#scary amount of hours on visual novels that do not require that amount of hours. anyway bustafellows was my second most played game. . .

[rinmemesuoka]

opening my nintendo switch year in review and looking through my fingers because i recall that i play videogames for a podcast

[cloudxdreamer-blog]

Dangerous Fellows - Review

Released on the fitting day of October 31st, Dangerous Fellows is a zombie survival game by Lucydream! It was released for both Android and iOS and is the first global release for this developer.

The premise is basically that you are a high school survivor during a sudden zombie apocalypse and while looking for some resources you stumble on a group of 5 good looking guys, all the same age. They save you from a zombie encounter and take you back to their base, where you meet other survivors around the same age as you.

There are some major spoilers abound, so read at your own risk underneath the cut

So, let me start off by saying that it’s been a while a game has hooked me this badly. The biggest thing here is that you actually could potentially run through the story in a matter of hours, but you’d have to pay. Now, going free to play isn’t completely impossible, but it will take a considerable stretch of time. You can get rubies every day, which helps, but you would definitely be playing a serious waiting game if you just waited for those.

Let’s talk about gameplay a little bit here. It’s a visual novel, so at it’s most basic you pick a choice and depending on what you pick, you get a certain amount of affection points with one of the love interests and if you accumulate enough points you can get their ending. You can get these items called ‘hints’ that basically tell you which choice will yield the most affection points, or which is the ‘best’ choice. You’ll have 3 critical episodes where you’ll be in some dangerous situations that call for a couple things. One is an outfit that’s appropriate for the situation (which requires rubies to purchase), and then you’ll have time limited choices you need to make. I saved a lot of my hints for those as you only have a few seconds. I didn’t quite learn yet what happens if you make a wrong choice though ... but selecting the best choice results in an affection increase with all the love interests!

During some of the episodes you’ll also encounter some ruby choices. Selecting those nets you some extra affection with the love interest who is giving this choice and gives you an extra scene with them. Are they worth it? Well~ that’s primarily subjective, as you can raise their affection by giving them items. Items can be obtained by doing repairs around the school, which take 3 hours, and you can get items and hints from that.

Basically, unless if you’re very patient, you will probably end up spending some money on this game.

Now, moving onto the actual story ...

I love it.

I did not expect to love it as much as I did.

I’m a pretty big scaredy cat when it comes to horror games, so I wasn’t sure if I’d even finish this, but none of the art is scary. Even though there’s zombies, the sprites for them are pretty generic, which works in my favor since I don’t have to look at something too scary. The sounds definitely help make up for it, and I recommend headphones when playing! The music and sounds really add to the chilly atmosphere of the story and I don’t find the music to be too repetitive.

There aren’t really a whole lot of variations with choices. The story stays fairly the same regardless of affection levels and you get two patrol episodes that lets you spend some extra time with your chosen love interest. The thing with those is that since there’s progression of time as you go through the episodes, if you want to unlock one love interest’s illustrations, you’d have to do both patrol episodes with them and their ending. If you choose one love interest for the first patrol episode you’d get their first illustration. If you choose a different one for the second patrol episode, you’ll get their second illustration.

Regardless, their nice little vignettes to get to know the characters and while I do like them, they do sometimes feel like a hard turn from the main story. Then again, sometimes you need some levity in a story like this. The story is pretty depressing. These are essentially kids who are in a very stressful situation and the future looks terribly bleak. Their dinners consist of buns and candy bars because there’s nothing else for them they can really eat that will last.

On top of their isolation and the whole zombie problem, there’s another problem. When one of the survivors go missing, tensions start to rise, and you watch as the already small group starts to disintegrate further and further.

For me, that’s when the story started to really pick up and I wanted to know what happens next? It’s not until near the end that you find out if there are other survivors outside of the school or if there’s any hope for these kids. The ending I found was a little anticlimactic. It happened very quickly, and if you’re hoping for something really sappy and romantic, this really isn’t it. However, I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing either. For starters, they are pretty much strangers who happened to get through a very tense situation together and saw it through to the end. If anything really romantic was going to happen, I’d assume it would be after things settle down. The biggest miss for me is that there’s still a mystery that is left unresolved with the ending, but I assume it gets figured out the more endings you finish.

So, with that said, as an otome game ehhhhhhh I mean, it falls a little short. It’s not bad, but if you want your romance fix, this definitely isn’t it.

