Tube Tube - new short films

tronderboo · 05-14-2012, 10:36 AM

I've posted a few of these before now in a misleadingly titled thread called 'Bonsai', but as of this morning we've gone 'public' with the series, so I'm giving it its own thread.

I'm making some short films set on the Tube (London's subway system) to get more experience in directing and creating performances with actors. They're designed so I can mostly do that: so, we have only a scene outline and no script to learn, they're shot in single takes with one camera and I have to have them finished and online the next day. Generally each episode takes six hours over about two days - two hours for rehearsal on the first day, four hours to shoot on the second. I've called the series Tube Tube.

If you must know, it's a way of working that I'm very vaguely copying from live TV shows like SNL, where the deadline is king and the important thing is to make something. It's been great so far - I've directed six different sets of actors already since February.

The first one we've released is called Bonsai. It's starring a young stand-up comedian called Ian Smith and an actress called Nadine Lewington, who was in Holby City amongst other TV things:

This episode was also a finalist at Sundance London in their inaugural Short Film Competition, which was pretty great.

We're releasing four more episodes this week and will then release a new short every two weeks. We've made seven so far in total, so we're good for the next month or so.

I'm really, really keen to get some comments from you, so please let me know. Also, I've become a little suckered in by YouTube-cred, so any Likes, Subscriptions or (positive) comments you can leave will make me happy like a teenager blogger. And, if you feel like passing them around, then be my guest.

THANKS YEAH?

tronderboo · 05-15-2012, 09:03 AM

Here's the second one:

tronderboo · 05-16-2012, 08:46 AM

And episode three:

Scatterbrain · 05-16-2012, 04:57 PM

I really like these. Second one's my favourite so far, made me laugh a lot more than I assume it's meant to. especially the suave guy smoothly suggesting oysters to add insult to injury but anyway, these are great - I like the way it's shot too to make it seem like you're watching these people from over their shoulder or from the opposite end of the carriage etc. but hey I'm probably just pointing out mega-obvious things here

look forward to seeing more! Oh, and was it tricky getting permission to film on the tube? (just going on the assumption they don't just let a bunch of you walk into the station with all the equipment??)

tronderboo · 05-17-2012, 09:01 AM

Here's episode four:

Thanks for watching mate! I'm glad you like them.

Getting permission is easy, but long. The hardest (and most expensive) part was getting clearance to put them up online. That took a looong time...

Dominator Dan · 05-17-2012, 12:34 PM

hahah her awkward face in the preview thumbnail, looks like things don't get much better for HER this time round

but yeah these are great man, what scat said sorta eavesdropping, it's fab bro, well done on the subscribers BTW

edit: i wonder how having these recurring characters will change things the more you do, are you going to have the particular actors have similar running personalities, or are they just gonna be completely different people in later episodes?

tronderboo · 05-17-2012, 02:24 PM

Thanks man.

The idea is that actors play the same role, and each of them is somewhere on a storyline. You don't know what's happened anywhere else other than on the tube, so it's up to you to figure it out.

Already some people have noticed the link between eps 2 and 3, which is quite subtle, but cool.

ALSO. We've been contacted by a TV production company this afternoon. They're pretty big, too. It'll just be a "nice to meet you" exercise, but I'm really amazed how far it's spread in only three days.

Scatterbrain · 05-17-2012, 03:03 PM

that's wicked! hope it goes well..sick of Peter being the only big shot round here.

tronderboo · 05-18-2012, 08:43 AM

Episode 5 for you. That's our launch week done, now we're set on a release schedule of one every two weeks...

Qaz · 05-23-2012, 08:08 PM

Watched the first one. Wasn't too impressed. I dunno, almost 4 minutes on a single camera kinda shaky shot with pretty bad audio doesn't help. Plays like a rough daily more than a finished short.

The acting seemed quite good though and dialog was pretty british so if this is to show you can direct actors to good performances than it succeeds there.

But it's not interesting enough for me to make up for it's other shortcomings.

Will watch the rest soon, might like those better.

tronderboo · 05-23-2012, 09:53 PM

Ok thanks man. Yours is an opinion I really respect, so keep throwing truth bombs at me and I'll be very grateful. The single take thing is one of the biggest challenges, though, and I'm pretty far from having solved it, but have tried a few subtle things in other eps that have hopefully changed it a bit...

tronderboo · 06-18-2012, 10:37 AM

We made another, and filmed another on Friday last week. Here's the first one:

tronderboo · 07-02-2012, 09:06 AM

I'm sure lots have already seen this on Facebook, but we just made an episode that is in ANOTHER LANGUAGE. Urdu, to be precise. Here's a link:

Scatterbrain · 07-02-2012, 09:46 AM

that was a good one!
second one's still my absolute favourite though the poor sod...

tronderboo · 07-02-2012, 03:06 PM

Thanks mate. It's weird which episode people like the most - I can't really figure it out... Everyone has a different one it seems. My favourite is coming up in a few weeks.

