The Proxy Online
An evil organisation that creates superpowered reanimated humans known as Proxies want to recover a flash drive contains secret data from Ashens, his neighbour Tom and a unique Proxy.
| Series cast summary: | |||
 | Stuart Ashen | - | Ashens 11 episodes, 2012 |
 | Steve Coleman | - | Trenchcoat #1 9 episodes, 2012 |
 | Tom Colley | - | Tom 9 episodes, 2012 |
 | Daisy Head | - | Sarah 8 episodes, 2012 |
 | Oliver Lanford | - | Trenchcoat #2 8 episodes, 2012 |
 | Nathaniel Parker | - | Peter 6 episodes, 2012 |
For the car bomb effect, Daisy Head had to do her action backwards, which she was oddly a natural at, while the crew rocked the car and remained out of shot. The footage was then reversed in the edit and the effects added.
The first scene of the series when Ashens records his "normal" review show took over 10 takes to get the dialogue, props and timings correct. Bit like his normal videos then.
The first section of the video is filmed with Ashen's trusty Canon Legria HSS11 - but when the camera is knocked over by the intruder, the shot is switched to the primary shooting camera - a Sony PMW-F3L camera using Ultraprime lenses.
Actor Sule Rimi (Detective Leon Stadt) previously worked with writer & director Riyad Barmania on the feature film 'Elfie Hopkins' and the short film 'Little Munchkin'.
S-Log curve software was used on the Sony PMW-F3L camera. The camera captures a flatter image which allowing for greater flexibility when grading the final locked picture.
The scene in which Tom wakes up in a "coffin" scene was lit only by the Zippo Lighter Tom is holding. Tom enjoyed filming the scene so much that he happily stayed in the coffin between takes, which was kind of weird, but the crew went with it.
The post-production period was extremely tight. The turnaround was only three weeks for the picture edit, sound edit and mix, visual effects and colour grade.
While filming the Ashens and Trenchcoat's chase scene, the crew was threatened by a passerby who kindly offered to "mash up the camera". Much to the amusement of the Trenchcoat, a.k.a. Steve Coleman - seven-times UK National Wushu Championship winner.
Tom and Stuart both employed "method acting" for the scene where they wake up in bed together. Not like that... this scene was filmed on the last day of the intense shoot so their tiredness was very real. And they seemed to enjoy being in bed together.
Sarah's costume was designed to integrate classic super hero elements but still have a real world feel to it.
Fake websites were created specifically for the series, which can be found by taking the end off of the hidden URLs.
Part of Stuart's sofa was transported from Norwich to London for the first episode.
The Trenchcoats' glowing blue eyes are created using 3D imaging, mapped to the actors' eyeballs - and feature the same spinning shape seen in the proxy factory, in episode 7.
The series was shot over 8 days, in London in the freezing cold February of 2012.
The location where Ashens is "attacked" by the bushes is in North London and was also used as a location in the film 'About A Boy'.
The gun used by Trenchcoat #2 is a Nerf Vortex Proton blaster. Available in most good Poundland outlets.
Due to ratings considerations, the slashing of the Trenchcoat's throat in Episode 2 happens off screen.
The entire series was colour graded at post-production house The Mews on a Digital Vision Film Master.
The crazy man that the trio encounters is played by genius animator - and friend of Stuart Ashen - Harry Partridge. He found playing a crazy quite natural.
The location of the encounter between the crazy man and the trio is in the middle of Soho, London.
The Grove Street Media office is actually Channelflip Media, the show's production company.
The rooftop scene was filmed on the roof terrace of Channelflip Media.
The spinning central section of the proxy engine was also used to create the glowing blue eyes of the Proxies.
Adobe After Effects were used to create some of the graphics.
One of the primary locations was Grade-II listed, and walls could not be altered, even temporarily, in any way.
