So That's What Happened to Baseball Cards

Back on Topps is a continuing comedy web series that airs every Tuesday and Thursday. To briefly summarize the plot, twin brothers Leyland and Lief Topps, heirs to the Topps sports card company, find out that their uncle has sold the family owned business to Michael Eisner. Aside from not only having the company being sold out from under them, the sinister Gaylen Briggs was hired as their boss in order to raise company revenue. Each episode consists of Lief and Leyland scheming up different ways to make Topps profit, giving the viewer a behind the scenes look into world of baseball cards.
The series becomes quite funny as the episodes progress. Back On Topps contain all of the elements that are found in what is becoming a standard web series (whatever that may be). Each episode can stand on its own and has a different plot than those that precede it. At the same time characters and references to jokes in previous shows tie each episode together connecting the series. This type of connection works well for the Internet because the interlocking of jokes and references create an ongoing illusion of time and interaction, while the brevity of each episode allows the audience to get what they want and leave. While the humor is very similar to that of The Office, or 30 Rock, the show brings a new face to a very dry yet clever breed of humor.
While each episode averages between six and seven minutes, each show presents a dilemma, solution and final outcome. Twice a week Topps viewers receive two storylines whenever they decide to log on. While the average television show will air once a week for twenty-two minutes plus commercials, I can’t help but wonder what’s a greater bang for your buck. I bring this question to surface because before and after each episode there is an advertisement for Skype, the webisode’s sponsor. While this seems reasonable, in several of the episodes the characters plug Skype openly and blatantly within the plot. While I thought that shamelessly plugging the show’s sponsor in the middle of an episode was just comic effect, the repetition of advertisements in multiple episodes is very peculiar. While product placement is apparent in every form of media, this type of marketing takes the viewer away from the show. It also makes me wonder if this type of advertising will become a regular trend in this newly recognized realm of television.
Overall I would definitely recommend Back on Topps to other viewers. By the third episode, I was completely hooked and found the characters very relatable. While “office” humor is becoming a popular trend in television comedy, this show offers it’s own brand of sarcasm and lyrical slapstick that I have not seen in a very long time. While I am also not sure I agree with the sponsor’s advertising concepts, the show has a much higher production value in both aesthetics and dialogue then the majority of web television.

I don't like this blogmajigger, but Viralcom must be heard about!

Zach Graber
RTVF 65i
Webisode Review
Viralcom

“Viralcom” follows several interconnected story lines based within or around Viralcom Studios, which is a professional studio likened to the ones involved with major motion pictures except this studio exclusively produces viral videos. Unlike some web-series like “We Need Girlfriends,” this series does not seem to have much of a future with any other medium besides the Internet. This over the top and ridiculous comedic series preys on memes created through the Internet for its own humor and there is no doubt it is funny, but only if you get the references. Cameo appearances are made by Internet celebrities such as the guy from “Chocolate Rain” and YouTube webcam star username DaxFlame. There are also special guest co-stars such as Michael Showalter, from Stella, and Sam Reich, from Collegehumor.com, both of which have experience with producing content on the Internet. This is the quintessential piece of web content that criticizes web content.
Joey Mandarino and David Young are both comedy sketch artists who got their starts in New York City. After working with Comedy Central and making Variety Magazine’s “10 Comics to Watch for 2007” they decided to move out to LA where they produced this web series. A part from being the creators, writers, directors, and executive producers for the series, they also act as writers struggling to write a viral video that actually has a story. This is just one of several plotlines that climax at the viral video awards show, the “Webbys.”
The Webbys is where the web series really drives home its thoughts on viral videos. Basically everything that Viralcom spent millions of dollars to produce lost and two 12 year olds who were given some money to just be violent and rambunctious and video tape it swept the awards. This web series actually brought up one of the most pertinent topics in this class in regards to what is successful on the web with current technology. Viral videos get millions of hits, get tons of media attention, and even become memes that translate into life outside the computer, but amateur camera people produce almost all viral videos. Meanwhile, people with an education in this background, such as myself, struggle to get recognized in the same fashion without conceding their creative and professional vision. There is no doubt in my mind that sometimes two 12 year olds with a camera can do something that is worth watching, especially using a medium as casual as the internet, but this web-series really brings to light how impactful that can be on people like us.
In regards the technical mechanics involved, the absence of pixilation and good audio lead me to believe it was compressed in H264. I did notice some artifacts in episodes 2 and 10; episode 2 had strange horizontal lines whenever something on screen moved left or right and episode 10 had black that wasn’t as dark as the other episodes. This lead me to believe that either they employed a different person to perform the compression or if they experimented with other compression types. They didn’t particularly utilize any camera techniques as a result of shoot for a smaller screen, but the script was more of the focus than the actual visual content. They did use a really creative technique where they would shoot a viral video and purposely make it look like it was using the worst compression tool on the web (just like YouTube looked back in the day), then zoom out and fade the effect to normal H264 compression when the shot started to include all the behind the scenes action that was producing the viral video. In regards to distribution, a Google search will reveal that they have their own site that hosts all the webisodes at www.joeyanddavid.com and they also have a username specific only to this webseries at http://www.youtube.com/user/ViralcomSeries. However, their videos have also been found on other sites such as Collegehumor.com, funnyordie.com, and dailymotion.com.