However, if you want a good thriller, I definitely think this fits the bill.

I still have some more endings I need to get so I might revisit this again in the future.

[jonathanraychapman]

My Thoughts on Current FGO

I’ve been playing Fate Grand Order (a mobile game) since a few months after it came out.  While I don’t want to throw out a monetary number, I’ve spent nearly as much money as Touhou or Shotgun Shogun on this game.  I’ve played every event except the first Nerofest - leveling up characters and skills along the way.  I’ve been following the anime series since it first came out and that’s first and foremost what got me into this game.  I play the game quite a bit.  It’s how I start my morning.  Sometimes it’s how I spend my lunch (jamming to music in my car and playing the game to get away from the office).  I often play the game while watching movies or videos or while hiking.  It’s something I can do with my mobile phone to pass the time.

Anyways, here’s some of my thoughts on the game.  This is partially to explain my position playing it to people that follow me and partially to give Shotgun Shogun some ideas for talking to the creators at anime conventions.

Things I like about the game:  

The Flexible Difficulty:  It’s as hard or as easy as you make it out to be.  If you’re in the farming mood you can either brute-force the game with your powerful servants or take your time and use the less-used characters in your roster (with more-casual characters that have fun interactions).  This customization of gameplay is extended - based on the class system and ability to use command seals.   If those archers are too easy, then fight them with a neutral class.  Really want a challenge?  Bring your sabers to fight the uphill battle.  This carries over to events with the different tiers and challenge quests.  I do wish the tiers had some niche or reason to play them for flavor or secondary advantage.

The Humor:  The translations are pretty good overall and some of the dialogs or in-jokes in the game are fun.  Sometimes I wish that - story-wise - FGO would dial things back to scary or dramatic or intense more.  You get a little taste of this sometimes (like Liz’s scenes during the Kara no Kyoukai event - where she realizes what she’s done in her lore).  While I enjoy my Tamamo/Kiyo memes or Blackbeard lolli humor, I want more balance.  The Camelot storyline was a pretty good example of how things should be while the London story was not great.  If you were just playing the game you might not get the dramatic story behind characters (it’s like FGO is just the meme version of the series).

The Art:  I think the game does a fantastic job on the details in the backgrounds.  And I like the different art on the characters and their noble phantasms.  The music is great too (especially some of the event music), but I mostly leave the sound turned off (since non-skippable NP animations get really repetitive).

The Lore:  The lore of the series is a huge part of the appeal of this game.  And it’s not necessarily even done by the game as much as the anime and visual novel games that precede it.  It’s fine for the game to ride on the coat-tails of the story as long hints to character lore are preserved out (and they are for the most part).  I do get the feeling that the mobile game is sort of a meme of Fate moreso than I would have expected.  That might be because half of the events are around holidays and those really are where the game breaks the fourth wall (it’s also mostly what I remember because of all the grinding).

Things I dislike about the game:

Lack of Player Interactions:  The only way we have to interact with other players in the game is through the friends list and guest system.  Unless you know people in real life, this make the game overall a pretty cold experience.  I know the can of worms that having chat would open up, but man it would be nice to let people know what you like and maybe don’t like about their servant lineup.  I’d also love to add different kinds of supports.  I want to share Tamamo for arts teams to use while having Waver for other teams.  I’d like to share my Nero Bride for her skills while letting people use my Okita for stars or for her NP damage (or my Saber Artoria for farming).  A friend can only bring one of your servants (and it’s mandatory) so why not give them more options?

Lack of Company/Community Communication:  So I have watched the convention events when I could to see what’s coming up, but those are far and few between (and there’s been a lot of problems with news being held back because of a convention).  That’s just not how to run things - especially online.  The communication just really isn’t there with the player base and it hasn’t gotten better.  Often the twitter account will post about events that started days ago so if I had relied on that for news, I would be in a bad spot (I’d be a couple of days behind on farming an event).  And the events are kind of odd (like last year’s Thanksgiving banner).  When seeing announcements through streams, It’s like watching the event in another country (maybe because there’s a lot of Japanese and a lot of translating and it’s not done very well).  I get the voice actors being Japanese and I get that the game is natively Japanese in origin, but this is the US market and a US port/translation of the game.  Please get a more-native PR spokesperson that’s also enthusiastic about the game and add more polish to these announcements.

