STBD 5-10: Revealed!

The "Light-Up Night" episode was a great opportunity for us to showcase Downtown Pittsburgh in all its festive holiday glory... and to wrap up a loose end or two.

The Making of "Light-Up Night" involved:

- 7 scripted pages

- 5 improvised scenes

- 60 minutes of raw footage

- 2 shoots over 24 hours

- 2 voiceovers

- 12+ hours of editing

Fun Facts, Scene by Scene:

* Caroline (aka Ann Turiano) is wearing a pierogi t-shirt, courtesy of a soon-to-be-launched Pittsburgh apparel company who shall remain nameless for the next week or two... (Ask Mike Woycheck for details.)

* All of the dialogue between Tim (Ryan Ben) and Leo (Will Guffey) was improvised from a basic outline, as was the idea for them to play a carnival game. Tim accidentally winning a one-armed bear? That was serendipity; the woman working the carnival booth asked Ryan to choose something from a shady box they kept under the counter, and he accidentally took a damaged prize.

* Improvised as well was the scene between Caroline and Todd (Matt Pavlosky) on Mount Washington. Matt happened to be drinking there with friends and we plucked him from the bar (Redbeard's) for an impromptu scene, hours after Light-Up night had concluded.

* If it looks like Leo is burning his S'mores beyond repair, that's because he was... More surprisingly, Ryan Ben (Tim) had never had a S'mores before, and wasn't sure how to make them. (Hopefully he didn't study Leo too closely...)

* To save on downtown parking hassles, Ryan Ben (Tim), Will Guffey (Leo) and Ann Turiano (Caroline) all carpooled down in director Justin Kownacki's car. While Ann and Rick Hertzig (Rick) were filming the final downtown scene of the night, Will was in charge of getting Justin's car out of the parking garage and navigating the traffic / pedestrian / construction hell of Downtown Pittsburgh during Light-Up Night. (Remarkably, he found streetside parking one block from the "big freaking tree," on 6th and Penn.)

* Although Dierdre's arrival under the "big freaking tree" is the last scene of the episode, it was the first scene we filmed. That's because Lacey Fleming, who plays Dierdre, had to race home to Ohio to prepare for a family wedding the next day. That scene was actually filmed 90 minutes before the Glenn / Caroline scene that immediately precedes it.

* All music included in this episode actually comes from Ed Roberts's incredibly useful Podsafe Christmas podcast, which returns with all new music immediately after this year's Thanksgiving! Thanks for the great finds, Ed!

* Several hours' worth of editing on this episode took place on an Amtrak train between Boston, MA, and Bridgeport, CT. Did you know Amtrak has power outlets for every seat on its trains? The STBD laptop (and its 1 hour battery) thank you, Amtrak...

STBD 5-9: Revealed!

The "Car Trouble" episode is a classic example of the STBD cast being able to create a solid episode even everything else goes wrong...

The Making of "Car Trouble" involved:

- 9 scripted pages

- 2 largely improvised scenes

- 48 minutes of raw footage

- 3 shoots over 24 hours

- 12+ hours of editing

Fun Facts, Scene by Scene:

* This episode wasn't even supposed to happen.

The original plan was to film the party itself, which Pryce (Trent Wolfred) is trying to bring everyone to. But a funny thing happened on the way to the party - we ran out of extras.

Suddenly, we had a filming date set, a location, and not enough extras to make it look like the type of party we'd planned for. So, we went with our backup plan: there's no need to show the party if the guests can't actually make it TO the party...

* Both Trent Wolfred and Rick Hertzig (Glenn) had other commitments on the day we filmed, so we couldn't begin filming with them until after 10 PM.

By that time, it was about 32 degrees outside... (That's the freezing point, for you Celsius fans...)

* While the news coverage of Luke Ravenstahl's mayoral victory speech was being recorded off the TV, a steam radiator in the same room began spewing intermittent heat blasts. There was no way to turn it off in time, so you can hear some of the noise during Ravenstahl's speech. [Of course, it's logical to presume Rich (Erik Schark) would have steam heat...]

* When we filmed the flashback of Leo gassing up his car while it was still running, we looked everywhere for a sign that said: "Please turn off car before fueling." Wasn't that a standard warning over the years? The station we were at had no mention of it -- and Will Guffey (Leo) had never heard that bit of wisdom, either. Are we deluded, or is the explosive potential of fuel-meeting-combustion no longer an issue?

