Today on #WebSeriesWednesday I gush a lot about how good ‘I Am Tim’ is – but not nearly as much, or in the same way as the typical intern on the show. And yes, there is too much blood on the header graphic.
I Am Tim is a comedic tale of Tim Helsing, meaningless peon at “Yourfault Accident Claims” by day, monster hunter by night, as he is followed around by documentary filmmaker Richard Timmons and a turnstile of red shirt clad interns. The blood is copious, but it blends into the red clothes quite well, so Tim’s wife doesn’t have too much difficulty with the laundry.
It should be said upfront – interns are murdered brutally, and it is very funny. We are often introduced to new interns – who tend not to last long – but for the few that do a bond forms. I am particularly fond of the intern that dies twice, or the one that grew cocky after surviving a whole episode. I also felt bad for the guy who was beaten to death by his own leg, and whose body parts were then used to decorate a tree (Christmas was just last month after all).
I spent most of #WebSeriesWednesday retweeting clever lines from the show, most of which were about the vast body of knowledge available on Wikipedia, or the importance of achieving a high level of production value during moments we might be preoccupied by extreme violence and gore.
The show walks a fine line between humorous and stupid, but it never seems to cross that line into the dark side. That’s seriously impressive when you consider the shows length and that they are essentially running around fighting vampires with awkward fitting tooth prosthetics and actors in goblin masks – among others. And the blood is everywhere! It’s all very ‘Shawn of the Dead.’
The documentary framing device works quite well, adding an extra layer of complexity to a genre that we have seen before (as playfully described in the show as ‘Twilight without the homoeroticism’). The docu-style allows the creators to do clever things with the camera, like drop it on its side on the floor, add character depth through interviews, and most importantly give them a chance to convince you to subscribe to their youtube channel at the end of every episode.
What is really cool about the show is how it all looks so elaborate yet I was surprised to learn that it was filmed almost entirely on weekends and evenings. The characters roam from location to location, through the streets of York, into office buildings, garages, abandoned hospitals, parking lots, forests and fields, among others.
For the most part they used a crew of just three, making it very mobile. With a lot of planning, they were able to make a two hour series that looks great, and lacks any visible corner-cutting. I think this is due to the group’s high level of experience in the web production game. Their channel features multiple web series and a myriad of shorts. With practice a lot of this stuff starts to come naturally.
I Am Tim is excellent all around with a lot of talent and effort clearly put into it on all fronts. The show is one of the best overall web series out there and they are launching season 2 today! So check em out at their site IAmTimHelsing.com
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