The list that contains Christine Baker's code name in hexadecimal has a number of errors. This was due to a miscommunication between the graphics team and the production team, but was left in by the producers. Because they couldn't be bothered to change it.
The script length for the entire series, including ancillary content, is 48 pages.
Fight scenes were filmed at a slower frame rate (23fps) to pick up more detail and movement.
Writer and director Riyad Barmania's first feature film, as a writer and producer, 'Elfie Hopkins' starred father and daughter Jaime Winstone and Ray Winstone, and screened across the UK in April 2012.
All the Trenchcoats in the series are trained stuntmen as well as actors. So they could be thrown around and they wouldn't complain. Too much.
The X-Rays in Christine's medical room are the right way up! The visual effects supervisor's partner is an x-ray technician and he had gotten this wrong she would not have been impressed.
For the colour grade, the raw images were slightly desaturated and the blacks crushed while still trying to maintain a much of the highlights as possible.
The voice of the 'Mysterious Bad Guy' for the series was Nathaniel Parker's voice but for Episode 10 it was actually the Production Manager, Greg Mothersdale. His voice, unfortunately, doesn't sound like that naturally. Distortion was added in the sound mix.
In the fight sequence actor Tom Colley bruised his back when he thrown into the wall - but troopered on with the rest of the shoot. And didn't sue the producers. Which was nice.
Kubark, the label on the phone in the phone box, is the special effects supervisor's company.
The series was shot in full HD and then edited on Final Cut Pro.
Almost all of the series was shot hand-held and DOP Rob Wilton used a slight diffusion filter to make the images look more "filmic".
Daisy Head's father, Anthony Head of 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' and 'Little Britain', visited the set on one of his days off from filming another production.
Co-writer and producer Jamie Lennox has written for BAFTA award winning comedy series 'The Armstrong and Miller Show' and Jim Henson's 'Me and My Monsters'.
Actor Nathaniel Parker trained at LAMDA and was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company. He's appeared in over 60 features films and TV shows. He's basically a total legend.
The dialogue between Ashens, Tom and Sarah was shot off a busy road in North London. Despite being shot in the early morning there was still traffic and passerbys. Approximately 20 takes were needed to get all the dialogue "clean".
203-HX is CB in Hexadecimal. Sort of. With his genius-level brain Ashens is able to figure out Hexadecimal in seconds. And make you want to visit Poundland.
The series was filmed during an extremely cold spell in London filming (just above Zero Centigrade, that's 32 degrees in Fahrenheit for American viewers and 273.15 in Kelvin for the Scientists). During exterior scenes, the cast struggled to stay warm during takes, particularly in this episode. Ahahahahahaaaaa.
Petergillesbakerlogistics.com, bratsec.ru and 203hx.com were designed to host the ancillary content but also to supplement the Proxy "world".
Beau Fowler, who played Trenchcoat #3, was also the stunt co-coordinator for The Proxy. His rather remarkable ponytail was grown for another production and could not be cut off ...as much as the crew all wanted to.
The elevator scene is an homage to similar scenes to classic films but mainly took inspiration from The Blues Brothers.
Some of the underground rooms for the final confrontation between Sarah and the Trenchcoats were filmed in an old abattoir in North London that has also been used as gin distillery. So raw beef and blindingly potent alcohol was on lunch that day of shooting.
The article about the explosion in which Christine Baker is injured includes how to book a holiday as well as parts in Latin. This was a private joke between the graphic designer and the director. Ipsa ridiculam.
Ubuntu is the operating system being used on the computer.
DOP Rob Wilton and director Riyad Barmania wanted the film to have a natural look while still making the series look as filmic as possible. Rob's lighting brought this to life but the production and costume design also played a crucial role in achieving this look.
The Bourne Identity was used as a visual reference.
The final fight scene between Sarah/Christine and the proxies was filmed in an abandoned abattoir. The cast and crew had only five hours rehearse, choreograph and film the scene.
The visual effects were generated using 3D simulations and composited in After Effects.
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