| “ | It's not you, it's that I just hate being near you and everything about you and the things that you do. | ” |
–Lenore, "Episode Six: GREAT" | ||
A Tell Tale Vlog is the first ever production that Shipwrecked Comedy put together. It is a seven episode (less than fifteen minutes) vlog-style video series of Edgar Allan Poe and Lenore the Lady Ghost learning to be roommates. It establishes two of Shipwrecked's most well known characters and their knack for combining literary elements with great humor and ravens. The project was the start of their history creating great content on a shoestring budget.
Watch it Here![]
Plot[]
Edgar Allan Poe is an old lonely poet in need of a roommate. So, Annabel Lee sets it up so that Lenore the Lady Ghost can haunt him and be his ghost roomie. However, things do not go as smoothly as planed.
"OH, HELLO"[]
Edgar and Lenore introduce themselves to the vlog. Lenore gives a backstory of how she was feeling conflicted about how to spend her afterlife, so Annabel Lee sets her up to haunt Edgar. Lenore is very displeased with the state of his house and the fact that he wrote her a creepy Poe-m. While exploring his attic she finds other Poe-ms he had written for previous girls (Helen, Marie Louise, Annabel Lee, Tammy, Barbara, and Ullalume), which causes her to grow even more disgruntled. Poe does not seem bothered as he is more so engrossed by his wonderful writing skils exhibited in Lenore's poem.
"DEEP INTO THAT DARKNESS"[]
Edgar opens the vlog by reading another poem that he claims has been the product of horrible writting (he had to rhyme Lenore with Lenore). Lenore then vents about how on her second day of haunting Edgar has approached her to ask if she will prepare a dinner party (what can be assumed as the start of Edgar Allan Poe's Murder Mystery Dinner Party). She goes on to list several other famous writers and their meal preferances. She is frustrated to have been put in this position because how is a ghost supposed to hold and prepare so many objects without help. Poe, however, once again seems more concered by other matters such as his ravens and lost love.
"A RAVEN"[]
Poe brings along a raven who is very self concious of a poem they just were in. He reads the poem for the bird execpt for the section that is quoted of a raven saying "nevermore." Lenore continues to grow more disgrunteled with Edgar's abode; this time she raises concerns about hearts being in the floorboards (in reference to a real Edgar Allen Poe short story called "A Tell Tale Heart") and an extreme amount of bird feces that cover the ground and threaten to dirty her dress.
"FLOWER"[]
Poe's Writing has been going better recently, and he is rather proud of it. This time, Lenore presents concerns about Edgar possibly having a drinking problem and rabbis. She thinks he might have a drinking problem because occasionally he will go down into his wine cellar for days without appearing again. This leaves her to question why she is even here and what she is doing with her afterlife. Beause, if she can't see him, then there is nothing to haunt. She wishes he would invite some friends over (another small nod to Poe Party) so that she would have better company. At the end, Poe appears to be trying to be more friendly, so he offers her a flower and an invitation to join him in the wine cellar (this is the first time we see both of them in the same frame). However, she declines both offers on account of her ghostly attributes of swaying in limbo and not being able to hold most things. Once he leaves her, she makes a grumbiling and mocking motion of him writing.
"FLAME"[]
Poe opens the vlog with a return to sadness. He is reading off a poem he recently wrote that mentions Lenore's name, which summons her to come downstairs. She asks him if she was wanted, but he just ignores her and continues to read the poem. So, she heads back upstairs to the attic. Lenore mentions that she is considering leaving in order to persue John Procter in Salem, Massachuettes instead of staying to haunt the always cryptic and grumpy Poe. She says her goodbyes to the viewers and a friendly skull in the attic. Then, we see Poe rip out the poem he had been reading from earlier and burn it because it was terrible. Sadly, it was not as dramtic as he had hopped it would be.
"GREAT"[]
Despite the fact that Lenore seemed to have said all her goodbyes last episode, she had one final goodbye to say. She stages an intervention with Poe downstairs to explain that she is leaving and why. She needs new company that isn't Poe and his ecentricities. He insists that as a for Lenore needs to give a heads up for when she's leaving, but she counters that because she is a ghost she does not need to. As Lenore vanishes into thin air, she tells him how they will remain frirends and plan meetups. However, Edgar seems opposed to these ideas.
"MADNESS"[]
Poe opens the vlog by reading a poem to the camera alone. He says a final bittersweet goodbye. From another room, Lenore thanks the viewers for watching.
Credits[]
Cast[]
Crew[]
- Production Designer: Jennifer Hwang
- Executive Producer: Sinéad Persaud & Yulin Kuang
- Director: Yulin Kuang
- Cinematography: Zack Wallnau
- Editor: Zack Wallnau
- Sound Mixer: Daniel Kloch
- 1st AC: Todd kappelt
- 1st AD: Victoria Tulk
- Set Decorator: Talia Levin
Production[]
The series was shot on a very small budget. All of the books shown were borrowed or taken for free from the library. The location was an inside corner of one of the houses used during Kissing in the Rain.[1]
Extras[]
There were two short promotion videos released before A Tell Tale Vlog; one promo video showed only Poe and the other video showed only Lenore. After the main seven parts of the series was released, there were a few other videos released as well. There is episode eight where Poe encounters a girl scout selling him cookies. Episode nine is a draw my life video of Edgar Allan Poe. And, episdoe ten is a draw my life video for Lenore. While it is not an offical part of A Tell Tale Vlog, there is also a video where Poe celebrates his birthday. The video was filmed around the same time, takes place first chronologicaly, and was the first appearance of Annabel Lee.
Trivia[]
- Jennifer Hwang drew the famous picture of Sean Persaud as Poe and a picture of a raven for the set.[2]
- A Tell Tale Vlog (ATTV) is the only Shipwrecked project to say f*ck.
- In each episode the caption to describe Lenore and Poe changes.
- Going in, they were unsure how many episodes they wanted. Sinéad was only sure that she wanted to have a roommate/roommate breakup episode. [1]
- The drive that held all the footage for ATTV was corrupted, so they ended up having to pay $300 to get it back.[1]
- For Sean's role, he was told to read The Raven and improvise.[2] He learned he would be playing this part the morning of the day that they filmed it. [3]
- Lenore wears a necklace from Yulin throughout the series. And, her dress is from one of Yulin's roommates who collects wedding dresses[2]
- Episdoe eight was the sketch that started the creation of Shipwrecked Comedy.
- Sinéad wrote her part of ATTV while working as a page for The Tonight Show.[1]
- When the series was being uploaded, Sinéad was temping at NBC's Accounting and Business office. And, she would watch the view count on video's go up. [1]
- Under each Youtube episode, the Shipwrecked account would reply in character to commenters as either Poe or Lenore.