[Flyboy]

Originally Posted by Henke

Try getting some cash for your next project (by the looks of this it shouldn't be a problem).

Ha! Getting cash is never easy. Even well known award-winning filmmakers still have trouble getting decent budgets for their films. And in Canada, it's next to impossible. I'd love to work with a decent budget the next time around, but that's easier said than done. We'll see how things go...

And Starflux: thanks! Chapter 2 is a tricky one since there aren't huge developments plot wise, but I'm glad that the techniques we used make up for this. And yeah, I love that piece of music. I can't remember what the inspiration was, but there's definitely some Amelie in there somewhere.

[Flyboy]

Chapter 3 is up. At the risk of looking like I'm trying to hijack these forums, I'll stop posting updates here about the series. I'd still love it if you'd continue watching at www.tmbtheseries.com, which is also an excellent place to discuss it and leave your comments.

Thanks for watching and thanks for all the great feedback!

[Not A Speck Of Cereal]

litterbug

[kuze]

Originally Posted by Flyboy

Chapter 3 is up. At the risk of looking like I'm trying to hijack these forums, I'll stop posting updates here about the series.

So let me do it for you. Chapter 4 is out, and it's great.

[Not A Speck Of Cereal]

Excellent! I loved the pollen scene. And when Emma and "Alan" introduce themselves (though there's the first and only minor technical difficulty for me there--the reflector seemed to be too harsh of a gold reflector and moved around, which was distracting for me).

I'm looking forward to Al's use of the screwdriver.

[Flyboy]

Originally Posted by Not A Speck Of Cereal

there's the first and only minor technical difficulty for me there--the reflector seemed to be too harsh of a gold reflector and moved around, which was distracting for me

I said I wouldn't be commenting anymore, but that's too hard to ignore. Speck, I agree completely and it pains me to watch that scene because of that. It's a problem that could very easily have been avoided, but the person holding the reflector wasn't fully invested in their job, and we weren't able to get someone else to hold it or prop it up since it was quite windy. It was a bad choice on my part too choosing the gold rather than silver or white (which I don't think was strong enough to make a noticeable difference). Good call though: lousy reflection, quite distracting.

I'm going to disappear again now...

[Not A Speck Of Cereal]

I know what it's like asking friends to help for cheap (often free)--ya get what you pay for.

Still, don't get me wrong, I'm totally impressed by this project.

[Jelena]

There are so many pieces from this episode I'd like to have as a still/picture (expr?). Simply beautiful!

[kuze]

Woo, guess what just came out.

[Jelena]

What a cliffhanger!

[Jelena]

I hope you all watch this web series! It's really good. I can't wait to find out how this ends.

[Flyboy]

Wow, I can't believe this thread is still on the front page, albeit barely. Thanks for the continued interest, Jelena, and thanks again to everyone who's given positive feedback.

Only 2 more to go...

[Not A Speck Of Cereal]

I'm totally on-board. Great stuff.

[AFGNCAAP]

Thanks to others bumping this thread, I've had a little Take Me Back marathon through the last couple of days, and here are my two cents:

The production values are absolutely amazing. The acting (obviously, Seth has the most responsible task - and deals with it flawlessly, but the supporting cast is great, too), camerawork, editing, music, everything. I must say I admire how you guys work around your limitations - the best example being the scene when the police arrives. It took me good few hours to realise that you must have shot it from Emma's POV primarily because of the budgetary constraints rather than artistic vision - yet it had felt so completely natural!

One minor technical complaint I can think of is that when two Als talk to each other, I find it hard to understand the lines of whichever one is currently "off-screen". Maybe it's just me.

Now, the script... After the first three episodes I was ready to call it the best thing since sliced bread. Suspenseful and confusing in the best possible way. Afterwards, my enthusiasm cooled somewhat. I am still hoping for some unexpected revelations in the final two episodes, but if there isn't one, and the mystery boils down to

Spoiler:

"impostor Al" being a visitor from the future who tries to get the girl he "originally" hadn't,

then I will be a tad disappointed. I feel we'd been telegraphed this by the episode 5, and everything later only supports that theory. So the mystery shifted (for me at least) from "What's going on?" to "What will happen next?". And that's not such an interesting question, because the protagonist seems to have actually been almost in control of the situation for some time now.