Scatterbrain · 07-02-2012, 03:23 PM

oh right cool how many of these have you guys got waiting to release? i mean do you make a few of them in spurts so to speak?

tronderboo · 07-03-2012, 04:15 PM

Yeah - we normally do a run of four or more and then sit back for a bit. We're in the middle of a big run at the moment, though, so we've got enough to tide us over during the Olympics, when we're not allowed to film.

tronderboo · 07-15-2012, 10:58 PM

WATCH ANOTHER ONE OF THESE THINGS WHERE PEOPLE TALK ON THE TUBE AND STUFF:

Pirate Balloon · 07-17-2012, 07:31 PM

These are making me pretty sad but i cant stop watching them.

James Burgon · 07-21-2012, 04:17 PM

awesome stuff, six has been my favourite so far.

tronderboo · 08-13-2012, 11:33 AM

Just updating this thread with a crazy article I found this morning, that I didn't even know existed:
http://www.virginmediashorts.co.uk/n...e-ben-williams

No I did not write it.

Dave Miles · 08-15-2012, 10:03 PM

Congrats man, i've been enjoying these a lot.

Scatterbrain · 08-17-2012, 08:35 PM

nice one!

Breed · 08-17-2012, 09:43 PM

!!!!!! Fantastic!!!!

tronderboo · 10-01-2012, 02:00 PM

Started posting these again. YES:

05-14-2012, 10:36 AM	#1
tronderboo Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2001 Posts: 2,743	Tube Tube - new short films I've posted a few of these before now in a misleadingly titled thread called 'Bonsai', but as of this morning we've gone 'public' with the series, so I'm giving it its own thread. I'm making some short films set on the Tube (London's subway system) to get more experience in directing and creating performances with actors. They're designed so I can mostly do that: so, we have only a scene outline and no script to learn, they're shot in single takes with one camera and I have to have them finished and online the next day. Generally each episode takes six hours over about two days - two hours for rehearsal on the first day, four hours to shoot on the second. I've called the series Tube Tube. If you must know, it's a way of working that I'm very vaguely copying from live TV shows like SNL, where the deadline is king and the important thing is to make something. It's been great so far - I've directed six different sets of actors already since February. The first one we've released is called Bonsai. It's starring a young stand-up comedian called Ian Smith and an actress called Nadine Lewington, who was in Holby City amongst other TV things: This episode was also a finalist at Sundance London in their inaugural Short Film Competition, which was pretty great. We're releasing four more episodes this week and will then release a new short every two weeks. We've made seven so far in total, so we're good for the next month or so. I'm really, really keen to get some comments from you, so please let me know. Also, I've become a little suckered in by YouTube-cred, so any Likes, Subscriptions or (positive) comments you can leave will make me happy like a teenager blogger. And, if you feel like passing them around, then be my guest. THANKS YEAH?

05-23-2012, 08:08 PM	#10
Qaz Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2001 Posts: 6,355	Watched the first one. Wasn't too impressed. I dunno, almost 4 minutes on a single camera kinda shaky shot with pretty bad audio doesn't help. Plays like a rough daily more than a finished short. The acting seemed quite good though and dialog was pretty british so if this is to show you can direct actors to good performances than it succeeds there. But it's not interesting enough for me to make up for it's other shortcomings. Will watch the rest soon, might like those better.
Qaz Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2001 Posts: 6,355

08-17-2012, 09:43 PM	#24
Breed Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Posts: 7,768	!!!!!! Fantastic!!!!
Breed Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Posts: 7,768

05-15-2012, 09:03 AM	#2
tronderboo Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2001 Posts: 2,743	Here's the second one:

05-16-2012, 08:46 AM	#3
tronderboo Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2001 Posts: 2,743	And episode three:

05-16-2012, 04:57 PM	#4
Scatterbrain Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2001 Posts: 8,564	I really like these. Second one's my favourite so far, made me laugh a lot more than I assume it's meant to. especially the suave guy smoothly suggesting oysters to add insult to injury but anyway, these are great - I like the way it's shot too to make it seem like you're watching these people from over their shoulder or from the opposite end of the carriage etc. but hey I'm probably just pointing out mega-obvious things here look forward to seeing more! Oh, and was it tricky getting permission to film on the tube? (just going on the assumption they don't just let a bunch of you walk into the station with all the equipment??)

