vampiremob:

Here’s @ActuallyNPH in a #webseries that pre-dates Dr. Horrible, “Powerloafing,” created & written by Emmy-award winning writer Mike Upchurch.

I was a producer and half the crew on this episode, yes, HALF.  Two people, total, made up the crew, Mike Upchurch and myself.  

Mike designed a genius set-up to make this web series and I’m glad I got to work on it!  The main thing it taught me - you don’t need an army of a crew to make a good show. 

All the lights were compact fluorescent lights from Home Depot - not a pro light in the room.  The lights on the ceiling are images of lights, not actual bulbs, attached to the ceiling.  Below them are compact fluorescents with those metal reflector/scoop things pointed up at them, which give the appearance of glowing lights.  There is a mirror attached to the walls on one shot (standing in the cubicle entry) to give it that distant look.  The other shot has a dash of green-screen to do give the same look.

Two locked-down cameras, Canon XL-1’s, capture both of those angles at the same time.  We then broke down the set and shot the “find the dead guy” scenes in a tiny space with one camera strapped to the wheels of a rolling desk chair. 

Also, Neil Patrick Harris came right from a table-read at CBS for “How I Met Your Mother” to a one-bedroom apartment to make “Powrloafing.”  Neil was a blast to work with and an extremely nice guy - as he was leaving, he said he was “impressed” by what was being made in a tiny apartment. 

This is DIY web series creation at its best!