When I subscribed to ‘Writers’ Magazine’ aeons ago I received three books designed to teach yourself how to be a better writer, with one of them focusing on creative writing. In a chapter looking at Finding Believable Characters an exercise was prescribed as a principle means of character creation. Here is the exercise in full;
Take yourself off into your nearest town or village. Spend some time really looking at your fellow citizens. Find someone who is as different from yourself as you can. Someone much older, say. Or much younger. And follow them. Keep a discreet distance but stay close enough to be able to watch how they move. If they are with companions, try and overhear what they say. You could even begin this exercise in a cafe, overhearing what your fellow customers are talking about and then following a selected target as he or she leaves the premises. Try and gather as much information about your target’s life as you can and then, safely back at home, make some detailed notes. This should give you enough material on which to base a central character.
I can’t even begin to detail what is wrong with this little exercise in building believable characters. Observing people sitting in a cafe, park, or on the bus stop is one thing but following them around? I am fairly certain that there are certain laws that prohibit such behaviour unless of course you are a policeman, member of the intelligence service, or Miss Marple. What is more alarming is the author’s reference to “targets”. Imagine if you will a stranger caught hanging around a school playground when questioned replies “it’s OK officer, I am observing children at play for a story I am writing.”
What is suggested in the exercise is tantamount to stalking which is illegal. So anyone who has read the same book or have read this exercise in other publications then please, in the words of rapper Melle Mel , I implore you “don’t don’t don’t do it, don’t do it.”
This year I took a big leap in my in my creative journey – I entered the world of podcasting. I know this sounds like a cliche, a middle aged male setting up his own podcast but the step was necessary. Writers are making friends and influencing people through podcasts, like author Joanna Penn. Her ‘Creative Penn‘ podcast is a platform for her guests to talk about rapidly trends in writings. Others, like the ‘Jacked Up Review Show‘ headed by Cam Sully, and on which I was a guest, combines intelligent insight with fun banter that informs and entertains. My first foray into this nerve wrecking venture failed to launch but 2024 gave me a second chance. It was an opportunity that proved more rewarding than anticipated. Here is the story of my podcast journey.
Supporting Indie Film through Podcasting
I’ve been running a platform called Cine Bijou dedicated to promoting the world of independent film. Though I still enjoy a lot of mainstream content I miss the days when indie films broke out onto the big screen and became success stories. For every ‘Empire Strikes Back’ there was a ‘Battle Beyond the Stars’ which were hits thanks to creative ingenuity brought on the pressures of tight deadlines and low budgets. Most indie films are now confined to streaming platforms but recent film festival coverages have seen indie films back on the big screen. Cine Bijou was born in 2019 with one mission – #supportindiefilm. Since it the website, packed with news, interviews, and reviews has grown in following, and gave rise to a YouTube channel.
Written content enabled me to create more in depth features and reviews. The YouTube ‘spinoff’ is an outlet a different style of interviewing, and to feature previews and video bytes that served the same goal. My first attempt to launch the podcast for Cine Bijou was in 2022 as a natural progression for creating varied features and widening audience reach. All my interviews are recorded on Zoom, and for the podcast this has still proven to be a vital tool. I invited one of my regular guests, filmmaker and producer David Weiner to chat about the latest chapter of his ‘In Search of Darkness’ long form documentary. The interview was fine but was beset with technical issues. Also due to some ignorance and cost cutting I relied heavily on tech in built into my laptop (or phone). The result was a solid informative feature, thanks to David who is always a joy to interview. However the episode felt lackluster on my part as host/interviewer, and the technical quality was poor. Dejected, I stepped away from the podcast format.
