Dr Horrible's Sing A Long Blog, On Line Whedon Options

[gulfcoast_highwa...]

I ummed and ahh-ed about where to put this, the Buffy thread, the Dollhouse thread or this one, but since it features Capt. Tightpants, I thought this one would do.

Short interview with Joss Whedon on Dr Horrible's Sing A Long Blog from IGN.com

Question: So Dr. Horrible - How did it come about, what is it about and where will we see it?

Joss Whedon: It should be on the internet. We don't know how - We're literally just finishing it. Then we're gonna show it to people at CAA and a bunch of other people and sort of discuss, "How do we go about this? Where is the venue for this?" It's about a low-rent supervillain, who's trying to get into the Evil League of Evil and defeat his nemesis Captain Hammer and work up the nerve to talk to the pretty girl at the Laundromat. It's an idea I had awhile ago that I thought would be just right for a weird little internet venture. I wrote it with my brothers and my brother's fiancé and somehow got the best actors to jump in, which was very scary for all of us. And then we got this amazing crew and everybody just sort of said, "We'll just jump on," and in six days we shot this 36-minute, three-part oddity that I think is the most fun I've had in about seven years.

Question: And it's a musical, right?

Whedon: Yes, it sure is!

Question: How did your cast take to the musical numbers?

Whedon: Neil Patrick Harris is a Broadway star. He's the real deal. And so he scared us the most. Nathan, he sings fine. He sings very well - he's not a Broadway voice, he's a good voice. But he's Nathan! He fears nothing and he plays Captain Hammer, who's a complete idiot. So he can sell anything, and if he couldn't, he'd still sound great. But actually, he sounds really good. And we didn't do any tweaking – we didn't have the technology or the money to do any tweaking. He just got out there and did it. And Felicia; classic Felicia Day, she's like, "I don't know… I don't know if I can sing. I sing a little. I did four years of opera training, but if you want me to come and audition…" That's so Felicia. She was amazing. The first time she sang with Neil, there was something in my eye. They have a duet that just kills me.


I can't wait.

[Serafina_Pekkala]

Delightful. I can't wait. Joss being silly with friends.

Nathan, he sings fine. He sings very well - he's not a Broadway voice, he's a good voice. But he's Nathan! He fears nothing and he plays Captain Hammer, who's a complete idiot. So he can sell anything, and if he couldn't, he'd still sound great. But actually, he sounds really good.

I hope this Hammer fellow is like Zapp Brannigan. I would die happy to see Nathan play such a character.

[gulfcoast_highwa...]

First look at the forthcoming fun!

[Svein]

Is it me, or is Doogie Howser beginning to resemble Gordon Ramsey?

[Raven]

I've split these posts from the Firefly thread into their own topic.

Looks good! I like Neil Patrick Harris, he's the best thing about How I Met Your Mother by far (excepting the obvious).

[dolfyn]

First look at the forthcoming fun!

Aw, that looks fantastic! Classic Whedon. I can't wait!

Feel the love.
dolfyn.


This post has been edited by dolfyn: Jun 26 2008, 12:13 AM

[PrincessKate]

First look at the forthcoming fun!

Yeah, tiny bit in love with NPH, and even though I'm not a rabid Whedon fan or anything (though I am enjoying my nightly Buffy episodes muchly), this does look pretty awesome.

Oh, and I spy a little Helberg. Always a pleasure.

[gulfcoast_highwa...]

From Joss:

Here's the Message Joss Posted to the Dr. Horrible Fans on MySpace:

Dear Friends,

At last the time has come to reveal to you our Master Plan. BEWARE! Those with weak hearts should log off lest they be terrified by the twisted genius of our schemes! Also pregnant women and the elderly should consider reading only certain sentences. Do not mix with other blogs. Do not operate heavy machinery while reading this blog. You must be this tall to read.
‘Kay?

It is time for us to change the face of Show Business as we know it. You know the old adage, “It’s Show Business – not Show Friends”? Well now it’s Show Friends. We did that. To Show Business. To show Show Business we mean business. (Also, there are now other businesses like it.
)

ONE WEEK ONLY! AN INTERNET MINISERIES EVENT!

"Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog" will be streamed, LIVE (that part’s not true), FREE (sadly, that part is) right on Drhorrible. com, in mid-July.
Specifically:

ACT ONE (Wheee!) will go up Tuesday July 15th.


