Afterworld Production Team Answers - Season One, episodes #1 through #65, posted November 6, 2007

• Asked by: compiled theorum
If we were to assume that all other life on the planet is unharmed (plants seem to be fine, maybe animals are too)…is the human genetic adaptation not to survive the Fall but the exact opposite?
The intent of this question is not entirely clear. We’re assuming the question means: “Were those who vanished the ones with a special genetic trait?” And the answer to that question is… not necessarily. All we can say is that those who vanished were genetically different than those who survived. Why? How? Those questions will be answered. Eventually.

• Asked by: darkurth2000
Does the Fall have something to do with all the calanders ending in 2012?
Not to sound coy, but… yes and no. The date has something to do with the “big picture” of Afterworld, but is not directly related to the events that caused the Fall. Confused? We hope so… ;)

• Asked by: DragonAngel
Who came up with the idea of making AW?
As mentioned in various articles and interviews (many of which are available online), the story for Afterworld was created by Brent Friedman. The original visual design was created by Michael Decourcey. The concept of an interactive multi-platform series (broadcast, broadband and mobile) was the result of many minds including both the above names as well as the other Electric Farm partners, Stan Rogow and Jeff Sagansky. Additionally, much credit must go to Sony for building a global digital distribution pipeline to facilitate this vision.

• Asked by: Gwynyvyr
Why would the the Polaroid type camera still be working after the fall when they have circuit boards?
After doing some research on this, we found that early models of Polaroid cameras do not have circuit boards. They were purely mechanical and/or powered by DC batteries. We are, admittedly, cheating when we show a “synch flash” on the camera, which implies a newer, chip-dependent model. We take this stylistic license because, well, it just looks cooler hearing and seeing a white flash before each photo materializes. ;) Also, it’s harder to find digital models of early Polaroids (which were also much more bulky) and it’s simply not feasible from a production standpoint to have one of our artists spending hours building a digital prop… when a similar (albeit anachronistic) model can be found for free online.

• Asked by: lilwillie
Why weren't animals effected by The Fall?
Animals do not have the same genetics as humans. But make no mistake, animals are affected by the EMP in ways both small and large.

• Asked by: Phenix
Did the PG really send Russell to shut the EMP off or are they getting him to find more out about Team Alpha?
PG’s agenda will be an ongoing concern for Mr. Shoemaker. To give away their intentions at this stage of the series would be disservice to the 100s of hours of writing we did on Episodes 66-130… where you will find some (but not all) of the answers embedded within this loaded question.

• Asked by: RangerSergeant
We all love Afterworld, what are the AW team's favorite online series?
Prom Queen! (kidding) Seriously, there is only one other series we feel compelled to plug here: the granddaddy of all web series – “Broken Saints.” If you have not seen this animated epic it’s definitely worth checking out.

• Asked by: RangerSergeant
Did the fall really cause the birth defect in the twin, or is that due to another more mundane cause?
To further expound on the animal question, it’s not the Fall per se which caused mutations or aberrant behavior – it’s more likely the EMP. But the full effects of the EMP (both positive and negative) will be another ongoing series of revelations that continue well into Season Two.

• Asked by: sevens
How do the New Edenites communicate so quickly over vast distances in a world without technology?
“Quickly” is a relative term. If you read Mr. Shoemaker’s journal you will notice that there is more time elapsing than the episodes often indicate or imply. What sometimes seems like a day or two later may actually be a week or two later. And you have to remember that the WordWall existed BEFORE Russell learned about it, so that method of communication is the most obvious answer. Another is simply explained by the fact that word on horse travels faster than word on foot. So with a few horsemen riding around, they create a dynamic information grid servicing just JD and New Eden. Also, you will eventually come to learn that JD has opened “missions” in other areas, increasing the number of horsemen from four to… (insert your guess here)

• Asked by: timtodd
What is AW looking for in a winning video remix entry?
A winning video remix should have evocative music that, when played over re-cut visuals, reveals a new tone or texture to Afterworld that wasn’t conveyed in the original video. For instance, the first Acid Planet winner’s video used an original song that emphasized the loneliness and emotional desolation of Russell’s journey, then it overlaid that song on scratched/distressed video that implied archival footage, adding a sense of nostalgia and loss already inherent in the song. So, in short, we’re looking for a remix that works on both levels – audio and video – to create a fresh and fully realized representation of our show.

