The Hunted

So how does one shoot an episode of The Hunted?
First off, you might want to check out a few episodes, in particular The Best of The Hunted.

THE WORLD OF THE HUNTED
The rules for The Hunted are fairly simple. Vampires have developed an immunity to everything over the years, so sunlight, garlic, holy water, crosses, stake through the heart, none of that stuff works. They can only be killed by decapitation, which is why all the swordfighting.

Vampires typically have regular jobs and look exactly like everyone else unless they are angered, at which point they may reveal fangs and red glowing eyes (we can help with the VFX).

Those who have been bitten by vampires are referred to as "The Hunted". They are not vampires, they are cattle. Vampires can smell them and will continue to feed off them until they are drained completely and turned into vampires. The Hunted can use garlic pills to mask their scent. They may also develop a blood addiction, but they don't need blood to survive.

Some of "The Hunted" have inherited powers from their attackers such as speed, strength, and regeneration. They may even be able to sense the presence of vampires. These victims typically become slayers.

You can find more info on vampires, slayers, and the rest of our world here.

STORY IDEAS
Above everything else, story is king. You don't need a big budget, costumes, or fancy equipment to shoot a Hunted episode, but you do need a story.

Note that contest, episodes are judged on acting, action, story, production value and comedy. So it's a good idea to keep those in mind.

Our first step with any episode is to come up with a story idea based on the resources we have (since we don't have a budget). This can be a location, a choreographed fight, a prop, costume, event, or anything that can give us some ready-made production value.

For the episode "Con Job 2", I just happened to have access to a HALO costume, and I knew a lot of my friends were already headed to Comic Con, which was a great backdrop for an episode. I just created the story based on the resources we had.

If you'd like help developing a story idea for an episode, contact us at episodes@thehunted.tv

COMEDY
Regardless of the subject matter, try to keep it light. Audiences tend to forgive low budget filmmaking if you can make them laugh. Keep an eye out for great comedy writers, improv artists, and funny friends. They can save your film.

Also note that The Hunted is more about social commentary than it is about vampires - addiction, angst, boy meets girl, news stories or parodies of the latest movies, twinkies, etc.

FILMING
The concept of the show (modern-day reality TV) allows for episodes to be filmed without expensive cameras, lighting, sound, locations, props, sets, costumes, cast or crew.

I used a simple videocam for our first two seasons with no special lights or audio recording. This allowed us to shoot practically anywhere without permits (I didn't say that).

For fight scenes, we just made sure that we didn't break into a fight in a public area. We would typically find a warehouse, garage, gym, or secluded park.

It is very possible to make your episode a SAG New Media project and become SAG Eligible. For more details, check out http://www.sagaftra.org/production-center/new-media/faq

ACTION
We rehearse fight scenes throroughly before putting them on film. If you aren't a choreographer, find one. The SAFD has contacts with certified fight directors and performers all over the world.

EDITING
There is plenty of editing software out there. We use Adobe Premiere, but there is also Final Cut Pro, Vegas Video, iMovie. Use whatever works for you. If you're not confident editing an episode, there are plenty of editors out there and you may be able to find one via additional resources listed below.

MUSIC
We use ACID Music for our soundtracks (which you can download for free here). We also have some music and loops for The Hunted you can find here.

There's also plenty of free royalty-free music out there. We've used Kevin MacLeod's stuff on more than one occasion, but there's also neosounds.com or premiumbeat.com for a price. Or you can just find a band online and ask to use their music. Note if you use copywritten music, your episode may automatically get pulled from Youtube.

EFFECTS
The majority of our visual effects are a simple eye glow or beheading flash which can be done in After Effects or other compositing program. Contact us and we might be able to do your effects for you. But unless you have unlimited budget and time, don't try for elaborate practical or CG effects. Keep it simple.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
If you're looking for writers, editors, equipment, props, crew, talent, music, effects, etc, there's plenty of resources out there, it's just a matter of hooking up. Check our Facebook group and note if you have any services you'd like to offer. Sites like Craigslist have also come in quite handy.

We also have an assets library containing various music loops, sound effects, intros, and VFX which you can find HERE - Let us know if there's anything you'd like to add.

If you have any other questions, contact us at episodes@thehunted.tv