This just in from Bob Tinsley:
Today at 6 PM PT/9 PM ET there will be a hangout on Google+ with the creators of the web series H+, a Bryan Singer property (don’t think HE will be there!). They will have the director and both principal writers “and others”. I was invited, along with almost 1300 of my closest friends, but I don’t know if you have to be invited to attend.
H+ is a science fiction tale about the beginnings of The Singularity, or transhumanism, presented in 48 episodes of about 10 minutes each. The current episode is, I think, somewhere in the 30s. I’ve so far watched 20 episodes. It is told in non-linear fashion over a time period of several years. I am normally not a big fan of non-linear story-telling (hey! I’m an engineer; deal with it!), but I really like what I’m seeing.
One of the big deals here is the series creators’ use of the “second screen” (google it; if you don’t know what it is, you really need to find out.) It is the most extensive use of second screen I’ve run across with a deep website, Google+ discussions, and other things I haven’t had time to discover yet.
This is something you’ve got to pay attention to. (Yeah, yeah, ending on a preposition; adjust)
Big thanks to bro Tinsley for giving TVWriter™ this scoop.
EDITED TO ADD: H+ stars none other than our personal fan fave Alexis Denisof, so how can it be anything but great?
EDITED AGAIN TO ADD: We aren’t going to post the URL for the H+ website because it’s so visitor unfriendly. (Go ahead and try to copy a pic there. We dare ya.) But for those who want to get into this show we recommend this excellent Facebook Fan Page.
Just finished the hangout for H+. A LOT of good information there. Present were the writers, Cosimo de Tommaso and John Cabrera, the director, Stewart Hendler (BTW also director of Halo 4: FUD), the producers from Bad Hat Harry Productions, Jason (crap! Forgot his last name. Sorry, Jason, my memory for names is nonexistant) and Bryan Singer himself!
One interesting thing that came out was that both Bryan Singer and Anthony Zuiker (in the WGAW video on web series that you should watch) said that one of the reasons they are so interested in web-based production is that the product goes out worldwide all at once.
Another point tying into my discussions with LB on episode length. Stewart Hendler made the point that calling these videos episodes is probably the wrong nomenclature. They are actually 3 to 4 minute scenes, not episodes as we currently envision episodes. What this has allowed them to do is give the viewer the power to create (using YouTube’s playlist functionality) playlists of the scenes that allow you to watch the scenes in any order you want. They have put together some playlists already that show the scenes in chronological order rather than in the non-linear order in which they were released. This gives the viewers options that they would never have with legacy TV series.
The way this series came about was that the writers took the idea to Warner Digital who liked it and brought in Bad Hat Harry.
The script for the second season of H+ is currently being written. It came through very clearly that Bad Hat Harry is really excited about this property and is ready to carry it on.
The cost of the series was “about that of an indie feature.”
All 48 “episodes” were filmed in 29 days in Santiago, Chile.
There’s my initial take from the Hangout. I’m looking forward to seeing more of this series.
Bob
The other member of Bad Hat Harry was Jason Taylor. The video of the hang out is now available on YouTube on the H+ channel.