AFGNCAAP (that is one serious acronym if I've ever seen one),
First off, thanks! Not just for the positive comments in there, but for taking the time to address our project in so much detail while offering such an honest and personal reaction. I have a number of things to say concerning your thoughts on the story, I hope I can cover everything...
This being our first project of this scale and our first foray into telling a serialized story, there was a lot that we didn't know going into it and, and consequently, a lot that we learned coming out. In our minds, the hook/mystery of the story was never intended to last throughout. We always wanted to set a bizarre and confusing enough tone to the opening few chapters that people would be enticed to return for answers. Rather than stretching this throughout the project though, we decided to drop enough hints along the way so that this aspect of the story could be deciphered a few chapters in. At this point, hopefully the viewers would be invested in the characters and we wouldn't have to rely on gimmicks to keep their interest. This isn't to say that we consider the set-up to be a gimmick. We don't at all, but filling the story with one strange twist after another may have felt a little gimmicky by the end, not to mention the story may have risked becoming redundant and boring. Instead, we shifted gears and focussed on the heart of the story which is Al's struggle to come to terms with, then hopefully escape the attic and regain control of his life, as well as Allan's developing relationship with Emma.
The mystery at this should be where the characters are going and how each story will affect the direction of the other one. We know who the masked man is. Most people have a pretty good idea of what the device does, so the goal for Seth and I became a matter of introducing new elements to challenge people's expectations of the direction of the story. This relates less to the initial set-up and more to where things are now. You may know how it ends, and I'm not going to say if you're right or wrong about that, but not a single person who read the script did and the consensus, for better or for worse, was surprise. The surprise doesn't come in answering a question lingering from Chapter 1, but in the direction the characters take and the way that they get there.
Like Eternal Sunshine though, we wanted this to be a very human story using mysterious and inexplicable elements to help set the tone and get things moving. It's strange, unlikely and weird at times, but hopefully, if we did our jobs right, emotionally engaging and complex at other times.
The real question for us now is if the experiment worked and whether the whole thing paid off in the end. We were both a little surprised to see some people like yourself becoming disappointed when the mysteries that set the story in gear can be explained, as if there is nothing else to be gained at that point. Obviously, you're entitled to your opinion and I'm by no means upset by it, in fact, I find it encouraging because it's that sort of reaction that helps us plan for future projects. We have our own ideas about what makes for an interesting story, but it's fascinating to watch other people react to our work. So in essence, and at the risk of blabbing on forever about this, I'd like to thank you for the comments.
I'm curious to hear what you think of the rest.
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