* Dierdre and Glenn's final exchange was quasi-improvised. The scene wasn't scripted, so we saved it for last to make sure their energies matched what they were doing in the earlier scenes. When the camera's battery died at 1 AM, we retreated to the Creative Treehouse to recharge it and plan the scene.

* Filming for this episode wrapped around 2 AM - our latest shoot of the year. (And our coldest!)

Two Episodes Left...

... until our next hiatus. (Time flies when you're creating a weekly web series.)

In the interim between 10-episode arcs, we'll still be posting a new video every Monday. But instead of actual episodes, these will be interviews, behind-the-scenes stuff, and the occasional ultra-brief (one minute or less) "microsodes."

In that spirit: what would YOU like to see during our "break"?

Which cast members would like to see interviewed?

What questions would you like answers to?

Which characters would you like deeper, one-minute glimpses into?

Leave suggestions in the comments or email jkownacki [at] somethingtobedesired [dawt] com.

STBD 5-8: Revealed!

It's not every day that a local politician has the self-confidence AND self-deprecation to lampoon himself on a weekly web sitcom, but that's exactly what Pittsburgh City Councilman Bill Peduto did in this week's episode of Something to Be Desired.

The Making of "The Mathis / Peduto Debate" involved:

- 4 (loosely) scripted pages

- 90% improvisation

- 45 minutes of raw footage

- 1 three-hour shoot

- 7+ hours of editing

Fun Facts, Scene by Scene:

* The seed for this episode was planted way back in June, when Mr. Peduto was initially introduced to STBD by his friends who work in social media (via the iJustine / Matthew Ebel episode). He mentioned that he'd like to make a cameo appearance, but we weren't sure how to include him in the flow of the show. However, when we hit upon the Mathis 4 Mayor idea, a debate with Peduto seemed like a natural opportunity...

* The entire episode was filmed in the basement of The Art Institute of Pittsburgh, which houses a TV studio for the video production students.

* When Roger (Chadd Zivic) pops in on Bill to prep him for the sound check, Bill is perusing Reform Pittsburgh, the videoblog / political activism site he co-authors.

* Roger's lanyard is the same one STBD creator Justin Kownacki wore at PodCamp Boston 2 two weekends ago. (We suspected it would come in handy again...)

* Moderator Jill Wright is portrayed by Dawn Papuga, co-host of the literary blog / podcast Lyrique Tragedy.

* The Coalition of Ethical Voters is a fictional organization created by STBD fan Brendan Butt, who devised the first (and, thus far, only) Mathis "smear campaign" video.

* The debate itself was almost entirely improvised, and filmed out of order. The responses to Jill's questions are not always the intended responses, nor were the exchanges between Mathis and Peduto always filmed concurrently. Editing creates a whole 'nother reality, folks...

* Actor Rick Hertzig (aka Glenn) volunteered his time to keep track of continuity during the debate. His notes during the improvised sessions enabled Dawn to craft her questions after the candidates had already given their answers.

* The bra-laden cup holder Rich (Erik Schark) lovingly strokes while Peduto introduces himself is the same cupholder Rich lovingly strokes in Episode 5-5, when he and Tabitha (Courtney Jenkins) are filming his campaign ads. In reality, that cupholder remained in Justin Kownacki's car for a month, awaiting its return engagement...

* Nearly all of Tabitha, Liz (Jennifer Koegler) and Roger's dialogue in the booth was improvised as well.

* We would have turned on the TV screens in the booth, but none of us knew how and there were no technologists in the building. Thus, we decided not to break anything.

* Rich's reference to Planet Unicorn is an homage to the greatest web series ever (besides STBD). Rich can actually be heard singing the theme song to himself when he walks in on Caroline (Ann Turiano) and Tabitha in this year's STBD Halloween Special flashback.

* The ending, in which Peduto quits politics altogether, was actually Peduto's idea, suggested at the beginning of filming. He thought it satirically echoed his withdrawal from this year's actual mayoral race.

STBD Season Five: Halloween Special Revealed!

For the second year in a row, we've rallied the troops to create a rocking Halloween Special just in the nick of time! Despite the epic-length shoots, bad directions and several buckets of blood later, we think the finished episode turned out quite well!

The Making of the Season Five Halloween Special involved:

- 17 scripted pages

- 1 significantly improvised scene

- 2 hours of raw footage

- 7 shoots over 5 days

- 16+ hours of editing

Fun Facts, Scene by Scene:

* Initially, cast members Rick Hertzig (Glenn), Courtney Jenkins (Tabitha), Trent Wolfred (Pryce) and Ann Turiano (Caroline) worked with creator Justin Kownacki to develop ideas for a vampire-themed episode. When we couldn't agree on one specific script, each contributor wrote 1 or 2 outlines, the best portions of which were combined into one script -- primarily based upon Courtney's outline.