05-17-2012, 09:01 AM	#5
tronderboo Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2001 Posts: 2,743	Here's episode four: Thanks for watching mate! I'm glad you like them. Getting permission is easy, but long. The hardest (and most expensive) part was getting clearance to put them up online. That took a looong time...

05-17-2012, 12:34 PM	#6
Dominator Dan Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2004 Posts: 11,564	hahah her awkward face in the preview thumbnail, looks like things don't get much better for HER this time round but yeah these are great man, what scat said sorta eavesdropping, it's fab bro, well done on the subscribers BTW edit: i wonder how having these recurring characters will change things the more you do, are you going to have the particular actors have similar running personalities, or are they just gonna be completely different people in later episodes?

05-17-2012, 02:24 PM	#7
tronderboo Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2001 Posts: 2,743	Thanks man. The idea is that actors play the same role, and each of them is somewhere on a storyline. You don't know what's happened anywhere else other than on the tube, so it's up to you to figure it out. Already some people have noticed the link between eps 2 and 3, which is quite subtle, but cool. ALSO. We've been contacted by a TV production company this afternoon. They're pretty big, too. It'll just be a "nice to meet you" exercise, but I'm really amazed how far it's spread in only three days.

05-17-2012, 03:03 PM	#8
Scatterbrain Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2001 Posts: 8,564	that's wicked! hope it goes well..sick of Peter being the only big shot round here.

05-18-2012, 08:43 AM	#9
tronderboo Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2001 Posts: 2,743	Episode 5 for you. That's our launch week done, now we're set on a release schedule of one every two weeks...

05-23-2012, 09:53 PM	#11
tronderboo Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2001 Posts: 2,743	Ok thanks man. Yours is an opinion I really respect, so keep throwing truth bombs at me and I'll be very grateful. The single take thing is one of the biggest challenges, though, and I'm pretty far from having solved it, but have tried a few subtle things in other eps that have hopefully changed it a bit...

06-18-2012, 10:37 AM	#12
tronderboo Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2001 Posts: 2,743	We made another, and filmed another on Friday last week. Here's the first one:

07-02-2012, 09:06 AM	#13
tronderboo Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2001 Posts: 2,743	I'm sure lots have already seen this on Facebook, but we just made an episode that is in ANOTHER LANGUAGE. Urdu, to be precise. Here's a link:

07-02-2012, 09:46 AM	#14
Scatterbrain Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2001 Posts: 8,564	that was a good one! second one's still my absolute favourite though the poor sod...

07-02-2012, 03:06 PM	#15
tronderboo Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2001 Posts: 2,743	Thanks mate. It's weird which episode people like the most - I can't really figure it out... Everyone has a different one it seems. My favourite is coming up in a few weeks.

07-02-2012, 03:23 PM	#16
Scatterbrain Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2001 Posts: 8,564	oh right cool how many of these have you guys got waiting to release? i mean do you make a few of them in spurts so to speak?

07-03-2012, 04:15 PM	#17
tronderboo Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2001 Posts: 2,743	Yeah - we normally do a run of four or more and then sit back for a bit. We're in the middle of a big run at the moment, though, so we've got enough to tide us over during the Olympics, when we're not allowed to film.

07-15-2012, 10:58 PM	#18
tronderboo Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2001 Posts: 2,743	WATCH ANOTHER ONE OF THESE THINGS WHERE PEOPLE TALK ON THE TUBE AND STUFF:

07-17-2012, 07:31 PM	#19
Pirate Balloon Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2003 Posts: 7,911	These are making me pretty sad but i cant stop watching them.

07-21-2012, 04:17 PM	#20
James Burgon Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2001 Posts: 8,689	awesome stuff, six has been my favourite so far.

08-13-2012, 11:33 AM	#21
tronderboo Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2001 Posts: 2,743	Just updating this thread with a crazy article I found this morning, that I didn't even know existed: http://www.virginmediashorts.co.uk/n...e-ben-williams No I did not write it.

08-15-2012, 10:03 PM	#22
Dave Miles Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2002 Posts: 10,236	Congrats man, i've been enjoying these a lot.

08-17-2012, 08:35 PM	#23
Scatterbrain Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2001 Posts: 8,564	nice one!

10-01-2012, 02:00 PM	#25
tronderboo Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2001 Posts: 2,743	Started posting these again. YES: