Fellow Streamy Nominee, Kristyn Burtt (The Web Files) and I at The Good Knight's Quest Premiere

First off, I want to congratulate all the Streamy Award Nominees. There were a lot of peers and pals that I deeply respect that scored nominations and that is just awesome. There were several I was so thrilled to see that it felt like I was more excited than the nominees themselves.

Anyway it’s just been a crazy week. So crazy that this blog post is coming 3 days after I originally wanted to write it. The good thing with the extra time for this post is that I can reflect more on what the nominations means to the team, the show, and me. I’ll admit, I was nervous as heck going into Monday morning (when they announced the nominations). I had figured that’d we pull in a few nominations and do well, but you never know until it’s official.

I am truly thrilled with our Streamy nominations. What the Streamy Awards means to everyone else is subjective, but to me it means a ton. Last year when we were finishing Compulsions, I set a hard deadline to my team. “This show is coming out in its entirety this year, distribution deal or not!”, and sure enough with grinding hard work, and the promotional support of Dailymotion, it premiered and has been extremely well received. One note to add, as one fellow deeply respected creator pointed out to me on Monday, the nominations (and any possible wins) will also hopefully give us enough recognition to propel us into a Season 2, which is and should be the goal for any Season 1 series.

As for our nominations themselves, it’s awesome that we’re well represented. We’re nominated in what are traditionally referred to as “big categories” (Acting, Writing, Directing, and Overall Drama). But as this is a blog and I feel obligated to be honest, I’ll admit that there was still this bittersweetness to it. Being part of a team, there’s this  disappointment that comes when members of them don’t receive the recognition that you feel they deserve. I really wanted my craft/technical team to pull out a nomination or two, so yes I was sad that they didn’t receive any. But in reflecting on it, I believe that feeling of let down goes for any webseries out there, nominated or not.

I’ve had private conversations with several nominees from other shows who voiced the exact same disappointment that I had. Their show may be represented (and in some cases well represented) yet they are still saddened by being missed in categories which they believed they were a strong contender for. It may seem “greedy” but I assure you it’s not. It’s a feeling of camaraderie that stems from that “family love” mentality you develop when you’re  working in a collaborative process like producing web video. Every web series creator/director/whatever is going to champion the work of every member of their team, it’s just a part of the journey. Thus I really hope my peers that were nominated are truly grateful for the nominations they received, and not worrying about the nominations that they didn’t.

Finally, for my personal nomination in writing, I am of course ecstatic. It’s an honor to be nominated, and it feels good to be up against heavy hitters.  Amongst my fellow nominees are a slew of TV writing credits (Lost, Doctor Who, Torchwood, The L Word) and two big studios (Sony/Crackle and MTV Networks).  As a growing episodic script-writer evolving into short format, I really challenged myself to prove that an intense/gripping/sophisticated drama could be executed as a high quality/episodic web series, thus it’s rewarding to receive a level of recognition like this. At its very base, it is an encouraging piece of validation that pushes my to advance my craft, so I will continue to press more in my work. – In a phrase  - “I must be doing something right.”

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Streamy Nominee Craig Frank shows off his pliers - Click to watch the Episodes

We are proud to announce that Compulsions received four Streamy Award Nominations in the 2010 Streamy Awards.

Best Drama Web Series

Best Directing for a Drama Web Series – Nathan Atkinson

Best Writing for a Drama Web Series – Bernie Su

Best Male Actor in a Drama Web Series – Craig Frank

In the Drama Category, Compulsions is going up against Sony/Crackle’s Angel of Death, and The Bannen Way, as well as MTV/Viacom’s Valemont, and the ITVFest winner OzGirl.

A full list of nominations can be found here.

- The Streamy Awards is the first and most prestigious awards ceremony devoted to honoring excellence in original web television programming and those who create it. The annual ceremony, and its live online broadcast, brings together top talent, decision-makers and influencers shaping the online entertainment industry. – from Streamys.org

For Your Consideration: Guest Star - Taryn O'Neill

This Post is in a series of posts that is directed at the members of the IAWTV/Streamy Awards. The content will highlight different members of the Compulsions team. These are meant for both awareness and as a guide to showcase what each individual brought to the project.

