I decided to do the course as a means to try get myself back into a writing mindset while also doing something a little different during these COVID-19 lockdown days. It's going well so far. We've had our first class and I have my idea submitted - and I got to eat a Cornetto as a direct result of an assignment for the course. You have questions. I'll elaborate.
It's a 50-strong class conducted via Zoom by MOB's own Erin McGathy, so it's a big undertaking and means we've been split into groups. I'd be a big fan of the Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy - which is arguably the greatest trilogy of all-time, bar none, hands down, no exceptions - and had mentioned Edgar Wright and this era-defining trilogy as an influence at some point during my sign up.
As it happens, I wasn't alone in citing the great man's work and I ended up in a team called: Team Edgar (Wright). One of our early assignments was to submit an image of ourselves containing our name and working title for our screenplay, so naturally this afforded me a unique opportunity to be creatively lazy while acknowledging the influence on my existence of the dessert known as the "little horn" (Google it, it's what Cornetto means).
It'll be about a guy called Stan wearing shades. That's it. That's the movie.* Credit: @LeChristopherHa's camera phone/basic Instagram things.
I opted for the Classico flavour as, like Hot Fuzz - the second of the critically acclaimed trilogy which has grossed $156 million worldwide (approximately 104 million Cornettos, maybe more if you get them on special offer) - my screenplay will feature some good aul fashioned law enforcement. Sort of.
As for where I'll be writing possibly the greatest worst screenplay ever written, I'll be doing it at Universal Studios, Florida, as part of an awesome package deal you get for doing this six week workshop! Special thanks to MOB and Universal for this awesome opportunity. Check out this exclusive image of my workstation at Universal:
This is definitely Universal Studios, Florida - not the corner of my bedroom in my gaff in Donaghmede. Credit: @LeChristopherHa's camera phone/basic Instagram things.
It's a class operation, and the FRANteen has all the Cornettos I could ever possibly want. We had to set up and name our own workstations as a workshop assignment, so I named mine 'The Quiver'. You might think it's because I'm quivering from the fear of having to turn around a multi-billion dollar screenplay in the space of six weeks, but it's actually a random nod to this comic panel from Injustice, Gods Among Us, Vol 1 #5:
Harley Quinn was right, it is a better name. Sort it out, Ollie. Credit: Injustice: Gods Among Us, Vol 1 #5.
So, for the next six weeks, in between shifts at work and catching a few Pokémon in Pokémon GO while out for my daily walk (in Florida, ahem, not Donaghmede, seriously), I'll be bashing away at this workshop and at my screenplay trying to make something happen. And you'd better believe there'll be more than a few Cornettos devoured along the way.
*Stan in the Shades is a working title mainly because I couldn't get away with Fran in the Shades
*Stan in the Shades is a working title mainly because I couldn't get away with Fran in the Shades
