First off, I know the title of this thread is a goldmine for dirty jokes.  So get them out of your system (Mike).

More importantly, the gigantic time-consuming monster known as "Squirt!", that has ripped me away from my life, is finally complete, and starts airing tonight.

Anyway, here goes Squirt! Episode 101: Too Much Citrus.

Don't judge me too harshly. It might kill me.

So just, well, enjoy:



Next weeks episode will be posted...next week.

I have no idea what this was supposed to be about, but it sure made me laugh. I especially loved "You're a suspicious fruit."

The acting was not too shabby, it was nicely written and filmed. Well done!

Thanks Chism,
It's relieving to hear that you laughed at it.  I've been so close to this for so long that it's not really funny to me anymore, and it's good to know it's not that way with everyone.

And as for having no idea what it's supposed to be about...as long as you followed what was happening, I think it will clear itself up if you keep watching the episodes as they're released.  

Thanks for the view and the feedback.

-Tyler

As I go:

-The wipe at :21 interacts with the letterbox matte.  This is a little disconcerting.  (Upon watching further, I guess all the wipes do.  It's always disconcerting).

-That cut at 1:44 is obvious enough that I think it would be less distracting to go with a cross-dissolve or another obvious transition -- it kinda comes off as a clumsy attempt to hide a cut for effects reasons, which of course it isn't.

-At 2:11, right before you cut to the title animation, it looks like young actor extraordinaire Tyler Higgins might break character a bit with his smile.  I might be wrong, of course...that's just what I thought the first time viewing.  I'd get rid of a couple seconds here if you could.

-3:35 -- the coverage here breaks the line (Dan looks left in the previous shot, right in this new one).

-The performances are really enjoyable in this!

-4:58 -- Line cross again.

Thoughts:

Aside from the technical issues that I mentioned above, you have yourself a reasonably tight package here.  The scenes were well covered, the editing was for the most part seamless, and the sound was clean and high quality.  In today's world where good equipment is incredibly cheap, looking professional is important and you have certainly succeeded there.  The one exception I would note would be the wipes -- aside from the problem mentioned above, they just look like overly flashy stock wipes, and are distracting.  Then again, they fit into the water motif.

I really liked the characters.  I thought the performances were strong, and you especially did a great job, Higgs.  A very funny situation your character is put in and you pulled off his reactions to it nicely.  All three characters, however, were quite clearly established with some depth.

Although the story took a while to get going, I thought that it was a fun, enjoyable view overall.  

Shoot I've gotta run all of a sudden but I have more to say!  I'll add it when I can.

Hey Heretic, Thanks for the review.

I'm a little new to filming, and am not quite sure what you mean about breaking the line.  I remember my film professor briefly going over something that may be what you're talking about, something like cutting from one side of two characters to the other creating an awkward visual?  Is that what you mean?

I was worried about the "ripple" cuts looking amatureish, but thought I'd try them for the sort of water theme, as you guessed.  I think if I use them sparingly, they'll be more acceptable than they were in this first episode.

Unfortunately, as of right now, I only have iMovie, and there's no way for me to keep the swipes from crossing over into the letterbox.  My budget for Squirt, which was this summers project, went to buying the new video camera mostly, and I'm saving up to get Final Cut, as well as a boom and some lighting equipment.

I'm glad you thought it looked professional (for the most part), I tried pretty hard, but unfortunately some scenes were pretty rushed, so there's going to be some variation in the quality of professionalism throughout the series.

One thing I can say, however, is that I am very proud of all the actors who did very well in just about every scene.  So there's that to look forward to.

And thanks for the compliments on my acting.  As with most people, I'mpretty critical of myself when I see me on screen, and it's nice to be reassured.

Thanks again, and I'm looking forward to hearing whatver else you have to say,
Tyler

P.S. New episode out later today...

I'd compare this in quality to another SS member made web series called TWAT G or The Willie and The Grace but the short form is funny.

My main problem with these are usually acting because no budget films can't get half decent acting which i have never believed and thankfully this one breaks the trend.

I think I mentioned in my review of the actual script that we needed more of an introduction to the characters and the world and somehow I didn't think that while watching.

Overall a good opening.

Thanks Wes,
Most of my actors in this were either involved in the dram dept. of my Highschool, or did Improv, like me, so I'm glad you liked the acting.

