Hey, all.  Check out my myspace to see the preview for a sitcom pilot my friends and I have been filming for the past couple of weeks.  Well, it's less of a sitcom and more like something in the tradition of "Ed" or "Spaced."  Entitled "The Willie & The Grace" (though it has nothing whatsoever to do "Will & Grace"), the show can best be described as a mix between "I Heart Huckabees," "Dogma," and something like you've never seen before.  I have finished editiing the actual pilot and it will be online very shortly.  Here's the link to my myspace:

http://www.myspace.com/dontjuststareatiteatit

A new preview featuring more dialogue and scenes has been added to my myspace page.  Check it out and look for the pilot by the end of next week.

The pilot is now online via my myspace page.  Enjoy:

http://profile.myspace.com/ind.....token=20050825235928

Also, look for special features (like two audio commentaries and outtakes) on acidplanet.com (artist name: ShaunOfTheD3AD) very soon.  Enjoy!

A final update: the special features have now been uploaded on to acidplanet.com.  Unfortunately, you must register with the site to watch them.  Though, I am looking into getting it its own site.  But, for now, enjoy!

I'm going to be honest.

So here's what I think and in that I might have some spoilers so beware.








It's not hilarious laugh out loud funny, a few of the scenes were funny but overall it feels more like a drama in an odd setting. That said it is well done and since pilots are never great I'll say it's good enough.

I enjoyed it all for the most part, especially that blob of light that sounds a little bit like Mr. Garrison and was actually the funniest scene for me.

The bad guy whose name I have forgotten but the one who beat his man/dog friend with the tennis racket is a great character and a pretty good actor. He needs a bigger role ha-ha

The preview for the next episode was funny so I think it'll get funnier and I'm looking forward to this next episode.

The myspace didn't work, it didn't even show up on my computer so I created an acidplanet account and watched it from there.

All in all I think you and the crew did a good job on the pilot and really need to tell The Grace to stop laughing because it looks like he's breaking character, same with Willie but his just works.

(Also, I have a question. Will the series have any female cast members?)

I liked it a great deal, actually. I didn't think it was too funny, however, it had it's moments... I loved the horse shit thing and then the slap and alot of your quick one liners were delivered fantastically!

I can't pin point what it's really about, not really... I watched both of them too. I just think you all did a great job at making this thing come together and that's what it's all about, you did a good job.

You should be proud.

Balt~

Wow, thanks for the comments.  As for the camera, I used a simple, $500 Sony Hi-8 camcorder.  It's great for shots indoors or outdoors in the daylight.  The only downside is that if the scene is poorly lit or you're filming outside during the night, the quality can be pretty shit.  Other then that, it's a very solid buy.

As far as this being a comedy goes, I can see that it is not that funny.  But, at the same time, when I was editing it, I realized just how dramatic it got.  Hence, it went from being  a comedy to a "dramady" (yeah, I hate that word too).  Strangely enough, when it was first concieved in a shitty little hotel room in Ocean City, Maryland, it was thought of as a full-on, cliche-ridden sitcom, complete with laugh tracks and "Awwww"'s.  Then, it just slowly became something completely different, and, in my eyes, something much better.

As for the acting, Brett ("Count Luscious") really is a great actor, and I have no doubts he will someday be seen as a head-lining star.  Just about any project I've done that is actually worthwhile has featured Brett in some role.  Just hope he remembers me, his awesome director friend/roommate .  Also, pretty soon, I will be uploading a small featurette that is bascially Brett in front of the camera for five minutes doing his voice-overs.

As for Justin ("The Grace"), we basically thought that you could actually make a pretty decent drinking game out of how many times he looks at the camera.  And though we will be coaching him on his delivery for the next episode, it can't be denied that the image of him dressed as an angel isn't a funny one.

And, as for the video not working, I don't know what to say.  Perhaps your Windows player is outdated, but I couldn't say that like I really knew the answer.  I'm not sure.

But, if you did sign up with ACIDPlanet, check out the Special Features.  The commentaries are funny and surprisingly enlightning while the outtakes are hillarious.  Check it out.

Oh, yeah, as for female characters, the answer to that question is still up in the air.  Willie will be given a love interest at some point, though.

Small spoiler.




