WELCOME TO THE CFZ BLOG NETWORK: COME AND JOIN THE FUN

Half a century ago, Belgian Zoologist Bernard Heuvelmans first codified cryptozoology in his book On the Track of Unknown Animals.

The Centre for Fortean Zoology (CFZ) are still on the track, and have been since 1992. But as if chasing unknown animals wasn't enough, we are involved in education, conservation, and good old-fashioned natural history! We already have three journals, the largest cryptozoological publishing house in the world, CFZtv, and the largest cryptozoological conference in the English-speaking world, but in January 2009 someone suggested that we started a daily online magazine! The CFZ bloggo is a collaborative effort by a coalition of members, friends, and supporters of the CFZ, and covers all the subjects with which we deal, with a smattering of music, high strangeness and surreal humour to make up the mix.

It is edited by CFZ Director Jon Downes, and subbed by the lovely Lizzy Bitakara'mire (formerly Clancy), scourge of improper syntax. The daily newsblog is edited by Corinna Downes, head administratrix of the CFZ, and the indexing is done by Lee Canty and Kathy Imbriani. There is regular news from the CFZ Mystery Cat study group, and regular fortean bird news from 'The Watcher of the Skies'. Regular bloggers include Dr Karl Shuker, Dale Drinnon, Richard Muirhead and Richard Freeman.The CFZ bloggo is updated daily, and there's nothing quite like it anywhere else. Come and join us...

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Friday, May 08, 2009

THE LATEST FROM HOLLYWOOD errr WOOLSERY

I am really rather proud of the new movie that we are making. Although this will be my eighth film, it is only the second one that will I have directed from start to finish in the conventional manner, and the first of such to be feature length. The first film, The Case for Crop Circles (1997) was avant garde nonsense from start to finish, and the least said about the Owlman movie the better.

Most of the crypto films were shot on location by two or more camerapeople whilst I was back in England. I would then take the thirty or forty hours of rushes, and painstakingly cut and paste different bits together to make something that - hopefully - works as a cohesive whole.

The only exception to this was the 2006 film Eel or No Eel which was filmed mostly by me or Mark North under (mostly) my direction. However the new film is different, and I am actually enjoying doing it ore or less conventionally.

The top picture shows me, the leading-lady (the eponymous `Emily` of the title), and my dear, sweet and long suffering wife in the office looking at the day's rushes and trying a brief rough cut to make sure that the sound and lights are roughly in continuity. As you can see from the middle and lower pictures I am breaking every child labout law in the book (as well as all the film-making ones) by having an eleven year old lighting technician.

To be honest (and I usually try to be) this is not exactly the truth. Oll has been doing most of the lighting tech, and doing it very well indeed - some of the scenes we have filmed indoors look wonderful. However, for those not in the know, Oll (like me) is somewhat portly in figure, and is not physically able to kneel, crouch, and fit into small spaces like young Jessica here. Jessica is, by the way, the younger sister of Emily, and also has a series of cameo roles in what is rapidly turning into the CFZ's analogue of Mutiny on the Battleship Potempkin.

By the way: Thank you to everyone who responded to my call for animators the other day. I have received a number of calls, and am presently talking seriously to three animators..







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