By Damien.
The Random Adventures of Brandon
Generator
A Crowdsourced Guest Review & An
Unfortunate Report.
The Random Adventures of Brandon
Generator
is a web series of 4 episodes by Edgar Wright, Tommy Lee Edwards & You -
or so it says in the opening credits. It was released in the spring/summer of
2012, and focuses on a coffee addict experiencing writer's block named Brandon
Generator (yep, the one from the title).
Where the moving comic book gets special,
is the fact it's crowdsourced: prose, drawings and voice messages from viewers
were included in episodes two to four.
And so, to respect the essence of what
makes Brandon Generator so unique, this review will be crowdsourced too
and shall include interventions from special guests. And here comes the first
one:
"Nants
ingonyama bagithi Baba"
Thank you for
this very eloquent opinion, singers of The Lion King's opening.
First-Class Writing
By far the biggest appeal of Brandon
Generator is Edgar Wright, who is in my opinion the philosopher's stone of
writers - everything he touches turns to gold.
This Brandon Generator project is
no exception, each episode is better written than the last one, and even the
first one should make you laugh. We were already aware of Edgar Wright's
ability to write a compelling story for a feature. But it's remarkable how
clever and witty he can still be on a seven minute episode.
Now it’s time for another guest review on
this guest review:
"We hates it, we hates it, we hates
it forever!"
Thank you, Gollum.
Brandon's World
The way illustrator Tommy Lee Edwards and
his animators managed to put that much quality into the look of Brandon
Generator, in such a short period of time, is simply unbelievable.
The design (very film noir) and the
animated effects help you get into this atmosphere very quickly.
Also very helpful are the voice of
narrator Julian Barratt and the music by David Holmes’ Unloved.
One last guest commentary on Brandon
Generator, one that you'll probably find most insightful:
"I don't know what you're talking
about. Now let go of my arm!"
Thank you, random guy on the street.
The Premiere Report
I contributed to Brandon Generator, and
had the good fortune of seeing my drawings in two episodes (two and four).
Amazingly, they spelled my name right in the credits.
I'm telling you this because they invited
contributors to a finale premiere, which was held in London; I live in France.
Oh well, never mind... The mail I got also mentioned the event was to be hosted
by Edgar Wright and Tommy Lee Edwards.
A week later I was in London, in front of
a big screen, surrounded by other contributors, and a few dozens of geek
journalists. It was a very good evening, and the setting of the premiere was
beautiful. But the truth is, while I got to see Edgar Wright with my own eyes,
and it was probably the closest I'll ever get to meeting him, I was never able
to say "Hello" to the man.
While I certainly don't regret my short
but exciting trip to London, this missed opportunity still hurts a bit.
Conclusion
It's not too late to check out this
little gem. Sure, you can't contribute anymore, but you can still go to www.brandongenerator.com and watch the
four episodes. I believe it's well worth 30 minutes of your time.
The way Edgar
Wright and co. included viewers creations is a real tour de force. As you can
see in this review, crowdsourcing is not always appropriate. But in The Random
Adventures of Brandon Generator, it works like magic.
Check out more of Damien's (and fellow new-recruit Munir's) reviews on our Contributors page.
You'll notice my name in the credits of the last episode :D
ReplyDelete