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kizeesh
Aug 1, 2005
Im right and you're an ass.
Hey guys,

[EDIT: Added the links to each episode in the OP]

Wanted to ask some opinions of the trailer for the webseries Metalhedz that we've just cut.

I originally posted about this show back in 2012, and goons with archives will see that there were quite a few problems with the original cut of the pilot (which has since been taken down)

Well, we took the advice to heart and slaved away for a full year, had several cast changes, 3 re-writes and managed to get together a stellar bunch of crew, who have added no end of production quality to the final result.

So here it goes:

Original Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TvPLV4SoApw
Episode 1: Intervention https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Av41aALnv0
Episode 2: Party Hard https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sp_wJq0tM2s
Episode 3: Nookie https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFxRRWiudPA
Episode 4: Girls, Girls, Girls https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZVU9oo_SLI
Episode 5: Dude Looks Like a Lady https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJnc0giNv3Y
Episode 6: Redefine https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RokAe5xvVNI
Episode 7: Make a Move https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YqKLpBPAFY

Also as a bonus, here's the Blooper reel! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dC8k4ym6kWg

What I need from you guys

How does this come across?
The original pilot came across as being unclear, dull looking, and lacking in clear direction. Hopefully this is better, but I'd really like to know what people think.

Does it look funny?
Does it look cheap or half decent (considering we had zero budget)
Do the characters clearly come across?
Does this trailer make sense?

and the most important question: On the basis of this trailer, would you actually watch it, and potentially recommend it?

We've still got 2 months to iron out any final kinks, and several planned days during then for potential pick-up/re-shoots, so any info you can give will be not only greatly received but likely implemented!

kizeesh fucked around with this message at 21:34 on Apr 6, 2014

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kizeesh
Aug 1, 2005
Im right and you're an ass.
Hey folks.

Sorry to bump the thread, but in case people are interested, the show is now live!

Episode 1: Intervention: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Av41aALnv0

Again, FEEDBACK would be great!! We've had a little in terms of response to the trailer, but a couple of notes on the episode's production, mentioned such things as the lack of background-lighting on some shots. But we could use some feedback on the overall look, the style, the plot and characters, how does it come across?

One sticking point seems to be the final joke, which is pretty dark. Some people have a big problem with it. Others get that the comedy is not being made about the 'controversial' topic, but rather the misunderstanding of the other person. (being vague to avoid spoiling the impact of 1st time response)

Again, we'd really would love to know what people think. The feedback from the old pilot back in 2012 made us step the game up considerably, so we genuinely are listening and really want to know what we can do better.

Especially folks who originally commented back in 2012, how do you feel we've improved?
thanks guys.

kizeesh
Aug 1, 2005
Im right and you're an ass.
Hey man, yes I remember you weren't exactly overflowing with positivity the last time either! ;)
It's cool. Criticism is important, and we really do appreciate it, and the feedback from last time led to a complete ground up rewrite and rethink. Hence the ditching of the character of 'nice-guy' Ry and him being replaced with Tails, and the removal of the Bones character.

The Show
Do remember that this is shot entirely on a shoestring budget, and in spare time, entirely on location. Not an excuse, but we're not a huge funded show with a giant crew and corporate funding.
I understand your reservations for the continuing oncept of the show considering your feelings. But, we won't be giving up on the idea of Metalhedz, principally because the entire series is already shot, edited and prepped for release. Episodes will be going up weekly, and the plot is ongoing throughout the series, rather than in a contained episodic structure. The narrative is series spanning, which in a series of 7 8-minute episodes, isn't a huge ask for an audience to follow the characters (assuming they like them, which apparently some people do, we've got a lot of good feedback regarding the character of Tails especially)

story/plot/action

You asked "What's your story? Like, what's the long game? I want to know in your next post what THINGS are going to happen to these characters to make this an actual story." As I said, it's an over-arching plot. All of the narrative threads have been laid out in that first episode. It's a comedy-drama about the love lives of these characters.
Ginge is after Chloe (the girl on his mind)
Tails wants Beki, (and vice versa) but neither of them is willing to move out of their friendship comfort zone, with the 'hot guy' thrown into that mix.
Skull is largely comic relief.
Actually if you head to the youtube channel main page http://www.youtube.com/user/MetalhedzTV There are short videos about all of the characters and their story arcs.

You also mentioned that you felt nothing is happening, but this is essentially a dialogue-based show, with some other moments. It's about character and interaction rather than comedy situations and pratfalls. That much unfortunately has to be taken as a given. Although it's not unheard of. Let's face it, (and I'm not comparing qualitatively) but the first season of The Guild is 90% just talking heads looking directly at a camera. In terms of plot and change, there are two episodes which take place at a house party, two on a drunken night out and there are a host of things happening. (I'm trying to avoid spoilers, considering it's a short show, but THINGS do happen) I'm just not entirely clear on what you expected. Please, let me know!

Style
I am a little mystified by your comment about the Nightmare Before Xmas T-shirt. Was that really so shocking? It's not all that an uncommon sight in Scotland in the alt scene... Usually seen on women tbh, but that was part of the joke, as we wanted him to seem a little hipster-like, and not overtly masculine. Also Andrew isn't an ugly chap, he is conventionally attractive, is it so unrealistic she might find him as such? Genuinely curious there.