Can’t Skip Noble Phantasm Animations:  I’ve read about this being a purposeful decision and I get that the company wants players to take time to watch the art for the experience (and likely psychological reasons), but after seeing the Arash explosion for the literal 1000th time, it’s not adding to my experience.  And that’s a quick animation.  There’s also the animations that seem to take forever (like the Lancer Artoria one).  I wish that tapping the screen would somehow shorten the NP.  Also, often when the animation finishes, I can barely see the numbers on the damage before the whole screen wipes.  Sometimes I’m trying to figure out if an enemy was demonic by testing it with a NP or skill and it’s just hard to with the NP animation obfuscating things.  It would also be great to be able to see the traits of enemies.  I’d like to know if a skeleton is a humanoid because my Florence gets a buff against that type.  Or I’d like to know if the Skeleton King is considered demonic to use my Rama against.  I know later in Japan we get to see the crit star distribution, but I’m not sure if we ever get to see attributes.

Gatcha System Too Greedy (And the Statistics Inaccurate):  FGO is a gambling game and I totally get that.  The company might not want to admit that too freely out of fear or regulation, but the players know it’s about getting players to spend money to roll for characters.  I absolutely enjoy spending money and gambling for characters and I’m fine with it being this way.  But the rates are just really bad and the side-rewards (i.e. CE/Character cards you burn) don’t justify the expenditure.  I don’t want to dwell on this too much because I’m sure others have called it out, but the game gives too little back while gambling.  When you do a 10-spin and get a minimum roll (meaning a 4-star junk CE), it really feels like you got cheated.  I also frequently have one five-star character on rate-up - meaning I have a 0.07% chance of rolling them, only to go through two or three other five-star servants before getting the one on rate-up (and the chance of that is extremely low).  I know it’s not just my bad luck.  There’s definitely something wrong with the rate-up statistics posted (I’ve just seen it happen too many times over thousands and thousands of quartz).   Also, the banners could be tweaked to let people have a good chance one one servant or the other.  When you put up a banner with two five-stars on rate-up (one of which I don’t exactly like or I already have a NP5 of), it’s not a banner I’m going to roll on.

Farming Materials Too Tedious:  I get that you need long-term goals to feel like you’re progressing as a player, but some of the materials requirements are just kind of ridiculous in regards to the amount of time needed.  When you grind a free node with a supposed 19% chance to drop crystals for 8 hours to maybe get 10 crystals (when you need 20 per skill), that’s just not fun.  It’s also ridiculous when an event drops and gives you easy access to crystals or the rate is now 60% or you can buy 10 from the shop for basically nothing.  It just doesn’t feel rewarding and it makes you have to grind the game when you don’t really want to (especially around holidays).  That’s just too much of a grind for most players and it takes a toll on me as well.  Take hearts for example.  Right now, you can spend a whole day and maybe get one heart from a caster daily node.  So you basically have to get these during events or from their shops.  And there’s a lot of servants requiring a lot of hearts.

I’ll be honest.  I’ve either burned or not rolled for characters after looking at their materials requirements (Tristran I’m looking at you).  I don’t want that character sitting in my roster with low skills and I don’t want to grind it out to increase their skills if they’re just not good.  So I just avoid the whole thing (especially if they’re not someone I exactly care for).  The same is true for characters that just have really weak kits but high-end requirements (like Stheno).

Can’t Really Customize Characters:  I know we get a few some skins/costumes later-on, but more of this would be a really welcome addition to the game.  Maybe just being able to change colors on the outfits or buy skins would do so much to make the game feel more personable.  If part of the appeal of this game is the waifu thing, then why not lean into this area more and make some money.  And if it was implemented, let it be a DLC type of purchase instead of a gatcha thing.  Or maybe it could be a secondary reward for excess servants or gold mana prisms - like something to do with the 11th copy of Fion you’ve picked up.  Every character in the game should have alternate costume/skin options.

[scifihorroradventure]

IT (1990)

In the small town of Derry, Maine, an ancient evil makes its presence known, slaughtering multiple children. Recognizing the pattern, Mike (Tim Reid) calls his old childhood friends Bill (Richard Thomas), Ben (John Ritter), Beverly (Annette O'Toole), Richie (Harry Anderson), Eddie (Dennis Christopher), and Stanley (Richard Masur) and tells them that "it" has returned. Though glad to hear from him again, they are terrified of the memories that come flooding back to them, as together they all faced the same evil when they were children - A murderous clown known as Pennywise (Tim Curry). The group eventually conquered their fears and defeated the beast, sending it into a deep slumber, but their fears quickly resurface when faced with the prospect of dealing with Pennywise once again. Reuniting in Derry, the adult Losers Club prepare to defeat Pennywise once and for all, even as the clown preys upon every fear they've ever had...

