The current situation caused by the coronavirus presents us all with challenges. Filmmakers, too, have to ask themselves how they can develop new formats in contactless times. "Curfew Calls" and "Vdates", two new projects by Munich film academy HFF students, tackle this task by presenting series formats that require no physical contact but instead, as so many others, resort to video calls and Instagram.
Wednesday, May 27. 2020
Web series respond to social distancing
The current situation caused by the coronavirus presents us all with challenges. Filmmakers, too, have to ask themselves how they can develop new formats in contactless times. "Curfew Calls" and "Vdates", two new projects by Munich film academy HFF students, tackle this task by presenting series formats that require no physical contact but instead, as so many others, resort to video calls and Instagram.
Video calls have become common parts of our everyday lives: Whether talking to the family, on job interviews, or yoga classes, we are surrounded almost solely by people on screens. The HFF students behind "Curfew Calls" take advantage of this concept. They came up with the idea for the new web series by asking what kinds of situations can happen in these video calls. On April 17, the first of the at least 14 episodes went live on Instagram. Each episode of the series is a video conversation, including well-known actors Annette Frier, Dimitrij Schaad, and Juliane Köhler.
HFF Munich production students Katharina Kolleczek and Lea Neu, together with HFF Munich directing student Anna Roller, developed the concept behind "Curfew Calls" within a very short period of time and ensured its implementation in accordance with social distancing and other rules pertaining to the pandemic. The film was shot from all sides from home via video calls. The team is also asking for creative assistance in the interactive video experience and for support of local cinemas through hilfdeinemkino.de.
The same circumstances led to the idea that HFF Munich direction graduate Julius Grimm had. His web series "Vdates" began around Easter and is also on Instagram. Together with Florian Günther, he designed the series so that it could be shot entirely from home. New episodes of the series have been broadcast on the Instagram account every night. Each depicts an online video date in which the participants (played by Katrin Filzen, Kathrin Anna Stahl, Friederike Sipp, Genija Rykova, David Baalcke, Simon Pearce, Gabriel Raab, and Florian Günther) have 90 seconds to get to know each other. Then they decide whether they want to have a second date. Of course, it all takes place via webcams and is delightfully entertaining. That, too, was important to the two producers behind the project. The aim was a project that “simply makes viewers laugh every evening within a very short time.”
The current "Vdates" season includes 16 episodes with more planned.
HFF Munich was founded in 1966 and trains the film talents of tomorrow, in feature film and television feature, film and television documentary, production and media business, cinematography and screenplay. Alumni of HFF Munich include Maren Ade, Caroline Link, Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, and Wim Wenders.
April 23, 2020, published with permission by mucbook.de
image: screenshot from the Instagram account "Curfew Calls"
HFF Munich production students Katharina Kolleczek and Lea Neu, together with HFF Munich directing student Anna Roller, developed the concept behind "Curfew Calls" within a very short period of time and ensured its implementation in accordance with social distancing and other rules pertaining to the pandemic. The film was shot from all sides from home via video calls. The team is also asking for creative assistance in the interactive video experience and for support of local cinemas through hilfdeinemkino.de.
The same circumstances led to the idea that HFF Munich direction graduate Julius Grimm had. His web series "Vdates" began around Easter and is also on Instagram. Together with Florian Günther, he designed the series so that it could be shot entirely from home. New episodes of the series have been broadcast on the Instagram account every night. Each depicts an online video date in which the participants (played by Katrin Filzen, Kathrin Anna Stahl, Friederike Sipp, Genija Rykova, David Baalcke, Simon Pearce, Gabriel Raab, and Florian Günther) have 90 seconds to get to know each other. Then they decide whether they want to have a second date. Of course, it all takes place via webcams and is delightfully entertaining. That, too, was important to the two producers behind the project. The aim was a project that “simply makes viewers laugh every evening within a very short time.”
The current "Vdates" season includes 16 episodes with more planned.
HFF Munich was founded in 1966 and trains the film talents of tomorrow, in feature film and television feature, film and television documentary, production and media business, cinematography and screenplay. Alumni of HFF Munich include Maren Ade, Caroline Link, Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, and Wim Wenders.
April 23, 2020, published with permission by mucbook.de
image: screenshot from the Instagram account "Curfew Calls"
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