Download "NEW GAME", the first piece of the third draft of LAN'ded!

I figured it's almost Easter...so what would the Last Supper look like in Christian's world?

A few people in the reading cast have requested that they see this "new script" I just drew up over the last week and so I figured why not just post it? After reading through this short 11-12 page script with Kyle, we've decided that this works really well as a "trailer" of sorts. A precursor to the first episode. Something that sets up the characters and universe better than trying to cram it into the first episode.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD "NEW GAME" AS A PDF FILE!

On a side note: I was lucky enough to receive a Sony PSP (I named her Peach, my DSi is named Daisy) over the weekend, and I decided that it would only be fitting that I get the game that inspired the character Lenneth in LAN'ded: "Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth." You may wonder why I decided to name the creepy landlord after a Norse Goddess in a video game, well, to be honest it just felt like it fit. Also, I'm a big fan of VERY cryptic/far-fetched references. Speaking of references, the entire third draft will concentrate on a larger variety of references. Emulating Spaced, I was aiming to insert references to things associated with Christian's world throughout the first season and while I was successful with that, most of the references were video game based. In this third draft a bigger concentration will be placed on referencing every facet of his dork culture. Working at a GameStop, I'm prone to have gaming on the brain, but I have to remember to spread that out. :)

Some ideas that I expect to explore in the third draft of LAN'ded include, but aren't limited to:

1. Christian holds a funeral for his broken Xbox 360, candles, priests, and all.
2. Izzy brings an (imaginary) pet home.
3. Natalie forms a coalition for imaginary friends. Sort of like a union for imaginary friends.
4. Dr. Cortex and Wally take over the kitchen. (Cut from initial reading script, will be more developed.)
5. More songs. We had 5-6 songs for the entire first season. We received some feedback asking us to have a theme song and some fill-in music and tunes elsewhere. Let's see what happens...

There's been talk of storyboarding "NEW GAME" so people can get a better idea of how everything will look. Think you guys would want to see those?

I'll leave you with two things:

1. If Carmen Sandiego and Where's Waldo had a child, would we ever find him?

2. Here's a picture of our Dr. Cortex, Wally, and Natalie taken from the reading staged last week at the Rauh Theatre. There's more to come later...

~ Aaron J.

The Workload Ahead...

Would you believe that it has not even been a week since the reading and we're already hard at work on the 3rd draft? Believe it folks!

One of the main concerns that rose from the reading was the backstory of many characters. We had written complete backstories for characters and even incorporated all of these backstories into the script. However, as time drew nearer and nearer to the reading we ended up having to cut many pages from the final reading script. Roughly 30-40 pages were cut and a good amount of those pages were dedicated to backstory. Having thought that a quick pre-show explaining the state of events would totally inform the audience, we weren't too worried about not having the history of the universe and characters included in the reading but it seems as if that was a poor assumption.

A few nights ago Kyle and I were discussing ideas for how to begin the series differently, possibly incorporating people's notes, and that's when it happened.

It's funny how one small suggestion can spark an entirely new approach to material. Needless to say, I ran with the idea and (incorporating the feedback we received Sunday) wrote up a short 10-page prologue of sorts. The prologue shows Christian's normal day routine, how introverted he is, and the interruption of that routine. I'm actually pretty happy with it for the most part. It's merely a first draft and doesn't have anyone's eyes looking at it besides mine, Kyle's, and a few select others but the response has been largely positive. What I really like about it is that it shows off Dr. Cortex and Wally much earlier, and also incorporates TheTallestGnome into Christian's daily rituals much sooner with a bigger emphasis on what the relationship actually is.

We had talked earlier in the year about filming a "trailer" of sorts that would show off the basic premise of LAN'ded and I think this may be one direction we can take that trailer in. Maybe once I touch it up a bit more and digi-stamp it I'll post it on here for everyone to peruse through? :-D

One bit of sad news: Now that the reading is over, I have to say goodbye to Dr. Cortex and Wally and ship them back to their owners. And I was having so much fun with them.

Catch you guys next week! Expect a slew of pictures...

Success!

