Brian Farmer

Mordy Koots  is a great example of innovation in Web Series development. With the actors shot to green screen the series incorporates the graphics of two Ubisoft console games “Heroes Over Europe” and “Blazing Angels”. This approach,  dubbed  “MOGIE” — Movie Over Game Integrated Entertainment by its creators Writer/Director Clayton Jacobson and Producer Jim Shomons creates a distinctive style while also delivering an epic narrative on a relatively small budget.

Set in World War II, this character driven comedy series follows the absurd exploits of Mordy Koots (played by Shane Jacobson) a ridiculously over the top American Fighter Pilot the antithesis of the W.E. Johns’ distinctly British hero Biggles.

With the first episode releases in July 2009 this is not a new series. However I first read about it in early 2011 in an Encore Article while I researching Web Series development, in preparation for producing my own series.

According to Rhiannon Sawyer, “Employing computer games to tell narrative stories is not an entirely new concept. Machinima, the practice of using in-game characters recorded into graphics software and edited with video editing programs, has been around for over ten years.”

While I am not a particular fan of the actual series, I was certainly impressed with the concept and it’s delivery.

I am particularly interested in experimenting with augmented reality, online gaming, social networking and live feeds and how they might be incorporated into a production to enhance certain narrative elements.