* The original script ran 17 pages and included a lot of screen time for Tim (played by Ryan Ben). But when Ryan's availability dried up due to a stage play he'd been cast in, the script was rewritten on the fly to excuse his absence.

* The episode opens with Dierdre (Lacey Fleming) taking photos in a graveyard. We'd been given directions to an "old cemetery" in Bellevue -- but, when we followed them, we wound up on the private property of a convent. There was a graveyard there, but it was chock full of (deceased) nuns. Feeling this was a bad location for a vampire spoof, we drove on and found the graveyard you see in the episode.

* The "meat" Dierdre eats in the kitchen is actually wheat bread soaked with fake blood.

* The two angles of Caroline stumbling upon Dierdre in the kitchen -- Caroline's and Dierdre's -- were filmed 9 hours apart; Dierdre was not present during Caroline's angle.

* When Caroline wakes up in bed, she's fallen asleep reading a copy of The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins -- a work that seeks to disprove the existence of God.

* Liz was mauled by Caroline in record time -- actress Jennifer Koegler had tickets to see a stage production of "12 Angry Men" 20 minutes after that shot was filmed.

* The makeup for all 4 vamps was created by Ann Turiano. (Yep, Caroline herself.) That makeup also had to be recreated for 3 separate days of filming.

* When Glenn enters Affogato, he's greeted telepathically by 3 of the 4 vamps -- but not Dierdre (listen closely -- we never recorded her audio).

* If you look closely, you can see Tabitha and Liz looming in the window behind Glenn as the men plot their defense in the courtyard.

* The "go on three" exchange between Rich (Erik Schark), Leo (Will Guffey) and Glenn was completely improvised, several times over. The best portions were included in the finished sequence.

* Rick Hertzig (Glenn) spent the better part of a day whittling the handles of a hammer and a plunger into stakes -- on his own time.

* Liz's "burning" reaction to the holy water? Baking soda, food coloring and vinegar.

* Leo stabs Tabitha with the utility knife usually kept in the trusty STBD camera bag (which he also uses to whittle stakes in the men's room). Makeup artists Jim Schmeichel and Ashley Leshen took great care to keep the tool intact for future use, but it was errantly left in the camera bag and confiscated during a routine security check at the JFK airport in New York City the following weekend. Oops.

* Leo clubs Caroline with a hammer, but he makes impact with a dummy's head wearing a wig. Unfortunately, actor Will Guffey missed the mark on the dummy's head and failed to trigger the blood packet attached underneath.

* Leo then stabs Dierdre in the back with the same hammer -- which, in closeup, is actually a piece of cardboard with Dierdre's fishnet shirt stretched across it and a blood packet rigged underneath.

* Liz's scarred arm, the aftermath of the holy water burns, was a latex application created from scratch in the back room of Affogato and applied over 30 minutes.

* When Dierdre bites Glenn, she doesn't actually have vampire fangs. That's because she wouldn't have been able to get a grip on the blood tube running up Glenn's neck. Unfortunately, the tube was attached a little too securely, and actress Lacey Fleming couldn't dislodge it with her teeth. This created an FX misfire, which led to the same shot being filmed two nights in a row. Footage from each take was used.

* When Leo stakes Dierdre with the Mathis 4 Mayor sign, he's actually shoving the stake-tipped end of the sign post through another cardboard / mesh / blood packet contraption rigged by the makeup artists. (And the staking was actually performed by Rick Hertzig, as Will Guffey had already left the set.)

* For the wide shot, in which the audience sees the sign run through Dierdre from front and back, Lacey Fleming was fitted with a waist-only harness that supported the severed ends of a second, "prop" version of the sign. That harness prevented Lacey's full range of motion, requiring Rick Hertzig to help her to the ground even as Glenn himself was dying off-camera.

* The finished episode was edited over the course of 7 days, including several "bursts" conducted in the hallway at PodCamp Boston 2 (and in the car en route).

* The music for this episode was graciously donated by local Pittsburgh artist Paralyzed Circuitry and nearby label High Noon Records -- the latter of whom came through with great tracks via email just as editing was wrapping up. Perfect timing!

Questions? Comments? Leave them below!

STBD 5-5: Revealed!

This week's episode of STBD was a drastic departure from the norm. How so? Read on...