A two part television adaptation of Stephen King's famous novel, It definitely has its heart in the right place, but is unfortunately besieged by a series of problems. One of the biggest of these becomes almost immediately apparent in the first few attack scenes involving the girl on the tricycle and the flashback with Georgie - The movie can't show anything. Each time Pennywise attacks anyone in this movie, he either only sticks around long enough to give them a quick scare, or the aftermath of his attack is never shown. As such, despite how fearsome the clown is supposed to be, he never really accomplishes anything, making him seem scary, yet ultimately ineffective at... anything, really. Yes, this was intended for television and not a theatrical release, thus they could not show carnage one might expect to see on the silver screen, but this was still a feature length film adaptation of a Stephen King novel intended for adults, and the movie fails to show a level of 'gore' one might expect to see on detective shows of the time like Columbo or Murder, She Wrote. Frankly, when Henry Bowers gets stabbed near the end of the movie, it's almost out of place in this otherwise non-violent film. It's almost enough to ask the question "If they couldn't do It justice, why bother?"

The second largest problem is that the adult sections of the film are massively uneventful and almost feel like filler. It takes forever for the adult Losers Club to finally reunite, and when they do they spend an incredible amount of time just sitting around, either worrying about Pennywise or remembering about when they used to worry about Pennywise as children but never actually doing anything, despite destroying Pennywise being the entire reason they returned to Derry! It’s also odd that, while understandable that they would be creeped out at the prospect of fighting Pennywise again (who wants to fight an evil alien demon clown twice?), no one brings up the train of thought “We beat him as kids, why should we be worried now?” There's also the head scratcher that they all came to destroy Pennywise once and for all but didn't actually bring anything to help get the job done (a fact that the movie brings up via Richie and then immediately ignores). Now, as children, this makes total sense - things like slingshots would be the only thing they have access to. But as adults? They should have been packing guns, hunting knives, swords, axes, machetes, bows and arrows, crossbows, or hell, even baseball bats! Instead, all they bring is Beverly's old slingshot and Eddie's inhaler. Literally over half of the Losers Club didn't even bring weapons of any kind. Aside from this, the movie also suffers from being unable to decide what to adapt and what to leave out from King's novel - The flashback sequences feel like they're being rushed so the film can return to modern day, while the modern day scenes feel like they're being rushed so the film can begin the next flashback. It's this odd rushing of scenes that result in several pivotal plot points like the kids realizing what Pennywise truly is, and even their ultimate (childhood) showdown with him in the sewers, being hurried to and then being done with before they've barely even begun. Meanwhile, sequences like Ben's family troubles, Bill and Mike messing around on Bill's old bicycle, and adult Ben watching a child being attacked by bullies (and not helping) are given ample screen time. Amazingly, despite the film being over three hours long, it feels incredibly rushed and disjointed.

Overall, the cast is serviceable. The kids do alright, in particular Jonathan Brandis and a young Seth Green as Bill and Richie, though Eddie (Adam Faraizl) and Stan (Ben Heller) never really get a chance to shine over the others at any point. Jarred Blancard as the young Henry Bowers does well, effectively portraying an incredibly nasty young man (though thanks to this being television, he never does anything too nasty). As far as the adult cast goes, they almost all have odd, even awkward introductions, such as Beverly being stuck in an abusive, 50 Shades-esque relationship, or Ben trying to turn his date on by discussing how fat he used to be as a child. Richard Thomas as Bill is a decent, if slightly bland lead, responsible for a couple meta Stephen King in-jokes which are funny at first but then just become annoying by the end. Despite having interesting characters, John Ritter and Annette O'Toole just feel kinda there as Ben and Beverly. Harry Anderson as Richie probably shows the most personality out of the adults, while Richard Masur as Stanley doesn't even get to do anything before he's killed off. Tim Reid's Mike seems like he's going to be a major player in the story, as he is responsible for recognizing that Pennywise has returned and summoning the rest of the Losers Club, but is injured and removed from the story not too long before the climax, while Dennis Christopher's Eddie is killed off almost as an afterthought. Ultimately, the actors are good, but none of them really have any interesting material to work with, resulting in most of the scenes being rather boring to watch.

