Monday, August 6, 2012

Going Somewhere With Going Nowhere

A Bit Of History, Progression, Motivation, and Execution.

Everyone has ideas because they are easy to come by. The challenge is to have the drive, patience, and discipline to allow them to thrive. It's a wonderful feeling when a particularly great idea begins to take shape and starts to evolve. When that idea undergoes a metamorphoses and becomes something you can hold in your hand, a sense of accomplishment is realized. Today I felt that whilst a great idea we have been working on for years continued it's journey to becoming a reality.

A Bit Of History: Several years ago, Xavier Rodney came up with the idea for a web series. It would be called Going Nowhere, a comedy about three lifelong friends struggling to make ends meet while going to school and working a bunch of dead-end jobs. A first draft was written for Episode 1 and talk began of casting and filming. However, due to school, jobs, and lack of time, years went by before the parts would be cast and the cameras would roll.

Little did Xavier know that eventually, his idea would be embraced by dozens of friends who would be determined to see it through. Once we all realized the potential this web series had, the original concept evolved into something none of us, especially Xavier, could have dreamed of. An epic tale of friendship, betrayal, battles, death, superheroes, and more epic was woven into story that blew our minds. Characters were added, scenes were written, new cameras and sound equipment were purchased, and an overarching chronicle was created that could give the series enough endurance to sustain itself for years.

Finally, the lights blared, the cameras rolled, and the action commenced.

Progression: Today is the fourth time in eight days that the cast/crew of Going Nowhere has filmed the series we can only summarize as an "Epic Superhero Comedy". This past week has been a lot of fun and the whole team has been working extremely diligently. Dan, Matt, and Natalie have lent us their apartment in Queens to use as the home of Ken and Chops, which is where the majority of the episodes take place. We've all been there for countless hours, shooting scene after scene as an ever increasing amount of material pours in from the writers (me being one of them).

I don't want to spoil any of the fun so I won't mention much more about the scenes, just that I'm feeling more and more confident everyday with a project that I have been dedicated to.

Motivation: Last Monday, I let the crew know some very big news that I knew would lead us to a breaking point. Since this project has been going on for so long and has been derailed so many times, I decided to light a fire under all of us. If we finish shooting and polishing episodes 1 through 6, I will buy the same camera that was used to shoot Captain America, the Canon 5D Mark II, along with an incredible rig. Yeah, the same camera that was used to shoot a move that grossed over 175 million dollars. I think it worked.

As I said earlier, today is the fourth time in eight days that the cast/crew of Going Nowhere has met. This camera will bring us to another level of cinematography. We will finally have the resources that I feel will project us into the big leagues. I can only hope that with a big enough following and a dedicated fan base that someone on a television network will give Going Nowhere a chance. Yes, I believe the show is that good.

Execution: It's really happening. Everyone is coming together with a new tenacity and is transforming this idea into something substantial, something to be proud of. Xavier's original idea has turned into an epic, unbelievable story that has allowed us to siphon creativity from every facet of our imaginations. Words can't describe how gracious we all are to him for allowing us to be a part of the process. Going Nowhere isn't just some web series to us, it's a metaphor for what we all want despite the irony in the title. We all want to go somewhere and we want the world to be excited while they watch our characters attempt to do just that.

Everyone has ideas and I'm happy to say that we are turning one into a reality.

2 comments:

  1. I believe that you all will achieve your goals and i wish you all the best. I'm proud and honored to actually work with you guys from time to time and be a part of something with a group of great friends who inspire me to continue to pursue my personal endeavors despite obstacles in my way. Chris I wish you and the rest of the cast the best and I know you will achieve your goals.

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  2. CONGLATURATION!!! You have officially surpassed the amount of content output of Lethal Poster's blog in the entirety of 2010 in just one week!!

    A WINNER IS YOU!

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