mentatDUKE
Veteran
I've been inspired by the discussion on the Zacuto thread. Now that camera technology has basically become commoditized, we need to really shift our discussions to content-based problem solving. So here's a problem I think would be useful to think-tank.
What should we be thinking about when attempting to create a web series?
Why a webseries?
It's a format that is pretty close to TV. It's serial storytelling. I think serial storytelling is a good way to develop characters. Especially an ensemble cast. This is also well-suited to indies, production-wise, due to the fact that one can have some built in redundancy with cast. In an ensemble with multiple central characters, an actor can drop out to take a better paying gig (or be fired). I imagine his or her character can be written out gracefully in a farewell episode, and the focus can shift to other characters. One can also try to shake up the cast, creatively, by introducing and event to force the story to follow a different group of characters.
A webseries also has a better chance at building a "sticky" audience. Since content would be released frequently, they'd keep "following" the work and coming back for more (either weekly or at least semi-weekly.... ok. monthly?). A sticky audience is an easier to monetize audience.
Last reason for a webseries instead of an indie feature - manageable story-scale. Films today have differentiated their product based on spectacle. Effects-driven, event movies rule the megaplexes. And for good reason I suppose. Character-driven drama and comedy have all moved to television and are doing quite well there.
Since indies can't compete with spectacle, why not compete with character? Deep mythology? Long, nuanced character arcs? Yeah. I think we can do that and add in a few visual effects to keep things spicy.
Production Logistics
Ok. So you say you wanna make a webseries. How can one affordably and realistically do so? Would this be easier or harder than the $10,000 indie feature challenge that has been discussed previously?
Well.... that's a good question. A 10k feature, I assume, would be shot in one big sprint. You have your cast and your crew now, and you want to get out of production and into post as soon as possible.
If that's the case, maybe a webseries should be 15-20k (for the 1st season at least). Hey! That's more expensive! Yeah, but you get a longer audience engagement and significantly more content. Since a feature is 90 minutes, you could say that gives you ten 9-minute episodes of a webseries. If you're doing a comedy, I'd say you should shrink that runtime down to maybe 5-minutes. 5-minute episodes would give you almost 20 episodes per season. That's a LOT of content. If you were lucky enough to have a hit, you'd get a lot of repeat audience also. 20-40 weeks worth, depending on how you space it all out.
Then strategically, you could essentially pre-sell season 2 to your core audience through kickstarter. And if not pre-sell, you could at least get partial backing from the less passionate or financially inclined portion of the audience. Or if webseries are just a means to an end for you, why not raise money for a feature based on the series?
So that's the "easy" part. What do you do about cast, crew and locations? Well here's where I think it gets tricky. You'd have two options: be a weekend warrior or just sprint through the whole thing (goodbye PTO for you working stiffs out there). I really think it'd be difficult to weekend warrior a webseries. You'd really have to ask yourself. How many weekends do I need to generate 90 mins of content? Then of course you have to deal with good ol' human fatigue. Cast and crew dropping out and flaking out. Locations falling through, etc. On the other hand - In order to do a sprint, you'd have to pre-write the entire season. No writing or "making it up" as you go like they did on LOST. This could be frustrating. Maybe it'd help to shoot the pilot 1st (15min 3 act pilot?) and take it all the way through post, then see what works and what doesn't. You could then do some reshoots to fix the week areas of the pilot, then write the entire season and shoot it in a sprint.
If you were forced to shoot the series over several months, I suppose there are some ways to mitigate the pitfalls. You could take locations out of the equation by sticking to places that are basically guaranteed to you (for the primary locations), or even just build sets in your back yard or garage. Live in an apartment? Sorry. No building sets unless you have some very patient friends or family that'll let you build at their place.
As far as cast and crew retention goes? Local, passionate cast and crew would be key if doing several, spread out production days. And of course paying them would help immensely. This would be why a webseries is pricier than the 10k challenge. Longer production = more food and pay (and gas money if you're generous).
NEXT: Story Structure
What should we be thinking about when attempting to create a web series?
Why a webseries?
It's a format that is pretty close to TV. It's serial storytelling. I think serial storytelling is a good way to develop characters. Especially an ensemble cast. This is also well-suited to indies, production-wise, due to the fact that one can have some built in redundancy with cast. In an ensemble with multiple central characters, an actor can drop out to take a better paying gig (or be fired). I imagine his or her character can be written out gracefully in a farewell episode, and the focus can shift to other characters. One can also try to shake up the cast, creatively, by introducing and event to force the story to follow a different group of characters.
A webseries also has a better chance at building a "sticky" audience. Since content would be released frequently, they'd keep "following" the work and coming back for more (either weekly or at least semi-weekly.... ok. monthly?). A sticky audience is an easier to monetize audience.
Last reason for a webseries instead of an indie feature - manageable story-scale. Films today have differentiated their product based on spectacle. Effects-driven, event movies rule the megaplexes. And for good reason I suppose. Character-driven drama and comedy have all moved to television and are doing quite well there.
Since indies can't compete with spectacle, why not compete with character? Deep mythology? Long, nuanced character arcs? Yeah. I think we can do that and add in a few visual effects to keep things spicy.
Production Logistics
Ok. So you say you wanna make a webseries. How can one affordably and realistically do so? Would this be easier or harder than the $10,000 indie feature challenge that has been discussed previously?
Well.... that's a good question. A 10k feature, I assume, would be shot in one big sprint. You have your cast and your crew now, and you want to get out of production and into post as soon as possible.
If that's the case, maybe a webseries should be 15-20k (for the 1st season at least). Hey! That's more expensive! Yeah, but you get a longer audience engagement and significantly more content. Since a feature is 90 minutes, you could say that gives you ten 9-minute episodes of a webseries. If you're doing a comedy, I'd say you should shrink that runtime down to maybe 5-minutes. 5-minute episodes would give you almost 20 episodes per season. That's a LOT of content. If you were lucky enough to have a hit, you'd get a lot of repeat audience also. 20-40 weeks worth, depending on how you space it all out.
Then strategically, you could essentially pre-sell season 2 to your core audience through kickstarter. And if not pre-sell, you could at least get partial backing from the less passionate or financially inclined portion of the audience. Or if webseries are just a means to an end for you, why not raise money for a feature based on the series?
So that's the "easy" part. What do you do about cast, crew and locations? Well here's where I think it gets tricky. You'd have two options: be a weekend warrior or just sprint through the whole thing (goodbye PTO for you working stiffs out there). I really think it'd be difficult to weekend warrior a webseries. You'd really have to ask yourself. How many weekends do I need to generate 90 mins of content? Then of course you have to deal with good ol' human fatigue. Cast and crew dropping out and flaking out. Locations falling through, etc. On the other hand - In order to do a sprint, you'd have to pre-write the entire season. No writing or "making it up" as you go like they did on LOST. This could be frustrating. Maybe it'd help to shoot the pilot 1st (15min 3 act pilot?) and take it all the way through post, then see what works and what doesn't. You could then do some reshoots to fix the week areas of the pilot, then write the entire season and shoot it in a sprint.
If you were forced to shoot the series over several months, I suppose there are some ways to mitigate the pitfalls. You could take locations out of the equation by sticking to places that are basically guaranteed to you (for the primary locations), or even just build sets in your back yard or garage. Live in an apartment? Sorry. No building sets unless you have some very patient friends or family that'll let you build at their place.
As far as cast and crew retention goes? Local, passionate cast and crew would be key if doing several, spread out production days. And of course paying them would help immensely. This would be why a webseries is pricier than the 10k challenge. Longer production = more food and pay (and gas money if you're generous).
NEXT: Story Structure
