Peter Haynes, the series creator and New Zealand filmmaker, reveals that AFK was inspired by World of Warcraft’s hugely immersive, massive environment where characters can interact with others all over the world.
In the series, soon after being thrust into the virtual world, the players find out that their online fantasy is not all that it’s cracked up to be.
Characters also have to be on the lookout for the very real threat and danger of other characters, whilst learning to adjust to the environment and their mostly unfamiliar gender-swapped bodies. It’s all about smart survival.
Your series deals with real people waking up as fictional game characters, have you done a lot of research into virtual reality gaming in order to get a ‘feel’ of what to expect?
It struck me as interesting that people would spend hours levelling up their characters in skills like leather craft, blacksmithing, hunting and swordplay, but they would probably be lost if they were asked to do these things in the real world. I also wanted to explore the idea of how well the average modern gamer would cope if dropped into the primitive virtual environment they inhabit every day, with the answer probably being, “not very well at all.” I guess you could call a couple of years of playing the game ‘research’, as it gave me a good insight into the players, culture and language, because gaming does have a language all of its own.
How many people worked on this project?
LOTS. In general, we had a core crew of about 6 people and a cast of 8 main characters, although on some days we needed crowds, which got our numbers up hugely. We had to use various different crew members at different times because of cast and crew availability. The first priority was always securing the cast’s availability, and if they were all available on the same day at the same time, then we had to shoot rain or shine, and then round up the crew around this major variable. Everyone donated their time and skills to the web series, which we are eternally grateful for.
Are there any web series, other than your own that inspire you?
I really enjoyed ‘Ren: The girl with the mark’ for its ambition and its general lush look, and ‘Video Game High School’ and Felicia Day’s ‘The Guild’ for breaking new ground in what indie web series can achieve. Locally, I enjoy Flat 3 (Now Friday Night Bites) and White Man Behind a Desk.
When are you completely satisfied with your work?
Never! As George Lucas once said ‘A film is never finished, its just wrestled away from you.’
Is there a magic formula for a successful web series?
I think that humour is the key, as is broad appeal. Having said that, a lot of really successful web series achieve their success by catering to a market, which may be under represented in mainstream media, such as LBGT series. Communication with your viewers is also key by involving them with updates and behind the scenes videos. The web series really does feel a bit like the Wild West though, where people are still making up the rules.
Have you achieved the goals you set for this series?
In most senses…we pretty much started from nowhere, and have built up a fairly loyal following of a decent size in a very short time. We aim to grow on this in the coming months as we move into prep for AFK series 2.
AFK on the web:
AFK Website
AFK on Facebook
AFK on Twitter
AFK on Instagram
AFK on Vimeo