Odd request - possibly first of many

Lucy

Dear All (couldn't think what to put here, was going to put stroudgreeners and then thought it would be lame. Another discussion perhaps. Anyway),

I am starting filming shorts for my college course and am art director (props monkey) for one of the productions. I don't suppose that anyone has (and would be willing to lend me) the following:

audio cassette tapes, the things that pre-dated CDs. I need loads of them, enough to fill a cupboard.

2 x cassette walkmans with a record function (not necessarily in working order, just have to have a visible record button).

I will be very careful with anything lent to me and will return it all after the bank holiday.

Thank you!

Pete

Andy had all the tapes. Can't help.

Lucy

we had a clear out of the loft and the tapes went (apart from a lavinia jones single that andy is strangely partial to!)

Colette

Other half has several shoeboxes of tapes in the loft (mostly recorded ones, I think. I might be wrong though). I'm sure I could smuggle them out to you without him even noticing (although I'm fairly confident he'd be happy to loan them out to a careful borrower anyway, in fact, he'd probably leap at the opportunity to justify having refused to throw them away when we moved...)

Lucy

Colette, that would be fantastic! Sorry not to get back to you straight away, I have spent most of today standing at the bottom of a stairwell stopping people from interrupting filming. Ah, the glamorous life of a student.

If you're sure it's no problem then please can I take you up on the offer? Are you around this weekend? I could pop by your place or we could see if we could get a stroudgreen posse together and meet up for a drink - kill two birds with one stone, so to speak.

Liz

I've got some tapes in my shed too - about a Selfridges bag full, I think...

Ian

I have a couple of shelves full if necessary - plenty of cure & smiths which I understand is the stock in trade of student films...

David

What _(surely set in mid 80's)_ plot line requires cassette tapes and big shiny record buttons? I went on a script writing course once, I felt like killing myself by the end of the first session and left when everyone went for a coffee break. It was possibly the fault of Shallow Grave just being released but everyone was writing stories involving hotel rooms and suitcases full of money.

Colette

No problem - am around most of the weekend (saturday evening and most of sunday I think). You can e-mail me (colettemilward@eiu.com) to fix something up, as I'm not convinced everyone else is going to be that interested in the logistics of tape loaning...

andy

The more films I see, the easier screenwriting looks. Couple this thought with my view that there aren't enough films about ninjas and I've got a productive way to spend my afternoon....

David

Surely a film about ninjas would require more storyboarding than scripting?

Pete

@David: Ghostdog?

Lucy

Thank you everyone! Colette, I'll email you. Liz, I'll see you tomorrow anyway! Ian, thank you for the offer and if I still haven't got enough, can I get back to you?

Many thanks again!

Andy and David and Pete - yup.

andy

i think it would need a few cod-philosophical speeches (like in the Matrix) that would raise it above a standard comic book. For example, there would definitely be a scene where the ninja's grey bearded mentor, who has been fatally wounded in a big battle, gives a big speech on "what is ninja?" musing on the responsibilities of being a ninja*. This would give the hero ninja the moral direction to go and kill loads more people. Silently. *At the end of the speech, the Hero ninja would kill his mentor, because it's the right thing to do in that situation.

Pete

There would also have to be a scene testing said moral direction without being Spider-man.

Andy, I would happly write a ninja script with you that I've had kicking around in my head for ages.

Feng Shui Ninja

Smell the money.

andy

Feng Shui - not so much a religion, more of a storage solution

Pete

C'mon, a ninja who assassinate people through to clever positioning of stones, crystals and sofas that channel a death blow to the victim.

Interior designer by day, legal killer for hire by night. No trace of a murder left behind.

You tell me there's no moral code there?

Lucy

anyway. back to the original post topic!

I now have loads of cassettes, I don't suppose anyone has a walkman with a record function?

matt

I love Ghostdog. Though like most of Jarmusch's movies nothing much happens - it's all about the atmosphere, isn't it?

Also, yesterday on my Nintendo Wii "Everybody Votes" channel, they asked "Are you: Stealthy ninja or Noble samurai". I had a hard time deciding which I was - it helped if I thought about the question as "sneaky or honest?"

<img src="http://wii.nintendo.com/images/04_wii_features/en/04_features_everybody_votes_channel.jpg">

Anyway...

David

I loved Ghost Dog. What about a dictaphone?