Tim Clague is a British filmmaker, writer and independent film advocate who's been active in the film and television worlds since the mid-1990s. He won a screenwriting competition in 1998 for Eight, a short about an 8-year-old's love of soccer. The film was directed by three-time Oscar nominee Stephen Daldry (The Hours). In the decade since, Clague has produced an impressive body of work as a writer and director, examples of which can be seen on Openfilm. His philosophy is to collect as many styles as possible from a variety of sources, and to create films that make people think and laugh - and ideally provoke discussion. He recently spoke with Openfilm about the writer's life, Film 2.0 and Zack Snyder's film adaptation of Watchmen.

Describe your writing process. Are you a fast writer? Do you write character bios?

I am not particularly fast but I do have several scripts on the go at once. I don't do character bios or backgrounds or histories or any other spinoff materials. I use a process I call storydust. I call it storydust as it mirrors how stars form from interstellar dust. Dust and fragments of rock are drawn together by gravity over time, getting larger and larger. Eventually the mass becomes so great it gets hot to the point of igniting and a glowing star is formed. But what about stories? Well, instead you collect ideas about a story, images, thoughts, dialogue, locations - anything. After a while, they start to collect and clump together and slowly a story forms. Eventually it collects enough weight that it hangs together and eventually a genius bright glowing narrative is in front of you. But both stars and stories take time to form with this method! But both are beautiful.

Talk about your collaboration with Stephen Daldry, the Academy Award-nominated director of Billy Elliot and The Reader.

I worked with Stephen as he was selected as director for a script competition I won. The film was called Eight and it is a 12-minute short about a young boy and his love of football. It was his first film but he was already a highly regarded and respected theatre director who brought a lot of cinematic techniques to the stage. He is very focused and very collaborative. He uses a method where he keeps asking questions to really understand what a writer is trying to get at - a good technique.

How has Film 2.0 changed indie filmmaking?

In every aspect. Writing with the audience. Shooting for them. Sharing with them. Funded by them. Spread by them. All of it.

Describe how you collect visual styles from a variety of different media to use in your films.

I think most filmmakers in the past have done this, but not always talked about it. I mean - don't copy shots and techniques from other films. Gain inspiration from everywhere else - comics, paintings, music, lyrics, poems, things you find on the street, blogs, overheard conversations, the web, sculpture - just collect it.

Consecration has a very striking look. What equipment did you use?

We used, what was then, a very small camera. You can go even smaller now. In fact, it was so small we had to make a casing for it so the cameraman could operate it. Now you can get cameras where you can beam the signal with no leads required at all. And one filmmaker (who lost an eye) is having one fitted as a false eye.

I love Watermelon. Where did the idea for this one come from and what was the shoot like?

This is, for me, an interesting film in how we created it. Everyone was involved in pre-production. So the music was composed beforehand and we played that on set. The sound designer read the script and talked about the sounds he would like - so we shot images to match those sounds. And so on. The most collaborative way to make a film ever! However, if I could do it again, I would do the same technique with the script and tighten it up.

You produced a comedic short called God Vs. The Advertising Standards Authority. What's this one about?

This was a film I made on Boxing Day in five hours. I do it every year - instead of sending out Christmas cards, I make a Christmas film. But I didn't have a camera this year, so I screen-captured the performance instead. It is about a vicar who has a complaint made against him via the ASA and has to rework his Christmas poster in Photoshop so that it only tells provable facts. Ten days later it happened in real life when the Atheist bus poster campaign was referred to the ASA by a Christian group. They complained that the poster that said "There probably is no God so stop worrying and enjoy life" was untrue. So I rode the wave of the zeitgeist for a week.

You're developing a pro-atheist dramatic film. What can you tell us about it, and what impact do you hope it will have?

It is a 30-minute script about an ad exec who realizes that all his techniques are also used by the church. His brother, a chaplain, is unhappy with this. So it is a drama about two brothers at the heart of it. I hope it just keeps people questioning things.

Circumference is described as "the world's first free motion picture." How so?

Well, it was going to be - funded by adverts. But the recession has put paid to that, we feel. But we still hope to make it anyway in a low-budget style.

As a fan of Alan Moore comics, what did you think of the new Watchmen film?

Excellent - even though I feel I shouldn't like it!

What are you working on now?

Delete Friend? A children's TV series. After deliberately spreading a Facebook virus, Jade must visit every one of her online friends to apologize. But is everyone who they seem? My Name is Earl - for tweens.