Indie Spotlight: ‘The Invisible Man’ Provides Dark Adaptation Of H.G. Wells

We receive a ton of tips every day from independent creators, unaffiliated with any major motion picture studios, television networks, new media studios, or other well-funded online video entities. The Indie Spotlight is where we’ll write about and shout out to a select few of them and bring you up to speed on the great (and sometimes not-so-great) attention-grabbing series you probably haven’t heard about until now.  Read previous installments here. 

The popularity of The Lizzie Bennet Diaries has spawned a number of imitative series that adapt classic literature in a vlog format. This week, though, we’re taking a look at a lit adaptation without any gimmicks. It’s called The Invisible Man, it adapts the H.G. Wells story of the same name, and it eschews modern touches in favor of polished filmmaking.

Waterfoot Films, the studio behind The Invisible Man, funded their project with a 2011 Kickstarter campaign and shot it across the United States in Florida, North Carolina, and Colorado. While the original story takes place in England, Waterfoot has set their version in the Rocky Mountains, where a mysterious man covered head-to-toe in clothing checks into a small-town hotel.

Viewers familiar with the source material will be familiar with all of the twists that follow, but you don’t need to have read Wells’ novella to appreciate this version of The Invisible Man. Waterfoot has taken care to shoot their web series with elegance and style, and skilled actors add plenty of subtlety to their respective performances. Check out all five episodes on YouTube.

OTHER UNDER-THE-RADAR SERIES TO CHECK OUT

• This Is Why You’re Single. Get into the holiday spirit with this web comedy’s version of Twas the Night Before Christmas.
• About Us. Three friends navigate their respective dating lives in Los Angeles.
• L.A. Nites. Characters wander through drug-induced hazes in this dark web series.
• Ken Burns: Santa Claus. The team at Ruffian Studios has applied Ken Burns’ idiosyncratic technique to the story of Santa.

Got a series you’d like to see featured in the Indie Spotlight? Be sure to contact us here. For best coverage, please include a full episode in your e-mail.