Taryn is an experienced Actor and received a Streamy Nomination in 2009 for her work in After Judgment. Last month she won an Indie Soap Award for Best Supporting Actress in her work in Compulsions.

From Director Nathan Atkinson: The single most exposed, and thereby critical role in the series. Why? And, why Taryn? We saw actor after actor for this role – and everyone brought something different, something valuable… but what Taryn was able to capture is what sold me. I’m getting ahead of myself. So, during the casting process, what I was looking for was to find someone who could genuinely come across as someone who was lying to the one they loved the most – out of love. …And then gets caught. The whole concept fascinated me. And, bound to a chair what lengths would she go to, to save the one she loved. It’s complex and twisted, but somehow, out of everyone, Taryn made me believe. She made everyone believe, that’s what really added the depth that the Series needed – adding that credible, fourth perspective on the interconnectedness of everything.

(Watch Taryn in Episode 6 as she goes through the journey as Nathan describes)

From Creator Bernie Su: This is one of those meaty/rich  performances that you just need to watch an appreciate. I remember the day Episode 4 aired and Taryn’s Facebook/Twitter exploded with people in awe of her performance.

One of the base themes of this series is deception. But like all deception there are clues (or bodily “tells”) that a deception is happening, the difference is how big the tell is. In this scene below, Mark(Craig) is interrogating Sara(Taryn), Mark asks “Where is it?”, and Sara gives an answer. It’s specific, it’s detailed, and she does it without breaking eye contact, so then how does Mark know she’s lying?… In the clip below from Episode 4, watch the 2:21 mark (you may need to watch it a couple of times to catch it) but Taryn does a slight subtle flinch (“The Tell”), which follows into the rest of the scene. There is a tell, and Mark catches it and he then punishes her for it.

This role required someone who could big and go dark, and just commit. Taryn committed to it, and what came out was an amazing performance.

So please consider Taryn O’Neill  in Compulsions for Best Guest Star.

For Your Consideration - Editor Michael Darrow

This Post is in a series of posts that is directed at the members of the IAWTV/Streamy Awards. The content will highlight different members of the Compulsions team. These are meant for both awareness and as a guide to showcase what each individual brought to the project.

Michael is an award winning editor and has done six feature films. Last month he won an Indie Soap Award for Best Editing in his work in Compulsions.

From Director Nathan Atkinson: After Principal Photography, I was so frustrated, I couldn’t get past the fact that I didn’t get all the shots I wanted (we shot all of Season One in 5 days) and {our budget} was spoken for, which meant that we weren’t going to have any reshoots – period. No pick-ups, no matter how big or small, nothing. Mike just simply told me, with all the confidence that only comes with experience, “Just come on in and let me show you what I got.” I simply could not have done it without him. Even when it seemed that we may have painted ourselves into a corner, he always found a way out. He simply understands tone, character development, drama, tension… Michael’s not just a gifted Editor – he’s a gifted Storyteller.

From Producer Michael Tohl: Aside from his strong sense of story and timing, Michael also had his own “off screen” challenge to deal with. How can an editor edit a digital piece without a computer? Half way through post-production, a water main burst in the wall of his apartment… he saved his computer, but it was packed up in a box while he bounced around living situations in the interim. While his computer was able to be unpacked and set up somewhere, he also had to take on more editing gigs to pay the bills, because let’s face it… we couldn’t pay that much. So how does an editor balance paid gigs with a low paid passion project, without a stable or constant work environment, and get it done by the final deadline? Dedication.

From Creator Bernie Su: I really can’t tell you how much I respect Michael’s sense of story. When you come into a script/story with non-linear timelines like our show, it can be confusing. There’s no right/wrong way to approach editing a story like that. Adding to that was our philosophy of having “perceived violence”. You actually don’t see much if any of the violent moments on screen, it’s all implied, and that in itself is a skill to edit together.

Below are a couple clips for a few episodes to highlight Michael’s editing.

Episode 1: 2:46 – This sequence in episode 1 is a combination of both story and “violence” together. Watch as the scene builds from Mark interrogating Adam, to Mark punishing Adam for his defiance. Note: We never see the hammer connect on anything… it’s all implied.

