Monday 29 August 2016

Doris Shades is a woman, she has needs. Revenge is amongst them.

Doris Shades is a woman, she has needs. Revenge is amongst them.


There is a tipping point which makes most people turn bad. Doris met hers when her husband left.

The picture below is from episode 56 when Doris dumps a dead body in the woods.
Another dead body.

Doris knew when show woke up to an empty bed that he was never coming home. She knew when her best friend and neighbour came by for coffee that morning that she would have to breach the subject, that she, Wilma was sleeping with her husband. But hey, that shouldn't break up a good friendship. He is the shit, not her, and he should die. Wilma her friend should kill him for her.
Now you can see this is a dark strange series, and we have now put up 61 episodes and although Doris tried to kill Brad she failed. She just happened to accidentally kill a lot of other people along the way. She accidentally became a serial killer and we accidentally had a series on our hands.

GUEST STARS

Guest stars have included James Whale from Celebrity Big Brother (ep 32), Olympian Derek Redmond (eps 43 to 54) and child star now a little older, Richard Beaumont (ep 20 to 40).

Although you can jump in anywhere, and I can suggest lots of different places to jump in, it is your call. The deaths don't start for a while so there are a few character building episodes where she wonders what to do with the mother-in-law that lives in now her husband has been such a shit. Well, she must pay. Doris starts a brothel and enslaves her. You see, Doris may look at life oddly, but so does the corrupt salesman when he cheats you out of your life savings. Doris Shades Of Bad is a dark series that runs a subtle (sometimes not so subtle) look at the remorseless crime mindset that bankers have when they travel into the city of London each day.
The difference is Doris starts her crime venture from the kitchen and as her drug empire gets noticed as she expands by selling grass to pig farmers (ep 13, very funny) then she us headhunted for greater things.
Having killed the local councillor, and fended of the police detective (This years Celebrity Big Brother favourite Detective Inspector James Whale in episode 32), 


the big gangster of doom arrives in episode 43, ex Olympian Derek Redmond in his first ever acting role.

You could jump in around then when the young trash collector knocks on the door and refuses to take the dead body in the wheelie bin unless they pay him, but then you will have missed them putting the dead body in the wheelie bin, episode 40.
Maybe episode 56 when they have killed the bin collector and take his body to the woods. 

It is a little bit Breaking Bad as a good woman gets bad, it is a little bit Dexter as she ruthlessly disposes of people, it is a lot Dangerous Housewife!

Can I suggest, that if you have never watched you start at the beginning ....  or somewhere, and power through them and catch up, then share. Please. We need numbers. Please share. Click this text to go to the YouTube full playlist. Please list below which is your fav ep, or when people might jump in.

On Daily Motion


If you want to go beyond, Daily Motion has episodes 60 and 61 up, click here. 62 will be shot in the next few weeks and then as we are trying to get another huge guest star for episodes 63 to 65, we may or may not be on time with those...... Click here for the Daily Motion channel.

Doris Visits


Now there is something strange. Derek the villain sent Doris to collect a package in Norway, so we got the idea of a travel series. Yes, Doris now has a travel series and a TV deal on Opera, and there are over 100 films, still loading some. And we expect to have 300 within, we hope three years. Click here to sample the travel TV show on your computer.

We ask that you pay it forward, please share........

Friday 26 August 2016

Different length programs play differently

From Coffee Break 3 min eps to full length Programs

There is a class system in the UK almost as strong as India. Ask any director or actor who works in TV. Those constantly trusted with 30 minute programs find it hard to move to the hour slot. Those in the hour slot often can't make it into the specials and multi parters. There are exceptions and these are normally exceptional people, however, the number of times actors leave say a soap to try and move on, then return two years later after they could not climb higher.

I spent 26 years on Emmerdale as well as the films and TV shows I did, but as an action coordinator we seem to be immune from that which is unique. Actually for us in effects and action we are trained on big product shows and the smaller shows love to have the huge accident. I joined Emmerdale to plan the Plane crash and stayed on retainer for a quarter of a century.