I hope you actually do use that Star Wars scene in the second episode because that was funny, I'd like to see the scene in context with the story.

I'll also watch the commentary and other stuff today before I go to work and I'll also post my reviews on acidplanet so that it gives you ratings that when people see they will also watch it.

Can't wait for episode 2 anyway and you have given me a new hope that you can make a web series without buying a 2 thousand dollar film camera.

Oh, and the reason it has that blur is because you converted it to make the video size smaller right? Or is their another reason for that?

The blur is due to the conversion.  Sadly, until I can get a possible website up, the quality will remain the same (still watchable though).  And as for the exspensive cameras, a lot of editing techniques can be used (such as dimming the brightness or tweaking the contrast) to give a home movie that cinema quality).  Just takes time.  Though, I do reccomend a microphone as the one that usually comes attached to the camcorder can be sucky.

The blur isn't bad anyway, as long as it's big enough to look adequate on full screen you're fine. Are you going to attempt to get this series on IMDB?

The imdb idea is not a bad one at all, but I have no idea how to go about it.  If anyone does, I would be grateful for their help.

Yeah, you should man, I mean they have Halo: The Dry Gulch Chronicles on there, so I don't see a reason why this wouldn't be.

http://www.imdb.com/updates?update=title

You pretty much just go through the form, they should get back to you in a couple days, though.

I was reading it for myself awhile back and you have to have some actual buzz about the series so probably you'll be forced to give it a couple weeks maybe a month before you can get anywhere.

They are picky if you're not a famous person, you need public interest I believe they titled it as.

Yeah, you do. I tried submitting some info on "Good Try, We Don't Like it" and they turned it down. But I'm trying to help Graham out here by telling as many people as I can about his show, it won't do much, but it'll help.

And I certainly appreciate all the help I can get.  Thanks for the tips and I am currently discussing future episodes and possible festival submissions with my co-creator now.

The only way I think he'll get on there is as the series goes along and gets better more people will start caring... Maybe even pimp your series on IMDB boards or send it to one of the admins for them to watch and maybe if they like it they can overlook the unknown issue.

Maybe to get public interest get a IMDB premium account and boom maybe that is the way ha-ha

The independant boards on IMDB would be a great place to start.

Yeah, we're also trying to hit some film festivals.  Actual awards would help amazingly.

I didn't know film festivals accepted series, if that is the case this is great news for you. They can't fault you guys on effort but in order to get the female audience you need a female strong character, their are more women in this world and well let's face it men alone can't make you famous.

I hear that.  We're actually taking this quite serious.  One of the characters to be presented was going to be male, but now his gender may be switched.  Or, he may be axed all together and a new character will be brought in.  Still not sure, but I guess we'll see.

I guess when you're not paying money to your cast which I'm guessing is the case here it's hard to coax someone into being in it given the nature (Comedy, sitcom) but you could always use one of the casts girlfriend as long as she's comfotable on camera.

By the way when will episode 2 be released?

We are currently writing both episodes two and three and will hope to have them filmed back to back as soon as possible.  Unfortunately, we don't know when we can get everyone together, but we're trying to get it done by the end of October.

Yeah, I guess everybody needs to go on with life and can't just give up time to be in it. Another thing you can do is get some fans of the series to do commentaries for you so you can find out what they think and also that would be cool tolisten to from a fans point of view.

I believe it's simple to use a computer recording device, I've found Audacity to be very good and get them to record themselves talking about the episode and you can take that recording and do whatever you did with your to add it on and boom you have another commentary track and feature ha-ha

Quoted from Old Time Wesley I guess when you're not paying money to your cast which I'm guessing is the case here it's hard to coax someone into being in it given the nature (Comedy, sitcom)

I dunno what it's like in the US or Canada, but when I worked on a few short films in the UK, it was extremely easy for us to get actors to work for free. We placed a couple of adverts in national magazines and soon we were recieving tons of portfolios and resumes from actors willing to work for free just to build up their showreel. One guy we used had a small part in Black Hawk Down, another had appeared in the soap Eastenders, and another was on a nationwide television commercial.

If you provide food on set (sandwiches), contribute to travel costs (if any) and treat them well, a lot of upcoming actors are willing to work just on the promise of a credit and a VHS/DVD copy of the film.  A lot of them are damn good actors too.