Acting
Some of the performances aren't the best, I'll hold my hands up to that. Partly due to lack of acting experience on some parts, on others due to the limitations of filming at snatched days during difficult conditions, and also some lack of direction. We accept that. But the cast is the cast for this season, so nothing can be done about that now. p.s. we are planning and scripting season two currently. Don't be cross with us ;)

Characters
Interesting take on the characters, we did originally have a reworking of the original pilot, which we ditched for various reasons (actor illness and a sound issue prevented us getting it fixed in pick-ups) Also because essentially all of the relevant plot threads are in this episode as well, and the pilot still felt like "meet the heroes". But as a result you're coming into what would have been episode 2, and as such you get no cushioning for the 'lads being lads, down the pub' so I can see why you'd think they were simply misogynists.

Skull, IS a misogynist, but he's also the comic relief and the whipping boy of the series. There is even a line in that episode directly stating that "No-one in their right mind would take him seriously" Which we meant as an indication to the audience that not even the characters agree with 99% of what he says and does.

Ginge, isn't a misogynist, at least not in a literal sense. He's just a womanising prick who shares laddish jokes with his mates. There are moments later in the season where you see he doesn't actually like how far Skull takes such things, but that's still to come.

Tails, well, odd that you say, she's just nice. She's by far the favourite character according to all the feedback we have, and she's the reason most people want to keep watching. She's an introverted geek, who is quite evidently borderline aspergers, and very insecure. She possibly comes across as whiny, but hopefully this will mellow out over the episodes.

Beki, unfortunately is somewhat sidelined by some plot cuts, and by the actress unfortunately being ill a lot during the shoot. Meaning we only had the shots we got for her, and no more. She does have a character, and a dynamic in the group, it just really isn't served well in this particular episode.

Humour-wise
Well, that's all quite subjective. There are a couple of lines we could maybe have timed better in the edit, and we're not saying it's perfect, far from it, but it is what it is, and it's shot already. The date rape line is the BIG yes/no for a lot of folks. As the joke isn't really supposed to be what Skull says, but the fact that Tails interprets his sick humour as something completely different. Again, some folks said they thought it was clever and funny. Others that it was tasteless and offensive.

I hope that clears up some of where we were coming from, and I'd be interested for your further thoughts. Also I do hope you'll be just as frank with the rest of the series as it airs.
thanks!

kizeesh
Aug 1, 2005
Im right and you're an ass.
Just to let folks know Episode 2: Party Hard is online now.

You can find it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sp_wJq0tM2s

Again, we would love feedback on the episode, and the continuing narrative and characters!
Don't hold back. I really appreciate it.

kizeesh
Aug 1, 2005
Im right and you're an ass.
That's episode 3: Nookie up now
Find it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFxRRWiudPA

We really would appreciate any feedback guys, episodes 2 and 3 were essentially two halves of the same party story.
So if you would like to give further feedback on the two as a whole, then that would be great.

Do you feel the series is improving? The style, characterisation and comedy?

Are you at all invested in the characters? Is that getting better or worse?

Thanks

kizeesh
Aug 1, 2005
Im right and you're an ass.

systran posted:

This wasn't as bad as I expected ... but it was still bad.
I think almost any sitcom I have ever watched, the pilot wasn't ever very funny. Usually you get attached to a character or the premise, which is what makes you stick around for the second episode, and it gets funny from there.

Absolutely. It's sort of our hope that people will stick with the show and care about the characters. You found issues and that's fair enough. everyone's take on it is valid. I'm going to avoid the tired track of saying "well some people liked it..". Because, well, that's kinda beside the point. I'll try to give some thoughts on your views.

quote:

Your ginger character is completely miscast. I am a straight guy, but I can tell he is not a guy that successfully pulls girls all the time. His face looks weird, and I only know he's the way he is because other characters say he is. He doesn't project that image at all.

The gay character, Tails, wearing a tails shirt :( I kind of liked following her storyline, she was the most sympathetic of the characters, but I'll say more about her in a minute.

The long-haired buffoon guy is just awful in every way. In the third episode when he's slapping himself on the rear end is just cringey and not funny whatsoever. Nothing he does ever makes sense, and I have no sense of his character at all.

Ginge: Ironically, the ginger guy has gotten laid more than pretty much any other bloke I've ever met. I'm not kissing his rear end here, it's just a fact, he used to be a total manwhore. so while he perhaps isn't classically hollywood handsome, he's not a CHUD or anything! So perhaps we should have done with a little more show rather than tell with the womanising aspect of his personality. That's something we should maybe have considered. It does feature later in the series, but it's possibly too late by that point.

Tails: I'm not sure why you are sad she wears a Tails T-shirt. It was meant as a wee joke.

Skull: He is the buffoon of the group, and is mainly there for comic effect. He's supposed to be cringey and ridiculous but, humour is pretty personal and subjective, so it didn't work for you. That's fair. I'm surprised his character isn't obvious though, he's a dirty, pervy rear end in a top hat. Everyone usually has at least one guy like him in their group of mates(at least in the Scottish alternative scene, it usually seems to be the case) He's the loud obnoxious one who comes out with inappropriate jokes and is usually a dick. That's pretty much his character.


quote:

The metalhead theme you are going for IS NOT WORKING ... I recognized some bands, etc. But you are just doing a random mismash of metal, Hot Topic fashion, skater style, oldschool rock, it just makes no sense to me at all.

