You can purchase this Episode in HD from the ‘Official Website’ or you can SUBSCRIBE to the Season One account and have each episode digitally delivered to you every Friday as they are released. If you want to learn more, please visit http://mindseyeseries.com

3 Swirlies

“I think we are losing”
“Speak for yourself!”

So this is kind of where the story really starts. We get to see the magical warriors who are hiding out in the form of these kids. As always, the production and special effects are great. The bulk of this episode is a fight scene, there’s less in the way of dialogue than in the other episodes.

I know these guys aren’t Hollywood, but one of the key things I think any person should take into account if they’re making a web series, or TV show, or movie (whatever your budget) is to not to try to achieve something beyond your reach. Sure, push yourself and strive to continually improve but be honest with what you can achieve with your resources. This fight scene, for instance, is a tough sell in a world where people are used to paying (at most) 15 bucks to get something that cost hundreds of millions to make.

But this is definitely the best episode so far.

Mind’s Eye Fantasy Web Series S01E4 “Shadow’s Hand”

You can purchase this Episode in HD from the ‘Official Website’ or you can SUBSCRIBE to the Season One account and have each episode digitally delivered to you every Friday as they are released. If you want to learn more, please visit http://mindseyeseries.com

2 Swirlies

“They must know the Chosen One is here.”

Oh, the bad guys be comin’!

There’s some amazing tracking shots in this episode. In fact, the show is very well produced. I’ve never noticed the score through out – which is a sign of how good it is – and when I did listen to it, I really liked it.

In fact, everything about this show that’s good is really great. The stuff that’s not working for me… well, you can read my previous reviews.

Mind’s Eye Fantasy Web Series – S01E03 “Running Wild”

You can purchase this Episode in HD from the ‘Official Website’ or you can SUBSCRIBE to the Season One account and have each episode digitally delivered to you every Friday as they are released. If you want to learn more, please visit http://mindseyeseries.com

1 Swirly

Click here to view the embedded video.

Bizarre.

There’s some good ideas in this series, and it is well produced, but where it really falls down – I hate to say it – is the acting of its young stars. They mutter through each line without any sense of emotion or intention. There’s a huge suspension of disbelief involved to bridge the gap from how the actors are portraying the story, and what the story is meant to be.

And the pacing of the dialogue is odd, too. There’s a line of dialogue, a long pause, another character speaks, a long pause. It removes it even further from having a sense of a natural conversation. Partialy because of this pacing, it takes a long time for anything to happen, and when it does, it seems largely a recap of events from the first episode.

My intent behind behind this blog is give people web series to watch and I always try to look for a reason to recommend any given series or episode. But, sadly, there’s very little in this episode to recommend, outside of the effects.

Mind’s Eye Fantasy Web Series – S01E02: A Budding Thought

You can purchase this Episode in HD from the ‘Official Website’ or you can SUBSCRIBE to the Season One account and have each episode digitally delivered to you every Friday as they are released. If you want to learn more, please visit http://mindseyeseries.com

2 Swirlies

Click here to view the embedded video.

“Ninjas are like tigers. They lurk in the shadows waiting for the perfect moment to strike, and then BAM!!!. They’ll eat your face.”

The credits run for just over a minute, so the episode doesn’t begin until the 2-minute mark, when we are shown a boy, Illia, who’s probably twelve, sketching various warriors in his sketchpad. I’m not sure how I feel about an opening sequence that takes up so much time (i.e. 1/10th of this show). Actually I am sure — sure that I’ll happily look window shop in other tabs while the opening title sequence runs in the background, and also that such long opening credits do seem rather gratuitous.

Anyway, when the episode finally begins, we see Illia sketching in a living room filled with kids wielding various weapons, arguing about the merits of ninjas, pirates, samurais, and whatnot. Then just when the kids begin to play, a man (“Grandpa”) shows up and kicks them out — but not before demanding that they take out the garbage on the way out. Then night falls and Illia has a strange dream about his friend Nadia, who may or may not be… dead.

Wait, what?? Is this show for kids? Why have they set it up so that Illia’s dream might come off as a wet one — which one of the other kids makes a joke of in the next episode? Creepy? And what’s with the way the girl strokes the sword at 3:05? And what’s with the vampy woman at the end? And why do the kids look like they’ve just stepped out of a bad toy advertisement from the seventies ? And what’s with the never-creasing symphonic fantasy score?

I think I answered my own question. This isn’t for kids. I’m not really certain who it’s for. Also, the backstory is kind of confusing. Obviously I’m supposed to go to the Mind’s Eye website to read up on the world’s mythologies to piece everything together myself. I will report back later with my findings.

The dialogue is poorly written, which is not made better by the mumbly kid and the shaggy blond boy with the strangely deep voice. The only kid who’s believable as a kid is the girl with the bangs.

1 Swirlie for ambition, and 1 Swirlie because I want to know what happens next. Who is the Chosen One? Our money is on Illia, the boy with the bad bowlcut and funny glasses. (because we know from Harry Potter that the nerdy bespectacled kid is always the Chosen One).

Mind’s Eye Fantasy Web Series – Season 1 – Episode 1: Prey