Limited Release – Webseries Review

We are going to be live streaming our 50th episode recording tomorrow night at 11PM EST. We are inviting you into our dark and not very well lit recording studio. We might put a few more lights up so you can see us, we’ll see.

But seriously, we will be using Google+ Hangouts to share our special night with you guys. 50 is a big number! We’ve been doing this podcast for two years and think we’d like to let you in behind the curtain.

Last episode we told you all about our dirty little secret, we work on webseries while we are not critiquing others. And this episode we want you to be able to see our studio set up, provided by Soch and Synndicus, and see the funny looks we give each other, along with the dancing which happens every time we hear our theme song. Also, there will be drinking!

So join us, either by adding us to your circles on Google+ where you can watch our episode right in your stream. Or by watching the YouTube channel where it will also be streaming live. And if we get real fancy we can embed the link right here on our website so you can watch us here too (but don’t count on that one).

We want some feedback and news from you guys to share live, so tweet us, comment on our Facebook page, or Google+ page, email us at backtalk@limitedreleasepodcast.ca or comment right here!

See you tomorrow!

Another episode without Nick… it’s a sad day. That is until you realize that Adam Shaftoe is joining us once again. You may remember him from his guest spot back in June.

For this episode we decided to do the all Machinima, all derivative episode. Machinima, one of YouTube’s well funded channels, is a bit of a nerd haven primarily covering gaming. I suspect their large fan base and solid productions including Mortal Kombat: Legacy were a major part in how Syfy chose them to work with for Battlestar Galactica: Blood and Chrome, and why Microsoft chose them to work with for Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn.

But apparently, even corporate money doesn’t save people from the free and open internet quagmire.

First up we chat Forward Unto Dawn, with a bit of a review of the new game as well. It’s all Adam for this review because I fell into the quagmire by discovering this on my screen while trying to watch the official channel.

Never one to take no for an answer, I continued my search for either the episodes, or an explanation. And what an explanation I found. Now I don’t want to give this lawful neutral internet troll any more attention, so I’m only going to link to the blog I found from another content creator who ran across this guy, but if you want to find more information on either Leak ID or Herve Lemaire a simple Google search tells you more than you want.

** since our recording the copyright claim has been resolved and the episodes are now available once again, for free, on YouTube, as they intended them to be.

Next up, we cover the newest incarnation of Battlestar Galactica by watching Adama’s story, Blood and Chrome. This show is a prequel to the main television series in which we get to see a very young Bill Adama as a fresh recruit into the colonial army fighting the first war against the Cylons.

Do you need to have watched 5 seasons of BSG to fully appreciate this show? How about Caprica? Hard to say. A lot of time was spent on action, and less on explaining. We are thrown into a war we are expected to understand. But man we are given action every time we start to question what the hell is going on, so yay!

Much thanks once again to Adam Shaftoe for his time, his banter and his opinions. You can get more of that on his website Page of Reviews where he covers all things pretty nerdy and fun.

Next episode is the return of Nick! In that episode, we will catch up with him and what he was doing while away, and announce some plans for our 50th episode, and extravaganza!

In the meantime, follow us on Twitter, Facebook, email us at backtalk@limitedreleasepodcast.ca, even Google+! Don’t forget to subscribe on iTunes, and leave us a review. We’ve been doing this for 2 years now, you can take 5 minutes to write a few words ;-P

Welcome to our second episode ever without Nick as a co-host. But not to worry, we’ve got someone in his seat!

Introducing Matt Corradetti, fellow podcaster and listener, also sore loser of our T-Shirt contest. (Remember our t-shirt contest?)

First up, IAWTV awards nominees were announced. You can look through the complete list here, but be warned, there’s lots of clicking. Congrats to Out With Dad, Husbands, Guidestones, Video Game High School, Pretty the Series and the many other series we haven’t covered yet, on their nominations!

And on to the shows! As usual I let my co-hosts choose the shows to watch. And boys will be boys, so we are watching Dick Punch. When I let Nick know this was the show Matt chose for us to watch his reaction was unexpected to me, “I really want to watch that!”. Matt sheds some light on why guys are immediately attracted to a show called Dick Punch.

And, in a stark turn, we then move on to the slow moving, deity laden, mystery Mythos. The tone and pacing of the series is quite intriguing, however the mystery doesn’t grab us, but for very different reasons. The final episode of this show will be airing next week, so with a complete season released maybe the show will deliver more answers.

There’s much to enjoy in this series, despite some flaws. Make sure to check in on December 13th once the entire series is available.

Thanks again to Matt Corradetti for standing in while Nick is away. You can subscribe to his podcast Living Insights on iTunes and hear some great tips on living a healthier lifestyle.

Thanks as well to Soch for his constant and amazing work making both Limited Release, and Living Insights sound like some of the best produced podcasts available for free online!

Tonight’s episode brought to you by Wellington Brewery.

Let’s start a drive to make this a regular thing. A beer an episode for Nick and Soch would make for a happy recording.

