|
|
Post by Benjamin Haines on Oct 20, 2008 10:22:16 GMT 2
It feels like it's been a while since I've posted on this board, but that's simply because I've been mad busy in recent weeks. A few friends and I at my college have been spending this semester trying to get our sketch comedy show off the ground, called The Green Pants Show. We shot several sketches with our personal camcorders and edited together a pilot for the heads of the campus television station, TV 62. Most of them liked it, and what's more, the fucking chancellor of the university happened to be paying a visit to the station during the meeting in which we were showing our pilot, and he loved it. Early this past week, the station heads gave us the greenlight to keep making the show and have it aired, provided that we reshoot our pilot's sketches with the station's HD cameras and microphones for air-worthy quality. We spent this entire weekend shooting a fuck-ton of footage, and it's really paid off. I couldn't be more happy with the work we've accomplished. Yesterday (Sunday), a few of the guys went off to the store to get some props for a sketch we would be shooting later in the day, and they requested that those of us not going to the store shoot an impromptu sketch while they were gone and surprise them when they got back. We did just that. We came up with a sketch about a blind superhero named BlindMan, played by yours truly, who has no superpowers whatsoever and isn't even an effective hero regardless due to his obvious handicap. But hey, I wore a makeshift cape and had a superhero-esque name, so it counts. But what really sells this sketch is how we decided to end it. Watch for yourself before reading any further: Needless to say, the guys were more than a little surprised when they got back and we showed them that. For the record, that stunt was entirely my idea. We did a couple takes of him slowing the car down and me acting like I got hit, but it just didn't look good at all, so I told him to really hit me. He sure as hell did, as you can see, and I actually chipped the corner of one of my front teeth. Seeing that stunt up there on the screen makes it seriously worth it, and now I've got a story to tell for the rest of my life, which may not be that long if I keep stuntwork like this up. I think I'll be a wee bit more careful in the future, or at least use a mouthpiece. We're actually probably going to reshoot the entire rest of that sketch later today, for better angles, sound, and lighting, but the car-hitting shot is definitely staying as it is. I'm not doing that again and if I'd known beforehand that I would chip a tooth, I probably wouldn't have done it at all. But hey, it's footage! For people who don't live on this little college campus, we've got a YouTube account where we'll be putting all of our sketches for The Green Pants Show for all to see. www.youtube.com/user/TheGreenPantsShowBelieve me when I say that we've got some great, great stuff in store here. Stay tuned! |
|
|
|
Post by trashcanman on Oct 20, 2008 12:20:58 GMT 2
BOOM goes the dynamite!
AWESOME!!!! You are so the man. This is what we need in this country: people with great ideas who aren't afraid to get off their ass and go for broke. Kevin Smith got started the same way. We who are about to laugh salute you, sir!
|
|
|
|
Post by InvisibleWolfMan on Oct 20, 2008 12:29:17 GMT 2
Ben, That was funny! ;D The only minor complaint I could make would be that the woman should actually sound more distressed about her purse.... Otherwise, keep going and don't look back!  |
|
|
|
Post by The Curmudgeon on Oct 22, 2008 9:12:28 GMT 2
You know, its very rare these days that I actually swear at my computer or TV in surprise, but your video got a "HOLY FUCK!!" out of me.
First of all - good video. Like Wolfman said, the girl could have showed a bit more, uh.. passion, but everything else was good. Man, even the robber had an 80s movie thief look about him. Good job.
Now then - serious Curmudgeon time. Benjamin, you could have broken your damn spine doing that stunt. You know you read about kids copying stuff like Jackass and almost killing themselves? That could've been YOU, man. Now, don't get me wrong - the stunt itself looks FANTASTIC, and will shock everyone who sees it - but you really, REALLY could have hurt yourself badly. Stuntmen are called stuntmen for a reason; they know how to take falls and shit without chipping teeth.
But hey - good video. If you're going to keep doing them and want to do more stunts like that one, you really should learn to do them without breaking your neck. Not sure HOW to learn to do stuff like that exactly but, man.. you really were lucky.