Tails looks like a skater girl from 2003. Ginger looks like a normal guy, but for some reason he has eyeshadow on. He wears weird boots sometimes, button-up shirts that nerds wear (with those stupid swirls on them that you have on your logo), and nothing he does makes him seem into metal, at all. The longhair character looks the most like an actual metalhead, but again he acts totally random and isn't funny and never says anything of merit.

That's the idea, each one of them is dressed in a particular style of alt/rock/metal styles. It makes it easy to tell them apart, which was one of the major complaints against the original pilot. Everyone looked too similar and were all dressed in black. So, we're pretty much damned whatever we do there.

quote:

The "metalhead" thing feels like--at best--a random aesthetic that adds nothing to the premise, and at worst it gets in the way and clashes with the characters you have set up.
No one into metal is going to be drawn to this because it really has no connection to metal at all, and people who aren't into metal are certainly not going to see the appeal of your premise.

This is one of the points we've seen come up from a few areas, so you're not alone in this. It really seems to depend what people expect from the show. The byline of the series is "The Alternative Crowd really aren't all that different". Which was our plan. It's not a show looking at metalheads and rockers and saying: look at the silly people, lets mock them and their ways a'la the sort of humour in Big Bang Theory, which is essentially mocking nerds while pretending they are the heroes. We utterly wanted to avoid that, instead this is more like the Inbetweeners, which is about a bunch of high school boys, but spends almost no time focused on schoolwork.

In the end, it's a fine line, too many references or jokes specifically about metal and you put off or alienate other viewers. We felt that showing the lifestyles and using it as an aesthetic should have been enough. (Considering half the cast are metalheads anyway, and it was written by one, it's not like it's inaccurate to the scene.)

quote:

The acting was really bad at places, but it was okay in others. I am not a huge critic of acting; as long as I can't tell they are acting I don't notice it. I really am confounded that you went with this metalhedz (and why with a 'z'???) premise.
The acting has its good and bad moments, no arguments there.
As I said, we went with metalheads because it's a scene we are a part of, and so we wrote about it. True the characters are not specifically metalheads only, but metalhedz was a better title than Alternativez! So there you go. As to the spelling, brand recognition, we needed the name to stick out and be unique on google. I hate to pull the marketing card but.. there you go!

kizeesh
Aug 1, 2005
Im right and you're an ass.

Jalumibnkrayal posted:

My main issue is the episodic release schedule. It seems artificial: you don't have a studio breathing down your neck, and you certainly don't need to sell x blocks of ad space. Why not release the entire series at once when it's all ready? If I like the pilot, but I have to wait a week for the second episode, I might forget about it. If it's all there, I might just keep watching it out of inertia and curiosity. As it is, you need major hooks to bridge the time between episodes to keep your audience engaged. Unfortunately you don't have those hooks. I'm very surprised your view count seems to be kinda stable episode to episode. I would expect it to drop more precipitously.

That's a really interesting point, and one we actually debated a lot during production and the planning before release. It kinda comes down to a slightly dull marketingy reason (My inner Bill Hicks fan is starting to hate me now) There are cogent arguments for both sides in this, so ultimately we went with the one that suited us, and suggested the best audience response.

Essentially, if you put the show up in one go, then you have only one single point of promotion, aside from the initial trailer. With a staggered release you do actually whet audience anticipation. It also means you have a full week between each episode to potentially garner new viewers.
Say that one viewer saw a tweet or link and watches, then thinks "meh", if they a fortnight later see another link for a new episode they might be stirred to check that one out, simply due to curiosity, the "Is THAT show still on?" mentality. If they do, then there's a chance they might enjoy that episode more, then go back and watch the shows they missed, or continue from that point.

As to hooks and inter-episode audience retention, each of the characters actually has a twitter account and they interact with each other weekly between the episodes. e.g. at the end of the first episode Tails is seen on her phone, so when it aired, a tweet went up on her account that pertained to what was happening in the show. The twitter accounts are all easy to find on the website https://www.metalhedz.co.uk (which is featured in the credits)

Our hope is that people continue to watch because they are interested in the characters and their stories though.

quote:

As for the content it just doesn't appeal to me. The metalhead theme seems tacked on, and visually the characters look more like goth club kids or vampire LARPers. I would like these characters more if they had a more natural feeling association that binds them together. Right now the story just seems like several fuckquests and I don't care about the characters enough to want to follow along to see if they succeed or not.

That's fair. You don't like the characters then, the show probably isn't for you. It may be simply my perception, (I didn't write the show btw) but friend groups like this are pretty normal to me. Most of my mates are from all different scenes and musical tastes. Also at the end of the day, it depends what you expected going in. Out of curiosity, I'd love to know what that was. What did you expect honestly?

