Barry The Demon Hunter

Just incase your not aware that I had my own scifi webseries here it is in one place. I hope you enjoy. We shot it over 2 years and spent one-two days making each episode. First episode cost £50 the most expensive one cost £200. (£150 of that was on a leather dress for Rachel (my partner, seen in ep 4,5 & 6 as different characters)).

filming fact: The title sunset walk was shot on holiday in Egypt. It was the first thing I shot.

ow..

i felt the bit where she fell on the grave stone after being chased lol

We filmed that bit backwards, pulling her up, and speeding it up. I also was too puny to pick her up in one motion....

Hi, Olly - I’ve watched the first four episodes of this series so far... I'm finding it enjoyable and entertaining with impressive elements. I'm more interested in the Templar angle than the demon one (as a personal preference)

I like the sense of variety between each ep. One episode we’re in the backrooms of city bars with glaring red light and the next we’re in woodland, back in a previous time. There’s lots of creative use of lighting and editing too -- particularly the carefully crafted use of red/green blanket light and dissolve shots.

Ep3 (Echoes) was my favourite one (so far). It did feel like one long flashback (albeit intercut with the fireside chat) but the story kept me intrigued, the level of production visibly stepped up a level from the previous two... and the costumes were great and gave the story/production a sense of authenticity. The opening shot with the angel girl walking down the stairs in her white dress drew me in straight away because it reminded me of the European/Underground style of filmmaking that I saw a lot of when I was younger. I was really impressed by the inventiveness of one particular shot - the moment at approximately 11:30 when the “men” walk behind the tree and emerge as the sisters. I don’t know if you were inspired from something or came up with it yourself, but I’ve never seen that done before... I had to scroll back and re-watch it a few times... cool! That whole episode has a nice, dreamy quality about it because of the music, the girl’s soft-toned voice and the fact that it’s mostly in flashback... so I felt like I’d been transported somewhere different.

Richard Alan as Simon makes me laugh -- he’s like a softer version of Rik Mayall.

I love the opening scrolling credits, btw... and the funky theme tune already feels familiar within a few episodes.

Three more episodes to go...

Thanks Knightmare,

Your views are greatly recieved. I really enjoyed making that medieval episode. Not wanting to spoil the rest of the series, but we filmed two episodes that day...

As a photographer, I love using lights and shot angles to make the viewing more interesting. The two men turning into girls, was more influenced by budget and my limitations as a special effects editor.

I really hoe you enjoy the last 3 episodes. I would love to know what you think.

Many thanks

Oliver

The pre-title sequence of episode five (Revelations) is really pacey and the end part of that bit packs a real punch. Btw, I love the shot of the knights in the title sequence - the bit where the "Oliver McNeil - Guest Starring" credits appear. Something that crossed my mind when I was watching that episode was the thoughtfulness behind the in & out points to the editing between two scenes in separate locations. There's a nice rhythm there... and I'm sure you'll know yourself, that's the key to editing.

Storyline wise, the episode was an interesting turn of events and I like the fact the characters -- like Clive -- have a human quality. Nice bit of Wing Chun from yourself too, in how you dealt with the blade-wielding woman. One thing I like about your character is how much he seems to be almost incidental at times, even though he's the hero. And Brook expressing her fondness of Barry is a nice touch in the writing.

This line made me laugh:

"Did that sound convincing enough to you?"

I'm glad I watched this series. Two more episodes to go...

Incidentally, I know a bit about the Templars myself from reading Christopher Knight & Robert Lomas' books, studying the secrets within the original Scottish-Rite Freemasonry texts and the four higher appendage degrees within English Freemasonry (30-33 are the Templarized "Knights" degrees -- with references to Jacques de Lomay - the last Grand Master of the Templars)...

So it was interesting for me that the series returned to this fascinating subject and has it as the underpinning premise. I thought the structure of Revelations (The Dominator?) was excellent and puts the previous episodes in perspective.

"Anyway, he knows too much to go back into normal priesthood." Quite an astute line about Templars.

Oliver wrote:
As a photographer, I love using lights and shot angles to make the viewing more interesting. The two men turning into girls, was more influenced by budget and my limitations as a special effects editor.

I think the lack of special effects is sometimes a blessing because it actually makes the result more effective. Powell & Pressburger were notorious for using inventive methods to acheive effects - the most famous one being them blowing on the lens and allowing the "mist" to dissolve naturally, in place of a post-production effects dissolve. Something to marvel at.

Episode 6 (The Family) has some wonderful medieval music in it to add texture... and it helps to make the scene at the cake sale work better because that uses an otherwise drab set compared to the rest of the show. I found the overall storyline grows in depth with each consecutive episode, making it increasingly appealing. The cut to C/U when Brook spits into the man's face is nicely timed. This episode is also one which really does benefit from having post-production effects, like the time-portal.

And when Brook changes... Woah! The medieval drum music builds up into a nice frenzy during that scene too... very effective.

Richard Alan continued to make me chuckle. He's great, isn't he?

-------

Episode 7 (Tripping)...

The cold, blue light after the title sequence looks good and I like the choice of music for the tunnel sequence. Again, the visual narrative in the editing works really well - one of the show's strongest elements. The end felt [just] a bit abrupt for me, but it worked nonetheless. I think BtDH is a fine example of what can be achieved with some imagination and passion*.

Simon breaking the big rock was funny.


* And some training experience. I just noticed on your webpage, Olly that you have National Film School & theatre background.

Many many thanks Steve.

I'm so please you enjoyed the show and watched all of it. It's been 3 years since I finished it and I still get people coming up to me and saying "hey arn't you the guy..."


You have made my day.

Olly

I thoroughly enjoyed it, Olly. And I wish you good fortune with any future projects.

Steve.