Episode 5 - The Evolution of McCracken - A Web Series

So after uploading Mc4 live we received some great feedback on the episode. Wayne and myself felt confident once again in that we had achieved our goal of making each episode a step up from the last. Looking back on episode 3 we came to realise it had been more of a filler episode. It was entertaining and had some shock value with the corpse but all it really served was to move the story along - there wasn't any revelations about our characters and what they want. But this is also a massive learning curve for us and that was a big lesson.

That's one of the best things about making making a web series in that it is hands on experience and every little shoot you do you learn something new… or several things!

We learnt that in creating a web series with episodes only 3 - 5 minutes long you have to make the scripts as compelling as possible in only a few pages. This is not easy. But it has to be done if you are to gain and hold an audiences interest.

Now we had to shoot episode 5 and were to bring in our first new character, McJenkins, which meant a lesson in casting. We started in our production office (a room in my half-way house) and stuck up on the wall head shots of potential actors we knew we could get in touch with. Most decent actors will have a showreel up in YouTube or IMDB so we were able to see if they were appropriate and had talent. But more important than these attributes are somebody who's reliable. As McJenkins is an ongoing character we needed to know they could commit to the series for little pay.

First Wayne spoke to an actor he'd met through work and sent him the script never to hear from him again. Next I got in contact with an actor over Facebook through mutual acquaintance. He ran it by his agent (why!?) and also turned it down. Mind you, we could only afford $100 cash on the day so I hold no resentments. But by this time Wayne and myself were starting to stress a little for we had the shoot locked in for less than a week away. We thought we had ran out of options until we remembered an actor we had both worked with on my first short film I made, Sus - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5v9SAiekNw. He was older than we had imagined but the more we thought about him in the role the more it made sense. Most importantly, we had worked with him before and knew that he was talented, reliable and easy to work with. So we called up Brendan Clearkin and he was only too happy to do it. We were stoked!

Photo converted into canvas of Brendan Clearkin as McJenkins

Next up was to sort out the props and we soon realised there were a shitload of them. They consisted on:
1. Job Brief (paper)
2. Invoice (more paper)
3. Beer Bottle
4. Porn Mag
5. Fake marijuana
6. Face crystal meth
7. Fireworks
8. More Porn (DVD)
9. Cigarettes
10. Sunglasses
11. Chain
12. Padlock
13. Boltcutters
14. Truck Stop Sign
15. And a truck!

I didn't mean for there to be so many props, it was just written that way. So in preparation for a shoot ALWAYS go through the script and highlight all props needed and tick them off the box. Nothing more frustrating that turning up on set only to realise you are missing a crucial prop.

We managed to gather up all props bar the fireworks as they are now strictly illegal in Australia for good reason I guess. For the marijuana I just went to the Happy High Herbs shop in Kings Cross and bought some kind of herb that looked almost identical to the real thing. For the crystal meth I asked a guy in my half-way house who used to be addicted to the stuff. He straight out Himalayan Rock Salt from Woolworths will do the trick. Fair enough. My cousin Figgo lent me his landscape truck and we were sorted.

The most expensive prop was the Truck Stop sign which cost around $100 to get made up by Singorama. But it was a neccessary cost as we needed the audience to know that when Truck Stop is mentioned we are referring to delivery company that McCracken and Boss work for.

Important Prop - The Truck Stop Sign

So we had three separate scenes to shoot on Part 5 - one interior plus two exteriors. We decided to shoot Brendan's scene first so we could release him early. But when Cousin Figgo was late turning up with the truck we didn't waste any time and shoot the interior scene first. These are the kind of changes and decisions you will have to make on set, adapting to whatever unexpected situations that arise. Murphy's Law is more present on a film set than any other environment I know.

Figgo turned up just as we finished the first scene so we went straight into the truck scene. Brendan and my own acting just started firing straight away in our scene, it was great. We listened and bounced off each other well and got through the scene pretty smoothly. Wayne's directing was great and soon enough we were finished. He released Brenda and Figgo and his truck and all we had left was to shoot the bolt cutters chopping through chain and padlock.

Again the whole thing was wrapped in under five hours and brought in under budget - around $300. Another great shoot! As of writing this McCracken Part 5 is still in post production and therefore I haven't seen the finished product BUT I have a sneaking suspicion that it's going to be a step up from Part 4… here's hoping anyway!