Last night I was lucky enough to be invited to the premier of the fourth and final episode of The Brandon Generator.
Produced with Internet Explorer and “written” and directed by Edgar Wright (Spaced, Shaun of the Dead) and art by Tommy Lee Edwards (Turf). I say written because part of the appeal was that we all could contribute to the project – be it prose, art or voicemail!
Located in an East London warehouse there were about 100 people either media (like me?!), industry people or contributors. One fan I met on the door came all the way from Brighton and got to meet his idol!
In the area were rooms dedicated to each of the episodes with large monitors and computers to view and listen. They also had a mouse attached to allow you to interact.
Over the walls were large panels, storyboards and projections of the overall story, which made for an excellent layout.
Another nice touch was the addition of the car used by Brandon himself
We were then taken to the auditorium to view all the episodes back-to back – including the final, fourth episode.
Before which we had Gabby Heggarty from Internet Explorer who spoke about the interactive experience with HTML5 in the story and how they wanted to showcase IE 9.
She also stated that there were over 9000 contributors to the project.
It was all very good and funny in the right places. The addition of the crowd sourcing idea work well into this story.
After there was the Q&A with first Edgar Wright & Tommy Lee Edwards.
The Q&A can be seen below before my battery died!
They were then joined by Julian Barrett who narrated the story and David Holmes from Unloved who provided the soundtrack.
Some of the Q&A from Twitter & the audience:
Have you considered cornettos?
Edgar Wright: No – I’m a caffine addict!
What are your foods of choice when working?
Edgar – Coffee (He tried to give it up, but got bad headaches!)
David – Weed – and then anything
Julian – er…Curry
Tommy – His wife makes him eat!
Do you have any advise to a script writer?
Edgar – Write a short, try to get it made, do something small and create it yourself.
Who was Brandon based on?
Edgar – A few people – Gerard Butler, a young George Lucas
Tommy – He relates to everyone
Note: Tommy’s model for Brandon was also at the event – he did look like him!
Would you continue the project or do something similar?
Edgar – I would like to continue something similar, enjoyed the version and the style.
Edgar also noted that the timing of making it was a lot easier than making a movie – weeks rather than months.
Tommy – I enjoyed getting art from others and making it work.
Julian – Love to do more
David – It was a launchpad for Unloved and enjoyed the process.
What browser do you use?
All: IE 9!
Would Tommy & Edgar do a comic?
Edgar – Jonathan Ross sent him a script for America’s Got Powers
They both said the process was easier than a film and would like to.
Where could crowd sourcing go?
Edgar referred to the Star Wars scene project and one of Michael Jackson’s videos. Different parts worked well.
How much direction was there from Edgar?
Tommy & Edgar would discuss and use storyboards. They would collaborate with the script.
In all it was an interesting view into something new and was good to be there – alas there was no mention of Ant-Man, and I didn’t get a chance to ask!