Shades OF Bad was a suggestion of my wife and co owner of INDYUK Films which has made features and never before ventured into TV of any form. I had sat at the British Screen Advisory Council meetings and lectures for a few years and the web was being extensively researched. So, I agreed and we started a coffee break show that was meant to always be three minute episodes.

I did cut the first 5 together to make a mega introductory episode but after the followers were way into episodes in their 40's, though new viewers may have watched or started via the longer episode it was still only 11 minutes.

However it was obvious it worked better, was more powerful and drew you into the story more. I have just just episodes 56 to 61 together and they make, even with some harsh cuts, a 27 minute episode. I have not released it as it is for discussion with our distributors Opera and Daily Motion before we decide what to do with the series.

However it is very interesting because you can cat more harshly as you have so much more product. However the grading and mixing done for three minutes needs to be rematched across the longer episodes.

I guess because we wrote the series from longer form ideas and cut them down, they do add up back together, but the exorcise is hugely interesting. I have just come out of a screening and two notes that toped up in the long form were never mentioned in the short form. In other words, the three minute coffee break episodes are not scrutinised as harshly as the show is in longer form.

One note that bugged a few in the longer form was the time between two incidents happening seemed wrong in the longer form. I can see that, but in the short episode as it stood alone, that never mattered. Long form is more demanding and the edit will be fun, what comes out of it will be interesting, but Shades Of Bad has way over 4 hours of material which we know can cut, work and play totally different. It is like a master class in editing.

Saturday 13 August 2016

The Boss comes in and directs episodes 58 and 59 after a film set accident

Stuart St Paul steps up and directs two episodes 58 and 59

to view films click the text where directed......

Stuart St Paul is often called an enabler as he makes things happen. He has invested in many projects, has owned many post facilities and camera hardware and won various and numerous awards including Best Director.
The Hollywood reporter referred to him as a Tri-Hyphenate, highlighting he had written, directed and produced. But Stuart is best known for action and stunts. Two years ago, although technically not working on the set on a huge stunt day in Hungary, he was there when a explosion was allegedly much larger than the tests by many multiples and large enough to swell and burn him. Since then he has been sitting in the back ground and advising as his wife ran the business INDYUK FILMS. Under Jean they halted film production and just made a foray into the web. INDYUK saw the female lead web series Shades Of Bad, that might not have arisen if Stuart was in charge. Stuart was rarely on set, never interfered with Buster Blackledge's direction nor Jean's direction after Buster, nor and more recently Lynn's directorial debut. Stuart, as Jean's life partner just agreed with her to finance the show and permanent equipment it which means they never hire anything. He has then just sat back, watched, occasionally advised and as the others are heard to say, he often criticised. For his IMDB credits click here...

However, after what is almost a two year break from work he has now directed few episodes of Shades Of Bad in a move to get back in the swing. Shades hardly represent the big toys he normally organises and takes responsibility for, but he has started to down size and put his two Red Weapon cameras and the Scarlet up for sale on RedUser.

Shades Of Bad has evolved a lot as he has taken more notice. He pushed Buster to shoot outside at night, then in the woods. Then challenged the girls to write and direct. Now, he has taken a trip to Barcelona with actor Gary Keates and Jean who plays Doris. Starting at 10am, in 4 hours he had shot the 'to and from' the Jewellers shop and was having lunch in a bar. His attitude has changed a lot in two years. But as Stuart says, when you have nearly been killed you think differently.

Stuart then recreated a Jewellers office at actor Nick Simons' house where he shot the interiors of Barcelona. The other sections are in his and Jean's house where Jean makes most of Shades Of Bad. Where as Buster preferred the kitchen, Stuart pushed actor Oliver Degnan for an edgy performance style and a walk into a new area. Stuart likes scenes to be busy visually.