Spoiler:

Although, come to think of it, this may be a clue you guys are setting up the ending where the audience symphatizes with the "impostor Al" and hope that "our Al" fails in their respective goals. That would be pretty cool.

Just so it doesn't look like I am a hater, I think the most recent chapters are well-written and well-constructed (the cliffhangers!), they just don't live up to the awesomeness and mindfuck promised by the first three. Oh, and I love how you use sci-fi elements to say something very real and intimate about human relationships. TMB reminds me of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind in that regard.

I'll try to post again (either to eat my words or to whine some more, if not both) after the whole story's up.

[Flyboy]

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.

[Flyboy]

Oh lord, I don't think I made much sense in my last post...


Well the series is done. You can head over to my site to find out how it all came together. I'm curious to know what you guys think.

Now if only I could get the rights for DOTT or Full Throttle or something. There are too many amazing movies-to-be out there...

[Jelena]

I love this story Flyboy! You and your team are so talented.

Spoiler:

I'm currently reading The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. And in that story the leading character travels involuntarily in time and meets himself on several occasions. He never manages to change events even though he sometimes tries just as Al/Alan is stuck with the same outcome when it comes to Emma. I liked that. A happy ending would have been "too sweet"

Al turned out to be both a very tragic and creepy person in the end. I sincerely hope that his firm, determined look at the very end was a moment of clarity, an insight that he should move on instead of back.

[Flyboy]

Jelena,

A number of people have mentioned that I read that and as soon as I have some free time I plan on picking it up. I hear it's fantastic.

I like your comments about the ending quite a bit. We were a little worried that he'd simply become too unlikeable in the last few moments, but at the same time there's a sense of hope and uncertainty about where he's going to go from here. We originally had it in the script (in fact we even shot it this way) that he does go back at the end and in the last shot we pan up towards the stars as the streaks of light shoot out of the device. We ultimately felt that it was more fun to leave this open ended since there's at least the possibility that he'll think things over before making a decision.

[AFGNCAAP]

Originally Posted by Flyboy

Oh lord, I don't think I made much sense in my last post...

On the contrary, it was a great read. Plus, your addressing my criticism helped me watch the finale without the ballast of half-expecting the wrong kind of twists, and thus enjoy it for what it was. Anyway, I haven't posted because I wanted to see the ending first, and I hadn't been able to before today because real life (= exams) interfered. I now did, and here are some random thoughts. Sorry for listing them in a somewhat incoherent manner. (And note to anyone silly enough not to have watched the series yet: ALL SPOILERS!)

The ending was perfect. You were very wise to change the original one. My interpretation is the same as Jelena's, but I am glad it cuts to black before we can find out.

Previously, I was hypothesizing that by the end we'll be cheering on Allan and hating Al. I've got it at least half-right! But, were we supposed to hate Neil as well? He was extremely apathetic in his helping Al all this time, and downright forgot about his friend by the time of the final confrontation. That was uncool.

I know it's hardly the focus of the story, but I was a bit sad the time travel model didn't turn out to be self-consistent in one way or another. Or self-admittedly inconsistent.

Of many nice little twists in the final two chapters, I must highlight one: Emma admitting she's bored with Al's striving to have everything perfect and (literally) by the book. Such a great development, both surprising and obvious in hindsight.

Finally, I have to say it once again: I am in utter amazement by how you milk the sci-fi premise to create the all the situations and observations almost anyone can relate to. Particularly in the last episode, every action and line of dialogue seemed to have at least one additional layer of meaning. Simply beautiful.

That's all I can think of now. All in all, despite any criticisms I had/have/will have, I thought you cooked up something really special there, and I believe it does come through in my posts. I'll most definitely be waiting for your next project.