Apotheosis - Jason Bigart & Jay Erickson

Posted by Steve on 27 August 2010 | 0 Comments

Tell us about your sci-fi web series.

Apotheosis is a fantasy based criminal investigation web series where magic, not science, is used to solve crimes. It is set in a fantasy kingdom known as Halsbren where some elements are influenced by traces of our history, while others are completely abstract. The main premise of this first season is that a killer is on the loose and he is using magic to commit his murders in horrific means. So it falls on Sir Edmun and Lady Fiara, two junior mages of the renowned Court Mages of Halsbren, to find this killer and stop him before he can strike again.

This project is made with a small production staff of director Jason Bigart, producer Jay Erickson, costume designers Katie Bigart and Susan Strohmeyer, and music composer Chris Feyrer.

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

The world of Apotheosis was derived from the full feature film The Empty Throne, which was also created by Jay Erickson and directed by Jason Bigart. Apotheosis takes place 10 years prior to the events of The Empty Throne, which theoretically makes Apotheosis a prequel, however its style and story are completely different. At its core it's an origin story. We wanted to let the audience know where Nara, the main character from The Empty Throne, came from and how she became the sorceress she did.

The decided use of green screen and abstract artwork were ideas that came up when attempting figure out how to do certain scenes, like action fighting scenes, without being on locations, or having to design elaborate sets. Most of which were not cost conducive to what we were attempting to produce in the first place.

The term "living comic book" has been used frequently with other full feature films out there, and even web series. We liked that idea, but wanted to take it in another direction. This isn't a comic book; it's a story, an old tale. So we thought, why not give it an archaic feel, like it's coming from a well worn book that could be centuries old. So the next logical step was to make the show appear old, gritty if you will. . . .

To do this we decided to make the whole thing with a sepia tint. It gave it a dark, dirty, almost Noir feel to it, which honestly surprised us. It also added continuity to our series overall because we used the concept of old, worn drawings in our full feature movie The Empty Throne. During the credits of the original film we cross faded the actors' pictures from color to sepia and then turned them into drawings to make the pictures look like they were illustrations from old parchment. It looked cool in The Empty Throne so we were eager to try it again in Apotheosis.

Finally we wanted to make our actors look and feel like they are an actual part of this dark fantasy world. To do that, they had to interact with their world, and the world had to react to their actions. That was the trickiest part of what we had to do. We had to take stationary handmade drawings, and make them come alive. With the limited resources we have available we are very pleased with the outcome.

Another reason we decided to go green screen and draw our world instead of filming on sets was because we faced the problem of time and location. Most of the film crew are members of the United States Air Force Reserves, not to mention we have our everyday civilian jobs. As such we are all separated by vast distances. Jason Bigart, the director, lives in North Carolina. The producer and writer, Jay Erickson, lives in Indiana, and one of the main actors, Travis Hansen, lives in Wisconsin. This made any set creation, and filming on location an almost impossible challenge.

So we decided to work in conjunction with our military lives. As we get together to serve our drill during the day, we film at night. The use of green screen and lighting effects means that the outside environment; be it rain, clear skies, or a pitch black night, has no bearing on our fantasy world. We can film in a thunderstorm and our episode will take place during a bright sunny day.

So far it has all been filmed in a garage, but we are evolving and now have a second studio up in Indiana, which will hopefully double our ability to output our web series.

Name some of your Sci-Fi influences. Any favorite movies, TV shows, novels.

One of director Jason Bigart's favorite movies is Serenity directed by Joss Whedon. That movie was done brilliantly. He is also a big original Star Trek fan as well. As far as t.v. shows he loves watching Dr. Who on the BBCAHD channel.

Jay Erickson, writer of both The Empty Throne and Apotheosis, loves Blade Runner, Aliens, The Empire Strikes Back, and Pitch Black. If he had to pick an influence for his writing though, it would be the last three novels of the Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind. The world is so dark, and everything is spinning out of control. You just have to love those moments when everything seems darkest, that the most unlikely of heroes steps forward and prevails.

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

Since making Apotheosis is not our primary means of making a living, we have to make do with what we have. Producer Jay Erickson purchased a Cannon XL1 camera, shotgun microphone, studio lighting and a 10X20 foot green screen studio set.

We edit with two Sony Vaio laptops using Adobe software. We use a combination of HD mini DV cassettes, and external hard drives for storage. It works for us because it allows the mobility necessary for our military lives since we are constantly "On the Go." This makes editing possible for us even if we are in remote locations.

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

Someone in Jason Bigart's family bought a gag gift for Christmas two years ago. It is the ugliest fish salt and pepper shaker in existence. Every couple of months a family member would hide it in someone's house where it would stay until that person found it and they would hide it in someone else's house. It got mailed to Jason and he had to keep it for a while because he lives so far away from his family. So we used it as a prop in episode three as an Easter egg for his family. He thinks they will get a laugh out of it.

As you watch the series pay attention to the Summoning Table. It is a dragon table that is often seen between Sir Edmun and Lady Fiara as they are conducting their investigation in the Mages Tower. You will notice little bottles around a crystal bowl. With each consecutive episode these bottles grow in number. In actuality they are the emptied remains of energy drinks that we've had to consume to maintain filming all through the night! We've already filled the bowl with them and they are over flowing everywhere!

Apotheosis can be found online and on Twitter.

Apotheosis - SciFinal Page