Episode 2: 0:45 – This is the exact same scene I highlighted for Sound Designer Tom Boykin, but now you can watch it for the precision in the editing this time around. Again you’re looking at rapid cuts back and forth between the office and interrogation scenes. Both scenes are completely opposite as far as moods and tones, and most importantly they both serve each other for character and story.

One final note to say. This series has three leads and each specific episode focuses on one of them, even though the characters intertwine. Michael was able to execute in his craft that the episodes maintain that mantra. You’ll notice it come Episodes 3, 5, 7, and 8 when the Mark character is in each episode but is regulated to secondary status. Always service your leads, and Michael did that in his editing.

For Your Consideration: Cinematographer Jason Raswant

This Post is in a series of posts that is directed at the members of the IAWTV/Streamy Awards. The content will highlight different members of the Compulsions team. These are meant for both awareness and as a guide to showcase what each individual brought to the project.

From Producer Michael Tohl: Jason had limited equipment, limited crew, and tough conditions to work in.  We shot all eight episodes in July, and two of our days were particularly tough on him and his crew… when we shot our warehouse scenes.  Lighting an empty space the size of three football fields with a lighting package smaller than one  typical on a student film is hard enough.  They were using practically every single thing they hand to light each shot one at a time.  Having a “skeleton crew” means less hands on deck to move that heavy equipment around for each shot, and running it around such a large space is tiring.  That makes it hard to keep up with the shooting schedule.  We had a “diffuser” (similar to a fog machine) to create “depth” and “texture” in the background, and that created swamp like humidity.  And to push the crew to the edge, we had to keep the air conditioning off to keep the sound from getting ruined, and from blowing the diffusion around.  The crew was quickly fatigued, and it took all their heart to keep going.  So aside from his creative talents that can be seen on screen, what you didn’t see was how he remained strong (but not mean), calm (but not lazy) and constantly thought on his toes to keep his crew from losing heart.  It takes some serious leadership skills to keep a crew moving on schedule, and doing quality work under such harsh conditions!

Taryn O'Neill looks on to a bleeding Seth Caskey in Episode 6

From Director Nathan Atkinson: Here’s the thing about Jason, I think he was given a budget of something like $600… and then we cut it back. Because he has such a great eye, he was able to take his pocket change budget, call in dozens of one time favors, and make it look like a studio had picked us up and we shot it for seven figures. Simply amazing. The camera we used (Sony EX3) is a camera that many feature films use as “crash cameras” – cameras that are cheap enough to destroy… just as long as you get the shot from them first. But, with Jason, you’d never know it. Again, you can have the flashiest gun in the world – but if you don’t know how to shoot it, you’re just going to hurt yourself. Jason’s skill, his attitude, and his almost magical skill of taking next-to-nothing and making it look like a million bucks, not only makes him the best candidate for this award – it makes me want to work with him again, and often.

A silhouetted Craig Frank in Episode 6

From Creator Bernie Su: From day one Jason was the first pick of both Nathan and Michael for this project and I certainly feel fortunate to work with someone so driven and talented in his craft. I was always impressed from his use of shadows in a scene, below is the first scene from Episode 6, one of our most complex scenes as far as coverage. Take special note of Jason’s incredible use of shadows in contrast with the lighting in each shot. The depth and layers added so much to the “grittiness” that serves the sequence so well, and like Jason stands by, “serves the story.”

Please consider Jason Raswant from Compulsions for Best Cinematography in the 2010 Streamys.

For Your Consideration: Annemarie Pazmino as Cassandra Morrissey

This Post is in a series of posts that is directed at the members of the IAWTV/Streamy Awards. The content will highlight different members of the Compulsions team. These are meant for both awareness and as a guide to showcase what each individual brought to the project.

