Official - COVIES - blog

Due to lack of funds

2011-01-24T07:40:00.000-08:00

I've consolidated episodes of Covies on my own website. www.lencollin.com

Please go there to view content. Or search for the Covies channel on Vimeo or YouTube.

Thanks for your support

Len Collin.

That's All Folks

2010-02-03T19:00:00.001-08:00

Here we are 3.00 in the morning and I've just uploaded and tested the final episode of Covies. There's a real treat in store for music lovers as Galway band Lucas provide us with Cobwebs and Dreams - and Briana Corrigan [The Beautiful South] plays us out with a haunting track For Home from her forthcoming album [As Yet Unnamed] We've also had a lot of inquiries about the music used in the montage sequence from episode one. That's a track called I Know by Glasgow band Kaster, Who also provided three other tracks Kaster Sonata [Ep3] Iconic and Miss January.

Main musical maestro is of course our own Joseph Conlan - fantastic theme tune, great incidental music and can even compose dance music.

We hope you enjoyed series one - if you want a series two try and impress Donald Trump or Bill Cullen or RTE or whoever to sponsor or commission us.

Now I'm going for a long lie down.

Thanks for watching

Sizing Up The Competition

2010-01-28T09:32:00.000-08:00

When we started on Covies we were aiming to be the world's 1st online soap. We know we are Ireland's first online soap - But it's hard to know what's out there in the big wide world. Then this week I've been contacted by US website We Love Soaps Roger Newcomb runs the site and also runs the Indie Soap awards which are being run for the first time this year. We won't qualify for this year as it's only soaps from 2009. Whether we would find ourselves in the happy position of being nominated for 2010 is of course both too early to say and more than a little presumptuous. There is however a great article on the nominees for the indie soap awards here. I've also had a little look myself. There are seven nominees for Best Indie soap and they are:
Anyone But Me
Buppies
Chick
Compulsions
Diary Of a Single Mum
High Rise
Lumina

They are all American - but are they all soaps? Compulsions for example is more of a thriller. [very good I might add and my personal favourite] Buppies or High Rise would seem the most traditional - Though Buppies uses Voice Over which you won't find in traditional soaps. Lumina is more Sci-Fi.

Anyhow... go take a look and by all means compare and contrast to Covies. I doubt any of the productions had a smaller budget than we had. Some clearly had much bigger budgets and proper sponsorship.

The phrase for this week I think is: Imagine what we could do if we had the money.

More Interviews

2010-01-17T16:42:00.000-08:00

More interviews are lined up for this week including the Irish Sun and The Soap Show. regardless of what happens next we seem to have broken new ground with our ambition and labours. 9000 views and rising. That's not bad considering we don't have access to the publicity machine that other projects have had. We're also uploading episodes to You Tube as an alternative source. The problem with You Tube is that we have to bisect the episodes in to parts as they do not allow anything over ten minutes long. Vimeo on the other hand do.

I'm unaware of any problems on their servers - but if you have any issues watching episodes [and I know some people have ] then let us know and we'll try and sort the issue out. However most often any issues are local - such as connection, computer, ram etc.

Episode Three debuts tonight [Monday] Viewer discretion is advised as the show contains some swearing and deals with the subject of domestic violence. If you are affected by the subject matter in the episode we recommend you check out www.rcni.ie

A Busy Week

2010-01-16T03:43:00.000-08:00

The online launch went very well. We're up to nearly 8000 views which is a steady start and compares very favourably with other internet offerings. However we need to get the word out there and that's what I've mostly been doing this week. Interviews on RTE Radio 1's Arena, The Gerry Ryan Show and Iradio, Interviews with The Mayo News, The Mail On Sunday, The Independent, and a bunch of freelancers with articles ready for various publications from the Farmer's Monthly to PCLive magazine. There's more to do this week with TG4 filming something. Then there are the various sites to keep up with Tweeting, posting on facebook, here, our own site... still editing 6, 7 and 8. It just never stops.

Time To Party

2010-01-11T04:07:00.001-08:00

Of course being the idiot that I am I didn't bring a camera to last nights launch party. So you'll have to make do with another still. There are official photos which I will post later [when I can get them]

The night went very well with two hundred brave and hardy souls battling the icy weather to get to us. They came from London, Dublin and Galway. They came from all over Mayo. Then I bored them with a speech - fortunately I kept it short and we watched the first three episodes, and two Nelliesodes.

The reaction was fantastic. There's no doubt that using the words "Internet" before the word "drama" or "Soap" gives the illusion of amateur - because of course so much of the stuff on the internet is amateur - that's its beauty really. So the comment we received most was how professional the whole thing is. Which is great because it is professional... the only thing that makes it amateur is the lack of a wage packet. But who knows what might happen next?