• Asked by: timtodd
Can the sample video and loops from AW's first contest be used in the second contest

That is a question for Acid Planet, who makes the rules for the contest.

• Asked by: timtodd
What criteria does AW use in judging? Creativity, Immersion, Authenticity, etc...?
At the end of the day, it’s all very subjective. If a video has the aforementioned qualities it will probably elicit this response from our writing staff: “Coooooool!” The video eliciting the most responses of “Coooooool!” will win.

• Asked by: timtodd
What new elements (games/contests/features) can we look forward too?

We have a couple more in mind but nothing concrete at the moment. Soon as we nail something down you will be the first group to know.

• Asked by: timtodd
What unique challenges were involved in creating Afterworld?
A book could be written on this topic! First and foremost, the challenge of creating a new business model in the entertainment industry has been both incredibly satisfying and incredibly frustrating. Our learning curve has been vertical. And every day we make more discoveries through simple trial and error. The other challenge worth mentioning is the production process itself. While the writing of three minute episodes has proven deceptively hard, producing three minutes of “non-animation” has turned out to be a monumental task for a number of reasons, the most obvious of which is the incredible level of design artistry which goes into every episode. Other challenges involve the daily distribution of episodes to multiple portals (all of which require different formatting)… the production of the journal (which was never intended to be as complex as it’s become)… not to mention the marketing and messaging of a multi-platform series to an audience not even sure what that phrase means!

• Asked by: timtodd
What has been the most unexpected development, from production to publishing and user involvement?
Most unexpected? Probably how unforgiving fans are with free entertainment! ;) When a promised episode is a couple hours late, man do we hear about it. Of course, we try to take fans’ impatience as a compliment. After all, the worst thing that could happen would be that no one cares…

• Asked by: X
Is the "Positive" in the genetic testing related to evolution in mankind, this evolution is a resistance to the electro magnitic charged atmosphere created around AC powered technologies?
Great question but the answer is simply too revealing. Here’s a hint, though: the genetic testing (found in Hastings’ house) is not necessarily related to the EMP, at least not in the ways you’re probably thinking (yes, we can read minds here.)

• Asked by: Anna
We always come into the story after Russ has escaped from the danger somehow, but just how does he manage it? We never actually see his escape, and yet in the next episode, he's far from his captors."?
It’s a fair question and, sorry to say, this answer is going to seem like a cop out. But the truth is, Afterworld does not do “action” and/or escape scenes well. We’ve tried a few and just were not happy with the results. We do know what scene has bothered you (yes, we read the Wall regularly) and that scene was scripted to indicate that while Charles was turning to shoot at Ellen, Russell wisely disappeared into the nearby brush. So that when Charles turned back… Russell was gone. After Subu extricates himself from Ted, he and Charles search the brush for Russell, but he’s vanished. In real life, this scene probably would’ve played out in 2-3 minutes… the entire length of an episode!

The point in all this is that we usually conceive the scenes in a realistic manner (or as realistic as most TV shows portray) but in our medium it becomes impossible to visually represent all the “action” beats in a given scene. And at the end of the day, our show is not concerned with the small details of escape so much as the emotional and psychological impact of the events on Russell. As writers it is not hard to contrive ways to escape almost any given situation – can you say MacGuyver? – so, in an effort to keep the story moving along, we often take the liberty of jumping you to the next meaningful encounter.