Magnus Gallant posted:

The lesbian character probably says "and people wonder why I'm gay" in response to the other characters like every episode. It's not that funny the first time she says it, and it gets old fast.
She only says that in episodes 2 and 3, which are both set about 20 mins apart during the same party. It possibly could have done without being repeated. Any other thoughts, I'd love to hear them!

kizeesh
Aug 1, 2005
Im right and you're an ass.

systran posted:

Let me try to help you with taking criticism. I write a lot and am in a few different writing groups. I know it's hard to hear criticism about something that you worked really hard on it and put a lot of time into, but you want to avoid getting so defensive about it.

Sorry dude, I really haven't been trying to be defensive. I didn't realise that it had come across that way. I know a LOT about giving and taking criticism, I work as a copy editor and a critic for my day job, so I get what you mean. All I've been trying to do is give each of you an indication as to why any particular problems you brought up came about, or what our intention was in making that decision. I wasn't trying to excuse or argue anyone down. I've been feeding this up the pipeline to the writer (because I didn't write this!) so it's not like anything is being brushed off.

quote:

If everyone in the thread is saying: "The metal thing isn't working for me," then you shouldn't just blow it off as, "Well, that's your opinion." We are giving you this feedback so that you can improve what you've done, not so that you can defend what you've done to us and not change anything.

That's fair. It's also unfortunately the case that, the metal thing is what we went with. I said above that we've had a few folk mention the same issue, so I never denied it was a problem. I also gave you our reason for going with that idea. In case it shed some light on the process and our mindset. Having already shot the whole series, there's not much we can do about the show being called Metalhedz and being about the metal scene.

quote:

I don't think a single person in this thread has said they like the metal aesthetic, and very few people have even responded to the thread. Most people probably saw the name "Metalhedz" and were deterred from even clicking the thread. The ending words with 'z' thing is really cheesy and is going to push most people away. Most people don't have any real positive associations with metal as a genre or as a scene, so if the 'z' at the end didn't scare them away, the metal thing did.
Like I said, we've been made abundantly aware that it's maybe not the most conducive name, or concept. But it is what it is. As I said above, we aren't going to rename it midseason.

quote:

Don't tell people "humor is subjective" and then dismiss their criticism. You are free to dismiss criticism if you think it's wrong, but don't tell people that what they feel is basically wrong. I have seen three episodes of this character and I completely hate him in such a way that I hate the show. When you had him slapping his butt for no reason, I was cringing for you, not for the characters in the show. Seeing him do this broke me out of the show and made me just cringe that a bunch of people sat together, planned out that he do this, filmed it, and edited it.
Ok I concede that I did say I wouldn't make such comments, then I did. so sorry about that. I wasn't intending to try and tell anyone they are wrong though.

All I was trying to illustrate above was that some folk DO find the humour in the show funny. So saying "this isn't funny change it" isn't really helpful criticism, as all it tells us is that one person didn't like some of the humour. I can fill a room with people and half of them will love one comedian and hate another, the other half will feel the opposite. Doesn't make anyone right or wrong. That's all I meant by the subjectivity. Some folk think Skull is hysterical, you found him cringey. I wasn't saying you were wrong, just that some people don't agree.

quote:

There are positive and successful aspects of this show; I've done short films for projects in university and know how hard it is to make this kind of thing not look exceptionally low budget (I never even tried to pull it off, I just went with super cheesy to play off how bad we were at film making.) For all the criticism, you actually have overcome the greatest part of that cheese factor and made something that at times feels almost like a real show.
That's very encouraging to hear, we did work drat hard on the look, to make it feel like a far more professional and expensive production than it was.

quote:

It's still not a show I would watch, and if you keep hearing the same criticisms from multiple people, you really should just say, "Thanks for the feedback," and ask more questions, because at this point I don't want to bother addressing anything more specific since you will likely just chalk it down to personal preference rather than a fault of yourself/the writers/actors/directors/etc.

Well, as I've said, I was trying to encourage more questions, and thought that by explaining and addressing the individual points raised then people would be encouraged to discuss things further. I GENUINELY wasn't ever trying to say to anyone, "Well you are wrong and we have our reasons so we'll ignore you!"

We do want feedback, and I'm greatful for it, so is the rest of the cast and crew. I just felt a little explanation would be more beneficial than me simply saying "Thankyou for the feedback" and little else. I hope you do give more feedback, and when you do, understand that the response I make to you will be because I want to talk about the show, and the ideas, and explain what we were thinking, not trying to tell you why I think your opinion doesn't matter. Because it really does to us.

kizeesh
Aug 1, 2005
Im right and you're an ass.

Dr. Fishopolis posted:

Like everyone in this thread keeps telling you, you are not pulling off this concept. Stop handwaving around this criticism, it's major and important.