More like a Drunken Debacle.

The real test of history in this webisode series is "can the narrator make it through with out vomiting?" Drunk History is an online video series that features inebriated people sharing their version of a specific event in history. The recounted stories are then re-enacted, by professional actors while the drunken commentary plays in the background. This webisode series is the brainchild of comedian and actor Derek Waters. An idea that stemmed from an evening of drinking and chit chat about music. Derek Waters, the genius behind it all, listened to close friend Jake Johnson babble on about legendary Otis Redding. “Otis Redding before he got on that plane knew he was going to die man,” said Jhonson. All Waters could imagine was Otis Redding sitting next to Johnson saying “man shut the f*@& up.” On the spot Derek knew he had something. The concept is drunk people talking about something they are passionate about (particularly history), but the comedy lies in how the story and celebrity reenactment occur. Derek Waters pitched the idea to long time friend and director Jeremy Konner, who loved it and immediately jumped on broad.

The intention behind these crazy drunken narratives was not to create a World Wide Web phenomenon, but to have some fun. Drunk History is a YouTube series, also appearing on Funnyordie.com. Within its first six months of being posted on Youtube, episode one, which is titled Hamilton vs. Burr; featuring Mark Gagliardi, a second city alum, as the narrator and Michael Cera, Arrested Development star, as Alexander Hamilton received 1.5 million views. The opening clips of each episode introduce the narrator as well as the amount of alcohol they have consumed before their story begins; “On August 6th, 2007 Mark Gagliardi drank a bottle of scotch and then discussed a famous historical event.” This is then followed by a smooth dissolve into our inebriated storyteller. Each episode, the narrator does the voiceover, as the viewers see flashbacks involving well-known actors, in full costume, mouthing the impromptu dialogue described by the narrator, including all expletives and sound effects.

As of the now there are only four episodes posted to YouTube, there have been rumors of a fifth episode coming soon, but with the fame this video short has brought Derek Waters his attention has been directed towards other projects. With each new episode the stories become more historically outlandish and farfetched, while the narrators consume more alcohol then the previous one. Additionally, better known actors are hoping aboard the reenactment train and the narrators are coming from the “common” circle of intelligent people. Episode two, narrated by Eric Falconer, tells the story of how Benjamin Franklin, played by Black Jack, discovered electricity highlighting that Franklin’s fame and fortune should be credited to his son William Franklin, played by Clark Duke. Episode three, features Jen Kirkman recapping the story of George Washington’s slave Oney Judge. George Washington is played by Danny McBride, Oney Judge is played by Tymberlee Hill. Episode four narrated by J.D. Ryznar depicts the story of William Henry Harrison, played by Paul Schneider.