Whether there is visible a difference between the episodes is for the eye to see, they were both shot as fast as the older episodes. Whether Shades Of Bad has entered a new era, or signalled one, a few motivated well known actors have taken notice at the shooting possibilities. They are asking Stuart to look at advising on how they can make their own films with a micro crew. Shades Of Bad has now over 3 hours of edited drama and never had a make up or costume or continuity department. Actors work this way in Fringe Theatre, what they need is the assistance of an enabler to turn their art into film.

Episode 58 - Doris arrives in Barcelona. They started at 10am and were in a bar have shot two episodes by 2pm. The house inserts were shot at the end of the shooting of Derek Redmond's last episode and are actually just a few shots cut in. Click this text for the episode.

Episode 59 - interior jewellers, Stuart was experimenting with pushing the Black Magic PC Camera after reading the manual and blogs on photography because he did not use the camera as well as he could on a sunset episode in low light (ep 61). On the ship on the way home. The episode that was created in the bar before it was shot will still stand as episode 61, but in 59 with no crew and just three small lamps he has pulled the curtains and deliberately worked in the dark.

The music he has used is from the film he directed Bula Quo and his long time friend and composer Mark Blackledge. Again it signals a mood change in Shades Of Bad though the Bula quo music has been used before in the Cat Fight episodes. 
Jean represents Mark at INDYUK if you are looking for a great self contained composer, who uses real musicians as well as samples.  Click here for the great interview with Jean and Mark in his composing studio. Click this text.

Actors Nick Simons and Oliver Degnan are also represented by INDYUK, they both left the profession for proper jobs and a proper wage but are both still very confident infant of camera.

INDYUK can be found on most sites and via the home/contact page on www.DorisVisits.com

Enjoy......   

Friday 12 August 2016

Doris & Wilma write and direct a Female Hot Crazy Matrix episode

When should the cast start to direct?

Well, the girls of Doris Shades Of Bad completely took over in episode 57 ..... here's the journey.


Web Theatre. Web is the new Fringe

The web has now made anywhere your theatre, you can film on the street, in the tube, in the woods and do not have to build a set. So, with the world your oyster and the phone in your camera, it is time to experiment. Those with a natural flair will become tomorrows enablers.

I often compare acting to football because it is such a grounding and obvious comparison. How many years is it before you allow a footballer to be either the captain, or the manager? But, do those who work that hard from the start get noticed right from the kick-off and are shaped for better things? Shaped because they are future captains? Yes, it is how our film stars are made just in the same way as footballers. Those who put the time in get the rewards.

I think some actors make great directors and I love watching old colleagues like Kevin McKidd be so successful in the USA where he has been a stand-out regular cast member in the medical drama Grey's Anatomy for many years and is now showing he is an excellent director. I worked with Kevin first on Small Faces, then Hideous Kinky and we crossed paths many times. 

Shows that get to run as long as Greys Anatomy, and it has now been running longer than ER, allow the team to learn and then expand by directing if they show the flair to be able to see the 'whole picture'. Shades Of Bad reached that at episode 56, because, Lynn knew she was leaving the show and there was a gap for another episode between 56 and the next. 

I suggested they look at the male Hot Crazy Matrix and work out how Wilma (who has stolen Doris's husband) tells her to find a man. Now, whether you like Hot Crazy Matrix or not - don't knock success, learn from it. The main original film was shot in ten minutes for a laugh and has over 15 million views and is in discussion with Hollywood Studios about how this might progress as a film or a TV series. There have been two or three female attempts to parody this, all have failed to even dent a respectable number of views. So, that is what I threw at them..... In our story, Doris is being sent to Barcelona which was to be episode 57, I can delay that a week if they come up with an episode. Plan it, shoot it. I managed to get Buster to come back and do camera and tech crew for them, but let them direct.....

