Suspenseful, relatable and full of mystery, "The Confession" is the recent web series released by film students of Ramapo College and starring Ramapo theater students. Filmed across Ramapo's campus, "The Confession" tells the story of Devin, a typical student who finds the journal of Patrick, a student who committed a murder and suicide a decade before.
"The idea for the web series was a group effort. We each all had to bring in multiple ideas to start with [and] the final product is a mix and combination [of] multiple students' original ideas," Assistant Director for episode one Cienna Tardy said. "After we had the general storyline we divided it up into the important plot points that needed to occur and when they had to happen to make it an interesting and exciting series."
Professor Tobin Addington served as producer for the film series. He has previously written and directed other web series.
"I designed the Web Series Production course and teach it every fall for advanced digital filmmaking students. I act as sort of a facilitator for their work. Over the course of the semester they conceive, write, shoot, edit and post online an original, five-episode series," Professor Addington said. "I help them at every stage, but the final product is entirely their creation."
The episodes were filmed throughout the first semester and each member of the class took a different role.
"Our class was then divided up into five groups of three people each. Each group was responsible for writing the script for one of the five episodes. Each group handled that differently, some groups wrote together while others just had one person write their episode," Tardy said. "We all workshopped the scripts in class to make sure there was continuity and a similar tone throughout the series. The executive producer, Professor Tobin Addington, then revised and added the finishing touches to all the scripts to make sure there were no plot holes and to make sure the characters' 'voices' were the same."
The first episode introduces audiences to Devin, a host for one of the college's radio shows. Introducing the possibility of romance with the show's producer and close friend Ryan, the first episode is not only relatable, but also begins building suspense with the long-lost journal of Patrick from decades before. Searching for a book she left behind in the library, Devin stumbles across the journal, ending the first episode and leaving viewers in suspense of what's to come.
The filming of the web series was not without obstacles, however; the cast and crew struggled with challenges like Hurricane Sandy and illnesses.
"There were a lot of problems with the filming. First of all, Hurricane Sandy completely ruined our film schedule. Trying to film the five episodes in time was very difficult. We were able to finish the series in time but didn't have our website or the marketing completed before the end of the semester. That's why we are premiering in February instead of in December as planned," said Tardy. "Another problem was that within the last week or two of filming one of the main actresses came down with shingles. We had to find a new actress and refilm every scene she had been involved in. Thankfully, Caroline Harvey stepped in at the last minute, and she was an excellent addition to our cast."
The five episodes are being released each Friday, beginning Feb. 8. To see a trailer and the first episode, head to http://confessionwebseries.com/#index.
dreed1@ramapo.edu
