Absolutely Frank

The on-line portfolio of freelance writer, artist and project manager Frank Collins. Each section contains images and information about recently completed freelance writing and publishing. It also includes artwork and an archive of the design exhibitions, trade shows, conferences, symposia and other publications that Frank has devised and managed.

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Birdy - Limited Edition Blu-ray: ‘In a dream, I’m trying to decide what I am’ / October 2019

Powerhouse’s Indicator label commissioned a new essay about director Alan Parker’s 1984 film adaptation of the celebrated William Wharton novel, Birdy. This is included in the booklet accompanying the first pressing of their October 2019 release of the film.

The essay focused on author Wharton’s interpretation of his own life captured in the novel and how its poetic, dream-like narrative was re-shaped into the script for the film. I was fortunate to gain access to the Alan Parker archive at the BFI where correspondence and draft scripts supplemented my own reading of Wharton’s books, a number of newspaper interviews and several academic papers on the themes and construction of Wharton’s narrative for Birdy.

The papers at the BFI also provided a fascinating insight into how Parker shaped Sandy Kroopf and Jack Behr’s script and attempted to retain as much of the ‘the “one person” schizophrenia of the book’ and remain true to the author's identity or identities.

INDICATOR LIMITED EDITION BLU-RAY SPECIAL FEATURES:

2K restoration supervised and approved by director Alan Parker

Original stereo audio

New and exclusive audio commentary with Parker and the BFI’s Justin Johnson

The Abstraction of War (2019, 25 mins): actor Matthew Modine fondly remembers the experience of working with the cast and crew of Birdy

Learning to Fly (2019, 14 mins): screenwriters Jack Behr and Sandy Kroopf reflect on the challenges of adapting an ‘unfilmable’ novel

Peter Gabriel on Making the Music for ‘Birdy’ (2000, 7 mins): archival interview with the acclaimed composer

Bird Watching (2019, 17 mins): a personal appreciation of the work of author William Wharton by filmmaker Keith Gordon

No Hard Feelings (1976, 55 mins): Parker’s early film, which follows a troubled young man in wartime London

Original theatrical trailer

Image galleries: promotional and publicity material, and a selection of rare items from Matthew Modine’s personal collection

New and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing

Limited edition exclusive 48-page booklet with a new essay by Frank Collins, an extensive account of the making of the film by Alan Parker, an overview of critical responses, Jeff Billington on No Hard Feelings, and film credits

UK premiere on Blu-ray

Limited edition of 5,000 copies

www.powerhousefilms.co.uk/products/birdy-le

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The Black Archive #31 - Warriors’ Gate / May 2019

The Black Archive is a monthly series of book-length looks at Doctor Who stories. Each title is a 20,000 to 40,000-word study of a single televised story, from 1963 to the present day.

Representative of Doctor Who at its most experimental, narratively and visually, Warriors’ Gate (1981) was the rich by-product of a producer seeking to modernise the series for the 1980s, a radio writer and novelist who had never written for television, and a film director with one television drama to his credit.

Examining television authorship in the 1980s, and using archive research and new interviews, this Black Archive traces the development of writer Stephen Gallagher’s scripts and their onscreen realisation by producer John Nathan-Turner, script editor Christopher Bidmead, and director Paul Joyce.

Similarly, it explores the story’s complex blend of absurd tragicomedy, quantum theory, randomness and entropy, within the context of British New Wave SF, the philosophy of science, modernist theatre, film and television, German Romantic painting, pop video, and the development of electronic video effects. Many ‘authors’ contributed to the transmitted version of Warriors’ Gate and the book also considers whether it can be claimed as the work of a single author given the collaborative nature of its troubled production.

The book was published in May 2019 by Obverse Books.

ISBN:   9781909031869

Available to purchase here

Reviews:

‘To write a book that pleases the entire spectrum of Doctor Who fans I don’t believe is possible but, with his essay on Warriors’ Gate, Frank Collins gets as close as I think anyone will. It’s a masterclass in where research can lead you.’ Steve Taylor-Bryant, The Dream Cage.

‘Merits attention from Doctor Who fans interested in the development of a script by going deep into the story’s genesis and shifts in tone, and the infamous production difficulties which plagued it.  The glimpses of Steve Gallagher’s original scripts are fascinating, as are the changes made to them by seemingly everyone from directors to producers to cast members.’ Nick Mellish, We Are Cult.