Directing is a tough job managing a huge team of workers and technicians, managing time, respecting a budget (most directors are sacked on day three of a movie because they cannot do that time/money bit). Also they work with story and a couple of actors but seriously one would hope most of that was done before walking on the set. Now is the manufacturing time. It is a tough job to get right, and not until the producer walks on the set looks at his watch and says, 'what's the hold up?' do you start to feel the need for speed. PRESSURE. 
The producer might get the answer, 'no, not today, don't have a go at me today!' but, they expect that, they have done their job. As I said, directors who do not head it, find themselves sacked three days later.
I did walk on and say that after an hour of nothing, I was as un welcome as all producers doing that.

So, when you are at work, which are you?

Are you the crew member or actor that stands and chats or the one who watches every department and learns? Are you the next David Beckham who is sponge like; watching and learning.  How many Wayne Rooney's are there, very few. How many hours did David Beckham stay behind every day after training to practice placing the ball with passes and shots - it is said 2 extra hours a day. Greatness is thrust upon those whose dedication knows no bounds. If you are an actor who never trains and whose first question when arriving on set is, 'when can I finish only I have a ......' You might not be director material.

So, time and experience are the enemy when you are starting and have neither, and both are your friend to use and abuse when you have credits. Here is where the web series has opened the future. You have a chance to film and film. 

How many episodes before you can call yourself a series?

This is a great question and I upset a few people a year ago when I asked this. A series is at least 7 in the real world and that is a test. That is a shot comedy series like Mrs Brown's Boys. 13 episodes is a normal season for drama, 26 episode a more modern number in broadcast for US TV like Blue Bloods and Madam Sectretary. If you have only three or four, or five, that is normally called a 'five-part drama'. A four or five part drama can sit and do, in one week. It is not a series.

Now it is different. There are huge web series out there. A year ago there were fewer web series and very few who could produce content. Now there are huge numbers, far greater than Shades Of Bad which has shot 61 episodes thus far and has started a travel show with more episodes that 61 in a shorter time. Over 140 shows in a year, some great ones, some not so great. The travel show will outlive the drama, see a sample here.


When Jean started directing episode 43 episode 56 had been shot, like soaps and series we shoot out of order. The Barcelona sections of episode 58 and 60 were shot after episode 6 a year ago.

It is not fun, it is a job. A repetitive job.






Hot Crazy Matrix for Girls

















Saturday 6 August 2016

Shades Of Bad, evolved from the Edinburgh Fringe

Fringe Theatre on the Web - Edinburgh week

You can be excused for not remembering many of the thousands of Edinburgh shows that are in the festival each year.... that is the point. If you are a performer, what will it bring, and is it cost effective. Too late if you are up there .... bit maybe not to get a little additional exposure. Read on.

This week the Edinburgh Festival kicks off, and if you are going for the first time click this text for a travel over view of Edinburgh to get you in the spirit. It is where actors, directors and comedians work their art, test new routines and experiment with new writing and their own ability. It is hard work, very hard work as the PR alone to convince critics, writers and public to attend your venue is endless. You can work every day of the week leafleting and promoting, from first thing to last, with a short break to perform.

Digs, that is where you stay, food and drink is expensive and you will probably end up losing a lot of money and gaining much experience. So, is it worth it. The years Jean Heard has done Edinburgh with both Mutton and her one woman show Royal Mistresses, she has been sponsored (by Tena Lady) so her Edinburgh was paid for. But that is not the case for most.

That moment on stage is so quickly gone and the myth of talent forgotten that she decided to make a web series.

Luckily Jean does own a film company that has made features and owns kit (they are actually selling their 2 x Weapon Cameras at £16,500 each ONO). So she devised Doris Shades Of Bad. So is the web series the new Fringe theatre and is it right for people to learn media skills and camera skills rather than live audience skills. They are advertised on red User or you can get us via the contact at www.DorisVisits.com

Guest Stars

Guests stars have included our Olympian turned actor in 10 episodes of Shades Of Bad. That is a longer stretch than most other web series ever get to. Derek Redmond was a world champion and Olympian in that famous 4 x 400m relay team. The 800m now a celebrity commentator and speaker is regularly on Sky, but also looks like he might have a great career as an actor. And he has a flowing and cache value which is a must to sell. He also came with his own Bentley! Click here for one of his episodes.