And on to the show! Announcements right up front, Nick is leaving the city, the province, the country for an entire month and Limited Release will have co-hosts for the next two episodes. (And I’m realizing how very behind I am on putting up these posts!)

First up is a show recommended to Nick by a co-worker, Nirvana, the Band, the Show an older hit from 2009 about a couple of friends who have a progressive? performance art? based two man show.

This is yet another show that divides Nick and Candice. Both can agree on the production of the show, great sound, good style, dangerous music choices. However when it came to the content we really get both sides of the table.

Next we’ve got sort of the same show, but with women! Harder Than It Looks is a buddy comedy about two roomates who couldn’t find success if it was handed to them gift wrapped.

This show, while funny, and well-acted, completely wowed us both based on the work of their Director of Photography. Listen closely and we will tell you exactly which scenes to watch to see the magic happen

I declare this show Easier Than It Looks to watch. (joke by Candice, Nick needs not be harassed for a terrible example of comedy)

We start this episode down a dark path with a hate-on for Fifty Shades of Grey. Don’t ask what any of this has to do with online and indie content, but sometimes these things happen. In case you want to stray down the path, here are a bunch of links to better books.

But onto the webseries stuff! First up, this article about, the YouTube distributed H+, by Bryan Singer, has many people in the webseries world a bit perturbed. Is there a “new” model for monetizing online content?

Some news from the Canadian webseries world! We were teased by Robert Mills that some new Ruffus the Dogwill be happening soon… Steampunk Ruffus. Of course this style of animation takes a lot of care and attention, so we are not holding our breath.  Take your time Robert and make it awesome!

The most divisive webseries we’ve ever reviewed is back for Season 2.  Ruby  Skye P.I. officially launched the first episode of Season 2 yesterday! Here’ s the trailer for the entire season.

Also, in upcoming new shows… Pretty the Series creator, Steve Silverman, has a new show in production, The Inn. We got a sneak preview of the theme song written by Robb Padgett. Have a listen, but keep your stuffed animal nearby cause it’s creepy!

And the piece de resistance (whatever that means) is the online competition Make My Series. We were sent there by the creators of Game Knights, currently within the top 5 in voting. You have until November 1st to vote as they narrow down the list to 15 series that will have a chance to win $10,000 to continue making their series. There are a number of pilots that could become great series.

And if you want to hear the full Husbands panel from DragonCon right click to download.

As always you can email us your thoughts at backtalk@limitedreleasepodcast.ca, or join us on Facebook and Twitter. If you love our show, why don’t you subscribe on iTunes and leave us a review while you are at it?

IPF = Independent Production Fund

One does not simply fund a webseries. Established 20 years ago as a means to finance and support Canadian television productions, the IPF (Independent Production Fund) has over recent years broadened its scope to include web series in its mandate. Many a web series creator owes their story to the IPF for breathing much-needed life into their productions and giving them the ability to carry it from paper to screen. Currently they invest over $1.5M a year into web series, knowing full well most of the time that they may not make their money back.

Which is more rewarding: watching golf or softcore pornography? While you’re thinking about your answer, let me type some more about this week’s episode.

In the Rough is about Will Ryan’s quest to reinvent himself as a professional golfer after he walks in on his lovely girlfriend and best friend giving new meaning to the term “hole-in-one”. Now whether the story actually follows that or focuses more on showing golf being played is anybody’s opinion, and it sure is mine. Even from the opening title that plays before each episode you can get a sense of the slow-paced storytelling that this series has. And that’s not a bad thing, in fact it could be a good change of pace from the series out there that try to move too quickly and gloss over developing the story as a result. That being said, it does have a lot of golf in it. So make sure that’s your thing before clicking play.

Aside from my opinions on the game that it is based on, it does have some solid production value (albeit a subtle characteristic of the show). While it isn’t pulling off any crazy shots or visual effects of any kind, things like shot composition and camera-work are managed well. Those with the right eye can tell by watching that the crew is experienced and have handled the show well. Kind of like a painting that painters will recognize as expert from the brushstrokes while less-knowledgeable folk will overlook it.

The full first season of 10 episodes of In the Rough is out right now from Lifeforce Entertainment.

Speaking of people reinventing themselves into something else they’ve dreamed of, Pretty Darn Funny is about a bunch of moms (kind of) who come together to form an improv troupe and set out to reclaim comedy from the crass and crude. With a short season of only 6 episodes, they at least have some extra content to look at as well. Once you’re done watching through to the end, check out the group’s music video Jane Austen is My Homegirl. You just clicked on it without watching the episodes first, didn’t you? Well, that’s okay. It won’t spoil any of the show for you and is kind of catchy.

Oh, and if you have a keen eye while watching the episodes you might notice ads sneakily placed about for another webseries, The Book of Jer3miah. Check out the trailer for it and keep an eye here ’cause who knows, we might be reviewing it next episode.

As for the question that I posed to you above, golf or softcore? Swinging clubs or the obstructed view of swinging dicks? Holes in one or implied one in holes? Let’s hear some answers in the comments below.