Annemarie Pazmino is a familiar face in the web space co-staring in TheWB.com’s Sorority Forever. She has several film credits and recently received an Indie Soap Award Nomination for her work in Compulsions. “Acting for me is always about trying to find the truth in my characters. The journey of finding it is the fun, and actually getting there is the bonus.” – Annemarie Pazmino

From Director Nathan Atkinson: This poor girl – I put her through the wringer during auditions. She was just too good to let go, and auditioned fantastically. The question was purely that of chemistry. It’s hard to explain, but as a Director, you don’t cast an actor – you cast a “cast.” Annemarie is not new to the screen, but I feel that this was the first time that she was really allowed to flex her acting chops. And thank God she has the chops to flex. She totally saved us. Every time we got to her scenes – we were completely out of time for the day or the entire shoot. Many others might have totally folded – but I think she actually was able to use all the pressure somehow. The mysteries of the great actors. Not to mention, out of nowhere, I asked her to do some improvisation for a series of shots – no problem, just as natural as breathing.

From Creator Bernie Su: Going into the series, the Cassandra role had this aura to her. This was truly a unique character and would be an incredible challenge to play for two big reasons.

Production Designer Rachel Payne works on set.

This Post is in a series of posts that is directed at the members of the IAWTV/Streamy Awards. The content will highlight different members of the Compulsions team. These are meant for both awareness and as a guide to showcase what each individual brought to the project.

When you approach Rachel and ask what a Production Designer does her response is, “A Production Designer is the person that is in charge of everything in the frame…that doesn’t move…and is usually out of focus”.

From Producer Michael Tohl: Given the gritty tone of our show, it was a natural dilemma… how do we balance our budget while pulling off sets that “sold” on screen? My favorite creative solution to a production design challenge we faced, can be seen in the climax of Episode Eight. At the end of the episode, Justine goes to pick up “the package” in a vacant parking structure. When she goes to the drop off spot (a hole in a pillar behind a parking sign) the package is not there, and all we see is the chunky inside of a concrete pillar. That pillar was a fake pillar, that she handmade hours before we shot that scene! It only cost us a few bucks, and it looks great on screen. That is one example of her excellence, but there is also so much fine detail work that she did, and as long as you don’t notice it… that means she did her job well.

Janna Bossier stands in front of the false pillar in episode 8

From Director Nathan Atkinson: Rachel Payne is my “go-to” Production Designer, period. I’ve done a few projects without her (due to availability) and when others simply couldn’t, I always found myself saying, “Rachel would’ve been able to make it work.” She has simply never failed. No matter how outrageous the request, she always comes up with a (ridiculously practical) solution… even if it’s constructed of nothing but “gaff-tape.” For example, we needed a pillar in a public parking garage with a hole burrowed into it. She made one out of paper mache for next to nothing… and, every time I watch, I truly forget that it’s fake. She’s really that good. Other times it’s a priceless antique. “Rachel, that’s amazing, where in the world did you find that?” Rachel, with her ever-disarmingly thick Alabama accent, “Well, none of the Prop Houses had one, so I said to myself, I’ll just make one … and then I found this at a Thrift Store.” To be perfectly frank, Rachel took our shoe-string budget and made everything you see in front of the camera look just as real as if this were a documentary – or better, in some cases. She’s simply the best.

From Creator Bernie Su: In reality most Art Direction is hard to notice, and in reality most production design you really shouldn’t notice. But in highlighting the skills of Rachel Payne I’m going to point out what’s fake to appreciate what she brought to the table.

Craig Frank stands above his tool bench.

Interrogation Room – This is THE set piece of the series. Here you can see the details of what Rachel brought. Early on Rachel envisioned a bevy of tools to place at Craig Frank’s arsenal, but not only tools. She wanted a bench, an artificial quick to strike table that added to the simplicity and the fear of the scene. Thus Rachel went about constructing this table from scratch. Morning of she yanked out her power tools, goggles and away she went building  her bench.

Annemarie Pazmino in the Cassandra set.

Cassandra’s room -We always envisioned this as the 2nd setpiece of the series. It really is just a room, but we went as big as we could. 4 Monitors, all active with two floating on arms. We got an obsessed voyeur here, so Rachel went all out. A great little detail of this scene is the DVD rack behind her, a mass archive of all the footage the character has acquired from her victims.

