http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=632EtPMRvKE
Hello!
I’m David M. Green. Well… see ya!
Oh, right sorry… Behold the sketches above and below! This marks the debut of my latest and Melbourne-based sketch comedy videos I’m creating with TV’s Lachlan Cowlishaw, under the codename “Televisionman”. Hopefully by the end of the year there will be enough to put together some sort of collection…
At the top of the page is “The Novel Advertising Sketch”, which I wrote last year, originally for Radio’s Sam Mac, but we never got around to making it. It did require a bit of organising. The more people involved the harder it becomes. The stuff in the library with Lachlan was quite easy to shoot, but that meeting room scene took a bit more effort. After a “once-over lightly” version in a hidden-away group study room at the RMIT library that turned out to be too long and poorly shot, we enlisted the help of TV’s Antonio Cafasso as director, and I managed to get permission to film in one of the swish new PhD student meeting rooms in Building 9. Much better. Definitely worth the extra stuffing around. In the sketch, a struggling publishing firm finds an unconventional solution to their cash flow problem… I could continue, or you could just watch it. Up to you.
Below is a shorter sketch simply called “The Library Sketch”. It was a simple idea I came up with when we were filming the library part of the Novel Ad sketch. We were there. So we did it. Apologies to the people actually trying to study in that part of the library.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgfEAG7bXIs&feature=related
Things that I would talk about if I were doing an audio commentary on these sketches…
Think production value. With a budget of $0.00, a sketch can look pretty crappy. However, assuming access to decent equipment isn’t an issue, it’s often inexpensive little things that can add big production value, giving the illusion of money. Girls are great for that.
Girls add production value. In our case, it was the vocal talents of Radio’s Lisa Pellegrino, whom I previously worked with at Radio Adelaide 101.5FM and who now does breakfast radio on Mix 104.9 in Darwin. She recorded a line for the “Little Women” ad and emailed it down to me here in Melbourne. Without her the sketch would still work, but it’d be a bit of a “sausage fest” if you know what I mean.
Those 3 novels. Funny story. The RMIT city library didn’t have all 3 of them. They just had Moby Dick. I actually had to get Little Women sent from the Bundoora campus and Breakfast of Champions from their other library in Brunswick! Production value: Gold. And essential to the sketch (One of the joys of being the default producer… all that painstaking pre-production to organise…).
You’ll also notice a few subtle props. Lachlan, in executive mode, is wearing a pair of reading glasses circa 1995. Hilarious. I’m also smoking a fake cigar. $2 off eBay. On-screen value… priceless! I love that fake cigar. I’ve thought of a couple more sketches to use it in too!
Oh yes, and I love that opening shot of Melbourne Central Tower. Certainly the most evil-looking building I know of. Great production value. And hey, when in Melbourne…
So, in conclusion, I do hope you enjoy these sketches. They were a joy to make and very rewarding. Thank you to everyone who helped us out. Full credits accompany each video on YouTube. If you haven’t already, feel free to subscribe to me on YouTube by clicking here.
Kind regards,
David M. Green
(The) Televisionman