Of course, the one thing this film is often remembered and praised for is Tim Curry's iconic performance as Pennywise the Dancing Clown. And honestly, this is one aspect where the film really does shine. As Pennywise, Curry exudes an air of utter menace and malice while also retaining plenty of clown-like playfulness. There are a few instances where he threatens to go overboard with the silliness (such as when he taunts adult Richie in the library), but they never cross the line. Pennywise's scenes are the only time where the movie actually starts to become creepy, but unfortunately he is never on screen long enough for the atmosphere to take full effect. And lastly, while the unveiling of Pennywise's true form was necessary for the climax of the story, it does suffer from a total lack of Tim Curry during the encounter, and while the Spider's design is decent, the puppet's movement is laughably stiff and it features amusingly large, Cookie Monster-like eyes that are focused on very clearly in a few shots. If only they had been able to find a way to work Curry into the monster's final scene, even just his voice. On the plus side, though, the effect of the shimmering light traveling through the sewers as Pennywise attacks and devours Belch is effectively unsettling, a rare case of keeping the monster off screen done right.

While the cast and crew give it their all, It ultimately falls short of what was required to bring Stephen King's novel to the big (or even small) screen, with director Tommy Lee Wallace and various members of the cast echoing these sentiments for a variety of reasons. While the film can be scary for younger viewers, it can be tedious and boring to older audiences, which would be bad enough if this were a regular length movie, but with the monstrous run time of 192 minutes (187 on the DVD), it can be a Herculean task to get through at times. Of course, one must watch this at least once if for no other reason than Tim Curry's amazing performance as Pennywise, but after that I can't honestly recommend watching this again for at least another twenty seven years.

Rating: ★★★

Cast: Tim Curry ... Pennywise the Dancing Clown Richard Thomas ... Bill Denbrough Jonathan Brandis ... Bill Denbrough (Age 12) Tim Reid ... Mike Hanlon Marlon Taylor ... Mike Hanlon (Age 12) Annette O'Toole ... Beverly Marsh Emily Perkins ... Beverly Marsh (Age 12) John Ritter ... Ben Hanscom Brandon Crane ... Ben Hanscom (Age 12) Harry Anderson ... Richie Tozier Seth Green ... Richie Tozier (Age 12) Dennis Christopher ... Eddie Kaspbrak Adam Faraizl ... Eddie Kaspbrak (Age 12) Richard Masur ... Stanley Uris Ben Heller ... Stanley Uris (Age 12) Michael Cole ... Henry Bowers Jarred Blancard ... Henry Bowers (Age 14) Olivia Hussey ... Audra Denbrough Tony Dakota ... Georgie Denbrough Chris Eastman ... Belch

Director: Tommy Lee Wallace. Producer: Mark Bacino (associate producer), Allen S. Epstein (executive producer), Jim Green (executive producer), and Matthew O'Connor (supervising producer). Writer: Tommy Lee Wallace (teleplay), Lawrence D. Cohen (teleplay), and Stephen King (original novel). Music: Richard Bellis. Special Effects: John Thomas (coordinator), John Deall (uncredited crew), Tony Lazarowich (uncredited assistant), Bob Comer (uncredited animatronics), Gene Warren Jr. (special visual effects supervisor: Fantasy II), David Emerson (uncredited optical camera), Michael Joyce (uncredited model shop supervisor), Bret Mixon (uncredited roto supervisor), and Tim Scannell (uncredited rotoscope artist and camera operator).

[aprilpillkington]

We’ve all become aware of new netflix show, and more so,...

We’ve all become aware of new netflix show, and more so, we’ve all most likely invested hours drew into the world of one TV show or another that comprises the steaming system’s extensive collection of material. With 75 million yearly customers, Netflix is a television powerhouse, house to some of the most high profile shows in presence. It is every television show maker’s dream to see their show sizzle in the houses of countless individuals throughout the world, and there is really no location preferred to make this take place than through Netflix … but getting this done is an exceptionally uphill struggle. How do you make it happen? It starts with the concept. You are going to need something pretty damn special, as the tv world has actually never been richer in imagination than it is today. But fresh ideas are out there, and if you believe you’ve got a good one then hang on to it firmly. You are going to have to flesh out your idea in detail, familiarizing yourself with all of the things your show would encompass, from characters to setting to style to plot. Getting your potential show out there does not mean you need to write a whole series worth of content, often you need only a terrific, well-thought out idea to hook the right people who can get you where you wish to go.

