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Masters of the House |
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FEATURED ARTICLE - The making of... Rachel Rath on the making of 'Masters of the House'. In the delightful Solar de Caheuna, Hollywood, I met with Kevin Marron www.imdb.com/name/nm2100019/ and the newly arrived, straight off the boat from London, John Mawson www.imdb.com/name/nm3713221/ John was getting himself set-up. Looking for a place, car, manager etc. and said 'Lets make a web-show'. Kevin and I had ideas for some before but they were always MEGA budget. John had the inspiration for 'Masters of the House' the next morning. A low budget, one location sitcom - excellent.
He set about writing the scripts while Kevin and I sunned ourselves. Two weeks later John had 6 amazing scripts. I had decided to aim for 7 minute episodes with 3 minute opening and closing credits, 10 minute total. Doing this maximized potential sales to regular TV. I will post them here soon.
With scripts in place we started to think about cast and came up with these fantastically talented actors. Mark Lindsay Chapman - www.imdb.com/name/nm0152464/ We were having trouble finding a Jerry - a fast talking sleazeball. Thankfully Jon Abrahams obliged. Jon Abrahams - www.imdb.com/name/nm0009016/ We then just need the perfect current lady friend for the Master of the House and found Chanel. Chanel Ryan - www.imdb.com/name/nm0752457 To ensure we were able to film with this incredible cast we needed to go SAG. Luckily I was asked to participate in the new Online Signatory Application https://osa.sag.org/ Their new system is really slick. Got a signatory number and assigned a SAG rep that same evening. I set about getting the contracts to the actors, compiling the Station 12 etc.
Reading the scripts I was inspired to shoot it similar to 'Fawlty Towers'. I reckoned it should be rehearsed like a play and the performances as frenetic as Basil Fawlty. All of the scripts would be performed in one take except for Episode 5 and 6 - they both have special effects. Shooting 3 camera sit-com style made sense. Started storyboarding, collating a prop list, making sure no-one had food allergies. I will post these here soon. Everything was coming together... PROBLEM - we don't have a location. We are in need of a location and so the hunt begins.... Until we find that we have nothing... Production We ended up finding a fab kitchen showroom willing to have us film in their carrara marble heaven. The week before the shoot that completely fell apart. Thankfully Kim Estes had an old rum drinking merchant navy sea mate who had a fabulous gaff and was happy to have us. It was perfect. I knew we could film the full 6 episode series in a day. It would be a tough 12 hours but we had had a few rehearsals and were shooting 3 camera set-up. We had it under control and with the right DP what could go wrong. We didn't hold our breath - family emergency meant the day before shoot day we had no DP and cameras! Cue: PANIC. A friend came to the rescue! Back on track. Shoot day was epic. We got the full show in the can and we went home tired bunnies with a stop off at McD's... Post-Production Lacking our DP was a major issue when editing. Wearing too many hats meant not all angles worked. Really could have done with the objective eye at the monitor. Kevin did a fab job cobbling together the 6 episode show... MASTERS OF THE HOUSE WAS READY FOR THE WORLD! Launch We decided to release all episodes together on YouTube. StayTuned TV picked us up and dripped our episodes. For 7 weeks 'Masters of the House' was the No.1 Show on StayTunedTV.net Masters of the House - 6 part web show Written by John MawsonDirected by Rachel Rath When Hollywood mega producer Robert Delaney dies after a bout of wild passion, his staff - not ready to loose their cushy salaries - carry on as usual; concealing his death and continuing to run his estate. Actors - Mark Lindsay Chapman, John Mawson, Jon Abrahams, Kevin Marron, Carlos Antonio, Kim Estes, Rachel Rath, Sulinh LaFontaine, Chanel Ryan, Clair Sinnett. Music by Stephen Endelman and the band Suddyn. Camerman Peter J Morton, 1st AD David Aikman, 2nd AD Georgina McKevitt, Art Director Julian Ford, Make-Up Rachel Jenkins, Photos Dawn Bowery, Editor Kevin Marron. Thanks to Bill and Mei Collier Lessons I believe that my decision to shoot the show in the style of a 90's British TV show didn't translate. It comes across as low quality. Lacking our DP was a certainly a major issue when on set and in the edit room. Wearing too many hats meant not all angles worked. Really could have done with the objective eye at the monitor. Sound too was an issue - seems at some point our gear malfunctioned and we ended up having to use in camera audio - nightmare! Anyhow it was a fun show and we had fun playing together. |
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