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Post by Srini Madhavan on Oct 29, 2013 6:28:39 GMT
I have a few quick questions for people:
If you didn't have any issues with regards to money/favours in producing a drama series on the web, would you rather produce the half hour drama like those popping up on the web, or would you opt for the hour-long (i.e. 40-60 minutes) show?
Given lots of people (myself included) watch all their TV on a computer through netflix or *ahem* other online sources, do you still think there would be a stigma towards the length of an episode, like there seems to be on youtube? Or do you think audiences (including ourselves) are warming up to the idea of long-form web content with House of Cards, Orange is the New Black and similar shows paving the way?
(sorry, long questions)
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Post by RJ Alden Lackie on Nov 15, 2013 4:52:08 GMT
I'd prefer hour-long to half-hour. Though I think every length has strengths and weaknesses, I feel like it's a more natural length for a dramatic episode - see HoC, OINtB and other web-dramas doing similar. Maybe it's not inherent and more about my own sensibilities; if the industry had trained itself to do half-hour drama and hour-long comedy for 50+ years, perhaps the assumptions would be on the other foot.
I do think, if a show is more comedically-skewed or has less overhead, the half-hour drama works plenty well - see how Tom East balances things in his half-hour script series Easy on VPN. It's definitely doable.
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Post by RJ Alden Lackie on Apr 30, 2014 20:06:15 GMT
Sarah Shelson, Wil Noack, Megan MacKay - You guys wrote, produced and directed the pilot for The March Family Letters. I'd love to know if you'd be willing to chat about your experiences while producing it and offer some wisdom from the set? I expect y'all might even have some behind the scenes content discussing said subjects?
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Post by Megan MacKay on May 2, 2014 22:42:51 GMT
Sarah Shelson, Wil Noack, Megan MacKay - You guys wrote, produced and directed the pilot for The March Family Letters. I'd love to know if you'd be willing to chat about your experiences while producing it and offer some wisdom from the set? I expect y'all might even have some behind the scenes content discussing said subjects? I think for us the most important part was getting the character dynamic down. Wil and Sarah picked some really talented actors who had a solid dynamic, and they totally nailed the (already very awesome) script. Once we had the character dynamic down we let the actors do a pass undirected, and then we'd try to figure out the best way to make Sarah's jokes pop without micromanaging the actors. Usually they'd nail it (we were blessed with a hilarious cast) but I think most of the day was spent really unpacking key comedic moments and making sure the line came across in just the right way. I think it was a really collaborative experience, and I don't THINK I've been fired yet, so that's good news. Wil and Sarah can probably speak more to the development of the script and casting
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Post by RJ Alden Lackie on May 3, 2014 6:39:39 GMT
Megan MacKay, how did you prepare for the shoot? What kinds of materials (storyboards, etc.) did you do ahead of time? Is there anything you wish you'd done, or would do differently next time, to prepare for shooting a webseries episode? On the day, was there much shot (for example, for the comedic montage) that you ultimately didn't use? And also - how involved were you (if at all) with the editing process for the episode? (Feel free to shoot down any questions you'd prefer not answer, of course. )
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Post by Srini Madhavan on May 11, 2014 12:12:33 GMT
Loved both episodes that are out! I'm looking forward to future episodes. I'm keen on learning how you write for vlog-type shows, where it's supposed to be edited stream of consciousness, in a way. Do you just keep writing and then chop down considerably, or is a lot of it ad-libbed, with some scripted stuff peppered in?
A question from a broader perspective of developing webseries in general - Both in your experiences as creators as well as viewers, do you think that series intended to be viewed on Youtube work best when they embrace the unique aesthetic the medium seemingly gave rise to?
For example, the vlogging style - it's been used either entirely or partially in really successful series such as The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, The Guild, etc. In contrast, shows like VGHS opted to go for a more TV/movie type style. Honestly, as a backer for VGHS S2, I preferred the download perk, watching it on VLC like I do most TV shows, rather than on Youtube as I do most webseries.
Wow, that was convoluted. I seem to have a talent for it. Basically, do you think certain aesthetic choices are more suited for the web, as opposed to being suited for TV?
