An Unforgettable Melody: Chapter 2
“Here is the key to the room, Miss Pianissima” Shivers, the butler said, while handing me the key. “Please, make yourself at home, I will be back around 7 to take you to the dining room for tea”.
“Thank you Shivers, I look forward to it” I said with excitement.
Shivers walked off, leaving me on my own. I unlocked the door and headed inside. What I saw inside, was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen in my life.
Inside was a whole assortment of instruments, including; a harp, saxophone, double bass and, the grand masterpiece, a piano.
I ran around the room with the biggest smile on my face, looking at all the different instruments. I felt like a little girl who just received her first ‘Sylvanian Families’ all over again. I didn’t know which one to play first, but, after five minutes of deciding, went with the piano, my specialty.
I sat down on the little stool, adjusted it to my height and began playing my favourite pieces…one which reminded me of the water and the other which I always liked to call an ‘athletic’ theme.
As I was playing these, I started to feel incredibly lonely. Here I was, in a huge mansion and I’m all on my own…I stopped playing and glanced over to the clock on the wall…it was 3pm…
“No way am I staying here by myself for the next four hours”! I said to myself. I got up and decided to explore the mansion a little bit, try to find people to talk to…as well as to find the toilet…
As I walked out the room and locked the door behind me, I noticed that the two twins from outside were standing near the door.
“Oh, hello again children” I quickly remarked.
“Hello again Miss” The boy in purple replied “You’re very good at the piano!”
The boy in red interrupted “Yeah, can you teach us to be that good?”
I took a second to let their words sink in…I had never been complimented on my piano skills before…not even by my own parents…
“Of course I’ll teach you! It’s what I was hired for, after all!” I said to the twins, with a smile on face.
The twins looked at each other, smiles stretching from ear to ear. They then began to jump for joy…Admittedly I was startled by this…(Are they really that excited to learn the piano?)
“Sorry to break up the jumping jacks but…” The twins stopped for a second “could you possibly point me in the direction of the nearest toilet?”
Yet again, the twins looked at each other…they never said anything when they did this, so I don’t know how they were communicating…maybe they had supernatural powers? *Oh, the irony* They turned back, facing me. They both then proceed to walk towards me and grab my hands.
“Come Miss, we’ll give you the grand tour!” The boy in purple excitingly shouted.
“That’s great, but first…the toilet…”
The boy in purple continued, ignoring my plea “My name’s Henry”
“And my name is Orville” the boy in red said, whilst tugging my hand.
“Well, those are nice names…my name is Melody. It’s a delight to meet you both!”
“Melody? That’s a very pretty name!” Henry complimented.
“It’s almost as pretty as you are” Orville chimed in. (Did a toddler just start flirting with me?)
I smiled at the pair and allowed them to escort me around the mansion, where I got to meet a bunch of people. First there was Neville, Henry and Orville’s father. Next was their mother Lydia, who was talking to her brother, Uncle Grimmly. At this point the twins went to find their friend, Sue Pea, so I managed to have a long talk with Lydia…mainly about her pregnancy.
“We can’t wait for it” She said excitingly “We’ve already come up with a name! Chauncey!”
This conversation went on for roughly around an hour and, to be honest, I don’t remember most of it. I’m just not into babies…maybe one day I will be…Ha! Yeah right! Like that’s going to happen now!
Henry and Orville came back claiming that Sue Pea didn’t want to hang out just now, apparently she just wanted to sleep, but she’d meet me at dinner. After that, me and the twins continued to explore the mansion, where I continued to meet a whole array of people; Sir Weston, Mr. Luggs, Biff Atlas, Slim Bankshot…the list goes on and on!
Eventually, after exploring the whole mansion *and not finding a single toilet…* it quickly became tea time. Shivers came to collect us and took us down to the dining room. And let’s just say…this was one meal, I’d never forget!
