Creating “Meet Me in the Graveyard”
Origins of Graveyard
The spark that ignited my desire to create a web series came when my Mario-dedicated pal launched a successful web show called “Game Jew.” His passion for technology and web entertainment inspired me to create a series of my own. (Thanks J-man!) Now all I needed was an idea. Cut to the summer of ‘07. I was living at my dad’s house in Georgia apart from my boyfriend in Los Angeles. On a creative impulse we fashioned an experimental letter writing project, creating two angsty teenagers (who lived at our respective addresses) and proceeded to write love letters in character back and forth. Too, because of the distance, my boyfriend and I were doing a lot of video chatting and let me say there’s nothing like an abundance of video chatting to make you realize the frustration and longing incurred when seeing someone you love solely on a computer screen. So, based on these video and letter-writing events, I came up with the beginnings of “Meet Me in the Graveyard.” I created two off-kilter, lonely, and creative people: Viola, a girl in a mental institution, and Ace a guy in a halfway house. Both confined to their respective locations, they would communicate by “writing” love-letters via the internet. I thought it would be perfect for a webseries!
Gothic Inspirations
The Gothic nature of the piece comes from my incredible interest in horror and fantasy. I love that fine line between sanity and insanity, and the supernatural and the real. And too, I love how darkness and sweetness can come together to create something startling. I love writers like Kelly Link, Edward Gorey and Shirley Jackson. I think the juxtaposition of positive elements such as hopefulness, naivety, and an unceasingly bright outlook on life with the sinister elements of suicide, ghosts, and unforgivable betrayal makes the piece more interesting and perhaps ever-the-more creepy.
A Note on Production
I selected two directors for this project, one for Viola’s episodes (Matt Thiesen) and one for Ace’s episodes (Benjamin Epps). I wanted each character’s world to feel unique. Employing different directors meant having distinct visual styles and independent perspectives on Viola and Ace’s world. I have worked with Benjamin Epps, Adam Saunders, and Matt Thiesen on many projects and I must say its a gift to work with artists you deeply admire. Any success of Meet Me in the Graveyard is due to wonderfully talented cast and crew.
The People That Made It Happen
Click the picture above to: Meet The Cast And Crew
© 2005 Milly Sanders All Rights