But, typically, you as the author will require to develop a coherent script for, at the very least, the pilot episode of your show. TV Production companies are rarely interested in an “concept”, as everybody has concepts. If you have the ability to swing into action and put your idea into a developed, thoughtful script, ideally a number of episodes, you are a lot more likely to catch the eye of a production business. These individuals wish to see that you have actually considered your concept and have adequate product to turn it into a possibly long-lasting television show. You are then going to want to contact a manufacturer or agent that finest matches the direction you see your show heading in. You should do comprehensive research to figure out which production companies and studios would be a great fit, who specifically you ought to get in touch with, how they like to be queried (email, fax, mail, and so on) and what exactly they are looking for in regards to material (comedy, drama, sci-fi, and so on) The absolute finest case situation is to pitch in person, if you can manage to find a connection to a producer or somehow handle to organize an in person conference– it is the simplest way to passionately pitch your show, and you will be there to be particular absolutely nothing is misunderstood and the agent/producer is clear on your ideas and visions. There are a variety of concerns you should definitely have the ability to respond to about your show prior to heading into a pitch. These include: How are your main characters and your characters’ world unique? How are these fantastic, intricate, conflicted, multi-layered, maybe flawed characters ones that the audience is able to end up being emotionally bought? Why do we care and why do we require to tell this story? What’s the tone of the show? Have the ability to compare to a netflix or movie if possible. Season one primary character arcs. An overview of the first season plot. How is this series sustainable over 100 episodes? (this is the golden mark to reach, because it’s where prod co’s can syndicate out the series; if you can’t show a minimum of a shred of wish to make 100 eps, it’s barely worth thinking about doing). How is this show various than shows of the same category that are on the air now? Specificity is essential. Who are your dream writers/directors/cast? (nearly every single tv show on the air has multiple writers/directors– so pick a few who are dealing with shows right now and think they ’d do well composing your show). Now, if you’ve got an agent/producer, preferably one who has ties with Netflix already, you are on track to getting your show on to Netflix’s radar. Your kind of representation will help in preparing your task to be pitched to the network. If this is successful, you will be able to sell your show to Netflix for a talked about sum of cash, along with work out a contract for an order number of episodes and payment as per the regards to the agreement. From there, it can take any amount of time to get your new netflix show up onto the TV screen, if it even makes it to that point. The TV industry is extremely unpredictable, with shows being picked up, produced and completely made only to be cancelled at the last moment.

How To Pitch A Show To Netflix?

Step 1: Think Up the Show. “Residue” began life as a concept in Harrison’s head. … Step 2: Financing the Show. The actual story covered by the very first 3 episodes of “Residue” is really various from Harrison’s preliminary strategy. … Step 3: Make the Show. … Step 4: Get the Show to Netflix. … Step 5: Make More of the Show(?). There are no set actions to creating a show and successfully getting it into the most sought-after streaming service. Numerous creators have actually taken various paths, as a great deal of it depends on connections/chance encounters, and what works for some people will not work for the other. It is very important to devote whatever you need to producing your show if this is something you really want to do, and following your gut and instinct in terms of picking a next action is exceptionally important. However, hopefully by following these steps you will give yourself the best possible possibility to make your tv-show deserving concept a truth. While the spring of 2015 has been controlled by Netflix releasing high profile series after high profile series, “House of Cards,” “Bloodline” and “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” aren’t the only new shows offered now for streaming. “ Residue,” created by John Harrison, premiered the other day on Netflix with 3 45 minute-long episodes. The genre series, starring “Game of Thrones” notables Natalie Tena and Iwan Rheon, tracks the aftermath of a devastating surge on the city of London and the government conspiracy that might be hiding the fact. (Netflix users might anticipate to see it as a recommended pick if they have actually enjoyed a great deal of “The X-Files” or other category programs.).

