The characters in Absentia showcases six different corners of Melbourne that attempt to highlight six various cultures, lifestyles and ultimately, personas that make up the bulk of the series.
From the bright lights of the city, to the quite serenity of the suburbs, Absentia showcases a versatile backdrop that deploys Melbourne as a unique foreground character in itself that depicts the lives of Jack, Brittany (Jess), Ingrid, Jenny, Max, Thannassis – and Hitch (the linking protagonist).
In effect, the various surroundings that out characters find themselves placed in conjures up common themes such as friendship, love, adversity, loss of identity and finally, the struggle of fitting in – something that most Melbournians and non-Melbournians can relate too.
When discussing of an idea when we first met a s group, Paul came up with a concept similar to the UK tv series “Skins” of an Anthology Series that could be watched in any order with the viewer still able to understand the concept or the story line no matter what. We eventually drew inspiration from shows such “Orange is the New Black” that utilised the anthology structure.
Moreover, one thing that Melbourne seems to be lacking is having a show that highlights the uniqueness and cultural characteristics of our city – a market that had not been tapped into yet.
In effect, we all decided that to create a TV series of this particular genre, we would have six or seven different characters from all across Melbourne that would details the various surroundings and environments, with the city being its own persona or if not character in the series.
Therefore, we have six characters from different walks of life that embody a different part of Melbourne in their own unique way that all connected by a common theme – death.
It was important for us to create a series independent from linearity -if someone was to start the series at any point; there’d be no confusion.
Therefore, the following had to have been achieved:
-Adapting non-linear sequence by eliminating any dependency on time
– Allowing the audience to watch the series from any particular order without it being confusing or misrepresented.
– Creating a pilot around Hitch’s funeral, an opportunity for all 6 characters to assemble in one location and for us to explore the ties that will be delved into in future episodes
-A series finale collaborated by group as collection of each protagonist’s favourite/last memories with Hitch
– Maintain consistency of language and writing style, Paul put together our scenes into a full episode script
-And finally providing a series gives closure to each protagonist in final episode through reminiscence of what’s been lost.
With universal themes of love, friendship, death and loos of identity, Absentia is a product that many people from Melbourne can relate too.
In effect, Absentia is subsequently a binge series that would be suitable to a product such as Netflix. the ability for consumers to watch as many episodes as they want in any order possible was an appealing factor before we began the collaboration process, a factor that in todays world, people want to watch a series wherever and whenever they like.