So a reminder that we go live tonight with episode one. Enjoy

Almost Ready To Roll

2010-01-08T09:04:00.000-08:00

So much is going on now it's getting hard to think. I've done about three or four Radio interviews now. Plus Press interviews over the phone. I think the interest may well increase next week. On Monday we'll be on the Gerry Ryan Show, and Iradio we'll also feature on Arena.

Unfortunately I've just learned that we'll be squeezed out of Tommy and Hector's show on 2fm. It's their first show and they're inundated with material. Maybe they'll have us on later in the run.

The press have had access to two episodes via the internet for preview purposes and I can say that the reaction so far has been very positive.

I wish that everyone could come to the launch on Sunday but we are limited to numbers on the door. So there's no guarantee of anyone getting in without a silver ticket.

We'll try to accommodate as many people as we can however.

It's almost here

2010-01-02T05:53:00.000-08:00

It seems like forever since we finished filming, but it is only three months. We're all exhausted and delighted at the same time, on 11/ 01/ 2010 you can tune in to see the first episode of Ireland's first online soap. In my humble opinion or IMHO as I should write - It is the world's first true online soap. Now it's overto you - the public - to decide if it works or not.

Join us online on Monday 11th January

Join us after the episode on our Facebook page

For discussions and a laugh or two.

Then tune in for the second episode on 14th January...

Enjoy!

Queens, Teens and Mean Machines

2009-10-28T15:46:00.000-07:00

The photo is a still from Episode Two - Covies.

The first three episodes are in great shape as we begin the task of finalising the edit on them. Then they'll be sent out to LA for Joe to work his magic. Music makes such a difference.

The website is coming along nicely - You may even be reading this from the website itself. I have to thank Rob for that, who is showing great creativity and versatility.

Unfortunately we're still chasing up money that was promised to us, but has yet to materialise. I suppose it's to be expected in these difficult times - But it does anger me because money is still owed on the production to our producer. He is much more patient than I would be. Hopefully that will be resolved soon. On the plus side ESB have come in as an additional sponsor for us. money collected now will help us to promote the show and grow awareness.

I'm encouraged by the news that Michael Eisner [Former Ceo at Walt Disney and Ex Paramount Exec] believes the future of the industry lies with the internet. His new company produced an online drama called Prom Queen that got over 20 million viewers for it's eighty webisodes of ninety seconds duration. It looks great too, but they had a budget of around $6000 per minute - ours is closer to $200 per minute. I also wonder if it only got twenty million viewers because most short sited internet pervs thought it was Porn Queen. After all you only need ninety seconds for that.

It seems as if every week there is a new internet project announced and even Eastenders is getting in on the act. They are due to launch an internet soap in January to compliment the programme. It's called E20 and episodes - 13 of them - are between 6 and 12 minutes long. This I guess will be our main competition. However it seems as though once again there is compromise as the spin off is aimed at teenagers. With the show following four teenagers who turn up in Walford. Regular cast members from the parent soap will only make cameo appearances.

Whereas we're squarely aiming at an adult audience. In fact from episode three on, Covies will be for 18+ only. After all the internet isn't just for kids is it?

Editing.

2009-10-19T03:16:00.000-07:00

Above is the main thoroughfare of Westport - Bridge Street - during rush hour.

Today I hope to give you an insight into the editing process.

Editing is a long, some might say tedious, process. A thirty second sequence may have taken four hours to shoot. A simple dialogue sequence between two actors for example will require an establishing master shot or wide, MCU's or mid-close ups of each actor, a two shot favouring one actor, then usually the reverse favouring the other actor, maybe some pick ups or cut aways [for example a knife being picked up - and if it's an intense scene an ECU, extreme close up,or two. the scene may have been run several times, often with a good deal of physical time between set up A and set up B. Therefore continuity becomes an issue. An actor for example may have been tilting their head on a particular line in the WS [Wide shot] but on his or her MCU [Mid - Close up] they may tilt their head the wrong way or not at all. This can make the edit very difficult as the movements need to match and flow. So sometimes the best performance is not the best take, because as wonderful as Actor A may have been you cannot make the shot work if the movement jars. Then of course there are so many other considerations for the edit. Sound for example. A car may be passing in the background on the take you want to use... however there was no car passing in the background on the reverse close up that you have to use. What to do then? Layer the sound? Place a car sound over the reverse Close up? That can be messy and time consuming, but often there is no way around it. That thirty second scene that took four hours to shoot may take four days to edit if it's a real tricky sonofabitch.

This is why filmmakers often have to close down roads in order to have control over their environment and make their lives easier in the edit. We were lucky enough to be able to close Bridge Street above, for a days shooting. Thanks to Westport UDC. [Urban District Council]

You'll see the results on 11.01.10

COVIES

2009-10-09T04:43:00.000-07:00

Covies is a new online multi-stranded drama.

It's unlike any soap you'll see on TV, it mixes humour drama and fantasy and is set in the beautiful location of Westport, County Mayo, Ireland. It was made for very little money by volunteers and with the help and support of the people of Westport.

Launches 11.01.10