The Making of "Pittsburgh Politics" involved:

- 3 scripted "PSAs"

- 9 improvised sequences (of which, 5 made the final cut)

- 30 minutes of raw footage

- 1 shoot in 1 day

- 6+ hours of editing

Fun Facts, Scene by Scene:

* This entire episode was filmed in one day -- the Sunday before the epsiode went live. (Actually, filming only took three hours, including driving time.)

* The PSAs were scripted. Everything else was improvised by Erik Schark (aka Rich Mathis) and Courtney Jenkins (Tabitha), with minimal direction from yours truly.

* We purposely diverged from the standard STBD "look" to obtain a more "documentary" feel, which necessitated the removal of the opening credits sequence.

* The piece of cheesecake Rich devours really did cost more than $8...

* This episode is only the second, ever (that we're aware of) that DOESN'T feature Leo, Caroline or Dierdre in some capacity. (The first? Episode 4-28, which revolves entirely around Tim's romantic duel with guest stars iJustine and Matthew Ebel.)

STBD 5-4: Revealed!

This week's episode of STBD included some brand new locations, a cameo appearance and the return of a missing cast member. (Not bad for 8 and a half minutes!)

The Making of "Creative or Desperate?" involved:

- 2 mostly-scripted scenes

- 1 mostly-improvised scene

- 1.5 hours of raw footage

- 3 shoots in 3 days

- 10+ hours of editing

Fun Facts, Scene by Scene:

* When STBD first began in 2003, Lacey Fleming (aka Dierdre) smoked a lot more than she does now. In fact, she's nearly quit entirely several times, only to complicate things when Dierdre is asked to smoke on-camera...

* Brent's entry-level fraternity task of calling strange women and asking them for naked photos is directly inspired by a similar type of phone call someone in my own family received this summer. (In case you're wondering, that caller struck out too.)

* The 24 Hour Creative Marathon at Creative Treehouse took place overnight on Sept 28-29. We filmed the scene of Pryce and Caroline working through creator's block at 11 PM on Friday night, and then I edited the entire sequence together, minus the music track, by morning.

I had to leave for Connecticut at 12:30 PM on Saturday, so I transferred all assets from the Final Cut Pro project to my laptop (with its broken monitor) and finished the episode at 3 AM Monday morning.

All of that would explain the original typo in the episode's title, "Creative OF Desperate?," which was typed, bleary-eyed, at 4 AM...

STBD 5-3: Revealed!

This week's episode of STBD lays the groundwork for Rich Mathis's run for mayor -- as well as explaining Todd's recent bout with homelessness.

It's also only 5 minutes long, which signals a slight shift in STBD thinking -- shorter, more tightly-packed episodes (that are a bit easier to produce, week after week). Tell us what you think!

The Making of "Mathis 4 Mayor" involved:

- 1 hour of raw footage

- 1 shoot (since the Todd sequence was a holdover from last week's episode)

- 12+ hours of editing

Fun Facts, Scene by Scene:

* Believe it or not, this ENTIRE episode was improvised by the cast (with minimal direction and suggestion from yours truly).

The only elements that were even semi-scripted (meaning, the actors were given specific prompts to include) were the reasons for Todd's descent into homelessness and the general structure of the Mathis campaign meeting. EVERYTHING else came from the cast.

* Funny thing about editing so much improvised footage: it takes forever. That's because the camera is almost never in the right place, nor do the various "takes" always match up.

But the most exciting (and difficult) thing about carving this episode down from so much improv was deciding what the story actually IS. Depending on what dialogue was kept, and used in what order, the meaning of certain sequences could be completely reversed.

Example: when Rich initially lures Liz and Caroline into the boardroom by way of brownies, they quickly find themselves embroiled in Rich's impotent political scheming. But, as filmed, Liz and Caroline actually walked out of the room, and Rich had to track them down later in the day, apologize, and make them wildly impossible promises, just so they'd return and take him seriously.

Realizing that entire sequence slowed the pace of this now-taut episode, I needed to cut it -- but I had nothing to cut TO. We never filmed anything that suggested the girls actually STAY in the room (or sit down).

So, when sifting through dialogue, I located the sequence where Liz says "Rich, we have work to do," and I went hunting for something Rich could use as a filibuster to keep them occupied. Instead, I found the clip where he starts raving about his passion for "a parklet on every corner - YES" and I realized, "when edited in THIS order, it makes it sound like he's deluded himself into believing Liz is actually on his side..."

After that, it made perfect sense for Rich to keep rambling, and for the girls to stick around out of morbid curiosity.

