WilliamShatner.com :: Thoughts On Ruby

Thoughts On Ruby
Posted by: LeopardHead on Friday, May 10, 2002 - 01:27 AM

	One of the greatest feelings in the world is seeing your words in print or hearing someone say them aloud. I was lucky enough to experience both during the creation of my webisode, "Ruby." My first challenge was coming up with a concept that I thought people would want to see. Since WilliamShatner.com is primarily geared to a sci-fi audience, the gang at Creative Light suggested I try to stay within the genre.
May 9, 2002 Thoughts On Ruby Kristen Kendall and Lisabeth One of the greatest feelings in the world is seeing your words in print or hearing someone say them aloud. I was lucky enough to experience both during the creation of my webisode, "Ruby." My first challenge was coming up with a concept that I thought people would want to see. Since WilliamShatner.com is primarily geared to a sci-fi audience, the gang at Creative Light suggested I try to stay within the genre. I had a lot of trouble imagining myself writing about planets and spaceships (I leave that task to my Dad!); nevertheless, I am very much interested in "otherworldly" concepts. For me, however, the exploration of other, more unusual, universes is a more internal prospect. It follows that psychic phenomenon would be a natural interest of mine. It is definitely otherworldly, and yet, directly involves human psychology. My friends always remark that I am a natural therapist. I guess that applies to my fictional characters as well. I would always rather understand their internal motivations than watch them blow up stuff. The next issue was the format - how to tell a story using online limitations and advantages? Again, the gang at Creative Light came to my rescue. They had been responsible for creating the hugely successful online soap opera, "The Spot," a few years ago, and suggested I follow their format. Thus, the idea of a psychic who writes in an online journal was born. It only took a few further steps to give her a name and fill in the details of her life, including her workplace, her friends, and her internal hopes and fears. We came up with the idea of her using a camera to document her life so that we could provide the reader with video as well as text. Jeff Layton and Shawna Rodgers with Lisabeth Once we solved the format dilemmas, I was free to come up with a story that would be fun as well as visual. I came up with the idea of a house that had a mind of its own. We were lucky enough to enlist the help of Forrest Ackerman, so filming the house sequences at his marvelous abode was really a lucky break. I definitely don't think it would have been quite the same story if we had filmed it somewhere else. I also had a lucky break with the actors, since all of them turned out to be perfect professionals, adept at improvisation, which is what we did most of the time when the cameras were rolling. They added so much to the project – I’d like to formally thank them here. Kristen Kendall Playing Ruby, Jeff Layton in the roll of Lucas, Shawna Rodgers as Val, Mike Faiola as Kyle, and who could forget Forrest J. Ackerman guest starring as Miles Renfrue. They were all such good sports and so much fun to work with at all times. Bill as Dr. Jasper Horton Of course, having my Dad play the role of Dr. Jasper Horton was a real kick for me. Finally, I got to boss him around! He remarked that I was living out my fantasy. Ha ha. Actually, he had a point. It WAS great to be able to tell him exactly what to say and what to do. I'll probably never get another chance like it again! Now that the experience is over, I'd like to take a step backward and examine the lessons it taught me. Of course, as usual, I need your input to help me. Since I've never done a "webisode" before, it's hard for me to tell how successful it really was. I know I had a great time creating it, but did YOU enjoy watching it? For that matter, DID you even watch it? If not, why not? Was the subject matter of interest to you, or did you wonder why it was even on the site at all? One of my biggest questions is whether entertainment content on a celebrity site is even a good idea. Do you think "Ruby" would be better placed somewhere else? For example, we're giving Ruby her own domain. We're calling it "Ruby's Life" available directly at RubysLife.com. Would you check out the series at this new location? Another idea is to do "Ruby" as a book, possibly geared to a young adult audience. Your input is truly crucial here, since the point of the whole thing is to entertain YOU! Once again, I have to really thank everyone involved in the creation of "Ruby," since, no matter what happens, it was a real honor and treat for me to be able to do it at all. I hope you are all lucky enough to experience the joy of creating something of your very own at some point in your life. There is really nothing else quite like it.