‘Some of the best titles in Obverse’s Black Archive range are those that go deep into troubled productions, and this is no exception. Not only were the aforementioned quartet all new to role, but were jockeying for position in making their mark. All believed that what they were doing was for the best, and Collins is very even-handed in presenting the opposing views and allowing responses to disputed versions.’ Nick Joy, Sci-Fi Bulletin

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Vworp Vworp! Volume Three - ‘Flay the skin! Crack the bone!’ And the sinner shall atone!’ / March 2017

I was very pleased to contribute this article to Volume Three of the superb Doctor Who fanzine Vworp Vworp! Its esteemed creators Gareth Kavanagh and Colin Brockhurst wanted an article and review about 1994′s Colin Baker-penned comic book The Age of Chaos.

The result was a brief history of how Baker came to write the comic for Marvel and some background about the two legendary artists who brought Baker’s words to life, John M. Burns and Barrie Mitchell. I also explored in some detail the artwork, story and characters in relation to Colin Baker’s own take on the Sixth Doctor.

It was a pleasure to write about Doctor Who from a very different angle and I’m flattered the article was included in the third volume of a highly distinguished and beautifully put together publication. Thanks, Messrs Kavanagh and Brockhurst. Vroomnik!

http://www.vworpvworp.co.uk/latest-edition/age-of-chaos-with-colin-baker

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Woody Allen: Seven Films 1986-1991 Blu-Ray: ‘September’ - The Air is Full of Electricity / February 2017

Arrow commissioned a new piece of film writing from me for February 2017′s release of Woody Allen: Seven Films 1986-1991. The focus was on 1987′s Chekhovian drama September and my essay ‘The Air is Full of Electricity’ explores Allen’s continuing search for the meaning of life, the frailty of human existence within a turbulent and unforgiving universe and the fate of lovers never destined to stay together. It also explores Allen’s development of the film, the casting and his use of set design, framing, music, sound and colour to shape the narrative themes of September.

Arrow Academy’s third Woody Allen collection spans 1986-91 and the bulk of his work with Mia Farrow, who is featured in all seven of these films.  They start with the much-loved family saga Hannah and Her Sisters, a warm and witty return to Allen’s beloved Manhattan, and the nostalgic Radio Days, a collection of stories from the time of Allen’s own 1930s/40s childhood.

More sombre fare comes with the Chekhov-influenced ensemble piece September and Another Woman, with a tour de force role for Gena Rowlands as a middle-aged philosophy professor whose accidental eavesdropping makes her reassess her life.  And with Crimes and Misdemeanors, Allen made one of his greatest films, a multi-layered and almost Dostoyevskian reflection on guilt that also finds room for some of his funniest one-liners.

The box concludes with two of his more fantastical films, the romantic comedy Alice, in which relationships are guided with the aid of mysterious ‘invisibility herbs’, and the black-and-white, star-studded Shadows and Fog, an homage to Kafka and German Expressionism that was based on Allen’s own one-act play ‘Death’.

Exclusive to this collection: a hardback book featuring new and archive writing on all the films by Woody Allen, Richard Ayoade, Frank Collins, Glenn Kenny, Guy Lodge, Sheila O’Malley, Leanne Weston and Craig Williams.

The Blu-Ray was released on 20 February 2017. 

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The Count Yorga Collection Blu-Ray and DVD: A Tale of Unspeakable Cravings / August 2016

A further commission from Arrow Video for their August 2016 release of Bob Kelljan’s cult 1970s vampire films, Count Yorga, Vampire (1970) and The Return of Count Yorga (1971) on Blu-Ray and DVD. For the booklet included in the disc’s first pressing I wrote an essay, ‘A Tale of Unspeakable Cravings’. This explored the development of Kelljan’s films and their emergence from the late 1960s occult explosion, the rise of sexploitation cinema and the aftermath of the Manson murders.

It’s an in-depth piece that covers the development of the films as a transition between Gothic horror and the contemporary horror of Romero and Craven; the casting and locations; and the career of star Robert Quarry at American International Pictures.

High Definition digital transfers of both Yorga films, from original film elements by MGM

Original mono audio

Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing

Audio commentary on Count Yorga, Vampire by David Del Valle

Audio commentary on The Return of Count Yorga by David Del Valle

Interview with critic and author Kim Newman

Theatrical trailers

Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Graham Humphreys

First pressing only: Booklet featuring new writing on the films by Frank Collins

https://youtu.be/HNiSZwJoK5w

The Blu-Ray was released on 8 August 2016.