* Many, MANY lines were cut from Rich's brainstorming session. Suffice it to say, there are only so many people we could offend (and so many bad ideas we could pitch) in a 3 minute sequence...

(My personal favorite line that didn't make the cut comes when Rich mentions "kissing babies," and Liz reminds him, "They have laws about that now." To which Rich turns to the whiteboard and writes, "Change the child touching laws...")

* Despite its brevity, the episode was still posted later than we would have liked... because we had to make a Mathis4Mayor wiki, a MySpace page and t-shirts. (We take our politics VERY seriouslly...)

* We have no idea what a sugarshoe is, either...

STBD 5-2: Revealed!

This week's episode of STBD included some brand new locations, a cameo appearance and the return of a missing cast member. (Not bad for 8 and a half minutes!)

The Making of "Leo's Lucky Day" involved:

- 4 versions of a script

- 1.5 hours of raw footage

- 5 shoots in 4 days

- 18+ hours of editing

Fun Facts, Scene by Scene:

* STBD creator Justin Kownacki and actor Will Guffey (aka Leo Straub) were interviewed by Andy Quayle and Kaylynn for the Techburgh podcast last week. Immediately afterward, they returned the favor by appearing on STBD as Leo's number one fan and uninterested bus stop denizen, respectively.

* The bus stop that opens the episode is in Squirrel Hill, but the stop Leo is waiting at is in Bellevue...

* When Dierdre mentions she's still in school, Caroline's shock and surprise really mirrors that of the entire STBD creative team; we'd completely forgotten Dierdre was still in school all these years, until Lacey Fleming (Dierdre) mentioned it in a story meeting...

* The new Vanity Press meeting room and break room are located inside The Art Institute of Pittsburgh... because the original Vanity Press location has been long gone (to us, anyway).

* Gloria's pills? Actually Vitamin C tablets...

* Rich's admonition for Gloria to "Apologize!" to his manhood? Improvised.

* Todd living homeless behind Affogato? Invented, literally, the day of filming when Matt Pavlosky (Todd) mentioned he was available.

Rewrites and the 10 Minute Rule

I'll be editing a rough cut of our next episode today. I say "rough" because not every scene has been filmed yet, so any estimation of time is an educated guess at this point.

But that's exactly what I'm looking for.

The script for this episode clocked in at 17 pages, which translates (again, roughly) to 12 or 13 minutes. (In theory, a properly-formatted screenplay page should equal a minute of screen time; our scripts always run faster.)

But we've had to reschedule a few shoots, and now a couple scenes will need to be rewritten / replaced to accommodate existing timeframes. That's fine -- but I need to know how much time I have left to play with.

So I'll drop all filmed scenes into a timeline, find a useable take of each one -- straight through, from beginning to end, no edits -- and time that footage out. Subtract from 10:00, which is our maximum episode length, and voila: I'll know exactly how much time I have left to fiddle with.

(The converse of this approach would be filming everything in the script and then some, as we usually do, and then trying to decide what scenes will live or die in the editing process. Not as fun, and invariably leads to the "Hey, whatever happened to that scene?" questions...)

The Incredible Shrinking / Expanding Cast!

When STBD began, we had 8 cast members.

4 years later, we have over 25.

On one hand, it's incredibly gratifying to know that so many talented actors want to be a part of the STBD experience. On the other, it's daunting to juggle so many cast members (and their schedules), because it makes focusing on a condensed (and achievable) story that much harder.

When we surveyed our fans back in February, we learned what we pretty much expected: Caroline, Dierdre and Leo -- our three longest-running characters -- resonate the most with the audience. Of the newer characters, Rich and Tim seemed to stick in the audience's minds the most. The rest are seen as "supporting characters" -- at least until they have more opportunities to shine.

Off-Season Switcheroo

When we return with new episodes of Season Five in September, several of last season's cast members won't be returning. Most have moved away from Pittsburgh, which is hard to argue against (since we're not paying them). Series-wise, their absence may actually be a blessing in disguise, because it dulls the fight for screen time and allows us to focus on the characters the audience is already responding to.

Meanwhile, we're adding at least one new recurring character and expanding the role of another significantly. Why? Because we appreciate the value of two elements on STBD:

A) The continual need for "fresh blood," and

B) The need to be able to tell certain types of stories.

So we looked around and said, "What character TYPES are we missing?" And then we evaluated the actors we've underused, or those who've been patiently waiting off-camera for a chance to act on the show, to see who might be able to fit our potential needs.

