Casting Call: ENN’s Crack Investigative Team [CLOSED]
April 30th, 2010

Posted by Jeremy

UPDATE: This casting call is closed. Thanks, everyone, for your submissions :).

So here’s the story: in a future episode of ENN, we’ll need to call out ENN’s Crack Investigative Team — and just to clarify: we call them this because they are crack-shots at their jobs, not because they are on crack. Unfortunately, we don’t have a crack investigative team here at LoadingReadyRun, so we need you to provide that for us. Also to clarify, you don’t need to be in Victoria because we don’t need you in person, all we need are photographs that you don’t mind us showing to the world (and crediting you for, obviously).

If you are interested, please submit photographs of yourself dressed as an investigator–interpret this as you will: you could be a hard-hitting journalist, a CSI, or a detective in a deer stalker. Frankly, we’re looking for variety, so be creative. We need shots of you in two different poses against the most neutral background you can find: something easy for us to art out.

Please send submissions to [CLOSED] with the subject line “Re: CASTING CALL – INVESTIGATOR”. Make sure you use this subject line or I will be very dissapoint–probably to the point of not using your submission, even if it’s really awesome. Copy and paste it if you have to but make sure it’s accurate.

Thanks for your help! This blog post will self-destruct in 30 seconds … so you know.

Update: I need these by noon on Monday, May 3. This is not a due date, so much as it is the absolute latest that we will be able to incorporate new graphics, so don’t be late.

Behind the Scenes: Informational Presentation
April 29th, 2010

Posted by Matt

So, admittedly our video update post was a little weak, as was our behind the scenes pic, which I shot with my iPhone. However, the lackluster nature of that post means that there’s some extra content to be posted today! Specifically, I have some pictures that Graham shot on his spiffy keen new SLR. Behold the depth of field! Marvel at it’s colour saturation. Be… satisfied that they’re actually in focus.

Regarding the actual filming of the video, Graham had the following to say:

“We shot this all the new Moonbase, just moving various furniture around and re-hanging different posters on the same picture hook. Since I really wanted to use the dolly for that one, long shot of Kathleen talking, I figured we may as well use it for other side-tracking shots as well. I mean, if we can’t be bothered to use that behemoth when it’s in the same building, then when will we use it?

The trick with the big shot though, is that there’s a table in the way, so the dolly by itself won’t work. That meant we had to also had to bust out the jib, which is possibly even more difficult to lug around. That way, the camera could move over top of the table, right up to Kathleen. Filming techniques! Yay!”

Take a look at the gallery below, and it should give you a real appreciation for the close quarters we were working in, and the true unwieldiness of our rig. Yes, that totally is the camera case being used as a counterweight. We’re ghetto like that.

Rejected ENN – April 28, 2010
April 28th, 2010

Posted by Jeremy

Every week, Paul, Graham, Kathleen and I get together to write ENN. Over the week, each of us actually writes stories separately, then we commune on Fridays to choose what to use, what to revise, etc. Sometimes the stories we throw out aren’t very good; other times, they are too obscure for a wider audience. Even so, very good stories are occasionally rejected because there is just not enough space for them in the episode. Here are several such stories from this week’s episode:

Roll Call of Duty

Activision is rolling out its plans for new Call of Duty Games, announcing three new games in the next 2 years. Call of Duty: Van Halen, Call of Duty: Rocks the 80s Iran Contra Style and Call of Duty: Army Food Service Operations Specialist Hero are all due for a 2011 release.

While the news here was that Activision had definitely confirmed two CoD titles for 2011, following this year’s Call of Duty: To Be Announced this Friday on Game Trailers but Will Probably be Called ‘Black Ops’ and be Set During the Cold War and developed by Treyarch, this was already pretty much expected, and, indeed forecast in a previous episode. That said, the joke is nuanced and its loss is a tragedy.

Fallout Fallout

Fallout 3 developer Bethesda is continuing to fight a legal battle to stop the series’ original creators, Interplay, from making a Fallout MMO. The conflict has exploded with a statement on Bethesda’s website citing that they clearly called “no takeses backses” and Interplay contending that while they did sell the Fallout intelectual property, they most definitely never said “simon says”. More on this story as it develops.

This is one of the rare instances where the news changed dramatically between when the story was written, and when we had our meeting to workshop it. By the time we spoke about this story, a settlement was already in place, and the Fallout MMO was reconfirmed as going ahead. This is actually way better than the nightmare scenario, in which the news changes dramatically between when we shoot the story and when the video goes live.

On the Run: ENN Credits Banter
April 27th, 2010

Posted by Tim

Every week, the ENN crew comes up with some fun banter for Graham and Kathleen to run under the credits. This is how the magic happens.

Included is a brief hint at some of the content in tomorrow’s episode! Also: Jer bouncing a ping pong ball and Kathleen getting all innuendo about it.

Enjoy!

Informational Presentation
April 26th, 2010

Posted by Matt

It’s up! Watch it!

Despite the relatively simplistic look of this video, we actually went all out with it. Had the dolly and Jib arm out, and the whole bit!

Did you notice?