'The Case Of The Poisoned Dates' wraps up

We wrapped shooting yesterday on the latest installment of our comic web serial Vultures. A cold, frosty but charmingly sunny Sunday morning saw our final scene for Episode 4 wrapped. Last night also saw us do some secretive shooting for Episode 6 and with that, shooting on Vultures for 2008 concludes. No rest for the wicked though. Not a hope.

We'll be spending the rest of the year getting 'The Case Of The Poisoned Dates' ready for a January online bow and we'll also be getting ourselves geared up for shooting Episodes 5 & 6 in January, when we have nothing better to do but stand around outside in the cold with cameras. More information on those 2 episodes will be following along soon.

'The Case Of The Poisoned Dates' has been abbreviated as thus:

"The fourth episode of our escapades will see the arrival in the V.P.I. offices of a TY student on work experience. Her name is Janine Drew and she is brash, ambitious and what in social circles is known as a 'chav.' Her appointment coincides with a series of errant romantic entanglements that degenerate into a potential powderkeg of social embarrassment and extreme violence."

The shoot for Episode 4 was a blast, partially due to a well spaced schedule and enthusiastic cast. But mostly down to having Ross Costigan working as director on this one. Ross is well familiar with Vultures at this stage so he knew the whole concept inside out and having sat around for so long and watched years of plays and films being filmed, he was chomping at the bit to get behind the camera and shout at us. After a couple of early hiccups on the shoot (namely freezing, ice rain) it picked up the pace and we've ended up with the best Vultures material so far. For me, it was great to be able to focus on work in front of the camera with Ross there manning the decks. He brought a fantastic commitment, focus and professionalism to the shoot and for the first time I felt as if I had someone on set who I could work with to push the boundaries of how the show looked and he brought out the best in everyone on set. Alan really upped his game as well and it's resulted in a really lovely looking episode which I have to give the lads all props for. The visual aspect of Vultures has suffered tremendously in the first 3 episodes due to not having the required crew to really achieve what we needed but with Ross full time behind the camera with Alan, the two of them really brought it to a level where it looks, yes, like a sitcom!

So, the editing process is kicking off this week and I really can't wait to get tuck into it in the knowledge that we've got coverage... lots of coverage. The shoot for 4 has me revved up for the shoot for Episodes 5 & 6, it's going to be hard, no doubt about that, but myself and Ross have a good handle on how to shoot it and Alan will take care of the production side of it. Scripting is near completed on both episodes (more of which later) so things are looking good on the entire Vultures wrap front.

Once there's a date set for it (no pun intended) then it'll be announced with mild fanfare and the crippling pressure of impending deadlines. It's how we work best, see. High blood pressure here we come!

www.VulturesPI.com is newly updated so check it out. All the photos on it (and here) are taken by the aforementioned Costigan ladchap and more of his work is available for visual perusal at his website www.Oss237.com