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Post by Megan MacKay on May 22, 2014 1:06:20 GMT
Megan MacKay, how did you prepare for the shoot? What kinds of materials (storyboards, etc.) did you do ahead of time? Is there anything you wish you'd done, or would do differently next time, to prepare for shooting a webseries episode? On the day, was there much shot (for example, for the comedic montage) that you ultimately didn't use? And also - how involved were you (if at all) with the editing process for the episode? (Feel free to shoot down any questions you'd prefer not answer, of course. ) Prep was pretty light compared to most EFP shoots I've worked on. The vlog component meant there wasn't much to storyboard and/or include on a shot list, which was a sweet break for me because my storyboards are notoriously terrible (NEW SKILL TO WORK ON!) I did meet with Wil and our wonderful DOP Howard Wan to go over general aesthetics (colour, framing, etc.) I did a deep subtext read on the script to make sure I could direct the actors competently on the day. Walking through blocking is also big for me - when you're trying to tell a dynamic visual story without moving the camera, the burden of dynamism is 100% on the actor's shoulders, and I think these ladies crushed it. I'd definitely time out the scripts more thoroughly next time. I did read the script for time on my own at home, and I believe our table read was also timed. The episode ran a little bit longer than IPF standards dictate, and I think if I had directed the actors to speak a little quicker it would have been less of a problem. Faster delivery would also add a little bit of snap to the finished product. We actually used a lot of what we shot! A little bit of the montage got pruned for time, but the montage sequence was actually all one take. We just told the girls to improvise some sisterly play fighting and they delivered big time. We had a single day to shoot the whole episode and I think we got out a little bit early on the day because Cassidy and the Jesses were big time on the ball. As for editing, the whole team gave edit notes but Wil was the actual guy behind the keyboard, slaving away.
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Post by Megan MacKay on May 22, 2014 1:21:04 GMT
Loved both episodes that are out! I'm looking forward to future episodes. I'm keen on learning how you write for vlog-type shows, where it's supposed to be edited stream of consciousness, in a way. Do you just keep writing and then chop down considerably, or is a lot of it ad-libbed, with some scripted stuff peppered in? A question from a broader perspective of developing webseries in general - Both in your experiences as creators as well as viewers, do you think that series intended to be viewed on Youtube work best when they embrace the unique aesthetic the medium seemingly gave rise to? For example, the vlogging style - it's been used either entirely or partially in really successful series such as The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, The Guild, etc. In contrast, shows like VGHS opted to go for a more TV/movie type style. Honestly, as a backer for VGHS S2, I preferred the download perk, watching it on VLC like I do most TV shows, rather than on Youtube as I do most webseries. Wow, that was convoluted. I seem to have a talent for it. Basically, do you think certain aesthetic choices are more suited for the web, as opposed to being suited for TV? Sarah can probably speak a little bit more confidently about writing MFL specifically When I write videos for my own YT channel I like to play it super fast and loose. I tend to go in with a very loose script and I like to leave room for improvisation to make everything feel as natural and authentic as possible. Obviously this is a completely different scenario because I write, shoot, edit, and star in all my own stuff (I'm VERY talented, I know) but I think with the right cast and strong direction in the script, it's safe to leave yourself open to improv on a bigger set. As for your second question, I think just about anything will fly on Youtube. If your content is good and you market it properly, your Youtube video will find its audience. I don't know if I'd watch a pro-sumery/vlogging-type show on TV. Firstly,vlogging videos won't have all of the sexy production bells and whistles that a straight drama or sitcom would because you're staring at the same frame for the duration of the show. Secondly, I think TV is generally more voyeuristic than than a vlog show. With a vlog-type show, you get the sense that the creator is controlling the content. You're invited into their lives in this very controlled (though compelling) environment, and the creators act as gatekeepers throughout the show. TV comedies and dramas are voyeuristic by nature - the characters don't know you're watching them and a lot of the time these characters do things that they wouldn't want other people to see. I think that's a different type of escapism than what we look for on Youtube. That's also my argument for why television is never ever dying. Ever. (I hope.)