One wonders where the humor can be found in this webisode series. First, who doesn’t enjoy being the sober one while a drunken idiot goes off on a tangent about something they are passionate and knowledgeable about. Second, since episode one, not many of the narrators have made it through an entire story without getting sick, or hiccupping. Eric Falconer, who appears in episode two, makes a dive into the bottom of the toilet bowl at least three times, but folks don’t worry if the sounds don’t gross you out the imagine just might. Jen Kirkman, from episode three, gets the hiccups the moment she opens her mouth, while setting the new world record for most minuets to hold ones breathe, but at the same time “honoring her (Oney Judge).” J.D Ryznar, episode four, is sure to wish his mother a happy mother’s day, after for mentioning he has “had a lot of booze.”; followed by a pause in the reenactment as Mr Ryznar up heaves his insides. The comedy behind Drunk History is found within an immature and yet, just take it as these people are idiots, thought process.

The style and medium of Drunk History is that of a homemade video, but with studio production quality. For this reason, there is no homepage site to visit. It is a YouTube series, and the fan base is all word of mouth and blog postings.

Drunk History is by no means going to replace American History taught in our school systems. Nor should the contents of the historical event, being told and reenacted visually, be taken as the only truth. The creativity behind Derek Waters Drunk History is the play on the narrator. Derek Waters, takes someone who is emotionally invested into a historical event, gives them an enormous amount of alcohol (which EVERYONE knows only intensifies emotions) and waits for the mix to explode. The real creative credit should be directed toward the actors, who word for word, as well as, action for action (hiccupping in Episode 3) is what seals the deal. Additionally, credit should go to Jeffrey Konner who edits and shoots this series in such a way to capture the “oops” and “hahah’s” of the narrator. Derek Waters is the genius behind the talent, but that’s as far as his name should go with in this webisode series.

Cooking With Rockstars

Cooking with Rockstars is the side project of Jennifer Robbins, the producer, host, and sometimes editor of the show. Cooking with Rockstars is exactly what it sounds. Every once in a while when Jen gets a chance she will sit down one of her favorite musicians for an interview but unlike any other interview, this conversation is about food. CWR is primarily a music show where the artists get to talk about themselves, and secondly a cooking show where they teach Jen and the viewers how to cook. Every featured guest on the show has to contribute a recipe. Some are as simple as toast, others are intricately detailed recipes that can feed up to 28 people! Some starts are interviewed outside of a venue or in a diner, while others get the opportunity to actually cook in a kitchen in front of a camera.

Since this show is very much content oriented the quality definitely takes a back seat. Like any good web show there aren't any fast movements or weird angels, this show is very straight on. Most of the time it is a two shot of Jen and the featured artist and their respective close-ups. For other shows where the artists get to cook the visuals become much more interesting. For example, the All For Nots episode includes close-ups of the food that is being prepared and cooked. There are also reaction shots and cutaways, all of which makes the show that much more visually interesting. The episodes are edited in Final Cut and posted on her website along with Blip.tv. Along with footage of the host and the guest, the show includes footage of the artist performing Jen's website, www.cookingwithrockstars.com, is a great tool that enhances the web show. Attached to each episode is the recipe information about the artist, links to their music and a discography. There is also some behind the scenes information about the episode that tells who shot and edited the episode along with where the interview took place.

Unlike most other web shows this one does not have a story arc, it doesn't have a narrative. In short, it is not a series. Every episode can stand on it's own with out others. Another interesting part is that this show was started in 2002, earlier then most content for the web, back when the internet was still a baby. As a cooking show and as a music show it definitely accomplishes it's goals. After watching the show I feel more informed about some of my favorite artists and I get the urge to go in the kitchen and start cooking,

As for marketing and advertising for the show I feel that because of the nature of the show it would be very simple. Any one who like indie music or food would love this show. This is especially attractive to young folks who like to try new food and flavors.

