Untitled Fiction Project Ep.13 “I have some new tactics”

James and Georgia meet after a long night. (Series Finale?)

UNTITLED FICTION PROJECT 1.0 is an unscripted dramatic web series experiment by Director Alonso Mayo in collaboration with The Gloria Gifford Conservatory in Los Angeles. It’s a collection of 13 mostly improvised one location scenes, where each scene is built upon the storyworld created in the previous scene.

4 Swirlies

“It’s kinda fun watching ‘em.”

And so, it ends. One less thing to look forward to each week.

As wonderfully done as this episode was, I was keyed up for something bigger. But at the same time… it wrung true. Isn’t that how every couple solves their deepest, darkest problems in real life?

I don’t want to say too much, at the risk of giving things away. So instead, I’ll say congratulations to Alonso Mayo and his wonderful cast. Bravo! Thanks for a wonderful web series. I’ll be waiting for a second season…

Untitled Fiction Project Ep.12 “Are You In?”

Nicolette comes home to find someone waiting for her.

Starring: Jeffrey Casciano & Jade Warner
Directed, Shot & Edited by Alonso Mayo
UNTITLED FICTION PROJECT 1.0 is an unscripted dramatic web series experiment by Director Alonso Mayo in collaboration with The Gloria Gifford Conservatory in Los Angeles. It’s a collection of 13 mostly improvised one location scenes, where each scene is built upon the storyworld created in the previous scene.

5 Swirlies

“I know what you’re doing. I know I really can’t trust you.”

Oh, Nicolette. You are crazy! But now James is twisting her games back onto herself.

This is the second last episode in the series. This episode ends on a bit of a cliffhanger and we’re left waiting for episode 13 to see if James and Georgette get through this, or if Nicolette snares her man.

If you have been following this series or The Watch List, you don’t need me telling you that you want to watch it.

If this is the first time you’re hearing of it, go ahead and look up our earlier reviews – we give you tons of reasons to watch.

So ’nuff said.

Untitled Fiction Project Ep.11 “I gotta take care of this”

Brian finds James drinking, and about to do something he might regret.

UNTITLED FICTION PROJECT 1.0 is an unscripted dramatic web series experiment by Director Alonso Mayo in collaboration with The Gloria Gifford Conservatory in Los Angeles. It’s a collection of 13 mostly improvised one location scenes, where each scene is built upon the storyworld created in the previous scene.

5 Swirlies

“You know the funny thing about alcohol and women? You sip slowly, handle with care, thing usually go smoothly. But if you don’t…”

I love the way this series is shot. It takes advantage of the dark areas, and uses colour in such a wonderful way. A lot has been said, here and elsewhere, of the great acting and directing, but we should take a moment and appreciate the other technical achievements of this series. And not just the lighting and camera.

Many people don’t know how much work goes into the sound for a good TV show or movie. This show mostly takes place in quiet areas, but they are never really that quiet. Instead, the subtle, bubbling background sounds make it feel intimate and just slightly claustrophobic, a perfect aural backdrop for the story to play out in. Those sounds don’t come from the set, they come from hour of building and mixing a sound scape – which doesn’t even touch on the work involved to make the dialogue sound nice and crisp, like it does.

As Nicolette’s schemes start to take hold, Brian tries to talk James off a ledge. Is this gonna end well? It’s that kind of tension that makes Untitled Fiction Project so addictive.

There’s no doubt that this episode is short, but it was a bit of a shock when I realized it was less than three minutes. There’s a lot of subtext and tension packed into those few minutes.

If you haven’t watching this from the beginning, this is one series that demands you do. Not because you’ll be lost if you don’t. The rich and nuanced performances give you all you need to know to enjoy each episode. But watch it from the beginning because it’s that fucking good.

UFP1.0 Ep.10 “I’m Here Now”

Georgia makes up her mind.

UNTITLED FICTION PROJECT 1.0 is an unscripted dramatic web series experiment by Director Alonso Mayo in collaboration with The Gloria Gifford Conservatory in Los Angeles. It’s a collection of 13 mostly improvised one location scenes, where each scene is built upon the storyworld created in the previous scene.

5 Swirlies

Uh oh. Georgia, what are you doing?

I didn’t add a quote because this episode has very little dialogue, but what is important is going inside Georgia’s mind. Lauren Plaxo does an amazing job of letting us in to her own, self inflicted pain.