I've said various times now that WE ACCEPT THERE IS AN ISSUE WITH THIS!! I'm not sure what I can possibly say to make this clearer, I'm not handwaving or avoiding it, I've accepted it and pointed out that we've already finished shooting, and aren't going to rebrand the show mid-season! I'm starting to feel like folks who don't like the name and concept aren't going to be happy unless I say, "OK we'll pull the show and spend another year rebranding it." Seriously, this point has now been made abundantly clear. Not a lot can be done about this aspect at this stage! I'm not shouting here, or angry, I'm just kind-off feeling like I'm beating my head off a wall trying to tell people that we get there is an issue.

quote:

I don't know who you think you're alienating by focusing on the one thing that makes your sitcom stand out from every other "schmucks in a pub" show.
We were concerned with alienating non-metal fans by loading the show with obscure references, or alternatively alienating metal fans by making a show that insulted them by playing solely to dull tired stereotypes. As I said before. That was our thought process. It quite evidently isn't working for everyone, and this is why we want feedback! But scrap it and start again, isn't an option at this point.

quote:

What are your influences, what do you like to watch? When I think "metal sitcom" I picture The Young Ones, Bottom, Jam, Nathan Barley and Dethklok. Have you seen these shows? What do you think?
Comedic influences are Friends, The Inbetweeners, Coupling, How I met your Mother, the Guild to a lesser extent, shows like Skins and Almost Human in terms of dynamics between characters. I can't speak for the showrunner, but I've seen all but Nathan Barley out of that list, so I do get what you're on about. But that's not quite the type of show we're aiming at creating. It seems that the name at least seems to make people expect a show which is more of an animal comedy rather than a rom-com/drama series.

quote:

Your show is not terrible. Your writing is not terrible. You need to work on direction, and good lord please get some lights on your actors,
That's good to hear, and yes absolutely we know the direction and lighting need work. Especially in the Pub episodes, we simply didn't have enough lighting to cover the entire area, nor the budget to buying a whole bunch of new equipment. While we have done admirably (we think) on the budget we have, we know it really wasn't quite enough.

quote:

really none of this is worth fixing without really going back and rethinking your concept.
Well, as I've said, that's not an option. Thanks for the feedback, it really is appreciated!

kizeesh
Aug 1, 2005
Im right and you're an ass.

No Beer Left posted:

I hadn't watched the earlier versions, but I watched all 3 of these.
Possibly the best way to start!

quote:

Feedback

I dont mind the Metalhedz premise, its no different than choosing any other social group premise for a show (eg BBT), and just provides some grounding for characters. That said, the Metal premise is probably less accessible to a lot of people. Also it doesn't provide as much opportunity for color choices for clothing.
I've covered most of this so far, so yep, the issues with this is known. Glad that it didn't put you off though. Clothes-wise, yeah we moved away from everyone being uber-metal precisely because of the everyone wearing black all the time problems. Hence, as I said upthread, the characters all have a particular style of dressing, unique to one part of the alt/rock/metal scene.

quote:

Episode 1 had some problems in that I never felt the girls and guys were sitting at the same table. Seemed like 2 set pieces glued together.

I felt Episode 2 was the best of the 3. I didn't find too much wrong with it. I quite enjoyed it, and started warming to the characters.

Episode 3 was very messy on the pacing. Tails trying preparing to chat up the girl was good. The porn discussion scene had potential but was a bit stilted. Skulls post-laid stuff just seemed silly. I liked a lot of the chat-up with the facebook girl and Ginge, but it didnt quite work at the end of the scene.
Episode 1: absolutely, the table exchange was shot with both sides of the table and close-ups of various days, and the eyelines were a little hosed up. It's something we did wrong, and we are going to work double hard on preventing such things happening again.
Episode 2: Yep, this is what most folk are saying. Ep 2 is the high point so far.
Episode 3: Yeah there are issues with pacing and narrative payoff with 3. The end joke timing is a little off, and it was originally part of a longer comedy montage of Skull outside miming his sex acts to random passers by in the street, before the pub pay-off. But we cut and reworked that as it was deemed too far into animal comedy stuff that we wanted to avoid. As a result it's still a little bit off-kilter with the rest of the show's feel. I guess we're just finding our feet with a few aspects still.

quote:

Characters.

Tails is the best character. Try not to go too over the top with the tumblrish nerdy girl concept though (I thought tentacle porn was slightly over the line when it didn't need to go that far). The lisp is endearing to me, although some disagreed in above posts.
Ginge - I dont mind him as a womaniser, but he doesnt seem to have any motivations apart from getting laid. He comes across as the group's social hub, so he needs a little more fleshing out.
Skull - I feel I would like to see him a bit more off the wall, a la Ade Edmonson (VyV in Young Ones or Eddie in Bottom).
Beki (I think this is her name) - is a non-character at this point. Tails likes her but Beki is straight. That's all I got.

You're pretty on target with all of that about tails, the only thing is that Beki is bi-sexual, not straight, but some of her scenes (in the old pilot and later on) had to be cut, and as a result she's a little under-served as a character sadly.

Skull's a difficult one, as we originally did envision him as that sort of off the wall crazy comedy character (originally it was a two-act with another character called Bones) but as the series went on and we settled on a slightly more serious tone, those elements were toned down. He's still the pratfalling comic relief character, only not quite as goofy as he could be.
Ginge is the social hub, and yeah he's a little underwritten in terms of motivation and background. Although there is more to him, and it becomes clearer as the show goes on.

quote:

Lastly, 30 seconds of front titles does my head in. I have to fast forward 30s every time.
Yeah, well aware of this, unfortunately we only had a 30 second cut of music composed for the titles, and speeding it up made it sound bad. We're looking into recording a much shorter intro version of it for season 2. Probably only 10-15 seconds.

Thanks a lot for taking the time to let us know!

kizeesh
Aug 1, 2005
Im right and you're an ass.

Dr. Fishopolis posted:

Just to be clear, you absolutely do have options here.