One final note on Rachel. The Office set seen throughout the show was originally a completely vacant office. Everything you see from the stationary, the supplies, the white board, to the copier were all artificially brought in by Rachel. There is nothing like walking in on that set you get completely lost in, “Wait, this isn’t a working office?”.

So please consider Rachel Payne from Compulsions for Best Art Direction in the 2010 Streamys.

For Your Consideration: Guest Star - Seth Caskey

This Post is in a series of posts that is directed at the members of the IAWTV/Streamy Awards. The content will highlight different members of the Compulsions team. These are meant for both awareness and as a guide to showcase what each individual brought to the project.

Seth is a graduate of The Sanford Meisner Center, and has been involved in several theatre productions and short film projects during the last year. He also received a Supporting Actor Nomination in the Indie Soap Awards last month for his work in Compulsions.

From Director Nathan Atkinson: I can honestly say that Seth was the unsung lynch-pin that the series hung upon. Had Seth not been able to go to that deep dark place (we all press down to the deepest corner of our subconscious and dare not look into) again and again, over and over again, for two days straight – we simply would have lost all credibility. Period.I’ll never forget it, Seth was our very first audition. He walked in – nailed it – almostexactly the same way you saw him in the final finished product. He walked out of the audition, I looked at Mike (Tohl), “So, waddya say? Wanna just call it a day?”

From Creator Bernie Su: Even though Craig Frank, Janna Bossier, and Annemarie Pazmino are the three leads in this series, the story literally starts with Seth Caskey’s Adam Creedy.

His ability to convey the pain, defiance, sorrow, and suffering (both internal and external) is absolutely vital to the pulse of the series. Let’s also not forget the fact that he spends the entire series bound to a steel chair, literal restriction to his performance.

I’m going to highlight one scene and one episode showcasing Mr. Caskey’s talents.

Episode 2: – 2:31 – This is the scene where Seth has to finally give in. He just can’t take the pain anymore and has been pushed over. He caves and ends up giving up the location of the person he loves, and he despises himself for doing it. I absolutely love Seth in this scene, it makes you feel that combination of both  his pain and his shame in every word he says.

Episode 6: – 0:50 –  I encourage you to watch this whole episode and really focus on Adam/Seth’s journey, but in this early scene watch for that moment at 1:01 where Adam asks “What does he want with you?” – There’s that extra layer of suspicion of Sara that starts here and plays throughout the episode, climaxing at his personal moment at 4:11 when Sara reveals she’s been lying the whole time. His reaction to this was absolutely masterful in my mind, on the page the moment read as “shock”, but on the screen it reads as “devastated.”

So please consider Seth Caskey in Compulsions for Best Guest Star in the 2010 Streamy Awards

Composer Sally Chou (left) poses with a guest.

This Post is in a series of posts that is directed at the members of the IAWTV/Streamy Awards. The content will highlight different members of the Compulsions team. These are meant for both awareness and as a guide to showcase what each individual brought to the project.

From Creator Bernie Su: I’m going to start this off by saying that all the music in our series is original and is not sourced. Different members of our team have been asked “Where did the music come from?” and there is one answer, our Composer Sally Chou.

Sally is probably the least recognizable member of our team. In fact, there are members of our principal team that have yet to even meet her in person, and that’s entirely Sally’s own design. Sally isn’t on Facebook or Twitter and is naturally very private, she doesn’t even have a bio on this site. Thus it’s up to me to tell you about Sally and just how immensely skilled she is. I’ve known her all my life and she continues to be one of the smartest, most talented, and most reliable people that I know.

I am going to set this up by starting with what Director Nathan Atkinson wanted from her as for music. When you watch the series you’ll notice that most of the episodes have no composed music except for the last few scenes in each episode, this was done by design to add punch to those heavy hitting ending moments and lines of dialogue. Each episode ends with unique tracks, while Episode 5: Only I Can See and Episode 7: Obsessed with a Crush feature a track throughout the episode.

Now let me tell you about the constraints that faced Sally. Typically the soundtrack process comes at the end of post-production. Scoring can’t really start until after you lock picture. This is because the composer is generally required to hit certain moments with specific instrumentation. Now here’s the kicker, we didn’t lock picture on our episodes until Late October 2009 and if you remember we launched on Dec 1st, 2009. Thus Sally had a little more than a month to compose and produce 8 original short tracks to use in the show. Merely completing her task alone is an incredible feat, but I’d like to highlight a couple of moments where she absolutely rocked it.