We all know the expression, ‘be careful what you wish for.’ The theme to this episode, in fact to perhaps the whole show, could be ‘be careful of what you want.’ Sometimes going after the things we want ends up getting us the very last thing we need.

Stellar episode. Wonderful nuance. I briefly exchanged tweets with this show (I assume the person behind the show’s twitter account is Alonso Mayo) and I got an idea of just how focused he is on this project. I mean, to do a web series, you have to be. Perhaps even more so than doing a film or play or TV show. Many web series are a one or two person operation. If you don’t get a particular aspect done, there’s no one else to do it. But I get the impression that Alonso and his cats put an extra level of their soul into each episode. The painful depths of emotions that are explored can only come from total commitment – and I’m not just talking about working 24/7.

There’s a bit of a debate right now in the web series community about whether a creator is doing his series for the audience or themselves. While I feel like the cast and crew behind Untitled Fiction Project is very aware of the audience – what they’re thinking, how they’re feeling – I don’t feel like they are doing it for the audience. This isn’t the kind of web series that is feeding back into the audience’s wishes, desires and direction. They’re being true to the characters and, quite frankly, just plain out storytelling. They’re being true to the story.

And they’re doing an awesome job.

UFP1.0 Ep. 9 “Look What The Cat Dragged In”

Nicolette needs to do some damage control with Vanessa.

UNTITLED FICTION PROJECT 1.0 is an unscripted dramatic web series experiment by Director Alonso Mayo in collaboration with The Gloria Gifford Conservatory in Los Angeles. It’s a collection of 13 mostly improvised one location scenes, where each scene is built upon the storyworld created in the previous scene.

4 Swirlies

“If he knew what you did to make him propose to you…”

There’s a few of us contributing to the Watch List these days, and we each politely battle to be the one to post a review of Untitled Fiction Project. That’s why it was a bit of a surprise to discover that we’re a week behind in bringing the series to you – so today I’ll do two episodes back to back. Starting with episode 9.

Things get pretty tense in this episode, as Nicolette manipulates everyone around her to get what she wants. This lady is CRAZY.

The hardest part about making episodes as good as UFP has in the past, is that you’re setting your own bar pretty high. This is a great episode, but not the best in the series. Without getting into spoilers, it ends on something of a cliffhanger. Good thing, due to our skipping a week, I won’t have to wait too long to find out what happens.

I’m a little shocked that this series isn’t getting more buzz than it is. Sure, it is getting some notice for its acting – but everything about it is incredibly well done. Since I started The Watch List, I have gotten to know a little bit about the web series communities online, and there’s definitely an “in crowd” of producers who get all the attention, despite the fact that these shows – while some are very good, and yes one or two are among our favourties – aren’t always the best. Well, anyway, ‘aren’t the best’ in our opinion at The Watch List.

Untitled Fiction Project is doing well, don’t get me wrong, especially on YouTube where they are over 100,000 views across the series. but I feel like it is one of those shows that doesn’t get the level of acclaim amongst the community it deserves because it isn’t in that circle.

Well, maybe I just really, really hated high school. On to the next episode!

UFP1.0: LOVE BITES: Episode 8 “It’s the new me”

Georgia needs to decide if she’s going to stay with James, or go.

http://untitledfictionproject.com/

Starring: Jeffrey Casciano & Lauren Plaxco
Directed, Shot & Edited by Alonso Mayo

UNTITLED FICTION PROJECT 1.0: LOVE BITES is an unscripted dramatic web series experiment by Director Alonso Mayo in collaboration with The Gloria Gifford Conservatory in Los Angeles. It’s a collection of 14 mostly improvised one location scenes, where each scene is built upon the storyworld created in the previous scene.

4 Swirlies

“If I wanna go out and fuck half the city, it’s none of your business.”

Looks like they are calling the series LOVE BITES now, so it’s no longer Untitled Fiction Project. Here James pleads with Georgia to stay home with him while she’s slinks into a little black dress dressed for a night out (maybe with her coworker, the one who tempted her with an apple).

MajorProgress on YouTube puts it quite well: “You know what I notices, and it is a testimate to the amazing acting/writing/shooting/editin­g. There is no music to build the tension or bring the energy to a climax. You just feel it. You don’t even miss it. The energy of the performance is well enough with out the audio cues. Great vid to start off the new year.”