• Asked by: Anna
Just how is it that Bryson was unaware of the Fall itself, and yet knew that Russ had a bounty on his head?
Again, this detail does not move the story along so it did not make it into the episode. But an explanation was written in one of the drafts. And the answer is simple: he saw a “Wanted” poster somewhere on the fringe of the woods. The language on the poster is just vague enough that, we believe, Bryson could have just assumed Shoe had done what he’d done – committed a crime and fled into the Ozarks. Nothing about the poster says that the Fall has occurred.

And here are the most prevalent generalized questions I received in the latest round of emails and private messages...

• Have they ever reworked an episode because of forum posts?
Reworked? Not exactly. But we have “borrowed” some ideas from the Wall, as well as various suggestions on YouTube and MySpace. For instance, a fan pointed out early on that, with no one to put them out, there would probably be rampant fires burning in drier parts of the country – a fact we, admittedly, hadn’t considered. So we added that wrinkle to some latter episodes. Another example is many fans’ belief that Russell would be better off with a gun(s.) This was never a consideration in the early episodes – we had a point we wanted to make about violence begetting violence – but we decided to challenge this point of view in the second half of the season. We haven’t changed the point we’re making, but we have certainly modified our approach to explore this issue on a much deeper level… examining the emotional and psychological ramifications of murder (justified or not) on Russell.

• Have forum posts influenced the direction and feel that the story takes?
The forum posts have been incredibly enlightening. We have learned not only what fans like and don’t like about the Afterworld experience, but we have learned what details you focus and fixate on… what your expectations are for certain characters and subplots… and, most importantly, what kind or answers your are seeking. All this information has greatly influenced the way we wrote the last two weeks of Season One – it did not affect the facts as we have always known them, but it did affect the extent to which revealed or didn’t reveal certain facts. And ongoingly, we will continue to read the Wall as it will no doubt influence Season Two.

• Are any of the theories out there, close to the mark?
Interestingly there are a few theories out there that contain bits and pieces of what we consider “truth,” but we can honestly state that no theory yet posted comes close to explaining the Fall. That said, you must understand our job as writers was to create a complex and, hopefully, compelling backstory/mythology for our universe. To that end, we have taken great pains to build a narrative “swiss watch” with a lot of moving parts that would be very difficult (but definitely not impossible) to figure out. One hint: many important details have already been revealed by Episode 65… but those details may not have seemed as important to the big picture as they actually are. ;) Might wanna go back and watching some old AW episodes… oh, and read those journals again…

• Are there other stories being developed or to be developed? If so, will there be a beta test group?
By “other stories” we’re not sure if you mean other Afterworld stories… or other Electric Farm stories. If it’s the former, we will continue to reveal other characters’ stories in Afterwords. Through the “locked” sections of these stories we will be not only advancing alt storylines, but also planting clues to the bigger picture. Upcoming storylines include: Luther… Travis… Alice… and Ted (just to name a few.) If you’re talking about the latter, the next series from Electric Farm will be “The Gemini Division” starring Rosario Dawson. For more information on that show try a Google search…

• When the series finishes, will it be released to other media types (DVD/BluRay, etc?) If so, what extras might it include? (Timtodd phrased this the best)
We are planning a DVD release of Season One some time after the conclusion of the show’s distribution on web and mobile. On the DVD we are talking about including not only the original 2-3 min episodes but also the 15 min and 30 minute compilation episodes (one and two weeks, respectively, of episodes artfully cut together) – watching the show in larger clumps is, curiously, a much different experience.

We have plenty of “behind-the-scenes” footage on the making of Afterworld which will be included, along with some satiric remixes of certain episodes, a couple “lost” episodes and the original 8-minute “trailer” for Afterworld that launched the entire show two years ago. There will also be audio commentary tracks on select episodes and, Powers That Be willing, a preview of Season Two. Oh, and we might even throw in our secret recipe for Egg Salad (let’s see if anyone can guess the movie reference to that one…)

as posted on AfterworldTheories