You would lose nothing in a soft rebrand, and potentially gain a real audience. Your work so far is valuable and salvageable, but the name, branding and opening sequence is problematic enough that you're not giving that work a chance to succeed on its own merits.
That's a valid point, and had the show started out to terrible responses godawful feedback all round and no views, then we'd probably seriously consider this. But it hasn't. Sure, this thread has featured some largely negative response, especially to the name/brand/theme of metalhedz. But that's from a response pool of 6 people. Who didn't all say it was a dealbreaker. That's off the over 1500 views we had, and vastly more thumbs up than down.

I'm not saying you don't have a point, but the doom and gloom idea that we're dead in the water and nobody likes the show, no-one finds it funny, and no-one likes the theme, simply isn't accurate to the overall response to the show. It could be it just doesn't appeal to goons that much. But only 6 folk replied out of the several hundred views on this thread, and anyone who has promoted anything online knows that you usually receive more negative comments than positive, as people who enjoy things often just enjoy and move on.

Again I'm not brushing off your ideas, and suggestions, just letting you know that this isn't the overall response we've had. While there have been various things people have pulled us up about, the metalhedz theme hasn't presented an issue for most people. They just accepted it and watched the show.

quote:

This is not a situation where you have a huge marketing push that would go to waste with a re-brand. I don't even understand what you mean by mid-season, you are releasing this on youtube on a schedule you defined. You're not beholden to a network or sponsors. You're continuing to make a conscious choice to stick with branding that you yourself acknowledge does not work. Have you noticed what happens when you google the name of the series? What are you really losing by switching to something better?

Actually man, I never said it didn't work, I said we understood there was an issue, and some people thought there should have been more focus on the metal, or the scene. That's fair, we accept that. I never once said I thought it didn't work. Because I don't think it is a dealbreaker, and the response overall backs that up. I'm not dismissing your feelings man. But you have a far worse impression of all this than most people who have responded to the show.
We set the ball rolling and we're happy to run with it until the end of the run. Why not? Stopping it now is only going to make people who do like the show lose interest and wonder why we pulled it to pander to folk who didn't 'get it'. Absolutely, there's no producers or network breathing down our necks, and yes, the google thing is unfortunate, but equally, we're getting great hits for a wee indie web series, made out of a flat and a local bar for less than $1000 all in!

quote:

I wouldn't give you the feedback if I thought there was nothing you could do about it.
And that's great. Unfortunately your overall suggestion about rebranding isn't something we're prepared to do at this time.

kizeesh
Aug 1, 2005
Im right and you're an ass.

Dr. Fishopolis posted:

Well, I'm confused then.

If you reached your viewership goals, you're happy with the response and you don't want to change the show then what is the point of this thread? You keep saying you're not brushing off our ideas but every single response you've posted in this thread is a defense and justification of why you have to do things the way you're already doing them.

I wanted honest feedback on the show. We are planning to work on a second season and other projects and we wanted to know what people thought.
I wasn't asking hat out for people to tell us what to do. Again I never said we'd reached viewership goals, I said we had good hits for an unknown project. There's always room for improvement. That doesn't mean I'm going to grab the writer, cast and editor and immediately implement every suggestion, that's not feasible at all. Shooting is wrapped. We can't get the locations or all the people back. The guy playing Skull has shaved his beard off!

quote:

edit: I just want to point out in clear words that you're dismissing the fact that you have named your internet web video show with a word that is currently unsearchable with google. I honestly don't understand what could possibly justify not changing this. If you're excited about 1500 views per episode, think how many you could have if people could actually FIND YOUR SHOW BY SEARCHING THE INTERNET FOR IT.
Yep, I understood perfectly well. It's unfortunate, but I don't think we're going to make our fortunes off this show. So instead of spending lots of money, time and effort rebranding a show which is already on the go, we'll save our time and efforts for other creative outlets, like planning and writing season 2, and maybe plough the money for website domains, etc. into promoting tweets and facebook ads.

Don't think I don't understand where you're coming from! I get it. Ultimately it's not my call to do that, I'm not the showrunner, or the writer. But I agree with him, it's a step further than we're prepared to go. You might think that's short sighted of us, but it's our time and money in this dude. We're the one who will have to do all of that, and that time and money is better spent elsewhere.

Thanks again, it's genuinely enlightening to hear this stuff. We really are paying attention, but it's a step too far.

kizeesh
Aug 1, 2005
Im right and you're an ass.
Episode 4: Girls Girls Girls, is now up online,
you can find it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZVU9oo_SLI

I'm still interested in hearing people's thoughts, and we've had a lot on the Metalhedz aesthetic and style.
Now we're halfway through the series, I'd be really interested to hear what people have to say on the character development, the scripts, the ongoing storylines, and that side of things.

As well as any technical points that maybe haven't surfaced before.
All feedback is truly very gladly received and as ever I'll try to directly address any particular choices we made. (Which really shouldn't be read as defensiveness or anger, it's just an insight into why we did what we did!)

Thanks again

kizeesh
Aug 1, 2005
Im right and you're an ass.