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From The Family To Big Brother: The Birth Of Reality TV / March 2015

My article for WOW247 looking back to the BBC’s The Family, one of the first ‘fly on the wall’ reality documentary series, made in 1974. It touches upon the construction of reality through the medium of television and the techniques used by the producer and director Paul Watson and Franc Roddam to capture the emotional highs and lows of family life in Britain.

It also places the series in context with the rise of the public person as ‘celebrity’ and the growth and development of what we now recognise as ‘reality’ TV, tracing The Family to the emergence of Big Brother and its spin-offs.

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Future Tense: British Science Fiction Television / August - December 2014

A series of six blog posts for Moviemail to tie in with the BFI's major retrospective and celebration of the science fiction genre 'Days of Fear and Wonder'.

As part of these celebrations, the BFI released a number of long-awaited television programmes from the archive, including a box set of the remaining Out of the Unknown episodes from the BBC anthology series of the 1960s; the fondly regarded adaptation of Peter Dickinson's The Changes and the striking version of Alan Garner's Red Shift first shown in the Play for Today strand.

The blogs tied into these releases and covered the major themes specific to British science fiction on television as well as providing a general survey of the some of the best dramas made between the 1950s and the present day.

The overarching theme in British science fiction of catastrophe and apocalypse was identified as well as the growing fears of technology, environmental collapse, dystopia and totalitarianism, questions about identity, gender and sexuality. Key programmes and writers included Nigel Kneale's Quatermass stories, Terry Nation's Survivors and Blake's 7 as well as the productions from Gerry Anderson and children's dramas such as The Tomorrow People, Children of the Stones, Sky and The Tripods.

The blog concluded with a look at how television production, economics and political changes affected the creation of new British science fiction series in the 1990s and the renaissance of the genre on the small screen with the arrival of the new series of Doctor Who in 2005.

All six blogs, covering the earliest science fiction on British television to the latest dramas, can be found here: http://www.moviemail.com/blog/future-tense/

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Withnail and I - Dual Format DVD and Blu-Ray 4-Disc Limited Edition / November 2014

Arrow Films, a highly-regarded, award winning distribution label specialising in high quality fan-based products, commissioned me to contribute to one of their eagerly-awaited releases in 2014. Their commitment to DVD and Blu-Ray production includes restoring original material through modern techniques as well as pioneering packaging solutions and newly commissioned artwork for each release.

For their high profile 2014 release of the restored edition of Bruce Robinson's films Withnail and I and How To Get Ahead in Advertising, I contributed an essay about the latter, 'If it hasn't got a price tag, it isn't worth having', to a lavish, 200-page hardback book included in the limited edition set.

The essay covered the creation of Handmade (the independent British film company responsible for the films), the development of Robinson's career and its connections with the advertising industry and the film's relevance to the rise of global marketing companies, such as Saatchi and Saatchi, and their links to the political and media classes of the 1980s.

Full details about the book and its contents are outlined in Anthony Nield's blog post on Arrow's Video Deck site: Preparing the book

The personalised packaging offers detailed here have sold out. A further 2000 copies using the classic poster design were made available through Arrow's store.

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Coppers and Spies: The Evolution of the British Action Hero / March - April 2014

A series of six blog posts for the very popular cinema and television retail site MovieMail. These were timed to celebrate the release of the first series of LWT's The Professionals, fully restored in HD on Blu Ray.

The remit was to trace the development of the British crime drama back from the debut of The Professionals in 1977. Posts covered the creation of Euston Film's fondly remembered The Sweeney, the Cold War spy drama Callan and the superb character based private investigator series Public Eye.

Coverage of ITC's glamourous crime adventure series of the 1960s, such as The Saint and The Champions, culminated in an examination of the ultimate cult adventure show, Patrick McGoohan's enigmatic The Prisoner.

The blog series went further back to the arrival of The Avengers in 1961 and the BBC's groundbreaking Z Cars in 1962. The genesis of the British crime series was covered in a post on Fabian of Scotland Yard and Dixon of Dock Green.

http://www.moviemail.com/blog/coppers-and-spies/

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Sketches / July - August 2013

Couple of sketches completed last summer of Matt Smith as the Eleventh Doctor and Patrick Troughton as the Second Doctor.

These are pencil overlaid with ink pen and brush work, graphite and white gel pens.

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Doctor Who: The Eleventh Hour / December 2013

I am delighted to announce the publication of Doctor Who: The Eleventh Hour - A Critical Celebration of the Matt Smith and Steven Moffat Era. I was asked by editor Andrew O'Day to contribute a chapter and was able to pick up on a number of themes from my own book The Pandorica Opens, specifically Moffat's use of the Gothic genre, fairy tales and mythology in the series.