Good Web-Series, Now Just Make It For The Web

The web-series Break A Leg – The Sitcom is a good well-written series. The show is about a new writer who gets his show picked up by a network. The only problem is that the producer he gets is a moron who has no funding for the show along with no real set. All of the characters in the show are well developed such as Jennifer, a man hired as an artistic director that is always cutting a piece of fruit but never actually eating it, and Sebastian, the producer who always has a hands-free phone device and an energy drink in his hand. The cast is not just faced with no funding though. There is a threat of a tabloid publishing information about the actors in Break A Leg and the actors threaten to leave the show if the information gets published. Not only does this poor writer have to deal with a moronic producer and director, fundraising, and re-writing scenes because they casted two people who are the same person but the writer is the only one that realizes this, he has to deal with this circus of cast members who are threatening to walk at any moment.
Although Break A Leg – The Sitcom is well written, it is produced for TV not for the web. Each episode of the series is a 13 minutes act of a three act show, for instance there is episode one act one, act two, and act three. With each act being about thirteen minutes long I found myself loosing interest by the end. This show is also shot to be on TV as well. The lighting is nothing great and even worked the lights into the script so we see some lights in the shots and the audio just isn’t great at times. The way it was shot is done in a way of Arrested Development or The Office, which Break A Leg is styled after. I like stuff that is shot like The Office but it does not transfer well into the internet video and compression world. Break A Leg has a lot of wide hand held shots and slam zooms. All the movement in the frame of view does not compress well and you can see a lot of artifacts in the video. The style is there and it would look good on a TV but we are not viewing this show on TV and that is something the director should have taken into account when shooting this series.
Break A Leg – The Sitcom is a worthy mention of a web-series to check out if you want a laugh. The comedy is funny and the gags are pretty good. If you are looking for a show like Arrested Development look no further. The writing is there to make this a good series and the writing is what holds this series up because the production is such low budget. Although the quality of the production is a little lacking and close ups are missing this is a good web series to check out if you want something new and funny.

Brawny Production Style

A true test of manhood is displayed in Brawny Academy, a reality webisode series that puts a group of men who are trying to make themselves more rugged, more affectionate and more caring for their women. Created by two husband-wife teams, they have produced a series that explores the true emotion of men.

Located in the redwoods of California, this competition places eight-men who compete to win prizes and improve themselves at the same time. They are split into two groups of four and asked to complete in competitions that best describes the work that their spouses do on a consistent basis. Through it all they learn to better themselves for their wives but especially for themselves. They learn things that lead to a lot of emotional outbursts as well as a lot of male bonding.

This webisode is extremely creative and explores the ways that men think about themselves. The quality of this show is extremely high and they achieved their goal of showing manly activities, but at the same time making the men better for their girlfriends. It is a very emotional show as the men go from big-tough guys to emotional caring boyfriends and husbands. A thing that is evident during the whole season is the product placement. Everything that the men do to clean anything, to write anything they are using Brawny Paper towels. It is actually extremely funny to watch.

The techniques that the creaters use to shoot this are very unique and interesting at the same time. Every time an interview is shot, they shoot close but they are able to show a lot of action in a very interesting way. They film it so that they are right up in the face of the individual, instead of very wide shots. This is interesting because it is not annoying or distracting at all. During every competition they will follow the individuals and take everyone from point A to point B.

A consistent thing that all reality shows do is add twists and turns. This is apparent in this piece as well. Two men who were sent with the original eight-men in the beginning were hired by Brawny to act as life “distractions”. They were put on the show to make the men mess up and this is supposed to translate into real-life scenarios. They create this very well because until the time you know they keep you guessing.

This is a very unique and entertaining show. It explores something that you don’t see on a television show. The way they go about shooting and creating this show is interesting and very cool. I was happy to stumble onto this show and was eager to watch every episode. It showed me the true feelings that men think and the will power that they have to achieve a goal of becoming a better male-partner for their wife or girlfriend.