The (Too) Big Picture?

Under these circumstances, it's far too easy to have a cast balloon to unmanageable proportions. It's doubly dangerous because, unpaid, there's no guarantee that actors we've come to rely upon to tell our story will actually be there for the long haul. This makes telling a concise story with a reliable payoff quite dicey.

If you're evaluating potential actors, or merely wondering how many roles you CAN include in your story, stop and ask yourself a more pertinent question: How many roles do you NEED to tell your story?

In web video, as in all things, keeping it simple will save you acres of headaches later.

(And, as in all things, always be open to taking a chance. You never know what casting choice or character invention might pay off in unexpected ways.)

Wim Wenders and 50 Rules of Filmmaking

Wim Wenders is a German filmmaker, perhaps best known for the angels-on-earth drama Wings of Desire. He wrote a list of his 50 Things I've Learned as a Filmmaker for MovieMaker Magazine.

Among them:

2. If you have nothing to say, don’t feel obliged to pretend you do.

10. Before you say “cut,” wait five more seconds.

15. Mistakes never get fixed in post.

18. The more money you have the more you can do with it, sure. But the less you can say with it.

25. Having a tight schedule can be difficult. But having too much time is worse.

Thanks to Jeff Stoll for the link!

How to Make a Camera Stabilizer for $7

Christopher Penn, creator of the Financial Aid Podcast -- which, ironically, is an audio-based podcast -- has a great tutorial on how he built a handheld stabilizer for his video camera... for $7.

Granted, you need a couple power tools and the common sense to use them properly. But if you're mechanically inclined, you can make yourself a pseudo-steadicam for less than the price of breakfast. Not bad.

What Makes Comedy vs. Drama?

When you're writing or filming, you tend to know if you're creating comedy or drama. But do you know why? If you knew why, would you be better able to make GREAT comedy or GREAT drama?

Definitions

When what you expect to happen DOESN'T happen, that's comedy.

When the WORST thing that could happen occurs, that's drama.

These definitions are overly simplistic, but they apply in nearly every circumstance.

Examples

In Casablanca, the worst thing that could happen to Rick is that he'd meet Ilsa again. Then she walks into his bar. Then she needs his help. THEN she tells him she's married. And THEN she tells him she's still in love with him.

That's drama.

In It's a Wonderful Life, the worst thing that could happen to George Bailey is that he'd get stuck in Bedford Falls his whole life. Then he does. Then he goes broke. Then he gets into a fight, crashes his car and considers suicide.

THAT'S drama.

And just because a story has elements of one side, it doesn't mean it can't have elements of the other. (In fact, it needs some amount of balance, or else it becomes melodrama or farce.)

For example, in It's a Wonderful Life, George Bailey is about to commit suicide by jumping off a bridge... but his guardian angel, Clarence, jumps into the water first, pretending to be a drowning man so George will have to save him. (That's drama.)

Then, after rescuing Clarence, George discovers he's hopelessly antiquated and out of touch, rendering him nearly inoperable in public. That's comedy.

THEN, when Clarence finds his opportunity to help George see the error of his ways -- showing him what his life would be like had he never been born -- he does so. At first, this is comedy. But as George sees just how dire everyone ELSE'S lives are as the result of the absence of his, the situation very quickly turns from comedic to desperately dramatic.

Without that ebb and flow between comedy and drama, most satisfying stories would fall apart from a top-heavy nature.

Practicality

Whether you're writing a blog, filming a video, recording a song or otherwise telling a story, what kind of story is it? What will make your drama more dramatic or your comedy more comedic? What's missing from your story that will help counterbalance it?

Length Matters, Part 2

Last month, there was some debate about the length of STBD episodes.

They tend to be 10 minutes long, every week. Our fans tend to ask for LONGER episodes.

I'm wondering if they shouldn't be SHORTER.

We tried 5 minute episodes throughout Season Two and Season Three. It didn't feel long enough to tell a rewarding story then. (That's why a lot of folks are asking us to go even LONGER.)

But if you look around the web, NO POPULAR SERIES is longer than 5 minutes per episode. That's actually the long end of the spectrum; most shows clock in around 3 minutes or so.

Granted, most shows are trying to tell a joke. We're trying to tell an ongoing, evolving story.

But they're getting 100,000 viewers an episode. We're not.

Does STBD need to go SHORTER to increase likelihood of adoption?