ACT TWO (OMG!) will go up Thursday July 17th.


ACT THREE (Denouement!) will go up Saturday July 19th.


All acts will stay up until midnight Sunday July 20th. Then they will vanish into the night, like a phantom (but not THE Phantom – that’s still playing. Like, everywhere.
)

And now to answers a few Frequently (soon to be) Asked Questions:

1) Why, Joss? Why? Why now, why free, why us?

Once upon a time, all the writers in the forest got very mad with the Forest Kings and declared a work-stoppage. The forest creatures were all sad; the mushrooms did not dance, the elderberries gave no juice for the festival wines, and the Teamsters were kinda pissed. (They were very polite about it, though.) During this work-stoppage, many writers tried to form partnerships for outside funding to create new work that circumvented the Forest King system.


Frustrated with the lack of movement on that front, I finally decided to do something very ambitious, very exciting, very mid-life-crisisy. Aided only by everyone I had worked with, was related to or had ever met, I single-handedly created this unique little epic. A supervillain musical, of which, as we all know, there are far too few.


The idea was to make it on the fly, on the cheap – but to make it. To turn out a really thrilling, professionalish piece of entertainment specifically for the internet. To show how much could be done with very little. To show the world there is another way. To give the public (and in particular you guys) something for all your support and patience. And to make a lot of silly jokes. Actually, that sentence probably should have come first.


2) What happens when it goes away? Does it go to a happy farm for always like Fluffy did when mommy was crying and the neighbor kept washing his fender?

No, Dr horrible will live on. We intend to make it available for download soon after it’s published. This would be for a nominal fee, which we’re hoping people will embrace instead of getting all piratey. We have big dreams, people, and one of them is paying our crew.


And somewhat later, we will put the complete short epic out on DVD – with the finest and bravest extras in all the land. We’ll go into greater detail about that at Comiccon, but we’re changing the face of Show Friendliness a second time with that crazy DVD.


3) Joss, you are so kind, and generous, and your forehead is like, huge, like SCARY, like I think I can see Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint hanging off it… what can WE do to help this musical extravanganza?

What you always do, peeps! What you’re already doing. Spread the word. Rock some banners, widgets, diggs… let people know who wouldn’t ordinarily know. It wouldn’t hurt if this really was an event. Good for the business, good for the community – communitIES: Hollywood, internet, artists around the world, comic-book fans, musical fans (and even the rather vocal community of people who hate both but will still dig on this). Proving we can turn Dr Horrible into a viable economic proposition as well as an awesome goof will only inspire more people to lay themselves out in the same way. It’s time for the dissemination of the artistic process. Create more for less. You are the ones that can make that happen.


Wow. I had no idea how important you guys were. I’m a little afraid of you.


4) Joss, do you ever answer a question simply or coherently?

Shledzguohn?

There’ll be more questions, and more long, long answers, but for now I’m just excited that we’re actually making this happen. We (and a lot of other people -- gushing to commence soon) worked very hard on the show and we hope/think you guys will be pleased. Until July 15th , I remain, yours truly, -j, of the firm j, j, m & z.


Great fucking timing. Guess when I go on holiday?

This post has been edited by gulfcoast_highwayman: Jun 29 2008, 12:29 AM

[dolfyn]

^ That's friggin' awesome!

What's the correct MySpace link, please? There are at least 3 Joss Whedon pages.

Feel the love.
dolfyn.

[Ade]

Looks like some good fun.

[widowspider]

I love the philosophy behind this idea - that you don't have to have loads of money to make a great little show. Bravo, Joss!

[melzilla]

This sounds fun. I bet I forget though.

[thirtyhelens]

ACT ONE (Wheee!) will go up Tuesday July 15th.
ACT TWO (OMG!) will go up Thursday July 17th.
ACT THREE (Denouement!) will go up Saturday July 19th.

Perfick. My birthday is July 16th, so that's my Joss pressie.


I would also like to add that I am now going to call my autobiography "Wheee!... OMG!... Denoument!"

[shaka37]

I am really looking forward to this as well. The trailer looked hilarious. Nathan Fillion and Neil Patrick Harris are game for anything ... so this has to be pretty damned good.

[thirtyhelens]

IT'S HEEEEERE!

"Smells like cumin..." *chortle*

(BTW, if it's not loading try turning off your firewall temporarily; Norton Internet in particular seems to mess with the load)