Blog Archives
Sidekicks Episode 6
Welp, it’s finally here. The sixth and final episode of Sidekicks.
It feels a bit odd to see it all out here. Three and a half years ago I thought of an idea and then Errol and I wrote a script. Two years ago we filmed that script. And now it’s all edited and out to the public. Read the rest of this entry
Sidekicks: Episode 5
Episode 5 of Sidekicks is here! This week we have a change of location and people talk about feelings more. Lots of feelings actually.
This was about the point in the writing where I realized I was very much writing this for A Reason. Did it come across? I have no idea. But it was good for me to keep going at it and to see it through.
This was also my favourite to film because it was indoors and I felt far more free to act the way I wanted rather than being scared of the neighbours complaining about the loud noises coming from the backyard next door.
Also, that is my apartment. It is in Errol’s basement :D. I had just moved in two months before. It looks much the same now.
Sidekicks Episode 4
Episode 4 is here! And we finally start to get conversations that are not entirely antagonistic.
We’ve been getting great feedback so far! You guys have been awesome! Continue to share and like if you can :D.
Sidekicks: Episode 3
Episode 3 is here! Complete with one terrible vacuum/buzz saw. Seriously, that thing was awful. It pretty much took over and there was no cheap way to cover our tracks :D.
What IS impressive is the tracking shot we got. Fun fact: the moving camera is achieved by putting the camera in the back of DOP’s car while he pushes the ENTIRE CAR down the street. It was awesome.
Sidekicks Episode 2!
Sidekicks Episode 2 is out! See if you can spot the continuity errors :D. Fun fact: Errol’s monologue is completely improvised. But that’s pretty darned obvious.
Sidekicks is Released!
Two years ago I wrote and filmed a webseries about superhero sidekicks called…well, Sidekicks. It was a project funded mostly by love and muffins and we ended up filming it in Errol’s backyard.
I’m pretty sure I wrote about it here in this blog. I didn’t even check that link. I hope it’s the right one!
The original plan was to have it ready to go a few months after filming wrapped up. Then our DOP/editor Clayton got a paying gig touring the world filming a documentary which of course he took because travelling around the world to exotic locales would be a really stupid thing to turn down.
But then he came back! Life finally settled down enough for all of us that we could turn our attention back to our little webseries that could. And now…our first episode is OUT to the public! And you can watch it here!
I will admit to being more than a little nervous releasing it. Watching my own work is always the most difficult thing to do and I can’t help but notice all of the areas I could have done better.
Basically, I feel like it’s opening night and I am having my classic Manda “It’s not too late to bail” nervousness. But we’ve come this far and I’ve been told that apologizing for your art is not the way to go. And I AM proud of our work. I wanted to write something about friendship and we did so.
So here it is! Episode 1! We will be releasing weekly! If anything, watch it for Errol’s performance. He continues to crack me up and is awesome to work with. I’ll probably have something more poignant to say the last episode. For now, HOLY CRAP OUR WEBSERIES IS DONE! ENJOY!
My Neighbour Errol- Comfort
Okay, so this is a bit of a lie. It’s not reaaaaaallly a My Neighbour Errol. But it does involve a conversation with Errol AND it’s about the play I wrote with him so I’m putting it under this category. Because it’s my blog and I can do what I want!
Ahem…anyway, so this week our play opens. It’s called Sidekicks and Secret Identities, a collection of three plays about superheroes performed in one evening. Errol and I ended up doing a theatrical adaptation of our webseries.
Our poster design is AWESOME
Opening weeks…are not my friends…they are in fact the worst thing for a naturally nervous person to have to endure. This experience has been especially odd in that basically my job for the show was done two months ago, and I have no clue how things are looking so far although I do know that I like the cast and that anyone who can handle Errol’s dialogue deserves a medal.
At any rate…we’re opening. I’m extremely proud of this accomplishment, but with my personal pride comes all of the worst case scenarios that could possibly happen in a play, up to and including the audience throwing rotten eggs.
Or eggs with spiders! that would be TERRIFYING!
Errol has now dealt with my nerves for every one of our projects. The worst was perhaps NaNoMusical, where I was certain we would be banned from the internet by angry NaNo fans everywhere. It wasn’t until he told me to log into a chatroom and see the reactions that I was convinced otherwise.
Comforting words and empathy are not really Errol’s thing to begin with. They are even less so when he has a creative partner who has the same panic attack every time a big project is about to launch. And so these are the comforting words he offered this morning upon learning of my anxiety:
Errol: Think about it this way. If you’re right, and the show does fail, I don’t get to be smug about it.
Me: Hooray?
Errol: But if you’re wrong, then I’ll be smug.
Me: …I really don’t know how to feel about this.
Errol: But if it fails, you get to be right! And I’ll be sad I can’t be smug.
Me: So no matter what happens, I’m still going to feel bad and guilty at the end of it.
Errol: (happily) Yup! Have a good day at work!
And then he made this face
But yes…regardless of the “Errol is a smug jerk” story…we have a play this week. If you are in the Toronto area, you should come check it out. You can also check out a blog I wrote for Monkeyman Productions about some of the process here. If you would like to see Errol’s smug face firsthand, I would highly suggest coming out. Wish us luck!
Fear of Finishing
I’ve had an epiphany lately. Finishing things is scary.
Yup, THAT scary
That may not seem like an epiphany. In fact, it might seem downright confusing. But believe me, it’s something that’s hard to admit to myself. Read the rest of this entry
Conversations with Stuff: Scripts
Part of me knows that feeling like your work is crap and pushing through is all part of the creative process. But most of me still felt frustrated this past weekend.
Script: hey, Manda!
Me: Go away!
Script: I still suck!
Me: I’m doing laundry!
Script: I’m not feeling too great. I’ve got a terrible case of the First Drafts.
Me: I have to make dinner.
Script: You’ve gotta work on me eventually!
Me: I did! For four hours!
Script: Really? I still feel like I suck.
Me: I made changes.
Script: I could use some more character development though.
Me: I’m ignoring you.
Script: And maybe some better flow. You’ve basically patched me together. I’m like the Frankenstein of scripts right now.
Me:…
Script: What are you doing?
Me: Watching new Gravity Falls episodes.
NEW EPISODES
Script: This is awesome! It’s a much better script than me.
Me: Can’t you minimize?!
Script: NOT UNTIL YOU ACCEPT YOUR POTENTIAL CRAPPINESS AND WRITE! I NEED TO FEEL PRETTY!
My Neighbour Errol: Outdoors
Errol is not known to suffer in silence.
Reaction to me not seeing Totoro.
If there is something he dislikes doing, he will let you know, at length and in great detail, just how much he abhors an activity/food. Like mushrooms, which he describes as “Nature’s Odour Eaters”. Read the rest of this entry
Thoughts from the Test Chamber 