TENSE. It’s cool that Georgia won’t tolerate James’ cheating, but can fire really fight fire? It isn’t clear what she’s up to tonight, though, so we’ll see what happens next…

All in all, a solid start to the new year. What’s going to happen ? ??????? ?? ?

Untitled Fiction Project 1.07: “Twenty minutes” (Web Series)

(TV-14) Georgia makes a stop at home to change clothes and finds a pleasent surprise waiting for her.

http://untitledfictionproject.com/

Starring: Jeffrey Casciano & Lauren Plaxco
Directed, Shot & Edited by Alonso Mayo

“Untitled Fiction Project” is an unscripted dramatic web series experiment by Director Alonso Mayo in collaboration with The Gloria Gifford Conservatory in Los Angeles, CA. Each week in October through December, 2010, the Director and two Actors will shoot a one location scene of no more than 10 minutes (an episode). The scenes will be mostly improvised and each scene will build upon the storyworld created in the previous scene. Comments are welcome.

5 Swirlies

“The twenty minutes is up.”

I feel like this might be the most intense webseries on Youtube. This episode is really lovely, in large part because the characters have phenomenal chemistry. We see a really warm glimpse of what their life could be like together, in spite of the chaos of lies, cheating, and temptation which seems to underscore the state of their relationship.

5 Swirlies because this episode is very subtly hopeful. I really want things to work out for Georgia and James, but I don’t think it’ll be so easy. Is this the calm before the storm? We’ll find out soon enough!

Oh, and I had to go back and watch the previous episode to make sure James wasn’t feeding Georgia the food that the wicked Nicolette made. Thank God!!!

Untitled Fiction Project Ep.6 “I did this for you”

(TV-14) James comes home, ready to tell Georgia the truth.

http://untitledfictionproject.com/

“Untitled Fiction Project” is an unscripted dramatic web series experiment by Director Alonso Mayo in collaboration with The Gloria Gifford Conservatory in Los Angeles, CA. Each week in October through December, 2010, the Director and two Actors will shoot a one location scene of no more than 10 minutes (an episode). The scenes will be mostly improvised and each scene will build upon the storyworld created in the previous scene. Work on each scene will not begin until the previous scene has been posted online. Comments are welcome.

4 Swirlies

“James! The vegetables!”

Another superb episode from the folks of the Untitled Fiction Project. The episodes consistently impress and the drama is gripping. I feel like a voyeur, these are so intimate. If you haven’t seen these yet, you should watch from episode 1. Totally worth a look.

That Nicolette chick is crazy. I am afraid to find out what happens next.

Untitled Fiction Project Ep.5 “Who can refuse an apple?”

(TV-14) Georgia gets a helping hand from Michael, a co-worker and confident.

“Untitled Fiction Project” is an unscripted dramatic web series experiment by Director Alonso Mayo in collaboration with The Gloria Gifford Conservatory in Los Angeles, CA. Each week in October through December, 2010, the Director and two Actors will shoot a one location scene of no more than 10 minutes (an episode). The scenes will be mostly improvised and each scene will build upon the storyworld created in the previous scene. Comments are welcome.

5 Swirlies

“So, the real reason I’ve been out of the office for the past few days is because I’m having trouble at home.”

Untitled Fiction Project is quickly becoming the standard for true drama among web series.

This episode isn’t quite as gripping as the first four, but more subtle in its own way because you have a pretty good idea of what’s coming. One of the many brilliant things about it is that – like any good fiction – relies on our built up knowledge of the characters to get inside their heads without anything being explicitly spelt out. If this was a TV show, it would the show that you love but all your friends “don’t get.”

Luckily, on the web, no one can cancel it.

Friday Playlist – November 5

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I hope you enjoy!

I’m still working out the kinks (more on that below) so be careful you don’t watch Episode 4 of Untitled Fiction Project before Episode 3.

As anyone who has glanced at the header can tell, getting these Friday Playlists up and running has been a goal of The Watch List from the beginning.

The philosophy behind The Friday Playlist is to give people a way to watch a selection of the best web series (whether new or just new to us) with very little trouble.

Number one, we’ve already found them. Number two, you can lean forward and browse through. Number three, you can hit play and lean back and be entertained for half an hour or so. Get it up on the big screen, dim the lights, settle back on the couch and hit play.

You know, eventually. Right now, they’re being presented backwards. So later episodes of something on the playlist would autoplay before earlier ones. Like watching a series on DVD but backwards. Sucks.