Radiance Ep.12 | A Web Series Review on The Watch List

A Science Fiction Drama Web Series

4 Swirlies

“What if we’re the only ones left?”

These episodes of the horror survival web series Radiance are so short and so good that I find myself with the same thing to say; I’m always surprised by how much tension, story and surprise they pack in in less than two minutes.

This episode has two scenes. In the first, the small band of survivors have a moral dilemma to make, one of the most fundamental decisions a human can make in a survival situation. Should we kill someone else we think is sick or dying to save ourselves?

In the second were lulled into a false sense of calm, before an almost single frame shocker that makes us wonder: is this where it turns to a zombie story?

From YouTube Description:

Ten friends in Los Angeles experience an unusual event together- and try to survive.
Starring:
Brian Gattas
Jade Gordon
Tom Lenk
Chad Lindsey
Alisa Mcronald
Sam Pancake
Jack Plotnick
Christos Prevezanos
Chris Shea
Doug Stockstill
and
Rachel Stolte

Written and directed by Jim Hansen

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More from the web series Radiance

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Posting Advisory – July 19th

Hey Web Series fans!

Just a quick messages saying that I’m going to try to post my usual number of web series episodes this week, but it might not be to the exact same schedule that I like to maintain.

Please forgive me any lapses in posting that may occur. You might get a whole bunch of posts later this week, to make up for a lack of posts early this week.

Thanks for your patience!

The Watcher

Return to Posting!

Hello loyal fans and webseries watchers!

I’m sorry for the lapse in posting – more than a month long with no posts. I’m sure that many of you simply assumed that this was another abandoned blog and moved on with your lives. I don’t blame you.

But we’re back, with new episodes, new series and (if you clap loud enough) a new reviewer! This summer is gonna rock with webseries awesomeness!

Keep watching,

The Watcher

Casual S02E01 “Transitions” | A Web Series Review on the Watch List

A Romance Drama Web Series

5 Swirlies

Casual 2.1: Transition from Altermotion Pictures on Vimeo.

“I haven’t a drink with you in four months!”

A strong start to season two of the heart breaking drama series, Casual.

Lots of things are hinted at, but we’re not given much in the way of details in this episode, except that “The Guy” has been in Australia for four months. Could it be true that “The Girl” has a new boyfriend?

Just as well produced as the first season. The acting’s still great, the last scene has very little dialogue, but the look between the two leads speaks volumes. I’m as hooked now as ever – what happened between them? What is going to happen?

I was just glancing at the views for this episode, and I noticed that the first week or so accounted for somewheres about 3/4 of the views. I don’t really have much in the way of thoughts on that, beyond that factoid seems interesting to me.

From Vimeo Description:

The Season 2 premiere: Transition
Starring Lauren Marini & Brian Thomas Smith
Featuring: Janna Vanheertum, Jessica Rich, Michael Hobert, Derek “D-Bone” Reckley, Shannon Zielon and Jon Mariande

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Night of the Zombie King Ep.4 “Howls in the Night” | A Web Series Review on the Watch List

A Drama Web Series

2 Swirlies

“I hate you both! You ruined it!”

Yeesh.

Here’s another review people are going to quietly hate me for.

This show is one of those shows that you are supposed to love. More precisely, the show that this is a spinoff of, Gold, is a legend in certain wider on the web. I haven’t seen Gold, but I did surprise myself about how much I liked this series.

Until exactly 2:40 of this episode.

When it was about the game, this web series racks. When it become about real life type stuff the show devolves into the most cliched, over written melodrama I have seen in a long time.

There are some shows, like Oh Brother, that have a charm and naivete that makes them enjoyable even if they delve into some well worn territory. This show has proven it knows how to tell a story and set a mood, so to have such a paint by numbers and exposition laden emotional outburst just feels… I dunno. Cheap.

Sorry, guys. Like I said, the stuff about the game is amazing. Oh, and the opening sequence is awesome.

From Blip Description:

As Hicks had predicted, the decision to split the party results in disaster. When Jaz is unable to come up with a solution, Brian’s anger boils over and he forces an out-of-game confrontation.

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Tyranny Ep.4 “Crossing Wires” | A Web Series on The Watch List

Episode 4 of Tyranny the Web Series:
“Crossing Wires”
Monday November 22nd, 1999, 1:31pm: Daniel McCarthy is rigged up for the second half of Edson Cross’s neurological experiment at Berkeley. As the test proceeds, Edson finds Daniel is able to perform better than expected… at least until they skip ahead to something a little more complex.

4 Swirlies

“Wave vibrations. That’s all thoughts are, my friend.”

I really like this series, not least of which is they pick the pull quotes for me!

We’re back to the mysteriousness of the earlier episodes. While this episode isn’t my favourite so far, I’m eager to know what the end of it means. Is Daniel actually time traveling? Or is he seeing the future.

I think the casting of the scientist guy, Edson, is awesome, too.

So far there’s 15 episodes of Tyranny posted on YouTube, which I guess is the run of the series. This is one that I’m slowly looking forward to watching, more and more, each week.

Sorry about the dead air!

Hello!

Just a quick message to all our readers and subscribers to apologize about the lack of posting.

We’re back into the swing of things now, and you should expect regular posting from here on in! (Until real life stuff gets in the way again.)

I’m going to catch up on The Friday Night Playlist next week, so it’ll come out next Thursday and cover all the shows we have released since our last Friday Night Playlist. It’ll be a good one!

Thanks so much!

The Watcher

Naomi The Show: Ep. 1

In Episode 1, Naomi gets a bus stop proposition.

3 Swirlies

“Okay, six dollars.”