Episode 6 – From what I hear, this is one of, if not the most memorable sequence of the season. Listen and watch as how the music begins as Sara calls for Mark, watch and enjoy the scene, but listen for that transition at that devastating sequence with the screams by Sara, the door slam, and the roll into credits. I remember when this episode aired, I received several specific inquiries on this musical track.

Episode 8 – In our season finale, we wanted to end with a great final track and I have to really praise Sally for her work in this one. This track was immensely complex and features full on instrumentation as well as vocals. Fun Fact: It is Sally herself singing the vocals in track. I really don’t know how else to highlight this. I just think it’s awesome and I hope you enjoy it as well.

Personally this is the fourth time I’ve done a project with Sally and she always comes through. Back in early November, with less than a month to go, I remember nervously asking her if she had enough time to finish the immense load that we had given her. She responded with full and total confidence, “Don’t worry, it’ll get done in time.”

So please consider Sally Chou in Compulsions for Best Original Music in the 2010 Streamys.

For Your Consideration: Sound Engineer Tom Boykin.

This Post is in a series of posts that is directed at the members of the IAWTV/Streamy Awards. The content will highlight different members of the Compulsions team. These are meant for both awareness and as a guide to showcase what each individual brought to the project.

Tom Boykin is an experienced sound designer  who holds quality at the highest of levels. Last month he won an Indie Soap Award for Sound Design for his work in Compulsions.

Tom has a strong set of beliefs when it comes to sound. He prefers to lean toward “natural” sounds. He believes that “sound should serve to AMPLIFY what is going on with the picture. It shouldn’t be expected to make up for any faults and should never, ever, detract from the visuals.”

From Director Nathan Atkinson: Here’s the truth, I didn’t find Tom. Michael Tohl did. I only wish I had – then at least I could take some kind of credit. Tom really is not only “that good,” he might just be the single nicest, easy to work with, most innovative, complete professional I have ever met. I met him for a coffee, called the Producers as I was walking out the door and told them to offer him the job. Initially, we only used him for Production Sound – but it quickly became evident to me that the man has the ear of a master musician, I was right. As soon as we found out that he did Post Sound/Sound Design, we fell over ourselves to work with him again. An amazing experience.

From Creator Bernie Su: They say that Sound is half your film, for a series like ours I feel that holds especially true. Going into pre-production, Producer Michael Tohl preached how vital the sound design would be to our show. He spoke of how the picture quality would take it to one level, and the Sound would take it to another. We needed to have some elite sound to make this series work, and for that we have Tom.

I’d like to highlight a couple of scenes below to showcase what Tom brought. (These clips are set to play at a certain timecode in each episode)

Episode 1: 0:00 – We start this episode with a long shot of  Mark circling Adam. In reality all this is, is one character walking around a still/bound 2nd character, but I encourage you to turn up the volume and listen to the details in this 30 second scene. What you’re hearing is 100% Sound Design, it’s meant to be subtle yet eerie, and it’s there to set the mood of our entire series. Throughout the episodes featuring the Interrogation room, Tom continued to keep this consistent feel through the space, this gave the set a distinction of almost being it’s own character.

Episode 2: 0:45 – In this sequence we cut rapidly back and forth between the Office and Interrogation scenes.  Here you have two scenes with two completely opposite moods and tones. Watch and listen for the swipes, strikes, and screams that were so expertly engineered into the sequence. If you want to really feel how much Tom’s work added, try watching the sequence again but with the volume off. You still may get the scene, but you lose so much of that added power that the sound design provides.

From a personal level I always like to remember the direct moments while working with various members of our team so I’ll add one more note. During the Episode 1 Sound Mix Session Tom paused the playback after our iconic “lemon on the pliers” scene and said to us, “You know that squirt sound… it’s a real lemon, I squeezed it myself.” – Awesome.

So please consider Tom Boykin in Compulsions for Best Sound Design in the 2010 Streamys.