Dr. Fishopolis posted:

If you have to keep putting exclaimers on your posts explaining that you're not being defensive, you need to look at why your behavior is being perceived as defensive. You've made it clear that you don't think you have the power, money or interest to change anything substantial about the series. I'm still really not sure what the point of this thread is unless you're just fishing for unique visitors.
I put the disclaimer there to let folk know, that I'm not being defensive, as tone is usually projected onto text. Just trying to avoid people thinking I am attacking them when all I'm doing is explaining a thought process.

You seem to think the only reason we'd need feedback is to 'fix' this series? God no, as I said we're gearing up for a second season, and we need to know what the errors made here were. For a start, we have implemented some of the points already. Try Googling "Metalhedz". That problem is now fixed, in large part to the feedback from this thread. No, I'm not looking for hits here, we're doing good for uniques, but I'm getting lengthy and detailed thoughts from people here, which is invaluable to the show's potential future.

quote:

Nobody is giving you feedback because they're interested in why you made the choices you made, they're giving you feedback because you asked for it. Turns out, most people in this thread think you made very bad choices around some core elements of your show. I'm sorry that makes you feel bad, but instead of defending your bad choices, why not talk about ways to actually address some of the problems we're bringing up?
I quite enjoy explaining the reasoning behind the ideas. If people don't like that, I can't help it. I wanted to be open about the show.
Yep, people in this thread don't like some of the choices. Which is good, we know that now, better than if no-one had said anything.
Trouble is, as I said earlier, your main suggestion has been that we pull the show, re-brand, re-title it or start from scratch. Which for us, is an unnecessary palaver and waste of time and money.
We are addressing the issues of the lengthy intro, the metal focus, the character depths and motivations already. But for the next season, not this one. We've had a positive enough response that we don't think pulling it & rebranding is an option, like I said before. So, if that's the only way forward you can see, then you're not on the same page as us. Which is your right. Just don't expect agreement on that point of action.

kizeesh
Aug 1, 2005
Im right and you're an ass.

Sailor posted:

Hey OP. I'm one of those "several hundred" who viewed the thread without commenting. I only lurk CC (and SA itself anymore) so I didn't feel that great offering criticism when I've never workshopped anything here myself, but since the lurking masses have been brought up, I might as well chime in.
Hi there! Thanks for the time you've spent on all this feedback! Wow, that's a bunch of stuff. And thanks for the positive feedback on the things you liked, it's good to know you liked the shooting style and the intro sequence. We try hard.

quote:

I'm a huge metal fan, and I enjoy shows like Todd + The Book of Pure Evil and Metalocalypse. Heck, one of the only web series I follow is black metal themed, albeit a cooking show. I clicked on your thread expecting to see a poor knock-off of that sort of thing. Why poor? Because "Metalhedz" immediately struck me as the kind of title an out-of-touch marketer who knows NOTHING about metal comes up with. The vibe it puts out is more 1990 XTREME SUPER SOUR CANDIEZ FOR RADICAL DUDEZ when (I assume) you were trying for trve kvlt or füll øf ümlåüts.

Yeah, the showtitle does seem to be divisive, as I'm sure you've read above. It was supposed to be a play on the fact that Metal bands often purposely use incorrect spelling on band names, as well as being a unique spelling. "Metalheadz" for example is already a real life band name, so we couldn't use that, and plain "metalheads" looked boring. But it's what we've got now.

quote:

Too bad all of the characters come off as just plain unlikeable. If you're gonna do the lovable misguided losers thing, there has to be something to love or at least some vicarious bad-idea fun happening. Two guys bullying their sullen lesbian "friend" isn't a good time.

The rohypnol joke was awful, and this is coming from someone who laughed all the way through the Dory McClean episode of Metalocalypse. Your character with the strongest look is now gross and irredeeamable out of the gate. Tails didn't come across as not getting what he meant so much as being pathetic enough to make a weak joke in order to go along with her lovely, possibly rapist, friends. Her demeanor during the opening pop-culture exchange didn't come across as "pals having fun busting on each other" as "sad lonely girl who lets people treat her like crap." I'm a queer female metal fan and she depresses me. I love a lot of shows with unlikeable-in-real-life, morally terrible characters, but most of those shows make it work by being smart, high-energy, and having lots of over the top humor as a counterpoint to the dark stuff.
This is a really interesting take on things, and I'd actually like to hear more, as pretty much Tails has been a landslide of popularity with most of the people watching. That you feel she's being bullied and being sullen, I genuinely haven't heard before. So I'd welcome some thoughts on what you were expecting or how you feel she's particularly unlikable. Essentially Tails is supposed to be an introverted nerd who can quite happily hold her own with the rest of the group, and as I said, we've literally never heard anyone come back with this sort of take on the character.