Via both phone and e-mail, Indiewire got a detailed breakdown of how “Residue’s” very first season arrived on the streaming giant, and what might take place next with the series. Step 1: Think Up the Show “ Residue” started life as an idea in Harrison’s head. He then brought it to manufacturer Charlotte Walls after a favorable experience working with her on the scary movie, “Clive Barker’s Book of Blood.” “ When [’ Book of Blood’] was ended up and launched, I went back to [Walls] and said, ‘Look, I have another concept that I truly want to do and I’m bringing it to you first because I would love to work with you people,’” he stated. And Harrison had a huge amount of product for the concept. “The thing I had actually visualized was quite a long story. The film that I was pitching them was essentially the start of the mythology, and with success we would have the opportunity to do more, so television sounded truly amazing to me, given how it has actually developed over the past numerous years– the novelization of television. Also, many of the networks are really getting creatively engaged with category product, which was not constantly real in the early 2000s and going back.” Step 2: Financing the Show The real story covered by the first three episodes of “Residue” is very different from Harrison’s preliminary plan. After optioning and establishing the product, manufacturer Charlotte Walls pertained to Harrison with the concept– and more notably, the cash– for a task that would function, in Harrison’s words, as “a proof-of-concept pilot.” “ Whenever someone states they have loan for production, you need to take it!” he said. According to Walls, “Residue” found its financing by means of International Pictures 4, Screen Yorkshire and Green Screen Studios. Due to the fact that a few of the money came from the UK, Harrison didn’t direct– they needed to make sure a certain percentage of the team was British. “We employed a really young gifted British director [Alex Garcia Lopez], who I had a great collaborative relationship with,” he said. “ [Lopez] is so key to the task, which brings his signature style. He was the hook for Iwan Rheon, who he worked with on 'Misfits,’” Walls stated. “ If we get to the next group and I’m able to compose them all and get them written before we get to production,” Harrison said, “Then it would be easier for me to drop back into the director’s chair.” Action 3: Make the Show sizzle

How do you bring on board understood players like Tena and Rheon? Harrison associated that to the script, along with its unconventional nature. “I think the combination of the product and the innovative group drew in all the talent. I believe everybody understood that we had fantastic ambitions for this also, so they wanted to get on board.” Those aspirations consisted of a non-traditional approach to the production, which caused a the project becoming both a netflix series and a film. “When we got it into post-production our supplier, Material Media, had a look at it and stated, 'Let’s … go straight to television,’” Harrison said. “So I wrote some extra scenes so we could pull, into these very first three episodes, a few of the larger conspiracy styles. We shot those and re-edited them into the 3 hours that are now airing on Netflix.”

“’ Residue’ is rather pioneering because it is genuinely multi-format,” Walls stated. “We scripted, shot and cut the project as a motion picture, which was released theatrically in the UK on March 20, 2015 on a minimal release. Whilst we were in post-production, we evaluated the product and decided to develop the three-parter as well, which was then offered to Netflix in this format particularly.” Step 4: Get the Show to Netflix How did that occur? Well, when “Residue” was completed in its newfound type as a television show, distributor Material Media brought the show to the October 2014 MIPCON, a trade show kept in Cannes that functions as a market for worldwide television. They likewise ensured that Netflix got an opportunity to see it in advance. “ That really began the sales pitch,” Harrison stated. “We had a number of entities who were interested in it, but Netflix wished to take it off the table.” The show is now offered for streaming in English-language territories; a global launch will present over the course of the year. In the meantime … Action 5: Make More of the Show(?). It’s actually just the start of the story, according to Walls. “’ Residue’ Season 1 is really an extended pilot and ought to be thought of that way,” she stated. “Netflix do not necessarily do the Amazon-style pilot season. However 'Residue’ is actually more in that design where these first three chapters are live before the existence of a full season.”.

How do I send something to Netflix?

Step 1– Improve Your Pitch For Netflix. Due to the fact that nearly every filmmaker dreams of getting a Netflix deal, there is an abundant supply of content. … Step 2– Discover An Aggregator or Distributor. … Step 3– Get An Action. Therefore the plan is to work towards a 10-episode 2nd season, and Netflix currently has the special alternative on it. Walls did clarify that since 10 episodes is a bigger dedication, there would have to be modifications. “Any full season would always be more standard in its financing as the general spending plan would be so much higher,” Walls said. “Netflix would be at the center of that financing plan from day one, for this reason the choice.”.

But independent funding has some benefits, and Harrison was happy with the experience: “It’s a great thing for someone like me, since creatively I’m solutioning to my partners as opposed needing to deal with a regular network structure. We made this without any disturbance from studios or networks. We were with the studio! That, to me, was really great.”