|
|
|
|
Post by Benjamin Haines on Oct 23, 2008 6:47:39 GMT 2
Now then - serious Curmudgeon time. Benjamin, you could have broken your damn spine doing that stunt. You know you read about kids copying stuff like Jackass and almost killing themselves? That could've been YOU, man. Now, don't get me wrong - the stunt itself looks FANTASTIC, and will shock everyone who sees it - but you really, REALLY could have hurt yourself badly. Stuntmen are called stuntmen for a reason; they know how to take falls and shit without chipping teeth. But hey - good video. If you're going to keep doing them and want to do more stunts like that one, you really should learn to do them without breaking your neck. Not sure HOW to learn to do stuff like that exactly but, man.. you really were lucky. Believe me, I came to this same conclusion afterwards. I did make sure to position myself so that I would only get bruised and battered as far as my body went, but I wasn't careful enough with my face. I should have had a damn mouthpiece, and even then, I realize that something very easily could have gone wrong and I could have ended up paralyzed. I'm not going to be doing any more stunts like that again without a serious amount of control over the situation. This was just an impromptu, make-it-all-up-on-the-fly sketch, and we were all very aware of just how bad it all was (cinematography, sound, etc.), so we went and reshot it earlier today. That pilot version will stay on YouTube, but trust me, what we've got now is much better (we're keeping the same car-hit shot though). We had a different girl as the purse theft victim, and I guess you could say she's a better actor, but we're hardly going for convincing acting with this sketch anyway. We've got two more of our sketches up on the YouTube account now. First up is a fake trailer in the spirit of GRINDHOUSE depicting a nonexistant action blockbuster called "BAKER'S GOLD". This is the only sketch we shot for our pilot with camcorders which we're keeping in the first episode as is, without any reshoots. The low-tech aesthetic works in its favor, I think, and it's already done and edited anyway. Next is the first in a series of several sketches depicting a guy with a particularly uncanny ability. Again, this is all just the beginning. We've got a lot of other sketches which are shot and edited, a good amount more that are shot and still need editing, and even more that we've got written and planned and will be shooting soon. We're going to wait until we've got several full episodes done and edited before we start putting them on the air, and we won't be putting the rest of the sketches from those episodes online until then. So I don't know how long it will be before the YouTube account gets more, but stay tuned. Consider this a small taste sampler because there's a lot more headed your way! www.youtube.com/user/TheGreenPantsShow |
|
|
|
Post by The Curmudgeon on Oct 23, 2008 9:33:22 GMT 2
I LOVED the fake movie trailer. It actually looked and sounded like an old Troma movie trailer (loved the multiple explosions).
I think for the "Poo Detective" one to work better, you should have close-up shots on the guy picking up the shit. I can imagine this working in one of those grose out sketches (were you hear the audience all going "ewwwwwwwww"), but you should have had the guy pausing and slowly picking it up, never taking the camera away. I know then it may have revealed itself to be a chocolate bar, but you get the idea. It'd be better for the "ick" factor if it was closer up.
|
|
|
|
Post by Benjamin Haines on Oct 28, 2008 7:45:10 GMT 2
^ I will definitely bring that up and try to get some close-ups done. The one downside to everybody working on a show being a stoner is most of them are reluctant to do reshoots when we need them.
We've decided to hold off the premiere of the show on the campus station until January, so we can spend the rest of this semester making as many complete episodes as possible and be ready to air a new one on a weekly basis in 2009. Here's our first TV spot that will be airing on the station for the rest of the semester, edited by yours truly.
|
|
|
|
Post by trashcanman on Oct 28, 2008 11:55:58 GMT 2
You'd best work on that kickline choreography. SLOPPY!  I love how the dude takes one last swipe of crap for the road. The trailer was funny, too. It needed one last line after the title. Preferably, something whispered like "Who are you?" "I don't know". |
|
|
|
Post by Benjamin Haines on Mar 15, 2009 11:54:11 GMT 2
Well, the show is now on the air here at WCU as of this semester. The episodes are 11-12 minutes in length, allowing for two episodes to fill a half-hour time slot, much like classic Nickelodeon cartoons and modern [adult swim] shows. The sketch-making process has slowed down a bit this semester as the workload for everybody (most of whom are in the motion picture program) has just kept piling up. We still have a lot that we haven't put on YouTube yet but that will be changed soon. Here are a couple of recent additions. First, four samurai warriors battle it out in an epic battle royale. Normal quality: www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLC3Cg5aCaEHigh quality: www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLC3Cg5aCaE&fmt=18We did this next one on the same night as my "Missing Keys" which will also be used on the show as a sketch. Take a glimpse behind the scenes as Hollywood bigshot Kirk Steel is pushed over the line and loses it on a lighting technician. Normal quality: www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqGPgNkxGJkHigh quality: www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqGPgNkxGJk&fmt=18HD quality: www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqGPgNkxGJk&fmt=22 |
|
|
|
Post by trashcanman on Mar 17, 2009 7:10:33 GMT 2
Those slices looked legitimately like chanbara kills. Awesome dub, too. Well done! The black and white got a little dark, though.
I see "Left 4 Dead" on that table. That rocks! Gamer cred: established. Funny Bale joke, but homeboy needed more RAGE in his vocals. "Don't kill any hookers!" Guffaws.
So why is "tight teens shaking their asses upside down" a related video, now? Fucking youtube, man.
Keep kicking this stuff out and I may review you guys on Lunch. Hilarious vids.
|
|
|
|
Post by The Curmudgeon on Mar 21, 2009 1:39:27 GMT 2
Man, Bale really did create a legend with that meltdown, didn't he? It's a smart idea, but agree with Trashy that he needs to be angrier. And swear a hell of a lot more. Even if he adds the "you and me, we're fucking DONE, professionally" line at the end. I think that'd get a laugh from clued-up fans.
Some nice cuts on the fight scene, too, especially with the "turn to the camera with the blade-wound to the face" bit. But yeah, it got a little dark, and I couldn't make out who the last guy (who won the fight) was.
Keep 'em coming though, Benj.
|
|
.jpeg)
I love how the dude takes one last swipe of crap for the road. The trailer was funny, too. It needed one last line after the title. Preferably, something whispered like "Who are you?" "I don't know". 