Dearly Beloved: How STBD Got Invited to a Wedding

For our final episode of the season, we at STBD were invited to attend the wedding reception of one of our biggest fans. He suggested that we'd be able to film anything we wanted to within the confines of the PPG Aquarium, where the reception was being held. All he asked in return was a small amount of footage of the reception itself.

This posed an unusual challenge: How could we explain, story-wise, a reason for multiple characters to be attending at a wedding? (And, more practically, how would we explain ourselves to the wedding guests?)

Backfiring Backstory

Originally, we'd intended to orchestrate the event as a full Vanity Press situation -- perhaps one of the authors or an ex-employee was getting married, which would explain the existence of Tabitha, Liz, Caroline, Rich, etc., being there. But when we were asked to keep our head count to 3 or less, we realized we'd have to scale back our idea.

At the same time, we had a continuity issue to deal with from Episode 29: The sequence with Alexxxis and Tim at Torque Denim was moved later in the episode than originally intended, which created a problem -- what was the favor Alexxxis asks Tim in the last scene?

Thus, thanks to a suggestion from Rick Hertzig (Glenn), we concocted an impossibly (and unnecessarily) complex conceit to enable Caroline, Dierdre and Glenn to essentially crash the wedding. We'd intended for Trent Wolfred (aka "the guy who got shot in the bathroom") to make his return at the wedding as well, so we squeaked him in as -- what else? -- the wedding videographer.

All we had to do was maintain a low profile, keep out of people's ways and shoot what we needed to shoot and no one would ever need to know what we were actually doing there.

Open Bar

So we arrive at the Pittsburgh Zoo, which is where the Aquarium is housed, and join the tram-load of guests being shuttled from the entrance to the reception. Since there are five of us, Rick ends up sitting alone. A fellow wedding guest plops down beside him and, feeling gregarious, introduces himself as the father of so-and-so.

Rick nods obligingly.

"And how do you know the bride and groom?" the guy asks Rick.

"Um..."

One bumpy tram ride (and awkward explanation) later, we're no longer anonymous. Thankfully, the guest appears to chalk our presence up to the eccentricity of the happy couple and totters about his business.

We slip into the Aquarium, explore the space and realize two very important things:

1. There are dozens of opportunities for beautiful shots here.

2. Almost none of them will work because the audio is trash.

Being an aquarium, there's a whole lot of running and falling water EVERYWHERE. This is not a quiet process, especially as it cascades off the walls of the interior, creating a white noise echo. EVERYWHERE.

Fortunately, Trent and Ann find the penguin area, which is shared by another large fish tank. Due to the acoustic arrangement, this is essentially the only "quiet" area in the building, despite the echo. This became the host locale for both their scene and an unused sequence with Glenn, Dierdre and Rob Sharp (egad!), whose cameo appearance remains (mercifully) on the virtual cutting room floor.

After the After-Party

Once we were sure we'd filmed everything we needed (or as sure as we could be, since the shot list was accidentally left in the car, which was a full tram ride away), we attempted to wrap things up in the elevator back to the top floor. As you might guess, trying to film dialogue in an elevator at a wedding reception is bound to not go smoothly. Thus, we retreated to the escalators at the zoo entrance, where -- in three takes, involving several escalator round-trips -- we nailed the final scene.

Coincidentally, this also happened to be the final evening of shooting for the season. After doubling back to Caroline & Dierdre's apartment to wrap things up with Leo, we headed out to a self-congratulatory celebration of our own -- a midnight breakfast at Ritter's Diner.

From champagne and wedding cake to black coffee and greasy home fries: STBD does it all in style.

(Should we mention that nearly every line of dialogue in this episode was improvised by the cast on the spot? Just thought you'd like to know...)

Season Four Is Over!

Matt Pavlosky (Todd) and Kevin Koch (Dex) in the WANT FM green room.
30 episodes. 300 (or so) minutes. 5 hours of original, scripted / improvised, collaborative content created by over 20 actors, a handful of assistants and one frequently sleep-deprived producer.

And now, we rest.

Thanks to everyone who watched us this season, who gave us feedback, who helped us improve. Thanks to our supporters of all stripes, who help keep the magic happening. Thanks for spreading the word and helping more and more people find out about Something to Be Desired -- without you, we stay in our little bubble forever.

Thanks also to the cast, who continually give great effort and create intelligent, multi-faceted and often hilarious moments among characters. You tell the story we all come back to see, and share.

If you missed any part of Season Four, you can watch any episode here. Or just start at the beginning. (Or, if you're so inclined, the REAL beginning -- though you'll need a few days to work your way through the archives.)