Well that's good to know. I always thought that people were self involved and greedy and would never do anything to help others.

I'm lucky because a few of my friends are into acting.  So, when I'm making something, they have no problem with being in it.  Though, when I had to make something for school two years ago, I asked this kid who was in all the plays to be in it.  He said he would have to see the script first and I laughed.  Who knew he wasn't kidding?  Anywho, I didn't give him the script because I thought he was too stuck-up.  So, I ended up making this shitty zombie movie with a friend in the lead who, despite his claims at the time, was one of the worst actors ever.  Movie sucked anyway, hence there is only one copy and it's with me, never to be seen by anyone else ever again.

Hey everyone.

The final small featurette has been uploaded to both my acidplanet account as well as my myspace (for those that do not want to register with acidplanet).  It's a five minute video of our voice over session with Brett Anderson.

Enjoy!

Awesome, I'll go watch it later and review it on acidplanet.

Some great news for myself as well as anyway who enjoyed our pilot:

Episode 1.2 is officially on, and we will be getting everyone together during the week before Thanksgiving to film.  There will be no re-casts, and everyone is returning in their original roles (plus a few new characters as well).  It is currently being written with more emphasis on humor, though we will still keep the philosophical side of things as well.

And, as a sort of a bonus, the new episode will be a sort of a holiday episode because of the timing (the episode itself will probably be released in early to mid December).

Stay tuned!

Cheers.

-Graham P.

for some reason only half of the fim,thingy works

For some reason, the myspace videos do not work for everyone.  The only other real option around that is to watch it on acidplanet.  Also, I've been told that Macs do not play the files.

what is acidplant?

Acidplanet.com is where the video is originally hosted. It is found under artist name: ShaunOfTheD3AD.  Only catch is that you must register with the site, but it's free and it does not take too long to do.

cool thanks will see it!

Awesome.  And please, good or bad, tell me how you felt about it.  Thanks.

well it was funny, qad it was really filmed considering you uses a camcorder (i think) and at the en d when they showed whta's happening next time on the show , will that actually be on the next episode?

Hey, thanks for the comment.  And, no, unfortunately, the scene from "Star Wars" will not be featured in the second episode.  The gimmick was that the end of each episode will have a random scene from a random movie.  This will carry on to the next episode, and we have the movie(s?) that we will be re-enacting, but you will have to wait to see what it will be.

For now though (and this will most likely be the last update to my ACIDPlanet account until the next episode), "Crappy(er) Alien Vs. Predator" has been uploaded to my account and can be viewed on either ACIDPlanet or my myspace.  It will also be included as a bonus feature on the "The Willie & The Grace" DVD.

Enjoy!

I've got an idea for a random scene to parody or re-enact the Cedric the Entertainer scene from Be Cool where he's holds the gun and goes into his monologue.

I'll have to start using my acid planet account, do many people even comment besides me because it seems that I was the only one commenting on your show.

Most people that commented came via my private messages on my myspace account.  I recieved quite a bit, and only one guy really, really fucking hated it.  For the most part, the others where either "Wow, I loved it" or "Yeah, it was alright."  But one guy just tore me to shreds.  

Oh, well.  No biggie.

Maybe it's because I hate sitcoms so much that this type of show is just so much more "busy" if you will. Everybody Loves Raymond (But me) and I think your series could pan out to be more of a series than that show because they basically rehash the same stories every week and use laugh tracks (Probably none of the laughs are authentic)

I wish they would have cancelled that show before he made millions an episode but sadly he's considered a star.

I got off-topic but yeah was this guy who hated it from our little community or myspace? I don't even use my myspace account very much mostly because nobody ever does anything on it but post chain letter (You know who you are ha-ha)

People will hate your series because you had the balls to go out and do something and they sit at a computer and never do anything themselves.

The message came from some random myspace-er who just was not a fan at all.  His comments started out with phrases like, "I can respect what you've done, but..." and became towards the end more along the lines of, "This show is a pile of steaming dog crap."  Jealousy or not, the guy was clearly not a fan, though he also seemed like the type that would watch the second episode soley to send me a new e-mail on how much he thought it sucked as well.

well that guy is psycho (or most likely jealous, like u said)