SIEGE TV: My Web Series

Siege

Just sharing a new series of video game, comic and movie inspired web shorts my roommate and I are making. Releasing new episodes every week. Something to do while I save up money to finish the Automata short I was working on (it's not dead, I swear!). All the shorts are one shots and completely unrelated to one another.

Would love any feedback on the episodes. They're usually filmed on a Wednesday and ready to by the follow Monday (our intended release date). This last episode ("Side Effects May Vary") actually crashed on me after about 5-6 hours of editing, so I had to redo all my work in a day and half. Ended up missing a few things as a result. All shot with practically no budget (aside from pizza money) and whoever is around town that's willing to help (and is fine with getting paid with food).

The goal is to keep making these in order to constantly challenge myself (as I do all the editing, filming, etc.) so that I can become better at what I do.

Anyway, here's the channel. If you like it, go subscribe! If you hate it, then I still love you.
http://www.youtube.com/user/SIEGETelevision

And here's the first two episodes:

That Familiar Monster...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c146mKaqX60&feature=channel_video_title

Side Effects May Vary

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7AbIe9T3fms&feature=relmfu

Domestic Dispute: Tactics

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhMuKWyEwZw&feature=channel_video_title

Verbal Assault

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbuU22LjcC4&feature=channel_video_title

Ouija Rather?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRDt9AwcvsI&feature=channel_video_title

Deus Ex: Augmentations

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63ma-aq7OI8

SUCCESS!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RuopCcKd4yY&feature=player_embedded

"Deus Ex: Augmented" (Web Series - Part 1)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPRl-xpidzA

m3nace

In "Side effects may vary", I feel it could become a great joke in itself if it was just cut off right at "yeah, I'm definitely feeling something". Either way I suppose there wouldn't be much editing value in that, this is some great editing though. They feel a bit serious and tense though, is that on purpose?

Siege

Thanks for watching them! They're not meant to be any sort of "way," really. My humor is fairly dry and/or dark, so it might be that seeping through?

And yeah, I think that originally was the idea with it cutting off then "BOOM!". I forget why we changed that, honestly. Haha.

m3nace

What I was thinking was just plain cutting it off at "I'm definitely feeling something" and no "BOOM". As if he actually didn't get any superpowers at all.
The first one could also have been ended with the main character going afk while still having his mic on and screaming "mom! stop talking on the phone while I'm playing with my friends" or something like that - maybe just a plain out "mom!" and cut off right there. Humor sometimes needs to hit you in the face instead of seeping slowly into you... Guess there's a reason it's called a punchline

Siege

Ah, gotcha. We really wanted to all three of us to die in the powers one, though.

m3nace

Yeah I get that, it can get a little boring if you're the one that doesn't get to have superpowers. And there'd also be less meat for the editing skills to feed on.

amateurhour

I loved "side effects may vary"

When the first dude went bamf and then appeared falling out of the sky I was pretty hooked. The whole thing was clever and pretty morbid and the bit about buying "buy two get one free" super powers on craigslist made me laugh.

My only critique with it is the timing of the knife. The juice moves just a little bit, and then the knife flies off the rack and spins a bit and the guy controlling it has time to realize what's going on but still has an outstretched hand, presumably trying to stop it I guess. It just felt a little misplaced, like maybe if the juice moved a little and then BAM! knife through the chest, or even the knife not moving at all (because everyone looking at it saw it coming) but the kitchen sink gets ripped from the wall and crushes the guy.

It was still great, just my .02

The first video about the lag was also good but when shown it plays out like a more dramatic piece than a humorous one. Maybe either make a joke about the mom on the phone like m3nace said or make it much more dark and brooding and terrifying and then just play off the lag angle at the end. Like the guy isn't just alone in the forest, it actually gets like pitch black dark and gruesome skies of death are sweeping in when the lag hits.

Still though, they were really good and the visuals were very impressive. I'm still amazed at what can be done with sfx on a budget these days.

Siege

Glad you enjoyed them. Thanks for the response!

The knife thing didn't really turn out how I wanted (the effect did, sort of, but not the whole scene itself). The idea was that he can't actually control the powers (like everyone in the short, they get powers but no control over them) and couldn't stop it (he wasn't even trying to pull it). Should have had some darker liquid in the glass to make it more visible, too. The kitchen sink thing would have been funnier, but I'm not good enough to pull that off yet. Challenge accepted!