Published to celebrate the Doctor’s 50th anniversary, this book provides a valuable record of Matt Smith’s Doctor, who arrived in 2010 and bows out in 2013’s Christmas special.

This first book devoted solely to the Steven Moffat/Matt Smith era is written by experts on the Doctor. It is wide-ranging and varied in viewpoint and explores such issues as the performance of the Doctor, the gothic and fairy tale genres, the portrayal of history on screen, gender and sexuality, the phenomenon of Christmas television, the transatlantic dimensions of the programme, its look and sound, promotional culture and audience response. Also discussed are Doctor Who interactive games and the spin-off The Sarah Jane Adventures. Written in accessible style, the book will be a valuable contribution to the expanding literature on Doctor Who, for fans, watchers of sci fi TV and students alike.

Paperback

288 pages

I.B.Tauris ISBN 9781780760193

Buy from I.B.Tauris

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Celebrate Regenerate - 50 Years of Doctor Who Celebrated by Fandom / 2013

Publisher and Doctor Who fan Lewis Christian invited me to submit a number of reviews for Celebrate Regenerate, his book marking the 50th Anniversary of the television series and featuring reviews and artwork from fans. A year-long project, the book creates a wonderful archive of thoughts, memories and reviews from hundreds of fans, writers and artists.

Published on 3 July 2013 Celebrate Regenerate, is packed with pieces from over 250 fan writers (including my good self) from all over the world and brought together by editor Lewis Christian. Fan-made and not for profit, the plus-300 page book is filled with reviews and articles covering every televised Doctor Who story. The reviews are accompanied by a wealth of fan art and a few exclusive interviews with actor Anneke Wills; Series 1 director Joe Ahearne; writer Tom MacRae, and writer Joseph Lidster which were published alongside some other special features in the book.

This not-for-profit book is available to read on-line and download as a PDF and you can also purchase a copy via Lulu.com's print on demand service. £1.06 from each sale of the physical copy will go to Children in Need.

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The Whitworth Park Community Archaeology and History Project 2013

When it was opened in 1891 Whitworth Park in Manchester was a very different place to today with a large lake, a bandstand, pavilions, a weather station, elaborate flowerbeds and covered walkways. It was an important part of Manchester's history as the focus of play, socialising and improvement, political meetings and rallies.

I was one of ten community volunteers joining the project to investigate the history and archaeology of the Park. After a week of working on the excavation of several trenches and undertaking some of the geophysical analysis of the area, I was asked by the project leaders Professor Sian Jones and Dr Melanie Giles to produce a number of sketches of the activities taking place on site. They had noted my background in Fine Art and saw this as a unique way to record certain aspects of the dig alongside the scale drawing and photography they would commonly employ.

I used a combination of Indian ink, pencil, graphite and washes to detail the excavation work in three of the four trenches opened in the Park.

My intention was to get a sense of the work - digging, drilling, trowelling - that volunteers and students were doing as well as the textual beauty of layers of clay, soil and the detritus revealed. It was also an opportunity to record finds, particularly all the bottles found beneath a layer of concrete covering the sediment of the old boating lake as detailed in the Trench 1 drawing and the uncovering of the original wall of the bandstand in Trench 3.

You can read more about the work of the Project and the finds here:

Whitworth Parklife

Ancient Worlds at Manchester Museum

University of Manchester

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An Evening with Tony Warren 2013

Here's the full text of my review of Coronation Street creator Tony Warren's recent talk in Chorlton, Manchester. This review was as a result of a request from the editor of the Coronation Street blog. 

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Dr Who 8th Anniversary Special 2013

Writer and designer Paul Smith of Wonderful Books invited me to write a short piece about Amy Pond for his beautifully produced fanzine.

