Episode 5

Episode 5 (Proscription) is the filter through which I see all of Remnants.

Remnants: Episode 5 from COGfilm on Vimeo.

new marketing campaign

We have no money and we are but a handful of people isolated in Chattanooga and Nashville, Tennessee. But our web series has the potential to reach everyone who has a computer all over the globe. So how do we make it happen?

I'm stealing a genius marketing campaign from the guys behind Red Moon, a brilliant graphic novel that was recently independently released. I've created a simple black & white flyer (8.5 x 11) that anyone can print off and then hang up. If they take a picture of themself, upload it to somewhere we can see it, and send us the link, we'll share the picture with everyone and thank them in an upcoming episode.

Feel free to join in on the fun! We could certainly use your help!

me & my chalkboard

Some time between purchasing our house and moving into it, my wife (hencforth referred to as "Kelly") surprised me by turning one of the walls of my office into a chalkboard. She did it out of the kindness of her heart. She looked at me, said, "I have an idea," and the next day I had a chalkboard. She had to sand the wall smooth and before covering it with chalkboard paint, but in the end, I had a wall I could write on and not get in trouble for (something I've wanted since the age of 2).

I use the chalkboard to sort out ideas. If I have something that I'm not sure about, I write it on the wall. Sometimes giving an idea a tangible presence is all that it takes to prove its worth; some ideas boldly stand out against the dark wall, others just whimper there, waiting to be erased.

I use the chalkboard to keep my timelines straight. Season 1 of Remnants, for example, takes place over the course of about 8 days. It's nice to be able to see that. It's nice to be able to step back and look at the timeline of events. Being able to see that helps me keep the story rooted in reality -- how fast should this story take place? How much time is needed to get from Point A to Point B? Can I rearrange the events a little bit and fill in the some of the gaps to give the overall story a better flow?

I use the chalkboard to keep score. Back in 2009, I had 28 skits and plays to write for the General Conference. As I completed each one, I made a mark. Watching the wall fill up with marks kept me focused. Walking into my office and seeing that I had completed only 6 skits reminded me I had 22 more to write -- so I better sit down, strap in, and get typin'.

I use the chalkboard to leap over writer's block. Sometimes then adjectives fail me, all it takes to jump-start my brain is a quick doodle on the chalkboard. Most doodles involve a spiky-haired boy with his tongue sticking out. Sometimes I trace my hand and use different colored chalks to turn my fingers into feathers and my thumb into the head and face of a turkey -- you know, the kind of doodles you did in kindergarten. My art skills haven't progressed much past that.

Right now the chalkboard is blank.

I'm in between projects, so I don't have anything to fill the wall with. Nothing needs to be recorded. Nothing needs to marked, kept, erased, or cataloged in chalk. No writer's blocks need to be hurdled with a pole vault doodle.

But I'm ready. Justin North came over last night and we discussed Season 2 of Remnants -- what it could be, what it needed to be, and what we wanted it to be. And ideas are creeping forward. Out of the ether, God is calling them. They're making themselves known. They're demanding attention and demanding to be written down.

It's time to fill the chalkboard.

Episodes 1 and 2

Episodes 1 and 2 went live tonight!

Click here for Episode 1: Idyll Interrupted and here for Episode 2: Fallout!

Episode 3, Answer the Call, will be available on Sunday, June 13!

D-Day

Remnants goes live tonight -- which is both terribly exciting and terrifying. I'm not so concerned if people don't like it (everyone has their own taste and opinion), I'm more worried nobody will see it. Okay, that's not true. If everyone sees it and doesn't like it, that would be rather devastating.

So here we go! Lock S-Foils into attack position and follow me into the trench!

Episodes 1 and 2 will be available tonight at 7pm (and any time after that). Subsequent episodes will follow every Sunday at 7pm (EST).

Now go to www.RemnantsTheSeries.com and I'll see you on the other side!

SUNDAY 6/6/10

A lot of hard work is coming down to Sunday, June 6th, 2010! Click your way over to www.RemnantsTheSeries.com at 7pm to see the first two episodes of Remnants! Tell a friend! Tell two! It's been a long time coming and I think you're going to like it!

makes an ass outta you, not me

Ugh.

I hate that I had to do it. I had to do it, there was no way around it, but that doesn't make me like it any better.

I just posted an announcement via Facebook that season 1 of Remnants isn't going to premiere on May 2, it's going to premiere on June 6th. I hate it. I absolutely hate it. It feels like defeat. It feels like a broken promise. It feels, like my dad would say, "bush league." It feels like failure. I feel like I stood in front of the Alamo, drew a line in the sand, and no-one crossed it.

It couldn't be helped is the most maddening thing about it. My very dear friend Loren, who directed the entire season* and who has been working hard on editing the episodes (as well as sound editing, color correcting and all the other truly wonderful things that belong in the world of Post), found out maybe two weeks ago that he has diverticulitis. As if that wasn't enough, a short time later, he discovered (to his joy) that he also had pleurisy. The combination of the two have been so painful that he hasn't been near his computer and has actually turned off his phone so that he doesn't also have to deal with the outside world.

I didn't know this for the first week of his suffering. When he didn't return my texts, e-mails, Facebook messages and phone calls, I assumed one of six things was happening:

1. He finally ran away to become a pirate. It was only a matter of time, really.
2. He was abducted by aliens. This was most surprising because it was going to force me to completely reevaluate my opinion of the universe.
3. He was fed up with me and didn't want to talk to me.
4. He was avoiding me.
5. I was calling him at all the wrong times: During Burn Notice, during Happy Married Life Time, or during a quest on WOW. He couldn't or wouldn't interrupt those, promised himself to call me back, and then would promptly forget.
6. He had been sucked into a wormhole and/or a blackhole and so all of my messages were actually going into the void, unable to be heard or returned by anyone.