Review - FLY Webisode

Episode 6

In the webisodes FLY fabulously creative, the host travels all across the East coast to show woman young girls or anyone else interested the creativity associated with fashion. This can be found on the FLY website at flygirls.typepad.com or where they are released. Andrea, the host in her first episode, traveled along the streets of Manhattan to show her viewers where she purchases her favorite, fabulous, and cheap earrings. This episode is incredibly short compared to the others since it was a pilot. It involved her and her camera operator following her as she walked up to a kiosk in New York. They did some zoom close ups of the earrings but never got any interviews.

In the second webisode, Andrea travels to a small shop called Rare Device, the shots are varied creating interesting perspective of not only the walk to the shop but the street signs, and Andrea herself entering the shop. They have an interview with the owner Rena Tom, and the camera operator goes in for close ups and varies up the interview with b-roll of the store and all the unique creative fashion peices that Rena has put up for purchase. This episode also introduces great opening graphics for the show that the first webisode did not have. The credits were cut back and forth from graphics and special thanks to b-roll of Andrea walking on the sidewalk outside. This episode I think was the best out of all of the other 3, it used graphics, titles, great close up of clothes, earings, pillows, purses, and candles that the shop was filled with. It really looked quite perfessional.

The next episode, number 3, was when Andrea went to the Renegade Craft Fair, she explored tons of booths of home made clothes, jewelry and even gets up close and personal with the makers. Through the use of interviews a lot of close ups on the clothing are used to show how each of the details is created, while the creator discusses the method in voice over. Many different angles were used and flash backs from the previous episode too, a pillow used in Rare Device, the creator was found at the fair. In the next few episodes, Andrea crews the webisodes herself, so the quality tends to be lost from that of the second episode, however she does get great varied shots of clothes, creators, and herself living in the action.

The other pretty great webisode that FLY put out were not as great as the second and third however the shot scale and the use of interviews and broll make the webisodes look up to the perfessional quality that they should. You would most likely see Andrea's show FLY Girls on Bravo or TLC maybe in the future, it illuminates the art of creativity and peoples joy of finding whats hot without burning holes in their pockets.

POST BY MEG

Brawny Academy's Product Placement

This is a hilariously clever ad, and a new twist on product placement.  This webisode, which can be seen if you click here, is a reality show (which is aesthetically shot for television, and not so much the internet) about a group of rough-looking guys who were sent to a camp by their girlfriends and wives, so they can learn how to "clean up" their act.  These men are slobs, and don't appear to be hungry for the lime light of television either.  Their attitudes seem to be genuine and real, which is rather rare in a reality show.  Perhaps when the producers of this series were casting, it was easier to find REAL people, because the contestants signing up to do this, were going into it knowing it wasn't going to air on television... but that's besides the point I'm trying to make.

Anyway, the Brawny paper towel company decided to give life and meaning to their Brawny Man mascot, and have cleverly done so by giving him a real life character (the hose of the web show, Mr. Brawny Man himself) and of course his own series.

Each episode opens with the Brawny Man doing some ridiculous masculine act, and then greeting the audience as if he hasn't seen them, "walk in."  It then goes straight to a glimpse of the contestants and their living conditions, where it is messy and is in need of fixing, so they are given a competitive task to win a prize, like living in a nice cabin for a night, versus having to clean and then sleep in a messy, stinky one.  They are also given obstacles to better appreciate their girlfriends and wives, as they have to multitask with baby dolls in their hands and cleaning with Brawny paper towels...

And so there lies the point of the blog, the paper towels.  The Brawny company planned a whole entire web series to advertise the usefulness of their product.  If a Brawny paper towel can make these messy men clean, then by golly gosh, why wouldn't you buy it for YOUR man to use?  It'll teach him a thing or two about tidying up!

It isn't just the web series with the placement, but the whole website itself too.  The opening page has the Brawny Man right smack in the middle of it, and behind him, an unravelled paper towel.  Because the series takes place in the woods, the site has a "woodsy" theme to it.  There are birds chirping and woodland creatures that friggin blink their eyes.  It has a very Earthy feel to it, which could be (by speculation) a subliminal way to make the consumer think that Brawny is paper, it's natural, comes from wood, and the woods are clean and pure.  But hey, I don't know.

