The Cell Ep.1 l A Web Series on The Watch List

http://www.cellthewebseries.com
@CELLwebseries

A man wakes up in a cell after a night on the town. It doesn’t take long for him to realize he’s not in jail and he’s not alone.

A psychological thriller from writer/director Mark Gardner.

3 Swirlies

“You have two lessons to lean right now.”

Nice start, good first episode. We don’t really get too far into things, but  it is just the one episode. This is just the set up. I feel like what will really decide things for me is episode 2.

This series seems to be setting itself up as a psychological thriller. That means it is all about character. Can the writer, actor and director create a compelling character that thrills us as we learn more about their dark personality?

You know, I think the hardest thing in making a web series is the acting. Everything else can be handled to at least a competent level be a passionate amateur. But being a good actor… I mean combining psychological nuance, a sense of life and history, charisma and presence, and even just saying all those lines… that’s something that must be nurtured.

It’s really hard. People devote their lifetime to it. I’m not saying other jobs on film sets aren’t equally as challenging or worthy of a lifetime of devotion. I’m saying the difference between a competent camera operator and an excellent camera operator may never be noticed in a  low budget web series production.  But actors… an actor you’ll notice no matter how big or small the budget. Or more likely not notice. Good actors can take the most benign of scenes and make it compelling with the choices they make about why they’re saying what they’re saying. Not so good actors don’t even realize there are choices to be made.

Will the creative team behind The Cell be able to create a strong, compelling character? Let’s keep watching and find out.