It's hard to believe that it is over already. Starting promptly at 5:05 yesterday and running until roughly 6:30, the reading of LAN'ded is now a thing of the past. With an audience of about 60 people, the adventures of Christian, Izzy, Natalie, and a legion of zombies, maniacal landlords, angry protesters and livid mimes were played out.

Though we are still having feedback forms handed back to us throughout the week, the response was overall pretty good. People seem to be more open to the idea of the show than I thought they would be, and most of their comments weren't directed at what they didn't like, but what they wanted more of. Mainly, the audience wanted to see more of Christian's reasons for staying inside, his history, addiction to red bull, etc. Also, the audience really took to the puppets, but we had a lot of comments saying they'd want to see them strung into the plot a bit more. The third comment we received the most was that people wanted much more music in the show.

I'm not disappointed in this second reading at all, but I do regret cutting down the script a little in some places because I know that we cut some important plot points in order to condense it to 80 pages. Dr. Cortex, Wally, and most of the 1st episode got slashed the most, so I know that we have the content that the audience wanted more of. Now we just have to work and develop that as well. The reading was very refreshing for me, it was the first time in the entire process where I could fully sit back and just take everything in. I took nearly 3 full pages of notes and have already starting brainstorming ways to implement them. It was so much fun to see everyone playing parts that we've had just imagined in our heads for so long.

So there's all these feedback forms to sift through, but I thought that you should all know that we came out with a few contacts from the reading. I won't name names but a few people inquired about how they could go about attaching themselves to the project as associate producers or consultants. Exciting :).

Expect some announcements by next week about some of the changes we may try and implement.

Keep LAN'ding!

FOTO FRIDAY 3/20 - it's all in the hands edition

Blogger won't eat THIS entry! No way, no how!

Aaron here! With some exciting news for those of you wondering when we were ever going to actually SEE the puppets in the show. Well wait no longer! Over a video conference last night, Dr. Cortex and his Wallaby assistant Wally were unveiled to me! While they're not finished

 products, you can clearly get an idea of who they are!

As I've said before, David and Kyle over at Fisticuff Puppets are no pushovers. They're very

 good at what they do. I personally love the ears on Wally (left) and the details of hair on Cortex (right). These puppets are going to go a long way in developing Christian's imaginative world in LAN'ded. 

So as you can see, most of our meetings go like this. We usually spend the first 45 minutes talking business and then the rest of our meetings are comprised of us imitating David Bowie and The Beatles. No doubt it's all in the name of comedy and good times though. The reading is in 9 days! Keep checking back to LAN'ded: The Blog for updates!

*Burp*

Well, blogger.com seems to have a bit of an appetite because as far as I know, it ate my last two posts!

The scheduled FOTO FRIDAY for last week disappeared from the post queue and the one I was writing earlier today had its draft deleted, so I am writing this all at once in hopes that I can post it and not have any complications!

So, what's happening in the crazy world of LAN'ded you ask? Well, the last update was March 6th, a whole ten days ago. Loads of work has been done and I'm proud to say that we've cleared Friday the 13th. No bad luck or slashers got to any of our cast and crew!

Having a solidified script to work with, things have been going very smoothly. With the inclusion of a new character in the finale, we've had to move around some people and I'm happy to say that things are coming together very nicely. During the process we have experimented with several different Mime Bosses, Cockney Zombies, Natalies, and chorus vampires alike, but now we are locked! With a dedicated person on make-up and Jackie continuing to make headway in directing, the staged reading is all lined up to be a good time!

I had a handful of people approach me today and ask about the show. It's pretty exciting to have people actually come up and ask about this show which wasn't a reality until December. I've even had some people e-mail me about what's happening after the reading is over...and we will discuss that when the time comes, for now the reading is where it's at ("I got two turntables and a microphone"). 

Also, I should have some pictures to post of the puppets this week. David and Kyle have been doing some real lovely work on Cortex and Wally. With so many different interpretations on the character, it's difficult to pick just one! We plan on having some of the puppets on display during the pre-show so people can take a gander at them. If you wanna catch up with Kyle and David and whatnot, check out their blog!

Remember people! The reading is MARCH 29TH! RAUH THEATRE! 5:00 PM! TELL YOUR FRIENDS!

I should have the director spotlight up this week, along with some video and other shenanigans. 

Stay real ;)