An Unforgettable Melody: Chapter 1
Hello dear readers, my name is Melody Pianissima and what you are about to read may shock you…it certainly shocked me when it all happened. You see, this is the story of when I became the pianist for a family living in, what can only be described as, the most beautifully kept haunted mansion! Sorry…I’m getting ahead of myself, I’ll start at the beginning, seems reasonable, doesn’t it? Well…this is the story of how I became involved in one of the biggest conspiracies ever…
It was a bright sunny afternoon in the middle of summer time, the sun rays, beaming down from amongst the lush green trees onto the concrete walkway, leading up to the mansion that would change my life. Two children were playing on a pair of swings, which were tied to a tree with some rope. The boy on the left, wearing a purple vest, was sitting on the swing, whilst the other one, dressed in a red vest, was standing on the swing, almost like he was flying. Both of them smiling at each other, they had no idea what would happen to them.
I was clad in a long maroon coloured dress which, along with my long pale blonde hair, was gently swaying in the wind, with my suitcase tapping my right leg in the breeze. As I walked towards the stairs, leading to the double doors at the front of the house, the two children glanced over at me. I slowly came to a halt, turned my body around to face the children and smiled. The two children looked at each other and whispered something which, to this day, I don’t know what it was. In this time I noticed that they were twins… (Hopefully I’ll be able to tell who’s who) I thought to myself, as I looked at them discussing something. They turned back towards me; I had no idea what they were going to do…
“Hello Miss” the one in purple yelled. “Are you going to be our new pianist?”
“Why yes, I am” I replied.
“When will you start teaching us, Miss?” the boy in red shouted.
“I’m sure they will tell me when I get in”
“OK, goodbye Miss” they both shouted with a hearty smile.
I smiled back at them, waved and carried on walking towards the front doors…little did I know that once I entered…I would never step outside again.
I put my suitcase down and gently knocked the door.
“Surely a mansion would have a doorbell…” I quietly said to myself.
The door started to slowly open…well, it wasn’t that slow, it just felt like a lifetime. I was incredibly nervous; I needed to make a good first impression. Behind the door was a very old man wearing a black shirt with a red collar and black trousers (He looks like a vampire). We stared at each other for a bit…I’m sure he was checking me out, it wouldn’t be the last time either…
“Hello. I’m the new pianist” I said, trying to cover my nerves.
“Ah, Miss Pianissima, we have been expecting you. My name is Shivers and I am the butler in this…marvellous…mansion” The old man said, sighing.
“Uh…” I didn’t know what to say. “Well, it’s a pleasure to meet you Mr. Shivers.” (Surely that’s not a real name)
“Please, just call me Shivers. Allow me to allocate you to your room” He then proceeded to grab my suitcase.
“Oh it’s fine, I’ll carry that”
“Nonsense Miss Pianissima, it’s my job” Shivers quickly remarked. “Now come inside, I’ll show you where you’ll be staying”
“Now, now Shivers…if she’s going to be staying here, allow me to introduce myself first” A mysterious voice menacingly said.
I walked inside the mansion and looked around, trying to find who was speaking. I then noticed a figure standing at the top of the stairs, looking down at me. It was standing in the shade, so all I could see was a huge red crown, which illuminated most of the foyer.
“My, my…aren’t you pretty as a picture?” The figure flirtatiously said.
“Thank you sir, it must be this new conditioner I’m using” Shivers exclaimed.
I smiled and giggled a little bit, while the ominous figure didn’t take any notice.
“My name is Melody Pianissima and I’m the new pianist. It’s a pleasure to meet you, sir” I said, still smiling. (I so hope it’s a sir…)
“A pianist, you say? Well, I look forward to hearing you play…”
I assume it walked off then…either that or it hid it’s crown, as it suddenly disappeared.
“Who was that?” I asked Shivers.
“That, young lady, was the master of this mansion”
I looked at where the figure was standing…no sign of it.
“Now, Miss Pianissima, if you would kindly follow me to your accommodation”.
I’m…alive???
How long has it been since I last made anything? Little over 4 months, I believe?
Well actually…that’s a lie. During summer I co-wrote a mini-series, which never saw the light of day…other than that, I haven’t done anything…My plan of making a sitcom about four housemates failed…miserably!
Since then, however, a lot (and I mean A LOT) of stuff has happened to me. Some good, some bad…let’s start with the bad!
