If you know about the origins of Damon Dark, it began as a concept I intended to sell to TV as a drama series back in the late 80s, early 90s. In 1990, I wrote a feature film script which was like "Die Hard with aliens", about Damon and Candy fighting a squad of green, reptillian alien warriors in Melbourne, after the whole city is put to sleep with alien nerve gas. I submitted it to "Film Victoria", a govt funding body. The Head of Film Vic said "No one's gonna watch UFOs and alien invaders in the 90s! That's 50s B-movie stuff!" Three years later, the X-Files started on TV and I was like "this is Damon Dark!" (we all know how no one watched the X-Files because it was 50s B movie stuff, right?)
When I finally got a chance to make Damon Dark, it was in TV format. I used 24 minute episodes, some stand alone and some as parts of a serial. (Maddox was 65 minutes in it's first cut and showed over three weeks)
But when it came to YouTube, I had to think long and hard about the format. What would work on YouTube?
One thing I found was that stories with multiple parts tended not to get as many views as one-offs. I started to think in terms of self contained ten minute stories. One idea which occured to me was that if there was a temporary ending, like the hero simply escapes an enemy, then the plot could pick up again in another ep. This way people who wanted a one-off could get one, but those who wanted more depth could learn more about the characters and situations when they came back again.
An example would be the way Damon escapes the Magician in his first story, but really only escapes his control and singes his fingers! When he comes back again, we get a little more on his powers, his background, etc.
The same goes for Lansing, Hecate and the whole Tempus Project concept. So it's like a serial, but loosely enough for people to drop in and watch one and not feel like "oh, it's part six, I need to go back and watch parts one to five first".
some of the basic stuff...I figured, way back before YouTube...that if I made a character and he was played by me and he developed as I myself aged and developed...then I could play him whenever I got to make a short film...that way the character would always be there, even if I couldn't get other actors to always be there.
When I came to Youtube, I decided to age Damon and add this idea that he'd been off in a space war for a long time. This meant two things...
Firstly, Damon didn't need a car or to go to locations, he could now appear from thin air inside a setting. This was a very effective way to kick off an episode and for the hero to travel. It eliminated the need to go out and shoot all manner of time-consuming shots on location. For a ten minute webseries, it was better than if he's stayed a secret agent.
Secondly, he had Trans Dimensional Control. This was also a real time-saver. I created a clip using frame-by-frame animation, of a green eye-like thing in space. I called it "The Pulsar". It's a telepathic relay for Trans Dimensional Control.
I then was able to have Damon talking to his superiors, getting sent on his missions and also arguing with them, without the need to shoot complicated drama scenes. I simply used a pitch-change in an audio program (Audacity) and did the voice of Control. Sometimes, I even had Damon talking telepathically, so I could record the lines in Audacity for Damon and Control. This saved a lot of time with learning lines, etc.
At the start of 2009, I decided Damon should leave TDC...I decided it was getting too easy and a little dull to do...this was good, because as Trea and Olly came along, I was able to have Damon communicate by slightly more interesting means with their characters.
The "video phone" idea has long been a fave of Science Fiction, so I really loved the idea of Lansing on the line to Damon.
And Olly enabled me to have another TV SF fave...the villain in his lair who watches the hero from afar and plots his downfall! (I loved the Cybermen when they used to monitor Dr.Who on their screen and discuss what they were going to do to him!).
So, that's some of the ideas and ways I used when I adapted Damon Dark to YouTube's format.
When I finally got a chance to make Damon Dark, it was in TV format. I used 24 minute episodes, some stand alone and some as parts of a serial. (Maddox was 65 minutes in it's first cut and showed over three weeks)
But when it came to YouTube, I had to think long and hard about the format. What would work on YouTube?
One thing I found was that stories with multiple parts tended not to get as many views as one-offs. I started to think in terms of self contained ten minute stories. One idea which occured to me was that if there was a temporary ending, like the hero simply escapes an enemy, then the plot could pick up again in another ep. This way people who wanted a one-off could get one, but those who wanted more depth could learn more about the characters and situations when they came back again.
An example would be the way Damon escapes the Magician in his first story, but really only escapes his control and singes his fingers! When he comes back again, we get a little more on his powers, his background, etc.
The same goes for Lansing, Hecate and the whole Tempus Project concept. So it's like a serial, but loosely enough for people to drop in and watch one and not feel like "oh, it's part six, I need to go back and watch parts one to five first".
some of the basic stuff...I figured, way back before YouTube...that if I made a character and he was played by me and he developed as I myself aged and developed...then I could play him whenever I got to make a short film...that way the character would always be there, even if I couldn't get other actors to always be there.
When I came to Youtube, I decided to age Damon and add this idea that he'd been off in a space war for a long time. This meant two things...
Firstly, Damon didn't need a car or to go to locations, he could now appear from thin air inside a setting. This was a very effective way to kick off an episode and for the hero to travel. It eliminated the need to go out and shoot all manner of time-consuming shots on location. For a ten minute webseries, it was better than if he's stayed a secret agent.
Secondly, he had Trans Dimensional Control. This was also a real time-saver. I created a clip using frame-by-frame animation, of a green eye-like thing in space. I called it "The Pulsar". It's a telepathic relay for Trans Dimensional Control.
I then was able to have Damon talking to his superiors, getting sent on his missions and also arguing with them, without the need to shoot complicated drama scenes. I simply used a pitch-change in an audio program (Audacity) and did the voice of Control. Sometimes, I even had Damon talking telepathically, so I could record the lines in Audacity for Damon and Control. This saved a lot of time with learning lines, etc.
At the start of 2009, I decided Damon should leave TDC...I decided it was getting too easy and a little dull to do...this was good, because as Trea and Olly came along, I was able to have Damon communicate by slightly more interesting means with their characters.
The "video phone" idea has long been a fave of Science Fiction, so I really loved the idea of Lansing on the line to Damon.
And Olly enabled me to have another TV SF fave...the villain in his lair who watches the hero from afar and plots his downfall! (I loved the Cybermen when they used to monitor Dr.Who on their screen and discuss what they were going to do to him!).
So, that's some of the ideas and ways I used when I adapted Damon Dark to YouTube's format.