IQ-145: It’s Not That Easy Being Green

Talk all you want about greenscreen production being the new wave of the future, but face it: it’s been a bumpy ride. For every Sanctuary (the popular web series recently picked up by SciFi) there’s a Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (the unfortunate feature starring Gwyneth Paltrow and Jude Law). And now we have IQ-145, a new web series which falls somewhere in the middle.

IQ-145 is the brainchild of Emmy-nominated cinematographer Billy Dickson and producer Chad Cooperman.  Inspired by the Internet’s cresting potential for creative content, Dickson shot the 12-webisode run during his hiatus from directing One Tree Hill, using several OTH alums and a then-unknown actor named Thomas Dekker.  Dekker has, of course, since raised his profile slightly, playing some guy named John Connor in a little blip of a show called Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.  So by the time IQ-145 officially launched in May, it didn’t just have impressive technical specs; it had some bona-fide star power to raise its profile.

About those technical specs: Wow.  90% of the show’s props and sets owe their existence to a combo of greenscreen, CGI, and 1000 shots of hi def photography.  Sure, there’s the occasional glitch lining up performers and mattes – at one point, an actor seems to enter by passing through a solid glass window – but overall, it looks gorgeous. Content-wise, things are a bit more uneven. The storytelling is aggressively nonlinear; one can only hope the pieces of the puzzle come together eventually. And the old uncovering-the-path-of-a-dead-genius-father storyline is a pretty well worn trope. Plus, while we are told that Nate Palmer, our hero, has an IQ of 145, the first four episodes haven’t given him any opportunity to display any sort of intelligence at all (other than some ponderously wordy voiceover).

Still, there are enough glimmers of intrigue to keep watching, and the technological artistry alone should keep most webheads very happy. The control module is slick and fun to navigate, even throwing in the occasional clever clue for those paying attention. And they are paying attention; the site’s forums have 350+ active users. Not bad for a show that launched just over a month ago.

Stay tuned.