But where is your audience. Games, sport, drama?

To be honest, most TV is fly on the wall and watching one of her many guest stars to Shades OF Bad in CELEBRITY BIG BROTHER, it is obvious that the talent TV stations are looking for to gain audiences is not all Shakespearian. Click this text for the Shades Of Bad interview with James Whale.

A major night shoot in the woods for less than an Edinburgh venue

But here is the point, for far less money that a venture to perform in Edinburgh one can put a performance on the web and use that link to send to producers all over the world. To gain an audience. The show that started in a kitchen has this ambitious episode out this week, a night shoot in the woods as Doris and friends dump a dead body. Click this test for Episode 56.

Hot Crazy Matrix

If you need to understand audiences and performance then you need to look no further than the Hot Crazy Matrix. That has now hit well over 15 million views which will have made the owners very rich. Plus they are in talks with Hollywood producers as to how to harness that into a movie or TV series. The web is amazing if you can go viral. Wilma parodies the Hot Crazy Matrix in Shades Of bad's next week's episode as she convinces Doris she knows how Doris can find a man. See next weeks episode early by clicking here.

MCN

An MCN is a multi channel network and all the majors are now starting to have them. This is like a record label or publisher ..... an MCN becomes your label and aids you. Shades Of Bad YouTube channel signed to Makers Studio / Disney. You still output still goes on all the many many platforms from YouTube and DailyMotion down to the smaller ones and future ones like OPERA TV app as we move back towards the TV. For us the MCN had not really worked, they do not even answer our emails to them. Also YouTube has not been our best responder, so where to pitch your venue will take time to learn.

Web Series and Content owning

What comes out of the web live theatre is your audience are real, they react and you get feed back. You can research watch trends and change to fit their requests. Doris Shades Of Bad saw the show reach number 2 in the US charts and Jean be voted best actress twice last year in the USA. But this takes time so you realise that the word series means just that, you need content, regular content. one, three five is not a series. That is a four parter. A series needs to be longer, released at regular intervals so the web spiders can see you are a content provider and will work with you.

Spin offs and Ideas

We were not expecting a spin-off travel show, but that has become bigger that the drama and we have already had an IP purchase enquiry. Being able to provide content that the audience may want to consume becomes worth money. So, Doris now Visits. Click here for just one of over 60 travel films we have put up in just two months on Daily Motion. The whole of next year is now booked up with trips far and wide.  We never got that from Edinburgh or any film festival.

OPERA TV, went have a TV channel

So we have moved onto the OPERA TV store as an app, like Netflix. You would need a very new TV or new Samsung or Sony to have a TV smart enough to freely find all apps and not just listed pre-installed ones. Click here to see what our TV channel looks like.

Your Films on Our TV Channel

We are soon going to move into a version of our web site and Daily Motion output to house other people's videos. These are travel videos aimed at a style. Hi Doris, I thought your Doris Visits viewers would like to see (where ever). So, if you want to make a film of where ever you go, see the style and follow the directions on the page. Any exposure is good exposure, learn how to use it and build numbers. Click here for the page. The example on this page was shot on an old phone camera.


Monday 1 August 2016

Shades Of Bad star nearly died of cancer, now sits back and watches in the Celebrity Big Brother House



Celebrity Big Brother's  James Whale told he is dying of cancer.





Celebrity Big Brother is in full swing, and sitting quietly in the background is James Whale. Although he does not often do it in his working life as a controversial broadcaster, he has had to learn to sit and contemplate because years ago he was diagnosed with kidney cancer. When they found the tumour, it was the size of a football and inoperable. He was told he would not have long to live. How do you deal with that?

That is something hard for any of us to contemplate, but he and his wife decided to take some time. Very close friend Luke Goss suggested a trip to France and they all went away for a while. James decided to spend the last few months with his wife and they spent savings and spent time together. It was a bucket list with the bucket about to tip, there was no option. This was a very dark period and he decided to go out with a bang, and enjoy it with his wife.