Wow, Vancouver looks beautiful!  Okay, I’m easily distracted.  But visually, this episode—basically one long shot—was to the point, and had the audience asking way more questions than you’d ever imagine from one shot.

Like, why is the young lady sitting next to a bum?  Is that pee running down his jeans?  Is that mountain in the background really that pretty?  (Yes.  Yes, it is.)

All besides the point.  But gotta love the attention to visual detail—the audience always appreciates a little extra funny tucked in there by the filmmakers, especially when it concerns character.

Because this episode was less than a minute (almost like a commercial spot), there wasn’t a whole lot of time to get into either character or story—which is why the visual gags become even more important.

Naomi, the young lady/protagonist, doesn’t even speak in this episode, which is a challenging and an interesting choice by the filmmakers.  Does it work?  I’m not quite sure.  I have an inkling of who this character might be, but no overt confirmation.

But this was just a tease—a brief snapshot and joke– setting up the audience’s expectations for the rest of the series, which we imagine will follow Naomi on her day-to-day encounters with weird people in the city of Vancouver?

There’s really not enough to go on based on this first episode, but I’m definitely open to checking out the next one!

Created by Naomi Dayneswood & Jennica Harper
Director: Nicholas Humphries
Writer: Jennica Harper
Producers: Robert Woolsey & Naomi Dayneswood
Starring: Naomi Dayneswood & Alex Dafoe
Director of Photography: Christopher Charles Kempinski
Editor: Chad Galloway
Sound Design: Michael Scott Schrum
Makeup Design: Alyssa Satow & Katie Satow
Title Credit Design: Christopher Preksta
Music Composer: Chris King
Proudly Supported by Vancouver Film School – http://www.vfs.com

Throwing Stones: Ep. 1

Throwing Stones is a horror story about a group of high schoolers who have to attend Saturday School and find they must work together to overcome their differences in over to survive when students end up missing. As if, high school wasn’t scary enough! The series stars Lindsay Seidel (Lionsgate hit The Final), Cherami Leigh (The Mist, Fast Food Nation, HBO’s Temple Grandin), Rebekah Kennedy (upcoming horror features Blood is Blood, House Hunting, and Season of the Witch w/ Nic Cage), Chad Cox (Powder, ER, Spin City, The Good Guys), and Kayla Carlyle (From the Dark), Lynn Andrews III (MTV’s: High School Stories). Writers Bart D. Van Bemmel and Jason A. Wheeler have five feature-length screenplays in production including their dark comedies BUTTERSCOTCH, SWISHER, ANGELS AND DUST, their teen comedy RUSHED, and their teen horror THROWING STONES (which this web series if based on).

More info below…

4 Swirlies

“Do you think they’re coming back?”

This first episode actually had me scared for the teen characters.  Not an easy thing to accomplish.  It begins fast and furious—with a girl running (for her life).  Classic horror genre stuff.  But it’s done well.  The episode is shot well.  The “horror” music fits the tense situation.  It never feels corny or campy.

Most of that credit goes to the young actors, who give convincing performances (kudos to casting).  We really believe that their lives are in danger, and that some mysterious killer named “Beckett” is after them.

But this episode definitely is in the “tease” camp.  There’s just enough here to hook us, and keep us watching.  We don’t learn anything about the characters or why they’re in this situation—we’re thrown into the middle of the action, which is great for a change.  We’re trusting that this promising start will lead to a worthwhile story.  Fingers crossed.

On a side note, I’m intrigued that this web series announces itself as being based on a feature screenplay written by the two creators.  I wonder if they adapted it to fit the web series format, or if they simply filmed scenes directly from the script.

Either way, I’m hooked.  Can’t wait to see if these teens make it out alive or not.

More info:

Win SWAG while Watching the “Throwing Stones” LIVE beginning Wednesday January 5, 2011 8 PM EST from CCS.com, Eastbay.com, Creative Labs and ComfyGirl.com at http://www.minglemediatv.com/Throwing… The eight episodes that make up the series will be released on a regular schedule and available on-demand.
To find out more about “Throwing Stones” visit: http://www.throwingstoneswebseries.com.

Follow on Twitter @StonesWebSeries or LIKE us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/throwingstone…

Western X: Ep. 1 “X Marks The Beginning”

“X Marks The Beginning” – On the plains of a desert wasteland, a man known only as X is on the verge of death. Among a pile of dead bodies he awakens, with no memories of his past and hunted by an unknown enemy, he struggles to uncover the truth behind his identity; this is the beginning of his journey.

2 Swirlies

“The four evils will unite and the darkness will surrender.”

The only reason this episode got 2 swirlies instead of one is that, despite the general lack of action or story, I’m a sucker for a good mystery.  Good being the key word there.

So far, this first episode is all tease.  It starts off with dead bodies in the desert—always a great hook!  But it also does something else: inflict the longest opening credits ever upon the audience.  I know this is a Western, and pacing tends to be leisurely in the genre, but having titles interrupt the opening scene past the two minute mark is a bit… distracting.

Visually, the filmmakers put a lot of effort into the beer-bottle look of this series, and there’s some interesting “experimental-ish” sound and picture editing here (a necessity since there is no dialogue)—used to convey the main protagonist’s madness or confusion or amnesia or… something.  Guess we’ll find out later!

The episode also ends with more violence, another dead body, and much general story confusion.  In fact, clarity is this episode’s enemy.  The audience has no real idea what’s going on, and if you didn’t read the episode description beforehand, you’d be totally lost.

As one of the first title cards reads: “The Mystery Begins Now.”  The filmmakers seemed to have put a lot of effort into the technical aspects of this series, so let’s hope that the story and mystery live up to these efforts in the episodes to come.