CB Podcast Relaunch
I revisited the podcast idea after my interview a year later with Bristolian filmmaker Gabriela ‘Gab’ Staniszewska. Due to a recent illness and not anticipating the video recording would be posted online Gab expressed reservation about my using the video interview. I felt her conversational style added gravitas to the points she made and would be lost in translation if it were confined to a written Q&A. People needed to hear Gab’s words combined with her unique cadence and intonations. After putting the interview editing on hold until the new year I decided to give podcasting another go. After investing in some tech, and signing up to Adobe as I would need some nifty visuals to go with the audio, I got to work. I edited the interview, added a newly recorded intro and outro, and posted the finished episode onto Podbean and YouTube on 8th May. I also recorded an interview with VFX artist Joseph Lawson which would go out a fortnight later. The first episode was a hit and Gab was pleased with the approach. That’s’ when I decided to commit to a 12 episode season plus one Christmas special and Cine Bijou The Podcast set sail on the digital airwaves.
Lesson’s Learned For the Future
I successfully produced my intended 12 episode season, and to say it was an intense ride would be an understatement. Thankfully I was blessed with a plethora of interview opportunities through various contacts with the range of topics as diverse and interesting as my guests. Season 2 is in the planning phase and time is being used to polish the show’s structure, record some advance episodes, and reflect on lessons learned. One lesson is planning: My first dive into podcasting had no real content plan, and so after that first episode I had nowhere to go. I learned a lot however when I was a guest on the Jacked Up Review Show, and realised the importance of the plan and recording as many episodes in advance as possible. There is much to work on, including that all important listener/following count. As a creative exercise, however, the Cine Bijou Podcast was a success, and I look forward to putting season 2 together and plan on a Ramon Writes podcast – watch this space.
Cine Bijou The Podcast is available on the following platforms listed below. Why not watch or listen to some episodes and let me have your feedback in the comments section. You can also share your thoughts with me on my social media channels- Bluesky, Threads, and Instagram.
I’ve been thinking on my interview skills of late having spoken with a variety of people all over the world whether it’s for a publication or my book research. Generally interviews for me are easy to plan except where when that person has put together a biographical piece. Case in point I revisited two of my video interviews – Matthew Polly (author of ‘Bruce Lee; A Life’) and Kevin Derek (writer/director ‘More than Miyagi’; The Pat Morita Story’) What do these two have in common? Both their works (book and film) are biographies of larger than life personalities. It’s here where my interview approach is altered.
When Matthew’s book was released interviewers mainly asked him about Bruce Lee. This was understandable to a point after all some forty plus years after his death we are still fascinated with the man (and the myth) of Bruce Lee. I noticed this recently when Kevin Derek’s biopic documentary about Pat Morita came out. Interviewers wanted to know what these personalities were like, their ups, their downs and of course some juicy little tit bits of detail that perhaps we might not have known about before. I found this somewhat puzzling, after all if you want to know about these men then read the book or watch the film. I rarely heard any of them ask about the story telling journey, the painstaking research, and how in these deep dives their view of the person is changed. After all interviews surely are more about the person sitting in front of you, a little less about the subject of their art even if they’re promoting their work. In prepping for my chats with Matthew and Kevin this was the approach I took.
For me the interviewee is the story, and so questions should reflect on telling their story. I asked both Matthew and Kevin how they felt about their respective subjects, their feelings, perceptions (sometimes other people’s perceptions), and about putting together their respective works of art. Their journey is a vital part of the story and so questions should chart that journey. I would then conclude with how that journey affected them, in both cases whether there views on the person whose life story they told had changed. From a personal perspective I find the most fascinating stories in this kind of questioning but in keeping the focus on them I get a more emotional and authentic response. It’s something I feel holds a reader’s or viewer’s attention and entices them to seek out these works.
I always keep in mind in interviews, the story is about your subject, not you or the person they’re talking about. There should be an interconnectivity between the creator and the work they’re promoting but it’s vital to char their creative journey. This, in my mind is the essence of building a legacy piece people will revisit repeatedly years from now.
If you have a story that needs telling, and a legacy to build why not contact me ramon.writes@mail.com