James then met a surgeon who suggested he would like to have a go at taking the tumour out. It was a risk. James knew he might not wake up from this very risky surgery that had not been done before. The risk paid off and the huge tumour was removed. James was alive ... and his new problems had to be faced. They had spent all the money they had on the bucket list and time together, no life insurance could now be expected to fill the gap they had made. He now needed to work and work fast as he had new troubles, financial troubles that would have not been there had he lived. It sounds like a movie script, but James was living it. His biography explains it.

James has always been both a successful and controversial presenter. He does take people to task, often doesn't suffer fools, but then when someone has put a ticking clock on you once in your life you do focus on reality.

James now runs a kidney cancer charity because after the fantastic work of the doctor who saved him, he felt he had to give something back. Supporters of the small charity are a loyal group. In this interview he talks frankly about his cancer, because he is with a close friend who nailed him down on a subjst he does not talk about too often. Click below.

James Whale, actor, broadcaster talks about his dark period ....

James, apart from being a guest star as Detective Inspector James Whale in episode 32 of Doris Shades Of Bad (original coffee break versions), is known for the Sunday paper reviews on Sunday Morning Television and his breakfast show on BBC Radio Essex. For many years he had his own late night TV show in the UK with had millions of viewers, figures shows just cannot get nowadays. James has had long stints on LBC, Talk Radio and Talk Sport. Click here to go to the site which will have the interview between James and Stuart.

The Connection ....

James Whale used to be the Late Night presenter on Metro Radio in Newcastle back in the 1970's, and it was there he became friends with Stuart St Paul who was then the breakfast show DJ. Stuart is now the executive producer on Shades Of Bad who has dragged in some interesting guests. Here in this interview, James and Stuart chat, head to head in the garden of Doris Shades, which is his house.  Click here to go to the site which will have the interview between James and Stuart.

The Episode of Shades Of Bad ...

James and Stuart have done some things together over the years though to date James has never got Stuart to go and shoot arrows. Did you know James was a world class archer, who could if he spent time have possibly represented the country. Well, Stuart and James are always talking projects so it was no surprise Stuart got James to do an episode of a web series. It is not his first acting role, he appears in Charlie with Luke Goss.

Episode 32, a lofty number very few web series achieve, is the one that James Whale appears in. The role made for him is Detective Inspector James Whale, who comes into the made house to arrest someone for murder. The series is not to be taken too seriously, it is a very light hearted humorous but very dark show about Doris Shades Of Bad, a woman who has needs, and revenge is amongst them.

Click this text for the episode which is on daily Motion so Blogspot does not support it as a film box.

Watch Shades Of Bad the series

For an indy web series, after James in Episode 32 Doris has a dead body to get rid off, then she is coerced by a new star, the series goes to Norway then Barcelona which is a lofty ambition for an independently funded drama. Stuart feels television has lost its way with grants and free money and people working the industry with no risk. In the USA TV has become the new film with series that from the outset have 'box' mentality and huge worldwide ambition. In the UK we are still serving on handouts. The web will change that because ingenuity and creative talent are explosive and it will kick UK in the rear when the web takes over the TV and saturates it with apps. Our spin off travel show Doris Visits has gone web TV on the Opera Store if you have a new Samsung or new Sony TV. Other TV's are still too stupid. Click here to see the channel on the computer. 


Other Guest Stars in Doris Shades Of Bad ....

Almost all the web series shows nominated for awards in the USA were American, but guest star Richard Beaumont was nominated for his guest appearance. Ricky was a child star in many films like Digby the Dog. Now, as we head into the Rio Olympics period World Champion and Olympian Derek Redmond becomes a huge presence in ten episodes ... episodes 43 to 53. Derek was hugely nervous in his first acting role and due to his packed diary he often had to change days, arrive late and on one day had a Sky Sports camera team arrive at the house to take over and interview him during a lunch break. Take a look at his entrance.