The Dr Who 8th Anniversary Special is a witty homage to the RADIO TIMES Doctor Who 10th Anniversary Special originally published in 1973. The (Not-RADIO TIMES) Dr Who 8th Anniversary Special showcases writer and designer Paul's talents in a 36 page fanzine covering the last 8 years of Doctor Who's return to our screens. Paul has designed and written the fanzine in collaboration with an array of contributors, commissioning commentary from professional and fan writers including myself and Andrew Blair, Alison Jane Campbell, Johnny Candon, Martin Day, Philip Sandifer, JR Southall, Keith Topping and Alex Wilcock and artwork from artists Lydia Butz, Benoit Drombey, Jason Fletcher, Alea LeFevre, Jon Pinto, Westley Smith, James Taylor, Will Thompson and more. You will probably recall Paul's stunning work on The Wonderful Book of Dr Who 1965, a tongue-in-cheek look at the very first year of Doctor Who and itself a witty homage to BBC Books' The Brilliant Book of Doctor Who 2011. This proved to be a huge success as an online flipbook (more than 26,500 views on Issuu.com to date) and the positive reaction led to Paul producing a small number of printed copies, now into a second print run, with extra content. The Dr Who 8th Anniversary Special similarly offers a visual treat and a witty, affectionate tribute to the series. The Dr Who 8th Anniversary Special - a not-for-profit publication - can now be previewed and ordered from Wonderful Books.

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Ask Why, Manchester School of Art Degree Shows 2012

I've just completed work on Ask Why, this year's degree shows for Manchester School of Art.

My brief was to manage and co-ordinate the showcasing of nine design programmes off campus, including Textiles, Graphic Design, Illustration with Animation, Fashion, Textiles Design for Fashion, Embroidery, 3D Design and Interior Design.

The venue was Quay House in Manchester and all nine programmes were allocated space on the first floor. This project required some sensitivity as programme leaders and students were used to a certain amount of autonomy about their own shows and in the past have had more space at their disposal. Working with the programme leaders and a team at Manchester Metropolitan University, the nine programmes were distilled and curated into the space. The venue was also very sensitive about the impact this would have on their tenants as the gallery space was part of a city-centre office block.

I also worked alongside 24 Design Ltd, a highly professional and experienced gallery and museum exhibition design company to design and fit out the empty space and make it suitable for presenting work, using a combination of existing display items and creating bespoke methods of hanging work in the space. For example, Graphics and Interior Design distilled their work and saved a huge amount of install time by printing directly onto board, 3D Design and Textiles and Embroidery used fixtures that were already available. 24 Design also built all the temporary freestanding walls, a screening booth, devised a bracket system for the hanging of textiles and garments and a series of portfolio racking systems to house students' portfolio based work.

Rather than recreate the University based degree shows, the intention was to present the work within a gallery context, enhancing the first professional engagement that young designers would make with the outside world.

My responsibilities were:

Venue logistics and management including access to the venue during set up and breakdown

Engaging and working with the contractors on use of space, fit out and budget

Key role within the steering group at the Art School, liaising between the School, the venue and the contractors

Working with programme leaders on selecting appropriate work and the logistics of showing work

Completing risk assessment and insurance procedures

Curation, installation and editing of work in situ

Manchester Confidential Review:

"The show is a fitting testament not only to the fresh crop of innovative artists, but also to Manchester School of Art’s ability to accommodate the broadest visions and foster a disparate collection of raw talent."

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Manchester Design Symposium 2012

As part of the Design Initiative team I worked with Manchester City Council, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester School of Art, Independent Northern Creative, Eskimo, Truth Design and NoChintz on the most recent Symposium.

The Symposium, led by the Design Initiative, was established in response to calls from the city to see and hear inspiring designers bringing challenging ideas into focus. Its purpose is to ensure that Manchester remains at the forefront of design debate and creativity. It continues to reflect Manchester’s status as the largest creative hub city outside London, home to tens of thousands of creative and technologically innovative SMEs that flourish alongside some of the world’s largest media rights owners and brands.

The 2012 Symposium explored the complex relationship between design and the economy and questioned whether the UK’s place at the top table of world design is under threat as emerging economies invest more in their ‘knowledge economy’ and whether design and innovation has the potential to power the UK out of a recession.

The Symposium was expertly chaired by Professor David Crow, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for internal communications and Dean of the Faculty of Art and Design at Manchester Metropolitan University. Both he and the speakers presented their own views within the context of their practice and encouraged further debate further about the economic value of design in the panel discussion that closed the day. The event's line-up of speakers and panelists included Adrian Shaughnessy, Malcolm Garrett, Vera-Maria Glahn, Morag Myerscough, Jason Smith, Will Hudson and Dave Kirkwood and covered graphic design, branding, publishing, interactive arts, illustration, animation, typography, Twitter graphic novels and the built environment.

My responsibilities were:

Venue selection, event logistics and management

Speaker selection, contracting, liaison and hospitality

Press releases and copy for website and marketing materials

Fundraising and grant applications

Budgets and ticketing

Evaluation reports