Last year, I attended my first panel at a Science Fiction convention. Now, you have to understand… I grew up doing Sci-fi conventions. I’ve had opportunities to go to panels my entire life, but it always sounded so dull. But some friends of mine are producing an online series, and I had to see what it was all about.

I’m really glad I went.

At the panel, they discussed and then aired the first episode of the web series Fang and Talon. It’s about fantasy, fighting and comedy. That’s like my three favorite things! And it’s all in one series!

I’m not going to talk much about the panel, since you can see it for yourself here:

but they do go into a lot of the ins and outs of how it all came together, from fighting to filming, scouting locations and difficulties with sound.

And there are some difficulties with sound. They’ve gone through a few different sound technicians, mostly because of life things happening to them. And your going to lose some in the process of changing sound techs repeatedly, and much had to be done ADR. I admit that for me, it’s a bit of a distraction, trying to associate the voices for the first 30 seconds or so.

Once I get into the episode, however, it’s good times. The characters have enough distinction to play their comedy parts, which aren’t “bash you over the head” funny, but more situational and conversational. The effects are REALLY well done- again, not over the top, but neat and a good fit.

But let’s be honest- my favorite part is the fighting. And they do a good job overall. The choreography is great, and for the 18 million things going on, it’s mostly easy to follow. There are a few bumps where film and fight could have better worked together in the first one, but it seemed to work a lot better in the second (that they just released):

The long and short of it… for people newer to film, they’ve got some great stuff going on. As these guys continue to grow into the series, I think it’s only going to get better.

I’m also secretly hoping they need a scimitar wielding belly dancer in the next season.