Dear friends recently i got the chanse to take interview of "Colin" the filmmaker of the new web series. read and enjoy!
1) Hi Colin first of all tell us something about yourself and your professional experience?
My wife and I have been producing independent films for about seven years now. It all started as a way to develop my skills as an actor and improve my comfort level in front of the camera, but it quickly turned into more. Together she and I have created a couple of shorts and feature length films. At current we are finishing this season of 'Gavin Lance', but we are also co-producing a short film written by Matt Phillion.
2) When did you start taking interest in filmmaking?
I guess it started while I attended a Waldorf school. That's where my passion for acting surfaced and from there it didn't take long before I wanted to do films. I like the way you can bring out certain emotions using camera angles, tight shots or wider shots and, of course, music plays a huge roll in how emotions are brought out. Those are the different things that drew me to film making, it's things that you can't get from any other source.
3) How the idea of this story came in your mind and why you planned to show your creative art in form of web series?
I have always been a comic book fan, I grew up reading Batman, X-Men, Green Arrow, Deadpool, ect... and I guess I've always wanted to write a character like that, but the opportunity was never there. Once I sat down and began to write the script I realized it needed some kind of unique edge to it. That's where the idea of a "live action" comic book came from. The idea was to bring the pages of a comic book to life for the viewer. And the story grew and took shape from that point on.
4) How was the cast and crew selected?
Mostly through casting calls that we had. We also found some of them through friends on the project as well. We are very thankful and very lucky to have found the cast and crew that we have. They are all extremely talented and very hard working. We hope that in addition to audiences enjoying the series that they will also take some time out to learn more about each of them on the website.
5) While filming the web series what were the major hurdles you faced?
We filmed the web series with the same amount of effort and resources as we would have for a feature length film, so we faced many of the same hurdles as you would filming a regular movie; scheduling, finding locations, budgeting, ect. We filmed during Winter so a larger problem that we faced was the cold. You have to be very careful with your equipment and actors in extreme cold. The last thing you want to do in the middle of production is freeze your only camera. The only thing that might be unique to this project is that due to the multiple "panels" aspect (3 to 4 images on the screen at once) meant we needed the same shot from many different angles, so it would take more time and more film to shoot.
6) Tell us more about this web series?
There will be seven episodes in all, each having a cast/crew commentary track that is released the following Monday, along with special features. We were extremely eco-conscience and strived to have a low/no impact on our environment. During the production we used energy efficient light bulbs, rechargeable batteries, and used recycled/reused/salvaged paper. Instead of plastic water battles we used cups or reusable containers. Locations were reached either by foot or carpooling whenever possible. And, of course, recycling all material possible. In addition to thinking green, contributions have been made to the National Arbor Day Foundation to help rebuild our forests and further reduce our carbon signature.
In the end we hope that it is enjoyed enough to make a second season in the near future.
7) What are the elements which make you feel that your web series is different from the other web series on net?
The biggest difference is the comic book style, you don't see that a whole lot on the internet. I also think that the acting really stands out for a web series. All of our actors gave way more than 100% and it shows. I'm very proud of that. I also think that given it's length (10 to 15 minutes) it seems like people are receiving it more like a TV show that they would watch each week rather than a quick web-video.
Also we attempted to make the website it is hosted on very interactive: there are character pages that are unlocked after each new episode; commentary and behind scenes videos are released every other week; audiences are able to download their favorite characters posters and can send fan mail via email to anyone of the members they really enjoy watching. We wanted to make this fun for the audience.
8) Web series is still a very different and unique tool. How you plan to grab the audience on your site when there are 10000s of sites getting registered every day?
Many marketing researchers will tell you that, even with all of todays technology, word of mouth and "brand" marketing is still the most powerful way to reach people. And I absolutely believe that. If you make a good enough product, the audience WILL find you through friends, family, blogs (like your site) ect. That being said we also have a 'grass-roots' campaign going on right now where we are going into comic book stores and book stores and passing out posters and spreading the word about Gavin. Gaining loyal fans and keeping in touch with them is what keeps a series going, and that's our key focus right now.
9) Before deciding that you will go with web series what research you did on web series and their market?
We watched several web series and carefully decided what we did or did not like about what they did. We also found the days where people where on the internet the most (Mondays) and looked into what we wanted our key demographic to be and what sites they visited the most (i.e. facebook, twitter, myspace... ect)
10) On what camera you have shoot?
We used a Canon XL2
11) What was the estimated budget? (you can tell me the original budget too if you don’t have any problem)
This production was made on a mirco-budget (under 5K). The main source of this budget went into the purchase of a Mac Computer and software. We owned much of the equipment used during the shooting that we have acquired over the years from previous projects (i.e. camera, lights, mics, etc). The rest of the budget went into extra equipment we needed specifically for this project and items needed on all projects (film, food, gas, etc).
12) How many episodes you plan for this web series?
There are 7 episodes filmed so far. Originally I had set up the first season to have 12, but we decided to condense the first season to these first 7 episodes. Hopefully there will be many many more to come!
Thank you very much.
+Colin Carlton
Executive Producer / Creator /
"Gavin Lance"
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