Uni's been great but I can't wait for it be over!

Hmm...

A blog post that two years ago, as I returned to university for my second semester of first year, I would have never thought I'd be writing.

Why?

Because two years ago I was returning to alcohol and rugby, pubs and clubs, late nights and not so necessary mornings. It was a time of easy living and relatively stress-free work. I knew that first year didn't count towards anything and I was part of that, regrettably I should add, common group amongst first years who lived upon the philosophy of '40%'- this being the percentage to which was and is needed to pass.


It was the best year of my life and I thought that nothing, ever, could top it. I made friends who I still live with now. I played university rugby, which was something I had always wanted to do. I was studying a course I loved. I met my current girlfriend. And most of all, I got ridiculously drunk most of the time without much of a care for funds, my student loan or in some cases, my own physical well being (sorry mum).

But now, as I begin preparing for my return to Coventry on Friday, I sit thinking that I am now a little tired of eating food which is cheaper than water itself and drinking beer which tastes like an alcoholic's urine.

I'm tired of walking through Coventry city centre and looking at shops and thinking of a time I could actually buy something for myself. I'm tired of walking past certain restaurants and thinking, 'that'd be nice but I've got a £1 pizza at home which takes priority'. I'm tired of sitting in libraries and being part of groups of students all of whom are looking at a piece of coursework thinking, 'right, what do we do now?'

I appreciate that working life is dire, and to be fair it does look awful. But I have gotten to a peculiar stage whereby I almost look upon those on a career path and wish I was them, even if they wake up at times I used to get in after a messy Tuesday night.

It's not really the money that is the main motivation of this envy but the thought that they are on a path of progression.

As a third year student about to tackle the worst 3 months of my whole university career, I feel that I have drawn out almost everything that university has to give. This doesn't mean that I just know how to study language in depths most won't believe to be real, let alone necessary, or read something you might have also read and say 'ahh, but did you know it means something completely different?', only for you to look at me and stick a friendly middle finger up and say, 'don't care'. It's that I know how to budget now... well sort of. It's that I know how to prioritise work over the pub... sometimes. I even know how to communicate with estate agents who are incredibly dreary and frustrating to deal with without hanging up and deciding to purchase a cardboard box and a sleeping bag.

It's been great and I am eternally grateful to the university for accepting me after I received dreadful, and I mean dreadful, A Levels. However, I feel that I am ready to finish that thing called uni and actually get a career and get on with life.

I'll probably regret this post in a years time but I think most students in their third year will agree that we're ready for THAT next step and ready to say goodbye to the best three years we've ever had.

Don't miss this in films!

Everybody, no matter how old or how young, watches movies.

However, since my interest in screenwriting has sky-rocketed, I have noticed that there is so much to see in a film that usually is missed or simply has not attention paid to it.

So I thought that it would be useful to maybe highlight one point that I think is grossly missed when watching films. Maybe it is because I consider myself a writer that I am biased to this point but trust me, it is worth noting.

Dialogue. 

Pretty obvious isn't it?

I'm sure many of you, or few of you, who are reading this are thinking, 'I'm not deaf, I do listen to the dialogue.'

Granted, that is a fair point but ever since I have started writing screenplays I have noticed that there is such a incredible art to good on-screen dialogue.

Listen to what the characters exactly say. Consider why they say it and what purpose it has when they say it. Do that and a new world opens up.

Take Quentin Tarantino's film 'Pulp Fiction' for example.

If you haven't seen it then you are part of a small and rather unfortunate group to which have not had the pleasure of watching one of the greatest films of all time.

It is filled with some of the most brilliant conversations you'll ever hear and so much of it gives so much story to the characters in such small sentences.

Here's an example and one of the most quoted scenes from the film. The famous 'Royale with cheese' scene.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYSt8K8VP6k

Get it?

It isn't filled with large, victorian sounding, sophisticated words.
The conversation isn't even about anything particularly important, unless you are a McDonald's fan who is en route to Paris.

It is simple, witty and a writing masterclass.

So much of their relationship is revealed in this early scene and you quickly get that these two are comfortable with each other, even though they deal with very serious people. It doesn't tell you that they are good friends, it shows it. Anyone who has ever come close to a creative writing class will understand that the most important rule in writing is showing, not telling.

It could so easily be missed by looking at your phone or wondering where all the popcorn has gone as your belly begins to protrude.

Don't miss these little gems. No amount of popcorn is worth that, surely?

Another film that is filled with exquisite dialogue, and perhaps my favourite ever film, is Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. If you haven't seen it, watch it and divulge in the brilliant relationship of the two protagonists. It is old and I know that puts a lot of people off but christ! There's a reason people say, 'they don't make'em like they used to'.

When watching a film listen to every little detail and critique it. You can tell a lot about a film not by the explosive special effects or the amount of money spent on it but by what they simply say and the way they say it (but that is usually the work of the actor and not the writer). No good writer puts something down unless it is absolutely necessary.

Are you a victim of this crime? If so then redeem yourself by watching a 'good' film, not a film about superheroes or some shitty action movie, and focus on what's being said. Trust me, it'll be worth it.

*A brief list of good films to watch:

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid- 1969
Pulp Fiction- 1994
Strangers on a Train- 1951
Chinatown- 1974
It's a Wonderful Life 1946
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest 1975
Shawshank Redemption- 1994