Here's Episode two, "Focus and Fashion":

Hey Higgs,

Preserving the line is pretty simple.  Basically, take your two characters and imagine a line drawn through them.  Always keep your camera on the same side of this line.  That's it.  This will mean that the characters always look the same direction, which allows the audience to be grounded in terms of their perspective.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/180_degree_rule

Although the concept itself is simple, this can get really complicated, especially with more than two people in a scene.  However, it is one of those cardinal rules of filmmaking which if broken will instantly alert "film people" to an amateur production, and, perhaps more importantly, will confuse the audience.

This was a pretty good second installment, but I thought Daniel kind of went along with the whole superhero idea a little too easily. Shouldn't someone mention to Rufus that the idea of Daniel being a superhero is totally insane? All he can do is shoot a mild stream of water out of his finger, since when does that qualify as a superpower? Maybe if it shot outta there with the force of a fire hose, that might be something, but as it stands I don't think he'd make a good superhero and I really feel like there needs to be a character who is the voice of the audience, to point out ridiculous the whole idea is. Maybe you're going to do something with that in future episodes, but as it stands it just kinda bugged me.

Having said that, I thought this was also a lot funnier than the first one. I liked the little touches of Daniel drinking from his finger squirt and the whole run of what his superhero name could be was amusing. I'll be interested to see where you take the reporter character as well, and where the whole story goes in general. I hope episode three isn't too far away.

Thanks for the link Chris.  I  definitely broke that rule a few times while shooting, but I may be able to edit it so that it doesn't show up in the final cuts for future episodes.

Matt,
Thanks for watching.  It's a little late for me to add or change lines, but thanks for the feedback anyaway.  All I can say is that it's supposed to be a bit humorous, how Dan's super-power isn't really that "super", and yet he's still going to try to be a super-hero.  

Hope you both stay tuned.

Aaaaaaaaand here's episode three:



It gets a little hard to hear at some points.  This episode is mostly improvisation, as there was supposed to be a third judge (rufus' little sister) but when we were filming this scene the actress was in Wisconsin.  I think it turned out to be a pretty funny episode though.  Looking forward to hearing any thoughts.

That was pretty good you guys. I only wish you had done some close ups of all the characters so we could feel a little closer to them.

Their dilemma that no one shows up is how I feel trying to get people to be panelists on Simply Radio!  

Good stuff, Tyler. I think some of the jokes would've landed better if you'd have gotten some coverage but that's a minor quibble.

But this was definitely the best episode so far. Looking forward to the fourth. How many are there going to be, by the way?

Thanks for the views guys, I'm glad you liked it.

There will be 10 episodes, but the fourth isn't coming out till March, at which point it will air weekly again until the finale.  

EPISODE FOUR!

"Over"

Been waiting for this Tyler, thanks for posting it.

You sir, are a very, very funny man ( as in humour).

Thanks Tommy, I'm glad you liked it.

Now go force your friends to watch it! (:

I think you guys are getting better and better! Very good!

I saw the plastic on your wrist.

Noticed the clock in the bedroom said 2:45...is that when you people get up and have breakfast?  

Thanks Pia!

People love to comment on my shiny wrist in the pilot.  I'm gonna go with the defense that I made it visible on purpose, to give my audience a sense of worth in finding my goofs (;

Quoted from Grandma Bear Noticed the clock in the bedroom said 2:45...is that when you people get up and have breakfast?

Hahaha, it is in the summer.  

The middle-season episode:

Just a bonus video:



And have you joined the fan-page yet?

Episode 6:

Squirt! 106 Ante Up
Uploaded by higgonaitor. - Sitcom, sketch, and standup comedy videos.

Any comments would obviously be appreciated.

Tyler, hilarious as usual, but the whole squirt-out-the-finger business has gone completely. Why? I think you should bring it back every now and then.

Also I think it's obvious when you guys stray from the script and make up lines. It just stands out a bit.

That little bonus skit was hilarious.

Thanks Tommy, I'm glad you still like it.

There was a Squirt in the last episode... sort of...  Dan had to Squirt the purse snatcher.

There are a few reasons why the squirting is minimal in this show, the main one being that I just didn't write it in that often.  I wasn't trying to avoid it or anything, it just really isn't too necessary to the script.  When i was posting the scripts on SimplyScripts I actually got the comment that there wasn't enough of Dans power, and that was when i first realized I wasn't really using his power very much.  I didn't change the script though, beuase I figured the minimal Squirting would be hard enough to film as it is, and adding more would just make things harder for me.

So there you go, thats why there's not too much squirting.  There will be at least one use of the finger-squirt in the next episode though, I promise.

