7 Shades of Lenity - Val Gameiro

Posted by Steve on 22 June 2010 | 0 Comments

Tell us about your show.

7 Shades of Lenity is a cautionary tale taking place in a not too distant dark future where 12 bankers who own or control the major corporations of the world have transformed the US, Mexico and Canada into the North American Union, and have instated martial law, so they may exert full control over the population and any dissent. The US has become a police state. Everything in daily life is controlled by the corporations: from food to justice and the news, everything is corporate controlled. People are injected with RFID chips subcutaneously so they can be tracked, and surveillance cameras dot the landscape to keep an eye on those who are outside the system. Anyone who opposes the system is labeled a terrorist and is sent to concentration camps. The show follows 9 heroes, and how they struggle to free Texas from the oppressive system. On the other side, the bankers and their minion, Dr. Helgesson, strive to eliminate those resistance fighters, by staging false flag operations, blaming them for anything that happens, and other unspeakable deeds.

Where did the idea/concept for your series come from?

The idea was born out of a combination of things-from reading 1984, Fahrenheit 451, and other dystopian novels, and watching Red Dawn, and asking "What if it those were our troops invading?" Also, having lived through communist and socialist takeovers in Africa and in Europe, and now seeing those same tactics being used in the US.

Name some of your sci-fi influences. Any favorite movies, TV shows, novels?

Gosh, so many. I've always been partial to alien invasions (V, Independence Day) and anything to do with space (Star Wars 4-6, Galactica, Buck Rogers, ET), and of course dystopian fiction (1984, Fahrenheit 451, V for Vendetta, etc.). Anything Steampunk is always near and dear to my heart (Michael Moorcock, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Mars series), and Cyberpunk too. Anything where the heroes are fighting for Freedom against oppression (Dune, Johnny Mnemonic - cheesy, but it's William Gibson).

Tell us about the technical production of your show. What camera & equipment did you use? Editing software & hardware? For visual effects, etc?

We shot on the HVX200 at 720p. I own one, and absolutely love it. We shot 720p instead of 1080i because of storage concerns, and since it was intended for the web, that resolution is plenty. When I edit, I use Premiere, and After Effects to do special effects (I'm a Windows guy). I also use Ableton Live to compose the score. I've used other editors and they've worked on Premiere and After FX too. No special hardware, just a Core 2 Duo 2GHz 3GB RAM laptop.

Can you tell us any interesting facts or trivia about your show? Any funny stories?

Hm... Well, the guy who plays one of the leads, Lexan, is actually related in real life to the guy who plays his dad in the series (Col. Briggs). The title of the series is actually an anagram (but I won't reveal what it is until people guess it). Actually some of the names in the show (corporations, people) are also anagrams. The guy who plays the Voice of Freedom, is actually a local radio talk-show host with an extensive background as a punk rock singer (Jack Blood). Lastly, the site www.ProjectLenity.com is an in-story knowledge base for Dr. Helgesson, the main antagonist, and is written from his viewpoint. There's a single location that we used to film several different story locations: a torture room, a hallway at the Blackhand Headquarters, Chief Aziz's office, a waiting room, the Free Runner HQ -- and 3 of those locations were done in the very same room. Gotta love the movies. The tasers we use are for real, and are live... and the only person who accidentally shocked himself with them was me... LOL

7 Shades of Lenity can be found online and on Twitter.

7 Shades of Lenity - SciFinal Page

More behind the scenes from 7 Shades of Lenity below:

Val Gameiro on location.

DP Terrel Melton and actress Pamela Weaver.

Choreographing a fight scene.

7 Shades of Lenity on location.

Cast of 7 Seven Shades of Lenity on location

DP Terrel Melton and robot friend.

Val on set.

7 Shades on location.

7 Shades on set.