We'll begin filming for Season Five soon enough. We'll also be making various changes to the STBD site, fixing some things and improving others. New videos will pop up on the site from time to time -- subscribing will ensure you don't miss one. And this blog will probably see a bit more activity now that we're not filming / editing under such a time-consuming schedule.

Now... where's the bar?

Pig Heart Saturday

I'm sitting in the Quiet Storm cafe, where Ann Turiano (aka Caroline) and Kevin Ford (aka Tom Simmons) from STBD are performing in a student film for a friend.

The sequence is fairly simple: Kevin's character realizes Ann's character no longer loves him, so he gets up and leaves.

The twist?

On his way out, he turns back and says, "I guess this is yours" -- AND TEARS OUT HIS HEART, leaving it (beating!) on the table.

Apparently, the Quiet Storm forgot they agreed to let this sequence be filmed here, so now the crew is trying to race through the shot while creatively hiding the ACTUAL PIG'S HEART (and "blood" tubes) from the Saturday brunchtime patrons... which include lots of kids.

I love independent film.

Length Matters

Liz and Lloyd know the value of length...
When STBD began, our first "season" consisted of 5 episodes averaging 10 minutes in length, released once per month.

In an effort to get episodes out more often, we switched things up in Season Two: 2 episodes per month, 5 minutes apiece. Then our audience weighed in, letting us know that 5 minutes wasn't enough to make the story feel "full." So we adapted again.

In Season Three, we kept to the 5 minute length, but sped up production again: episodes were released at least weekly. (For a brief stretch, they were even released daily, and then we [meaning I] burned out.) And, still, the frequency of release didn't offset the length issue for our audience -- even with twice as many episodes, 5 minutes just didn't feel like "enough" of an experience.

So, this season, we switched to 10 minute episodes, released weekly -- or 4 x the amount of production we were pumping out in 2003!

And yet, there are STILL fans who suggest we make the episodes EVEN LONGER.

The Problem with Length

Forget for a moment that we're creating 40 minutes of original content on a shoestring budget each month and giving it away for free. Further complicating the issue are the logistics of planning. 12+ hours a week spent editing an episode is nothing compared to conceiving of the scenes, writing the scripts, scheduling the actors and actually shooting the footage.

If we moved to a 22-minute approach, similar to traditional sitcoms, we'd be looking at twice as much work per week. (Plus, traditional sitcoms have the offsetting benefit of those 8 minutes of commercials to pay the bills...)

Add to that the bandwidth issues, the conversion / upload / download time and the doubled stress on data management and storage, and you see a hydra of reasons why we shouldn't EVER go longer than 10 minutes.

And yet...

In Praise of Length

There are times when even 10 minutes doesn't feel like "enough" time to tell a story.

When we pace episodes, or compare our arcs to those of like-minded shows, we're inevitably at a disadvantage. Sex and the City has an extra 10 minutes of context / subtext / tension to build toward a payoff. STBD has to pack as much as possible into only 10 minutes, which means something -- plot, character, nuance, dialogue, action -- will suffer.

That's not to say that length is a cure-all. How many 3 hour films have you sat through, lamenting their decision NOT to edit it down to 90 minutes? (Return of the King, anyone?) But having more space to play would certainly open up our options in terms of storytelling.

The question is -- and again, let's temporarily forget the cost and logistics -- would longer episodes help us to BUILD an audience, or would the additional investment of time drive them away?

What's the perfect length?

Heading Into the Home Stretch

Only 4 more episodes stand between us and the end of Season Four of Something to Be Desired on May 28th.

Originally projected at 40 episodes, we decided to shorten the season to 30 when production threatened to engulf us this past winter. Since taking a hiatus in February, we've received lots of positive buzz from new and old fans alike (which leads us to believe we're doing something right).

These last 4 episodes will tie up many (if not all) of the plotlines and loose ends that have been generated this season...

But what then?

We'll be filming for Season Five all summer, but in theory, those episodes won't start anew until September. In today's snack-based culture, falling off the map for that long is the kiss of death.

We have a few ideas for keeping the STBD flame alive over the summer. They include:

- a daily "minisode," 0:30-1:00 in length -- character-building scenes, stand-alone jokes, etc.

- a weekly "behind the scenes" video -- interviews, story meetings, rehearsals, making-of, etc.

- weekly Ustreamed live chats with the cast / creators

- character videoblogs

- or, quite simply, starting the next 10-episode story arc in July.

We could do one or two of those, but we can't do ALL of those -- we're not made of time.

So: how would YOU like to see STBD spend the summer?