As for your comment on our straying from the script being noticeable--is it noticeable in a bad way?  This is actually something that I have control over as an editor, because a lot of the scenes we would film closely following the script and then film a more improvised version, so if it doesn't work for you, I could probably tweak that.

But I'm curious also to see if you did accurately pic out the improv... what parts to you seem obviously improvised?

Super helpful, Tommy, Thanks.

Yo Tyler.

Sorry for the late reply, I forgot you replied here.

The only reason I bring up squirting (I tried to google your show by the way.... don't. Lot's of porn) is because that's the name of the show, and the show idea. The whole concept is a guy that squirts water out of his finger becomes a superhero... and it disappears, basically after the third episode or so. It is also, obviously, the name of the show, so probably should be slightly more prominent.

Okay, well in terms of improv, i'll look at the last episode again (I haven't read the script, if you've uploaded it) and try and pick out what you have done with it. In general, it's when you say something, and then Rufus replies in a high voice, and Susan laughs. It happens a few times. Anyways...

The first main scene with Sean and Rufus seems to be scripted. Obviously Sean's dialogue and acting is over the top, but that's how it's supposed to be, I assume.

The "jazzacising" (really don't know how to spell that word) scene seems made up, to the extent that Susan says, "anyway, what were you saying?" to get back onto the script. ALSO, there is lot's of laughing in that ten seconds, where funny lines from the script don't get the "real" laugh you get from that little bit of the scene.

Susan's line, "at least he's honest" seems improvised. As are all the lines in that scene after, "out like a cobra".

Going off topic for a second, the reveal of the girl in the car is funny, but I think we should see the back seat empty before she pops up. We should also keep the same camera angle of the phone conversation too. Just a suggestion for the future. You obviously know a lot more about film than I do, but I'm just saying what I'm seeing.

Lot's of the lines in the game between Rufus and Susan seem made up, but it works. Fantastic scene, really.

You can hear you saying "action" at the start of a scene. Kinda funny.

When your characters finish a sentence, pause, and then start with "anyway" it seems to me they just made up a line, and the "anyway" is giving them half a second more to think back to the script and what the next line they SHOULD actually say, is.

Okay finished the episode again. As I said before, it seems obviously to me when people make up a line if there is real laughter involved, compared to "acting laughter". Also, when you say something and Rufus replies in a higher voice and talks a bit quicker, it seems to me that those lines could be made up.

ANYWAYS, this is a long post and probably not that helpful. Even though I point out this shows faults, I really enjoy watching the episodes, it's hilarious.

Thanks Tommy.

Unfortunately it is too late to add more squirting.  It's also too late to change the car scene, as I don't have the right shots.

As for the improv, I'm not sure if this is good or bad, but you're a little off.  From Rufus's entrance, the entire first porch scene is scripted.  The car scene, however, completely veered off from the script.

You were right about the scene between Sue and Rufus, many of those lines are improvised.

Thanks again, avid watcher.  It really is appreciated.

Episode 7!  "Dates"


Squirt! 107 Dates
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Hope you all like it.

Higgonaitor,

I liked the part where you squirt the snotty kid in the face and he said, "that...was...awesome!".   Heh-heh, funny stuff.  I wanna see more moments like that.

Thanks Screenrider, glad you liked it.  Hopefully there WILL be more moments like that.  I think there are, but it's an awfully specific moment.  there are only so many little snotty boys that Dan can squirt in the face.

EPISODE 8! TROUBLE:


Squirt! 108 Trouble
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Hope you like it.  Any comments are appreciated.

Finally all caught up with watching these.  I like how it's developing.  I think the villains are upstaging the heroes though, so you should be careful with that.  I liked the last two episodes the best yet but the last episode had some sound sync problems.  It's funny but it has this very 60s feel to me still - it might be the music but have you ever seen The Goodies?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFPvZbJTz5U&feature=related

Michael,
I liked that clip you sent me, so it's good that Squirt reminds you of that.

Thanks for watching them, they really took a lot of work and I love hearing from you guys on how you think they've turned out.

By upstage do you mean that they're funnier or that they get too much screen time?

Yeah, this episode did have some sound sync problems, which is a bummer.  I always watch them in imovie one last time before I export them, and things like that don't always show up until you've exported the movie, for some odd reason.

So, export, watch, edit, export, watch, etc....?

That's what I should do, Tommy, but recently i've been in a rush to get them out on time on Friday, so once I export it, I usually just post it.