by Nathan Stout (of AccordingToWhim.com)
Episode 6: Divorce ————————————————-
Air Date: September 2005
Production Start Date: March 2004
Production End Date: September 2005
Revisions?: There were 2 other bits of Nathan and Dylan talking and stabbing that had to be cut out because of some sort of video error.
Sketch 1: “We’ve split” Nathan explains how the episode is split between the two warring parties.
Sketch 2: “Halloween Beginning” Beginning of unrealized Halloween episode.
Sketch 2 (Broadcast): The Munchie Shak.
Sketch 3: “Family Of Blood” Dylan discovers he is a hemophiliac is the most ghastly way.
Sketch 4: “France Is Hell” Dylan and Nathan discover that the French countryside is not all that it seems.
Sketch 5: “Halloween Spot 1” Dylan does a spot for the show’s time and channel.
Sketch 6: “This Is Not NBC” Dylan abuses his right as a creative writer (Windows media).
Sketch 7: “Halloween End” The last part of the Halloween episode.
Sketch 8: “Halloween After The Fact” Nathan and Dylan talk about the episode they just finished.
Sketch 9: “Splish” Greenly Meadows tells the public about this fine cola… that can kill you.
Sketch 10: “Castle Silliness” A short sketch shot with ‘army men’ like knights.
Sketch 11: “Speedy Day” Nathan drives around town and does chores at the speed of light.
Sketch 12: “Chris Drops The Ball” Nathan explains that Chris didn’t turn in anything for his half of the show.
Sketch 13: “Phoenix” Chris fights back and will take this show to new heights until he gets tired and gives up ASAP (13-15 are all together on YouTube).
Sketch 14: “I Rule” Nathan decides to put on some stuff that Chris shot since Chris has flaked.
Sketch 15: “Mouth Games” Chris sits in the bathroom giving the audience a tune to remember.
Sketch 16: “Chris From The Future” Chris does some time traveling.
Nathan’s Notes:
1.) The opening of this episode uses the comics to actually tell the story that runs through the episode. Chris and myself have a blowout and we stop working together. Neither one of us want to give up According To Whim so we agree to split the show into two separate shows. This was a nice concept but it really didn’t work out cause Chris just wasn’t around to get sketches for his half done. It turns out to be 48 minutes Nathan and like 12 minutes Chris. Anyway I shot the opening segment explaining to the audience what has gone on and how the episode will go down.
2.) In September 2005 I decided I wanted to do a Halloween episode. This was to be a full 30 minutes with various horror themed sketches. Well this plan dissolved kinda quickly since I was pretty much the only one doing anything with the show at this point. I was able to get Dylan over for a few hours before the meltdown so we got a couple of things shot.
3.) The first Halloween sketch is not a Halloween sketch at all. You see, I had this problem with the Halloween footage. For some reason it would not transmit out to video. I had to ditch the original first Halloween sketch which was me introducing the Halloween show and Dylan stabbing me. Instead we see the Munchie shack. This sketch was shot during 2004 when Dylan came over the first time to help me with the show. I did title screen and he did the voice over. There is a picture of the old comic shop that I ‘doctored’ to change the address and sign. The idea for this came from my wife (then girlfriend). Placing the sketch in episode 6 was an after thought. The sketch was floating around on my hard drive for months and the only place it had been previously was episode 0 (as filler). In actuality it is still filler for this bad footage that had to be replaced.
4.) “Family Of Blood” is the actual first Halloween sketch. It was shot in September when I got Dylan to drive all the way into Fort Worth. We stood around in the hot garage trying desperately to come up with ideas. I think we belted out a few good ones. This (the longest) was to fulfill my need for copious amounts of blood. We used a vet syringe and a dishwashing liquid & red food coloring blood mixture. Yes Dylan adlibs the final speech (which is kinda rough), but all in all I am happy with the sketch.
5.) “France Is Hell” is my favorite sketch in this episode. Well, it combined with the with the “This Is Not NBC” sketch makes for some great ‘Nathanesque’ comedy. We did this in the garage infront of the (now working) green screen. Yes that is a can of Splish cola that Dylan has.
6.) In the next short clip Dylan does a promo for the show. On the first take Dylan couldn’t get the window open so I am sure that will be in the next blooper reel.
7.) “This Is Not NBC” or “Caribbean Hell” was shot exactly like the previous France sketch. You can Dylan adlibbing badly. Take a look at his jaw as it works to form the next line he speaks. That’s funny.
8.) Next was the closing of the Halloween. Once again the footage would not work so I dropped it. It was a simple scene in the garage where I ask Dylan for a ride then climb out the window and say my goodbyes to the audience all the while Dylan is still stabbing me. As a note; the stabbing noise is one of the ‘squirt’ sounds that the vet syringe made in the “Family Of Blood” sketch.
9.) This next scene of me asking Dylan what he thought of the show was also dropped.
10.) “Splish” was an idea I came up with more than a year before and finally realized it back in late 2004 and didn’t finish it until 2005. I used Photoshop for the can graphics and taped it to a coke can. I then did the dialogue and added the Greenly Meadows stuff at the very end. On the voice over parts I slowed my voice down a lot to really drag out the length of the words. There is also a crappy math joke in the sketch too. If you haven’t noticed the sale price (of a six pack) is the same as the regular price (of the single can).
11.) “Castle Silliness” is a prime example of the fact that the shorter the sketch, the longer the final edit time. This sketch is only a couple of minutes long and only took me like 30 minutes to shoot but it took me hours of post production to bring it all together. “Castle Silliness” is a sketch using army men-type knights along with a fisher price castle I modified. The tricky part was adding all the voices and sound effect noises. I did all the voices and simply layered them over each other to create the impression of many people. I also did all the voices of the animals as wells as the deep growls of the dragon, all aided with GoldWave. The funniest part was unscripted. A bug ran across the castle as I was filming it and so it made for some funny stuff. “Oh my god Harold, look at the size of that roach!” This sketch gets a few laughs and event he attention of the Canadians. Bite TV in Canada wanted to show the sketch on their station. They sent me the contracts but I never sent it back to them.
12.) “Nathan Speedy Stuff” was my attempt to simply fill time in a creative way. I drove to my roommates parent’s house and recorded the trip then I sped up the footage and put some cool music I made with the EJay music mixer program. I also recorded myself doing house work and sped that up like crazy too. It’s interesting enough to watch.
13.) After the intermission I show back up and announce that Chris didn’t do anything for the show so I would show some stuff he thought would never air. At this point we see an aquarium with the AccordingToWhim.Com name on it for like 20 seconds. Then Chris dramatically shows up and states he will: ‘take the show to new heights’ then he promptly gets sleepy and gives up. Next is some footage of him playing his mouth tunes in the restroom. Then finally his one sketch plays.
14.) Chris From The Future” was my idea for taking the split screen technique to a new and cheesier level. At one point in the sketch there are 3 Chris’ on the screen. I think this is a good sketch but I think that it would be brilliant if we went back and made a real show effort to make it. If we: – a.) made an even better script – b.) thought out and planned the split screen stuff – c.) added more Chris we would have an excellent sketch (maybe even to fill 30 minutes). One note: This sketch starts with Chris uttering no less than 6 expletives in the first 20 seconds of the sketch. This episode was taken (by the city of Fort Worth) and placed on Fort Worth Independent School District TV. (without my input). Oh well, be it on their own heads!