Tuesday 29 May 2012

Twisted Showcase Part 3

This is my final part of my blog series on Twisted Showcase. You can all breathe a sigh of relief.
This will be the only time I'll get to do a look back at a conventional series of Twisted Showcase I guess, don't worry there is more coming later in the year, but with a bit of a format change. Keep an eye on the site for news on that. Go here to do that check now  Twisted Showcase

So, Part 3 focuses on the last two episodes of Series 1. Probably the two I had least to do with, even though I wrote one of them.
Bob Dracula came through our first ever script call out. An idea which we felt wouldn't get much coverage or lead to many submissions. we were wrong .It's where Twisted showcase started for us really, with that call out we realised that writers at least want to eb writing this kind of thing. We accepted the script Bob Dracula from the writer Leslie Cummins, who went away and expanded the idea a little bit, and Rhys who loves the black comedy side of the series jumped on making this film, and like that it was done.

The last film came from the other end of the spectrum when the deadline for films was approaching and one film we were trying to develop from writer Stephen Marsh fell through, again and again. It fell on me, well it didn't I guess but someone had to write something to film quick and simply. Hence the idea for The Devil Inside Her, which although has a stunning central performance is the most flawed thing I've ever written, in my opinion anyway, and I'm probably my biggest critic, so you may like it, but I wouldn't like to put together such a flat film again.  With Twisted Showcase taking me more into directing and thinking more visually about the script, I'm quite keen to have something more visual than a static webcam shot as the entire film. Still, a lot of people said they find that episode really creepy, so must work in some way.

Let's not forget the Guardian Guide named Twisted Showcase in it's Top 25 web TV shows, so it's all looking good and getting exciting for our upcoming films. It won't be long now.  Brace yourself!

Wednesday 16 May 2012

25 web TV shows you need to see

WOW!

Still can't believe it. Twisted Showcase has made the guardian guide Top 25 list of Web TV shows you need to see.

Jaw - dropping.

The list includes Vic and Bob, David Lynch; how Twisted Showcase got on there I don't know. but I'm not complaining.

We began Twisted Showcase for one just to make films and have a base where they can be seen. We also knew we wanted it to be weird, different and open to be anything it could each episode, not restricted by genre, tone etc

We never expected this sort of recognition!

So happy we are getting it though. It's nice to be recognised, and get more people to come and watch the hard work that has been put in. Which will be covered in the next blog which will discuss the last two episodes of Twisted showcase forming the third and final part of my blogs on making Series One. The hard work continues, we are currently making Series 2, with loads of plans for what comes next also flying around.

We hope there's nothing else like it on the internet, and we hope we blow your minds with Series 2.

In the meantime , I'm gonna stare at the top 25 list in proud disbelief. And you can too by clicking on the following link.

Top 25 web TV shows you need to see

Thursday 3 May 2012

Twisted Showcase: Part 2

I've already mentioned on Twitter that the 3rd episode of our first series is very personal to me, even calling it a Horcrux, to say it has a part of my soul in it. I'm only part joking.

  FEAR OF LIVING

 I've talked before about this film being written in order to film easily, one cast member, one location. And I've already discussed how the idea came about after a coffee binge. The original inspiration being what if you feared absolutely everything, even the prospect of being alive. Let's not hide this, Fear of Living definitely comes from a place of depression. There is nothing good in Ian Marksman's world, he is alone, scared and has nothing to live for. A comment on the Twisted Showcase website links the character to paranoid schizophrenia, I'll admit some of this probably seeps in to adhere to the horror conventions, but I was also writing from something far more personal which hopefully comes across in the second half of the film as it shifts from the horror genre to something far more heartbreaking and real.

 The shoot was very helpful for my writing, realising how much dialogue I could cut. Ziad El-Hady's performance made it instantly clear that I'd over written. He was saying sentences, paragraphs of dialogue I'd written with one facial expression. As we were shooting I'd sit next to the camera crossing out loads of dialogue and asking Ziad to try it without certain lines. In most cases they were the takes we used. When it came around to releasing the film was when it dawned on me, what the film was about to me personally, maybe  I was too close to it beforehand. But it has proved a helpful experience all around.

 Unfortunately, this episode has been seen a little less than some of the others. Maybe because we were promoting a new episode every week and people were still trying to find time to watch Episode 1 and 2, shooting starts on series 2 tomorrow and we're already discussing how we'll release the next episodes. But in the meantime, the great thing about films on the net is that they will always be there. Fear of Living will continue to be seen. So, go and watch it.