Filming on the first video got kind of rushed, honestly. I live in South GA and we filmed that during one of those "Why is it 100 degrees?!" days, so, we were trying to get in and out fast.

Iruka

These are way better than I was expecting, which is awesome. I think the behind the eye effects are your worst, right now. The edge is a little harsh, and there's no depth to it, some shadow around the edge of the effect would help.

Siege

Yeah, I didn't like how that turned out either. Originally, I wanted to motion track burnt out eye sockets onto my eyes (the dude with the bandanna is me, btw) but I've never done that before. In the end, time just got the better of it and I had to settle for that effect to keep a Monday release schedule. Trying really hard to make sure that we release every Monday reliably.

Also would have helped if I had done some practical make up to show burn marks around my eyes, but we didn't think about it at the time. Oh well. That's why we're doing it though. To learn from mistakes like this so we can make the next episode better.

Thanks for checking them out!

Heartlash

You're like 90% there with your editing as well, there's just an ever so slight amount of audio "clipping" that happens between a few shots. Around 0:49 in "side effects may vary" is a good example. Smoothing those out would help give everything a more professional feel.

Also, during some of your conversation sequences, you spend a little too much time on individual heads. Try adding a few more shots of the entire group during a conversation, or reaction shots while someone else is talking. It may help smooth everything out.

Keep it up, these are pretty great so far.

Siege

Thanks for the response. The audio is a weak point of mine. I'll try to improve on that in this week's episode.

And noted about cutting back to a wide shot more. I'll try to remember to keep the cuts a little more dynamic.

Cheers!

Mabelma

This videos are really funny. I do agree about the cutting it off before the boom thing but everything else it's great. All in all they feel polished, great editing, great camera work. Really great stuff, keep it up.

Siege

Newest episode updated on the main post. Final Fantasy themed this go around. Sound took a beating because it took me so long to edit the VFX.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhMuKWyEwZw&feature=channel_video_title

Iruka

Minor Nerdy thing, but I would have much preferred the final fantasy style battle swirl, or battle pixelation, to the fighting game vs. Other than that and your already pointed out sound, I like it.

I might make your links at the end show up a few seconds later, because it takes away some of the punch of the smoke.

m3nace

Sword effect was really cool.

Siege

Thanks for watching, guys!

@Iruka: Yeah, that transition would have been better. Was planning on going from the VS. thing to that, but ti got forgotten in order to get it up on a Monday.

@m3nace: Thanks! I was really proud of it. It's supposed to be an Everquest reference, but the girl's head blocks the "Summon" name ("Fiery Avenger") and I didn't notice till the final cut.

Mabelma

That was really good, I think so far it's the best one of the three. Great VFx and to tell you the truth the sound although a little static-ky did not bother me. Keep up the great work and maybe try getting a sponsor for this videos, they show potential and I could see them in sites like collegehumor, machicinima, or dorkly. Keep at it.

Siege

Thanks! I'd love to get a sponsor, heh. We'd like to apply for a YouTube partnership eventually, but I don't want to try until we've had a few more videos up to prove that we update regularly.

Mabelma

That's the best idea. Also a suggestion, try making a buffer, 2 or 3 episodes you can post while you're working on new stuff. Also keep a consistent updating schedule, twice a month, once a month, weekly. Pick one and stick to it.

Siege

We're trying for once a week (every Monday, so far). I'm pretty dedicated to that schedule. I'd love to get a few episodes ahead, but right now we barely have enough time to get one in before the week's up with our other jobs. Would love to somehow turn this into a full time job, heh.

Mabelma

Right now, that's thinking too far ahead but it's possible. Just focus on pushing out amazing content. That's the key to all of it, if you have an amazing series (so far it's very good) fans, money, and everything you need to make it a full time job will come.

Weekly updates is the best schedule you can possibly have for a web series, just commit and don't let your fans down, but when you do have time try to make that buffer cause if by some reason or other you can't update on Monday you'll have the buffer to rely on.

amateurhour

Another great episode, although ending it with the girlfriend summoning "ex BF" to simply knock out the current boyfriend would have been funnier, although the sfx with the sword were well done.

My only gripe (and it's minor, I'm sorry) is that while I know these are your friends and yourself and not actors, the dialogue in the first two flowed much better than the dialogue in this one. All of the lines felt very forced and over-rehearsed than they did previously.

