Seeking Simone

Behind the Scenes of Episode 4 - Plus, Tips for Hot n' Heavy Scenes

Ask Audrey will be back next week - Audrey, like the rest of us, is busy basking in the afterglow of Episode 4, in which Simone FINALLY got some!

For the record, in the original script, Simone does actually meet Caramel Kiss in a club before bringing her home and getting it on.

But given our timeline (short) and budget (HA ha!), finding a club to shoot in that wouldn't look totally dork-acious seemed unlikely.

So THEN we thought we'd show the club part in snapshots before heading back to Simone's apartment for the main event. So we had our ace photographer, Kristin, take some photos of the girls meeting outside the club.

We learned some good lessons that night.

1. The flash is a harsh mistress.

2. It's hard to feel sexay when you're freezing your nips off.

3. Even though it's known to be the gayest street in all of Toronto, dudes on Church St. will still stop to watch and hoot enthusiastically if two chicks look like they MIGHT kiss. Thanks for keeping it classy, Church Street.

3. Vertically oriented shots are really hard to use in videos.

In the end, Team Simone opted not to use the photos and to cut right to the chase, as it were. And by "the chase", I mean, "the girl-on-girl action".

If you're shooting your own hot n' heavy lesbian scene in the future, we have some wisdom to impart there too.

1. Cast people who are cool and brave. Not everyone's idea of a fun night involves being filmed during a half-naked homo clinch. Weird - but true! Fortunately, Kiran and Renee are both cool and brave and totally went for it - and we all sat around and watched. HA ha! You guys are the best.

2. Pick the right lingerie. This was the hardest part of the job, for sure. "Could you...model that, Kiran? Okay, and now the other one?"

3. Choreography. Improv has its time and its place but choreography is always a must. Our director, Lisa, made it a threesome a few times as she demonstrated optimum making out positions.

4. Have a great crew. When you're shooting an intimate scene, it's pretty great to have a DoP who is kind and respectful and who doesn't yell stuff like "Bonerific!" or "Flick it!" Those things are only funny when the writer does it. And they are funny only to the writer.

5. Don't let the writer sit in the corner. See #4.

For a few of Kristin's "outside the club" photos, as well as the rest of the "crime scene" behind the scenes shots, check out the Episode 4 photo album Seeking Simone Facebook page or visit our Flickr page (click on the "most recent" tab for the latest shots).

Seeking Simone Keeps It Classy on Nitch.ca

We met Andrew Lane of nitch* at nextMEDIA Banff in June and quickly nicknamed him Ryan Reynolds (because he's charming and also handsome and then charming all over again).

So you can imagine our girlish glee when Andrew interviewed us for his new interview series, nitchCraft!

For you web series creators and online marketers out there, we pretty much share all our deep thoughts about building and maintaining an audience around a no-budget web series like ours!

And for you "who gives a shit about online branding"? fans, here are some non-business highlights:

nitch*:  Let’s wrap up with a fun one. If you were to go online to look for a partner, what would be the first thing you’d look for (either as a turn-on or a definite turn-off)?

Renée: hmmm… what’s the first thing I would look for in a partner?? Boobs.  Umm is this thing on?!?! What I meant to say was a great sense of humour.

Rose: Yeah, my biggest turn off would have to be penis. Penis-breath would be a close second. Third would be poor spelling.

That's us, gang - keeping it classy. Check out the interview on nitch.ca - and thanks for including us in your series, Andrew!

PS. The NASCAR photo only really makes sense when you read the interview. Although I have to say, I know more than a few lesbian NASCAR fans...as, I'm sure, do you!

Confessions of Indie Web Series Creators on Tubefilter

One of our favourite Twitter pals, the lovely Rochelle Dancel is the associate producer of the wicked awesome lesbian web series B.J. Fletcher Private Eye. We were tickled pink that she quoted us in her recent Confessions of Indie Web Series Creators: Things They Wish They Knew article on Tubefilter!

It's a great article full of keen web series tips for all of you creative types out there. Plus, the article introduced us to a few more great web series we'd never seen before. HA ha! SCORE.

Be sure to check out Rochelle's article and all the other cool content over on Tubefilter - and thanks to Rochelle for including Seeking Simone!

And hey! If you don't give a crap about the behind-the-scenes drama of your favourite indie web series, here's some Buffy fun - just for you! That's right! Just for coming by! Yeah! You're welcome.

Things We Learned About Making a Web Series

We're huge (HUGE) fans of The Guild and of Felicia Day (we love you, Felicia! But not in a creepy way!) and we really enjoyed her recent post about the 4 things to ask yourself before starting a web series. Educational! Insightful! Delightful!

We don't have much to add to the "before you start" discussion - but we do have a few practical no-budget-film-related tips to pass on for those of you who perhaps, like us, are not Steven Spielberg.

Here are a few of the things we learned about making a web series while we were making it:

1. Ask for what you want. Because you might get it. When you have no budget, sometimes you might be shy to ask for things. Time at locations, equipment, original music from awesome but busy friends. But something we learned (and are still learning) is that it's better not to waste time pussyfooting around. Just go for it!

Ask for what you want and then, if they can't make ALL your dreams happen, try and negotiate for what you need. You may be startled by what you can accomplish with a sweet yet straightforward request.

2. Offering to pay people in beer, snacks, good karma and internet fame is surprisingly effective! But make sure you follow up on your promise!! Particularly the part about the beer. And the snacks.

3. Consider bribes. When we ran into some trouble with the caretaker at one of our locations, it looked like we might get shut down. But then we bribed him! With a sandwich and some TimBits. Sometimes angry people are just hungry, gang.

4. If you don't know what you're doing, don't touch the equipment. It's expensive and it hates you. Get a tutorial before laying your hands on anything, theatre nerds.

5. If you're on the set, you're on the crew! It's true! Working on a no-budget web series is like showing up to help in a flood. Everyone helps move the sandbags. EVERYONE.

6. Beware the stairs. When you have a small crew, a large truck full of heavy equipment and three flights up to the location, it's good to prepare for the Herculean task ahead of time. Mentally, so that no one cries. Physically, so that no one tears a hammy.

7. You will not have time to knit. You just won't. So give it up. 

I know! Helpful, right? YOU'RE WELCOME. Stay tuned for our next "web series tips" posts -  we're thinking either: Sandbags - They're Heavy or It's Been 12 Hours and I Smell Myself.