The bad parts; the past couple of months I have been incredibly stressed and not been in the right frame of mind to write anything. Plus, I also moved away from home…because…
…I’m in university! (That’s a good part, by the way) And above that, I am studying Media Production, meaning I will be making various projects over the coming years! :D
I’ve also got an idea in mind for a particular animation I want to make…when I move all my recording equipment up, I’ll update again!
- Malcolm
Change of plan…MK2
Remember when I said I was co-writing a mini-series about people in a post-apocalyptic world? Well…that’s cancelled. We put in so much effort, and now it’s not even going to get made!
However, inspired by a recent trip to London, I have decided to write a script, solely by myself, no help what so ever! This way, I can write something in my own style, without having to tone it down, in order to fit someone else’s style.
As of now, I am a currently in the pre-production stages of it. I have the characters names, personalities and their relationships with different people, as well as part of the script.
The idea which I came up with is a sitcom show, which follows the wild antics of four housemates; Damon, Jarvis, Liam & Wheeler - who, I should mention, are all named after Britpop musicians. The decision do to something like this was so that I could be as imaginative as possible.
To be honest, I only know half of what is going to happen in the episode, the “story” which revolves around Jarvis and Wheeler. What I’m going to make Damon and Liam do is a mystery, even to me. Due to my recent obsession with ‘The X-Files’, I’ll probably reference it somehow in the ‘Damon and Liam story’.
That’s all I have now…my animation ideas are still there, and I hope to film them very soon.
Watch this space!
Change of plan…
The equipment that I ordered, in order to make some more productions, turned out to be broken! Which means I’m going to have to get it repaired, or just purchase another one…
…Maybe it’s a sign?
Update
So, there hasn’t been any recent activity lately…lack of equipment has kept me from doing some new videos, but now, I come bearing good news! This “lack of equipment” has been sorted and I expect to be making more videos sometime in the next week! Admittedly, they will all be animations, but that’s a bad thing, right?
Also, some big news; I am currently in the middle of writing an 8 part mini-series with my good friend, Rhys Davies - who is the head of NewStep Productions. The mini-series is based around 4 survivors of a zombie apocalypse which happened 5 years ago; Faith, Hope, Charity and Jayne, each of which add their own contribution to the team. I will update more on the characters - and their situation - when the entire mini-series is fully written.
So until then, watch this space!
- Malcolm
Pretzel Logic
Let me begin by saying, ‘Welcome to Malcolmedia’ a website create by me, so that I could upload my video productions for the whole internet to enjoy!
Unfortunately, I have already uploaded all the productions I still have saved, on here. However, the good news is there are good things to come soon.
I am currently working on a sprite animation featuring the characters Travis Touchdown and Shadow the Hedgehog engaging in a fight. Can Travis beat Shadow and take the rank 3 spot? Or will Shadow’s Chaos Control be too much for him?
I am also in the stage of writing a couple of short sketches for the channel, ScaleOfOneToTen. As of now, we are in the editing stage of an ‘Epic Rap Battle’, in which two of the co-founders, Rhys and Benny, rap insults at each other. It is up to you to decide who wins!
These are just some of the few things that you will see coming on this website in the next month, or so.
Watch this space!
Evolution of Storytelling
My first (and probably only) cut-out animation. The video tells how storytelling has evolved over the course of time, most notably in videogames.
For this project, I was partnered up with Will Roderick, who I had previously worked with on a video for a client (linked below). The Pong section was filmed by both of us, the Pacman section was solely filmed by Will, with the Mario segment being filmed solely by me.
Enjoy, if you can…
Trojan Electronics Promotional Video
A video I was assigned to make for the local company, Trojan Electronics. This was the first video I made for a professional client and was quite difficult to make. It was also the first video I made while working in a team and was a different experience when making it.
I worked with James Best, Kirsty Northcote and Will Roderick.
A Blooper So Untold,
A blooper reel I made for my short film ‘A Beauty So Untold,’. This was made simply because I enjoyed edited my film and I wanted to edit some more. When looking at the footage I had, I realsied that I had enough to make my very own blooper reel.
This blooper reel is dedicated to; Rhys Davies, Richard Haymore and Benny Pang. Without them being around with me all the time, I never would have had the inspiration to make such a film.
I hope you enjoy this as much as I did when I made it.