This is a brilliant advertisement.  It's very original, and I haven't seen any other major company conduct an ad campaign like this, (not to say that another one doesn't exist though).

Bravo Brawny, you brilliant sons of bitches!

Review -- "Inspiring Politics: The John Edwards Webisodes"

Duly titled the “Missing John Edwards Webisodes” on YouTube, this series of documentary shorts chronicling the political life of the handsome Southern Democrat leading up to the 2008 presidential race, are a mixed-bag. Originally posted in the fall of 2006, the series of four webisodes produced by little known filmmaker, Rielle Hunter, were pulled from the Edwards website after allegations of a sex scandal surfaced between Edwards and Hunter. Ironically, Edwards promptly removed these webisodes form his website at roughly the same time he announced his candidacy in the 2008 presidential race.

“Inspiring Politics: The John Edwards Webisodes” reappeared on the web in the fall of 2007 in the middle of the former North Carolina Senator’s ultimately failed campaign for the hotly contested Democratic nomination. Despite the hiatus and its production being cut off abruptly following the release of the fourth webisode, the “John Edwards Webisodes” are a unique study in verite video production for the web: these webisodes are rooted in clearly biased, political news coverage and are a complete departure from the generally outlandish comedy stylings of the bulk of webisodes produced today.

As established at the outset of the first webisode, Edwards aims to show the American people who he really is, rebuffing his traditional “Ken doll,” plastic politician image not only in his political tour – which is just a thinly-veiled pre-presidential campaign warm up – but also through the production of these webisodes. The first webisode starts with Edwards on a plane, en route to a tour stop in Iowa, describing and outlining an upcoming speech, which focuses on some of Edwards’ key policy and moral issues. The bulk of this webisode is nicely and timely intercut between Edwards talking about his speech on the plane and snippets of him delivering that very speech at a conference, adding real power and effect to Edwards’ words, making the viewer feel that he really believes what he’s saying. Edwards’ disclosure lends a strong sense of authenticity to the first webisode as he’s just sitting and talking to the documentary crew and his staff about what he believes in – we hear about it and then we see it. Properly exposed and generally well-composed camera work shot in a guerilla, documentary style further this sense of realism in the first chapter as the audience is just getting to know the real Edwards, who as it turns out, is a remarkably charismatic and engaging speaker on camera and in front of an audience.

The second webisode offers more of the same from the first, but the third webisode follows Edwards to Africa for a visit to war-torn Uganda. In this installment, Edwards is pictured landing in the destitute, third-world African nation to draw attention to Uganda’s largely unknown crisis. As in all of these webisodes, the audio quality is top-notch, and is really put on display by bedding one, long traditional song recorded from a group of natives who are walking side by side with Edwards under a sharply cut montage of establishing shots. Footage of rundown huts and people carry and pumping water set the tone of the scene: these people need our help and the world needs to know about Uganda’s struggle. Edwards, on the other hand, is not nearly as convincing. Rather, Edwards delivers a slightly altered version of the same, generic, do-nothing political rhetoric that most politicos use when they want to make a good impression without any intention or hope of making any measurable difference on important issues, assuring the villagers that he is going to do his best to spread awareness of their terrible struggle and that help is on the way. This webisode does nothing to endear the viewer to Edwards as a non-plasticized, pretty boy politician, a key failing for the show. Making matters worse, the filmmakers choose to show every one of these bogus statements in its entirety, hugely detracting from the overall quality and effect of an otherwise well-developed and constructed show. In contrast to the rest of the series, the third installment propagates the more widely accepted and often sensationalized view of John Edwards as a liberal, Democratic member of the upright citizen’s brigade.