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Post by Sarah Shelson on May 23, 2014 19:39:29 GMT
Oh hello active thread I should probably reply to! (Is this how quotes work? I don't know. It's been years since I've been on a forum ) Megan is the exact opposite of fired. I don't know how we'd film awesome episodes without her (Which is why we've locked her in a closet of our offices so we ALWAYS know where she is) To answer Srini Madhavan 's (Is this how tagging works?) questions: Thank you! Glad you dug them! Sorry for the long wait until future episodes! As for how we go about our writing, our episodes are mostly scripted. So most of the cuts you see in the episode were already present in the script itself. This saves me from doing a lot of over-writing and from Wil having to sort through hours of footage (which we've learned in our production vlogs ) and allows us to incorporate it comedically, for general pacing of the episode, and for our actors to be able to memorize in chunks. Pure ad-lib isn't an option for us because we are not only a long-arching, plot-driven series but also an adaptation. So it's important that we're hitting the right character beats and that episodes advance plot that follows along with the book. I wouldn't be surprised if a series like Sexy Nerd Girl or a more strictly comedic series had a looser script like what Megan uses for her own videos and incorporated more ad-lib. Our production schedule also requires us to film multiple episodes in one day, so we can't spend a lot of time on set running through and trouble-shooting many variations of every scene. That said, I try and leave room in the script for the actors to improvise and we aren't strict about keeping actors to the script if they come up with something great on set. Both because our actors are ridiculously talented and to keep the material more natural. I don't think I could've written the montage sequence (which was all improvised) and have had it come out as good and as funny as it did. One of the things we looked for in our casting callbacks was improvisation skills for that precise reason. Something else to note for us is different characters have different vlogging styles. So Amy's video feels a lot different from the pilot not just visually but also in how I approach the script. Jo is very open and so while she thinks of the general topic of what she's going to talk about, she mostly just turns on the camera and says whatever's on her mind. She's more natural and spontaneous. Amy, on the other hand, when given full control of a video, wants to make sure everything is perfect. So in my head, she scripted out her responses beforehand and memorized them. She already knows where her cuts are going to be and how she's going to structure it. If she messes up, she redoes that section until it's to her liking. Everything is just a little too contrived and properly placed. I agree with Megan that I don't think a vlog-style series would do well on Television. So I do think that there are formats and aesthetic choices that are more suited for web as opposed to TV. That said, I don't think that a webseries needs to have vlogs to be successful on Youtube (even if I really enjoy them and those seem to be my favourite ones ). I think what's more important to making a webseries work (specifically on that platform) is to feel intimate. The work needs to connect with the audience on a different level than a tv show to keep them from clicking away to the millions of other distractions for them on the internet. Your closest competitors no Youtube are vloggers themselves (or cat videos ) and so you have to make that same intimate connection that they do with their audience. And that's different from a webseries aiming to be released on Hulu or Netflix where your direct competitors are tv shows. I love VGHS and watched it on the web, but it feels big and I bet it plays much better on a tv screen than on a computer screen.
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Post by RJ Alden Lackie on Jun 15, 2014 18:46:39 GMT
I want to check out Showtime's Web Therapy, actually - a TV show built around the premise of vlog-style Skype therapy sesssions, based on a webseries. So that's a look at webseries aesthetic brought to premium cable, interestingly enough. I have to say, in line with Srini Madhavan's concerns though, the main reason I've yet to check it out is uneasiness with how the aesthetics might port from web to TV. It doesn't seem like something that would be terribly smooth.
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Post by Srini Madhavan on Jun 21, 2014 3:39:22 GMT
Yeah it's a strange quirk - we're more than happy to watch TV shows and movies on our laptops, but not vice versa. I wonder whether it works for the premise.
To be fair, some movies do the vlog (or more often video diary) thing, so it isn't unheard of.
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Post by RJ Alden Lackie on Jun 21, 2014 8:42:43 GMT
It's especially odd when you consider the fact that I do 90% of my TV watching on my laptop! And I still can't leap that vlog hurdle. Haha.
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