fights are great character development opportunities for certain characters and should be fun. lets not forget that this programme is pre watershed, so may not be as violent as they were in rehearsals. Lets wait and see.

I am also working with Scottish Ballet on Romeo and Juliet. This is my first ever ballet and its an interesting experience. Working with people in which physical mani[pulation is a language is amazing. These guys have a brilliant fight before I even get there and I just tweak it here and there to enhance their performance. A very interesting experience.

Lastly I am in pre production for my NEW FILM Shadow Play. This will take up all my free time this month and will shoot at the beginning of May. Its about a boy that when he tries to sleep, sees the shadows on his wall come to life. This features Captain Hook, a Dalek and a Wraith.

So I've been getting asked about this a lot recently. River City? Am I still in it or has my character left the series for good? Well... I can't say, but at the moment I am seeking other acting work. People seem to think that I was full time on RC and this has been a problem for me with other work for several years. As Monk would say, its a gift... and a curse. I am hoping that my character being off screen now will open up the possibility of getting other more varied work. The character however is a re-occiurring guest role and MAY be back at some time. That's all I can say. If the opportunity presents itself I will decide whether I want to go back at that time. For the moment I am happy to work on other projects, as I have always done. Here's some stills from River City of me in the last episodes I was involved with...

Above... Bearing my teeth, not my prettiest picture... but screen grabs are always a bit of a risk... probably mid sentence... Do I look like a meercat in this? Stills copyright BBC Scotland

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 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.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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.

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////NO UPDATES//////////////////////////////////////////////////////

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.