Encoded and compressed for YouTube in Flash Video (FLV), the video stream is relatively artifact-free and features crisp audio with limited crunchy distortion from compression. Most shots incorporate some significant movement, which can pose a problem for compression codecs, but doesn’t seem to detract much, if anything, from this series of webisodes. Produced in true verite style, this series does not appear to have required much significant work in post as the producers throw in carefully timed jump cuts in every webisode. All things considered, these webisodes were handled properly for disseminating and posting on websites like YouTube, MySpace etc.

The real strength of this webisode series lies in its simplicity and reliance on its only character, John Edwards. While these webisodes have their shortcomings, I would say that on the whole, this series really does accomplish its objective of showing its viewers, the American people, who John Edwards really is. And for the most part, I guess he’s not so bad after all.

Review - The Guild: watchtheguild.com

"The Guild" was created by Felicia Day who also plays the lead, Codex, in the show. It was created "by gamers, for gamers, and about gamers." The humor in the show comes mostly from knowing what they are talking about, there are a lot of "inside jokes."

The webisode is about a group of online gamers who play online for thousands of hours together but have never actually met in real life even though they live in the same neighborhood. The over all story line is about Codex and her accidental online romance with guild member Zaboo. Zaboo shows up at her door confessing his love to her but she has no idea what to do with him. She requests the help of the guild the get Zaboo out of her house and they finally meet in real life.

The underling story is that of the Guild bank. Vork, the guild leader, decides to give the weakest member of the guild, Bladezz, the bank, but when Bladezz gets left out a the guild meeting he turns against them.

At the beginning of every episode Codex talks directly to the camera, her web cam. Most of the other shots are MCU's of the other guild members sitting in front of their computers. This works very well for the web since there is not a lot of movement, the picture quality is pretty good. Each episode is about 5 minutes long and its main audience is the one million people on World of Warcraft as well as other online gamers.

Review - Clark & Michael - www.clarkandmichael.com

"Clark and Michael" on the surface appears to be the search for former "Arrested Development" star Michael Cera to find an online venue for his awkward mannerisms and shy yet humorous demeanor. This web show, upon a closer viewing, proves that the duo of Cera and Clark Duke on a small screen may be a more successful venue for this type of humor than the boob tube was for "Arrested Development," without losing any of the much desired fast-paced humor and deep character and story development.

The story revolves around the desire of these two teens to pitch and gain fame from a television script they devise based on their own lives. The web show is shot on handheld camera, with all of the quick moves and zooms immediately recognized from "Arrested Development." On the small computer screen, the rack focuses and quick cutaways do not ruin the experience. The video quality is really great. The compression is clearly high-quality and there is little artifacting on screen. Close-ups and two-shots are many, lending this show to the small screen as well. Cleverly, the shaky camera moves are integrated into the show with the explanation that the teens hired a film crew to document their journey to fame, at their own expense.

The witty, off-beat humor takes place, primarily, in the apartment that Clark and Michael seem to be living on their own in. This is a huge part of the comedy: that this show consists of two teenagers living, dressing, and interacting like adults, with other adults. They are out there, alone in the market for a job, which makes for some hilarious web television! The apartment location, along with the exteriors and other locations - including offices and bars - are beautifully and professionally lit.

A second element to the success of this show are the random, quirky characters. In the first episode, Clark and Michael's neighbor Randy makes an appearance, and I instantly recognize him as the Mayor from Adult Swim's "Tom Goes to the Mayor." In a random and awkward scene, Randy clearly yearns for the boys' friendship, and invites them to a pasta party in his apartment, promising them 15 varieties of pasta. The boys let him down easy, "its not about variety Randy," and Randy's face of rejection as the door closes on him is hilarious. This web show has a constant, fresh stream of these awkward, funny moments.

Clark and Michael succeed in producing many episodes of this web series in this fashion because they are likable characters and we learn about them as they address each other and talk into the camera. Awareness of the documentary camera is also funny. After the teens are caught crying in the bathroom after an executive passed on their script, they are then scene screaming at who appears to be a PA on the set, "WHAT DOES OUR CONTRACT SAY? NO BATHROOM STUFF! WHY WOULD YOU FILM THIS?"