As to the rohypnol comment, it's again quite a divisive one. The intent wasn't to make the joke about date rape, more to show that Skull will say ANYTHING and often aims to offend, and that Tails doesn't operate on the same wavelength as the rest of the group. But a few folk have expressed a lot of distaste at anything that even hints towards a rape joke.

quote:

I gave episode two a shot for fairness's sake. Again, the technical stuff and some of the acting struck me as pretty good for a no budget web series! I wish the house hadn't looked like an ordinary place with a few dorky metal things strewn around, which, while admittedly true to life, is visually uninteresting and comes across as low-effort. Unfortunately, episode two really bored me.
I'm glad you gave it a chance, I kinda wish you'd given the other two episodes a look as well, it would be interesting to know if you thought the characters improve as it continues.

quote:

Just to reiterate, I'm a queer woman who is still passionate about metal into her thirties. I was pretty nerdy and shy when I was younger, too. A comedy about a geeky young dyke finally getting the balls to ask out the girl with the help of her goofball friends AND THE POWER OF METAL would be my favorite thing in the world if it was well written. As it is, I despise Tails and am bored to tears by the show. Sorry!
It's a shame as that is essentially the season's arc. Albeit without THE POWER OF METAL!
I really would be interested to know more about why Tails doesn't appeal to you, as I said it's a completely new thing to hear and quite opposite to 99% of what we've heard back so far!

kizeesh
Aug 1, 2005
Im right and you're an ass.
Hey Guys,

Just to let you know Episode 5 "Dude Looks Like a Lady" is now up.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJnc0giNv3Y
Feedback very much appreciated as always.


Doctor Malaver posted:

- I used to be a metalhead sort of and am too old now to be still into it but I still would like a metal-themed comedy show... if it turned out to have something to do with actual music / lifestyle. If it turned out to be just young people who happen to wear that style of clothes and some generic guitar licks between scenes, I'd be disappointed.
Does that mean you were or weren't disappointed? I'm not clear on that.

quote:

- I liked the setting and characters - visually at least. I'm ESL and couldn't understand what they were saying most of the time. Consider providing a version with English subs.
Yeah. There are close captions on a couple of the episodes, we'll get them on all of them eventually, and season 2 we'll get this done for sure before it starts.

quote:

- I feel a shot or two of the bar as such would be good. Just people sitting around or bartender pouring a drink. The scenes seemed disconnected and I couldn't get a sense of what kind of space they were in.
Yeah we cheated the space we had, because we had several episodes in the bar and didn't really want to nail down the space, in case we needed the layout different later on. Mainly due to it being a tiny odd-shaped bar, it lent itself to being slightly TARDIS-like in the way they move around. Since it's not clear ever where people are. As to the bartender, we didn't have anyone specifically as a bartender, so we simply avoided showing behind the bar. If we'd had a more conventional space to film in, we'd have certainly had a bartender.

Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for the feedback!

kizeesh
Aug 1, 2005
Im right and you're an ass.
Hi guys,

Episode 6: Redefine, is up now: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RokAe5xvVNI

We'd love feedback as ever. Especially as this is the first quiet flat-based episode where it's really all about the characters just hanging out and being themselves.

As ever just let me know what you're thoughts are.

kizeesh
Aug 1, 2005
Im right and you're an ass.
Hi guys!

Well the final episode of Metalhedz is now up

Episode 7: Make a Move https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YqKLpBPAFY

So is the Blooper reel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dC8k4ym6kWg enjoy!


Now that the series is complete, more than ever, I'd love to hear people's thoughts on the characters and the series as a whole.
We're in the midst of writing season 2, and this is absolutely the best time to let us know what you think about the second series and where you think the characters are going, and what you expect, or would like to see in season two.

Thanks!

kizeesh
Aug 1, 2005
Im right and you're an ass.

Dr. Fishopolis posted:

What do you think you did to fix it?

I didn't do anything to fix it. Not my department. Someone did something and it certainly was working a couple of weeks ago, when I posted that.
I'll feed it up the chain though. It's not our greatest concern at the moment. Google isn't our main method of PR and media marketing.

quote:

Are you going to address any of the issues anyone brought up in this thread for season 2? If so, how?

Well that's a little vague, as there have been LEGION suggestions and comments and at this stage I don't want to get into specific particulars of plot, or characterisation at the first draft stages of writing, but I can tell you the following:

Episodes will be a minimum of 10 mins in length (not including credits or intro)
The intro sequence will be getting redone, and will be shorter
We're looking into sourcing more equipment, more lighting etc. So we don't have the "dark pub" scenario all over again.
We are location scouting & will be casting some new faces, as we plan to expand how much of the character's lives, some new characters, more interaction with friends, hanging out, seeing bands, and at their workplaces.

But sorry Doc, we're still sticking with the name and the concept. ;)

kizeesh
Aug 1, 2005
Im right and you're an ass.

Dr. Fishopolis posted:

You don't think it's particularly important that you can't find the name of your online series with a google search? What exactly is your main method of PR and media marketing?

With the best will in the world dude, none of this is feedback for the show. You've obviously got a bee in your bonnet about this aspect of things, but it's not something I want to take up time and energy debating with people outside of the production.

Leave that side of stuff up to us, I'd rather know people's thoughts on the content of the show.

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kizeesh
Aug 1, 2005
Im right and you're an ass.
Dr. Fishopolis and Systrans.

As I've said several times, I understand what you are getting at, however I've also said many times that it's not a move we are considering.
All you're doing now is repeating the same points.

Like I said consideration has been taken and it's been deemed a step farther than we are willing to go.

That's the final word on the name of the show! It's Metalhedz! It's staying Metalhedz, and I appreciate the efforts taken to explain why you think we should change it.
It simply isn't going to happen though! So yeah, I'd appreciate any OTHER feedback as ever, but I'll not be responding to that particular suggestion any further.

Thanks again.

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