Still awesome though, and I'm looking forward to seeing more.

Heartlash

Siege wrote: »

We're trying for once a week (every Monday, so far). I'm pretty dedicated to that schedule. I'd love to get a few episodes ahead, but right now we barely have enough time to get one in before the week's up with our other jobs. Would love to somehow turn this into a full time job, heh.

Consider Blip.tv.

Their CPM shares are reportedly as high at $10-15 if you optimize your ad settings. Then again, it's better to estimate lower.

If you build a solid audience you could start generating sustainable revenue, though you'd probably need 100K + views per episode assuming you're just doing 1 per week. Honestly I think you could pull that off, though. The quality of the series is high enough.

EDIT:

Also, ep 3 is quite good. The effects are really impressive. The only problem is the pacing. Just about everything is a bit too slow. Several cuts have 1-2 seconds of superfluous time after what should be immediate reactions. I think you could probably shave easily 40-45 seconds off the whole thing and it would still get all of the same bits across, but with a more active, engaging pace.

Siege

Thanks for letting me know about blip.tv! I hadn't heard of it. Signed up last night and just got the three videos uploaded.

Heartlash

Siege wrote: »

Thanks for letting me know about blip.tv! I hadn't heard of it. Signed up last night and just got the three videos uploaded.

Very cool, I've been strongly considering them for a new series a friend and I are developing. What's your URL on there?

EDIT: This is also a helpful read: http://support.blip.tv/entries/80225-optimizing-your-show-s-revenue

Siege

That was, indeed, a helpful read. Just requested to have my YouTube account connected to the blip one as well. Here's my URL:

http://blip.tv/siege

I'm really hoping to do some more action-style videos soon. Haven't been able to cause my foot's been broken (in the 2nd one, I roll over the couch and you can see me wearing a boot on my left foot, heh). Already have 2 planned out, but I have to be able to move with the camera as I'm the behind the scenes guy and Bryan, the black haired dude, is the face, so to speak.

Lady Eri

I think the main character is really handsome and needs to date me at PAX.

Siege

Haha, I'll pass that on to him.

Siege

No new video this week. Been a rough last week for myself and I just didn't have the time (job and shit events in social life). So, since we don't want that to interfere again, we're going to film a few episodes this week to get a back log of videos going. Also give us some time to work on a few of the more difficult ideas we have come up with.

Sorry for the let down. We'll be back next Monday, though.

Siege

New episode, finally. Bit of a change of pace. Had some complications with sound and battery life, causing us to rush the ending bits a little, but I'm moderately happy with the results. I'm the moron in the jacket with the terrible insults. Action would have been better but I still have a broken big toe on my left foot that I can't press on and Bryan, the guy normally in the video, was out of town when we were shooting. Anyway, here it is.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbuU22LjcC4

Really opened my eyes to how I desperately need to work on my sound library, as this was the first video I'd done with any kind of gun sounds.

Heartlash

Definitely your most polished so far. Very nice.

Siege

Thanks man. Had to get out of that apartment location. Next week's is right back in there (we already filmed it). The video noise we get every time we shoot in the apartment makes me angry.

m3nace

Love the expressions when they're shooting.

Siege

So...

BIG NEWS: We're making an inFamous short film.

Here's our prototype for the "Amp" weapon from inFamous 2. This was made purely for sizing reasons. We needed to make sure that the measurements we had created were correct with something cheap, like PVC, before spending some money on actual metal pipes and the finer details. I think a little fine tuning is in order, but, overall, I'm pretty happy with it.



This will NOT affect our weekly schedule. It will, rather, be something that we work on in the meantime while still keeping with our regular output.

Lady Eri

Very cool.

Siege

New video!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRDt9AwcvsI&feature=channel_video_title

bobsbarricades

i really enjoyed watching those. The last one was kind of weak but I'm excited to see more. sub'd!

Siege

Thanks! Appreciate the sub VERY much. It always makes us smile when we get a new one.

If all goes well this weekend, the next video will be much better. Well, it'll be much better if you like Deus Ex, anyway.

bobsbarricades

who doesn't like Deus Ex?! honestly haven't played it yet. I played HL+Daggerfall at that time and computer time was limited. Should probably get a hi-rez mod for original and play through. too many games already 0.o

Mabelma

Last video was good, not the best one but a really nice concept. Can't wait to see this week's episode.