Four months after it was announced that Netflix would be investing CDN$ 500 million in original productions in Canada over a 5-year period, Netflix’s now previous VP of Content, Elizabeth Bradley, took the stage at Prime-time show in Ottawa to talk about how manufacturers can get their shows on the platform. It’s been 5 years because the commissioning of the very first Netflix Original series, Home of Cards, which had a spending plan of $100 million for 26 episodes. With its dependence on data that led to the show’s creation and promotion, Home of Cards marked a turning point in the way programs was made. Prior to the Canadian Netflix offer being announced, a variety of Canadian manufacturers had already had successful partnerships with Netflix. Some took the kind of extra windows for productions at first produced broadcasters while others were complete partnerships on Netflix Originals. To the latter category belong Travelers, Frontier, Alias Grace and the Anne of Green Gablesadaptation understood simply as Anne (when broadcast on CBC) or Anne with an E on Netflix. What is Netflix looking for?

When asked what Netflix is searching for in regards to category, Elizabeth Bradley replied “Whatever.”. Whether it’s sci-fi, a thriller, drama or funny or even a remake of Anne of Green Gables, she stated the key concerns writers and producers need to ask themselves are these: Why is it exciting? Why is it various? Bradley noted that once Netflix believes in the producer’s vision, the other pieces are secondary. “The package of directors and actors isn’t important to us.”. “ We can fix the cast and the director. What we can’t solve is amazing writing and storytelling.”. A story that resonates worldwide. Bradley continued: “When Moira [Walley-Beckett] and Miranda [de Pencier] concerned me with a script for Anne,” and it is very important to come with a script, she highlighted, “they had a genuine and grounded interpretation that we understood would resonate worldwide.”. And it wasn’t just the same old 1908 Anne of Green Gables. Vancouver-born Walley-Beckett came to the project with Emmy wins for her writing on the very 21st century Breaking Bad, so including some edge to the Anne character and narrative was all part of the plan. “We knew it would work worldwide,” said Bradley. That hunch turned out to be accurate. Anne with an E was among Netflix’s a lot of binge-watched shows around the world in 2017, with Prince Edward Island’s most well-known red-headed daughter winning over audiences as far away as South Korea, India and South Africa. So what does it consider a netflix original series to have an international appeal? Some believe that shooting in several locations around the globe resolves the problem, but Bradley cautioned that it’s not quite that simple. “ If you’re sitting with a good friend in Japan, and you both just get it … if you’ve got that sort of relatable story around the globe, that’s what we’re after.”. In addition to stories that work throughout cultural and geographical borders, there are logistical concerns to keep in mind when thinking about making a pitch to Netflix. For these factors, Bradley advises working with an agent, a manager or a legal representative. The value of partnering with a Canadian broadcaster or distributor.

The length of time should a TV show pitch be?

Your pitch ought to disappear than 12-15 minutes long. Concentrate on the hook of your show and why it would be a great suitable for their network. Your pitch should be as prepared as your treatment and your script, so practice it multiple times! In a January 2018 interview with the CMPA’s Indiescreen publication, Corie Wright, Netflix’s Director of Global Public law, shared a couple of more insights about working with the company that Canadian producers are most likely to discover useful. “ Many people don’t recognize that Netflix can’t make qualified CanCon without partnering with a Canadian broadcaster or independent Canadian distributor. That’s why all of our CanCon originals are co-productions with Canadian broadcasters. Other Netflix originals like the Trailer Park Boys reboot and Canadian director Tony Elliott’s movie ARQ include a lot of Canadian creativity and talent, and score high on CanCon requirements, however they aren’t accredited as CanCon since we can’t do CanCon on our own.”. Repeating the platform’s main interest in making the highest quality shows offered to a varied and dispersed audience, Wright stated this: “We attempt not to get too caught up in the labels and rather focus on making terrific movies and netflix tv show.”. TIP: Netflix and Hulu DO NOT want your “idea.” They desire your END PRODUCT. And even then, they only desire it if it makes sense for them. It resembles a book, individuals, I can not pitch them an unsolicited “idea,” since a million other people probably have the very same concept, and the last thing they want is for you to think they “took” yours, when it wasn’t even distinct to begin with. If you want to see your “idea” on Netflix and Hulu, establish a pilot, or produce a few episodes, or movie the movie. Once again, it resembles a book, the publisher wishes to see a finished manuscript, or at least some strong chapters …

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