When he finally summoned the ability to get in touch with me, I (of course) tore him a new one. Then he told me what was going on and (without meaning to or trying to) exposed me as the ass I am.

Even if he can kick this thing in the next week, there's no way we're going to be ready for the premiere of May 2. Technically, we could have the first episode ready. But that's it. No music has been scored for the rest of the season. I'm not even sure how many episodes have been edited, since they're all up in Nashville right now.

So . . . yeah. Grr. Ugh. Oh well. All that being said, what I've seen, looks really good. Too good, really. So good I'm questioning whether or not I actually had any part in it. I think you'll do the same when you finally get to see it. "This is really good," you'll say, "how did T Scott Fogg have a hand in this?"

So, June 6th! 6/6/10. Maybe it'll be better. 6 has always been my lucky number.

*Except for one awesome sequence involving a book, a sword, a lot of chocolate, and a Spartan helmet. That one was all me. And Evan, who brandished his mad improv skills.

a sneaky peek

What is this? The rough edit of Remnants, episode 1?

I am filled with glee and excitement.

Season 1 Teaser Trailer

"Remnants" Web Series Teaser Trailer from COGfilm on Vimeo.

Day 9: Long-Winded Rhodes

. . . okay. Now Season 1 is officially and completely wrapped. Huzzah!

Let's Get Together (Yeah Yeah Yeah)

We need music!

We have a composer for the show (one Michael Goldsmith), that's not what I'm talking about. What I'm talking about is music that our characters are listening to (and possibly dancing to) in the show itself. What I would like to do with this is create an opportunity to show off some local bands and/or artists. But I'm not going to limit it to just local bands and/or artists. Anyone can submit a song. Here's what you do:

• You pick out a song (or selection of songs) that you would like to submit.
• Send an mp3 of the song (or selection of songs) to tsfogg@gmail.com
• Boom. That's it. If we like the song, and it fits into one of the scenes, it will become part of Remnants' soundtrack.

We are not in a place where we can pay anybody for anything (sorry, we're trying to get there). But here's what we can offer you:

• Exposure for you, your band, and your music. It's going to be in a web series, which anyone in the world can click on and watch for free.
• Links on our website to your website.
• At the premiere (which will be held here in Chattanooga), you will be given stage time to play a 3 or 4 song set as well as a table to sell your merch.

We're not looking for any particular genre. Whatever you have, whatever kind of artist you are, we'd like to hear it. Or if you know someone who's trying to get a little bit bigger of an audience, link them to this page.

I look forward to hearing what you've got.

Interregnum

So Season 1 is all but wrapped. We have two scenes that still have to be filmed and we're checking our calendars and seeing what will work even as I blog to you about it.

It's a strange lull. I want to say production is wrapped, but we still have these two little scenes to shoot. We couldn't shoot them last week because our actors weren't in town -- which we knew and had planned for. And we were fine with it because we knew last week was going to be crazy enough.

And boy was last week was crazy. But by the grace of God, we stayed on schedule. We accomplished everything we set out to do. I was worried about time and overlapping schedules, but in the midst of the storm, a great calm came. Every actor and every crew member showed up if not punctually, completely early. I watched last week pass by me in absolute amazement. No-one called to cancel. No-one got stuck in traffic. One actor did get lost on his way to the set, but we were able to save him from deepest, darkest Apison before too much damage was done.

And the snow! The snow was a complete Godsend. If anyone was harmed, injured, or waylaid by the snow, I'm very sorry. But it was just what I and our web series needed. Not only does it add the kind of atmosphere to our climax that money can't buy, but it actually allowed several of our crew members and one of our actors to stay on set for a couple extra hours, allowing us to get all the shots we needed. It was wonderful, it was beautiful, and I was on my knees in thanksgiving later that night.

So Season 1 is very nearly wrapped. Loren is in Nashville right now, editing -- if he's not playing Mass Effect 2. And in the near future (the next week or so), he'll be back down here and we'll be shooting the ever-important second episode.

I can't wait and I'll keep you posted.

Calming Before the Storm

A mere 48 hours separates me from production. They will probably be the longest 48 hours of my life. At this point, pre-production is done. Everything is in place. We have our actors, our crew, our props, our locations, our schedule . . . there's nothing more than can be done to prepare for production. The only thing I can do now is relax.

Due to the nature of film making, next week promises to be long, stressful, insanely fun, and exhausting. The best thing for me to do now is relax. Relaxing for me, however, is very hard to do. My mind never rests. It's always working, processing, recording, and imagining. It is stimulated by everything -- everything but comedy.

Comedy distracts me. It makes me put my thoughts away, listen, and laugh. I can't listen to music. Last night I listened to Atticus Ross' score for The Book of Eli, and had to sit down and write the opening sequence to Season 3. I haven't even finished the outline to Season 2 yet, but thanks to Atticus Ross' moody score and my overactive imagination, I know how Season 3 is going to begin.

I don't want to be thinking about Season 3. I want to relax, calm myself, let go of all the questions that won't have answers until we're on set. So I'm listening to Russell Brand, Eddie Izzard, Greg Behrendt, and a whole lot of Jimmy Pardo. A friend at work turned me on to Jimmy Pardo's Never Not Funny podcast and the days are flying by, with me chuckling in the corner.

And then, at night, as my mind whirls with all those questions that won't have answers until we're on set, I pray. I pray for peace of mind and, perhaps a little selfishly, for success.