And so, an executive passed on the boys' script, but after episode 1, it is clear they have only begun to fight for fame. With high quality video and audio, well-framed for the computer screen, this web show definitely has the fast humor and camera work, along with the character and story necessary to captivate its audience for each approx 10 minute webisode. "Clark & Michael" use the elements that made "Arrested Development" so funny, and perfectly transitions them for the web, to prove that television definitely has a life on the Internet.



Webisode Pitch: I would pitch a webisode of "Clark & Michael" as two young kids posing as adults, full of quirky humor as they try to sell a television script they are writing. It's like "Seinfeld" meets "Arrested Development." Lots of awkward moments and embarrassing humor that only these two actors, Michael Cera and Clark Duke, could perfectly deliver.

Review: We Need Girlfriends

Episode 5

As far as webisodes go, this series is the best example. Brian Amyot, Angel Acevedo and Steven Tsapelas wrote, produced and posted this series based on their actual lives and their trials and tribulations in the dating game. With recent profiles on Yahoo! and Slate, the DIY group, recently out of college at Hofstra University, revel in their new found fame. Self proclaimed as the "anti-entourage," the guys have not changed their demeanor. The three still represent all that is good about DIY producers.

What isn't taken into account in any of the reviews is how exactly the show is produced. Slate reviewed the show under its television heading. Think about that for a second, television... on the web. This is truly a breakthrough. Though the show has been picked up for a pilot on CBS, it still exists solely as web based programming. The show was designed and housed inside its own website, We Need Girlfriends and also on the Ragtag Site. The guys used
YouTube.com and Myspace.com as their launch platforms for promotion. The guys had said that because there was not budget to speak of, they used their resourceful DIY production skills to ask bands to supply the soundtrack. This also allowed cross promotion of the show.

Resourcefulness is what the group prided themselves on. With just story and talented camera work, the group created an 11 episode story that caused their ever growing fan to demand more Henry, Rod and Tom stories.

The quality comes from their talented camera work and editing. In episodes 5 and 6, you can break down the episodes shots into an amazing layout of brilliant composure. The shots were planned out much like a filmmaker would layout the shots. Vectors in and vectors out; shot/counter shot; timing to a pace; and matched action editing. The factor to really pay attention to though is the framing and composure of the shots. The group knew before writing the script what the size of the screen would be. This would not be a theater projection or even a broadcast, but rather a small 480 pixel screen on a computer monitor. (Any bigger and it gets fuzzy.)

They shot closer up, they used standard horizontal shots and minimized the movement inside the frame. When asked, Angel said the actual consideration of movement in the frame was not really taken into consideration. The question arose because of the knowledge that the more action that moves in the frame, the more the video compression falls apart. The techniques were second nature to these film producers, but should be thought about by all television makers.

This webisode series is an example of a television renaissance. TV is a close up medium. And now TV is demanding of close ups because the screen size demands it. All in all though, the story is what makes We Need Girlfriends high in quality, Brian, Angel and Steve support it with their producing talent.

Where we begin

The subject of television for the web is fairly new. When we think back through the history of web television, we find that it really begins after iPod video was introduced in October of 2005. ABC/Disney were the first to cash in profits by repurposing television shows to iTunes and the web.
With the lack of budgets and the savvy of web showcasing, many television producer wannabes and DIY filmmakers created quality content for the internet. Previously, the content on the web was that of the world of video: low quality with little or no thought to content and storyline. Now, we are experiencing television, actually episodes, or webisodes, being produced solely for the web.
Ragtag Productions, a group of three DIY filmmakers, created the web series We Need Girlfriends. After a year run, the show was picked up to be made into a television series produced by Darren Starr. (Zap2it Report) A first of its kind deal, it was followed by the purchase of Quarterlife to NBC. The show did not do well on broadcast television. We Need Girlfriends will air in October of 2008 and we'll see how it does.
In the meantime, more and more shows are being produced for the web. This is where we will review and critique "twebivision."