Rachael Eyre's Blog - Posts Tagged "online"
The Wonder of Web Series
When people think "YouTube", they think of two things. The first is tracking down music videos from their childhood - is Lionel Richie's Hello as cheesily sinister as they remember? (It is). The second is the myriad clips of cats being cute or goofy. The Ancient Egyptians can't have worshipped felines as assiduously as us.
This formula seriously underestimates what the Net has to offer. During a long year of procrastination, I've discovered numerous gems; here are four of the best. For ease of reference I've put them in the order they were created.
The Guild (2007 - 2013)
The Guild was one of the earliest web series but it still holds its own. Its star Felicia Day reasoned that if there weren't any good roles for women, she had to write them herself. She approached several networks with the premise - a comedy about gamers - but when nobody picked it up, put it online. The first series was almost entirely crowd funded.
Nice but neurotic Codex is addicted to The Game, a World of Warcraft type MMORPG. She's a member of a "guild" of gamers, the Knights of Good. She's been flirting with Zaboo, one of her fellow guildies, but only in fun; she's aghast when the socially inept, totally obsessed Zaboo arrives at her house. Since this coincides with another guild member playing up, she asks if the Knights of Good can meet in the real world. Cue the inevitable complications when people who don't excel at human interaction meet ...
The Guild was one of the first breakout hits and you can see why. It would have been all too easy to portray the guildies as laughable losers; as a real life gamer with an ear for comedy, Day avoids that trap. It has terrific characters: Vork the leader, a hopeless misanthrope with countless neuroses; Bladezz the teenage troll; Clara the ditzy drunken mum; Tink the pretty, manipulative sociopath. As well as the main series they've produced music videos (the best known, Do You Wanna Date My Avatar, was number one on ITunes) and shorts. If you want to give a web series a go, I suggest this is where you start.
Doctor Horrible's Sing Along Blog (2008)
This is the big one. Thanks to the church of Joss Whedon, even people who wouldn't ordinarily touch online content have seen it. The first web series to win an Emmy, it proved that a show didn't need to be on a major network to be a critical and commercial success.
Daft title aside, the series is magical. Billy (Neil Patrick Harris) is a shy, awkward guy with a secret: he's villainous mastermind Doctor Horrible. Desperate to join the Evil League of Evil, he files an application. It doesn't help he has an enormous crush on Penny (Felicia Day again), a lovely do gooder down his laundromat. Or that his nemesis, egotistical lunkhead Captain Hammer (Nathan Fillion) keeps foiling his schemes ...
Put like that, it sounds like the stuff of Saturday morning cartoons. I wish I could convey how brilliant it is. The songs, the music, the writing ... brr. I'm not keen on NPH and actively allergic to Fillion, so it speaks volumes when I say they're both fantastic. If you've never seen a Whedon show, this is the best possible introduction. If you want a three act tragedy with insanely catchy tunes, you can't go wrong with Doctor Horrible.
Cracked: After Hours (2010 - present)
Sitting in a diner and chatting about life is a sitcom staple, so a quartet of Cracked's leading writers have taken that to its logical conclusion. What lifts it above the mundane is the nutty topics they discuss: the horrifying truth behind beloved franchises, which Ninja Turtle they are, whether Princess Peach would be better off with Bowser. (She would). It's like hanging out with your mates down the pub, and after a few viewings, the gang do feel like your friends.
There's hapless, lovable Dan, armed with a card for every occasion. There's smart, fiery Katie, generally more knowledgable than the boys. There's gorgeous, effortlessly cool Soren, honouring them with his presence. Lastly there's Michael, an opinionated, obnoxious loudmouth who never lets Katie forget they once had a 'thing'. Their leaps of thought are accompanied by animated sequences, leading to some unforgettable images.
The best thing about the series is indisputably the writing. The cast never let their personas (heightened versions of themselves) slip. The script always reflects what they're talking about: after outing Principal Belding as a creepy stalker, they realise one of the extras has been following them from diner to diner. If you want a fun, pop culture crammed way to spend an evening, watch a few After Hours.
Twisted by Team Starkid (2013)
Starkid first came to prominence with their series of Harry Potter parodies starring Darren Criss. Though hugely popular, the shows are hit and miss - the songs and jokes don't always work. This can't be said for Twisted, their Wicked style take on Aladdin in particular, Disney's movie musicals in general. As a parody it's top notch, but it's genuinely funny and moving in its own right.
Jafar is an honest, hardworking politician who can't catch a break. Years ago his adored wife was stolen by the Sultan; his life since has been hell. When the flighty Princess insults Prince Achmed, ruler of the kingdom of Pi'xar, it's up to him to prevent war. Unfortunately the Princess runs away, falling under the spell of a sleazy ne'er do well called Aladdin ...
Wicked had to jump through considerable hoops to make their "true version" fit the Oz narrative. Twisted shows the events of the Disney film, flipped. Original Aladdin is a pathological liar - this one's even worse, and a sex pest to boot. The Princess is naive and self centred - again, only an exaggeration of her personality in the film. May I add that if you want a good night's sleep, don't look too hard at Monkey. That puppet is terrifying.
There's so much to love. The title number, where the other Disney villains turn up to share their true histories and lend Jafar support. The opening song, parodying the beginning of Beauty and the Beast (Jafar collides with Belle while they're both engrossed in books). And then there's my personal favourite, No One Remembers Achmed, where the petulant prince bemoans his fate as a "throwaway joke." Don't take my word for it, check it out for yourself!
This formula seriously underestimates what the Net has to offer. During a long year of procrastination, I've discovered numerous gems; here are four of the best. For ease of reference I've put them in the order they were created.
The Guild (2007 - 2013)
The Guild was one of the earliest web series but it still holds its own. Its star Felicia Day reasoned that if there weren't any good roles for women, she had to write them herself. She approached several networks with the premise - a comedy about gamers - but when nobody picked it up, put it online. The first series was almost entirely crowd funded.
Nice but neurotic Codex is addicted to The Game, a World of Warcraft type MMORPG. She's a member of a "guild" of gamers, the Knights of Good. She's been flirting with Zaboo, one of her fellow guildies, but only in fun; she's aghast when the socially inept, totally obsessed Zaboo arrives at her house. Since this coincides with another guild member playing up, she asks if the Knights of Good can meet in the real world. Cue the inevitable complications when people who don't excel at human interaction meet ...
The Guild was one of the first breakout hits and you can see why. It would have been all too easy to portray the guildies as laughable losers; as a real life gamer with an ear for comedy, Day avoids that trap. It has terrific characters: Vork the leader, a hopeless misanthrope with countless neuroses; Bladezz the teenage troll; Clara the ditzy drunken mum; Tink the pretty, manipulative sociopath. As well as the main series they've produced music videos (the best known, Do You Wanna Date My Avatar, was number one on ITunes) and shorts. If you want to give a web series a go, I suggest this is where you start.
Doctor Horrible's Sing Along Blog (2008)
This is the big one. Thanks to the church of Joss Whedon, even people who wouldn't ordinarily touch online content have seen it. The first web series to win an Emmy, it proved that a show didn't need to be on a major network to be a critical and commercial success.
Daft title aside, the series is magical. Billy (Neil Patrick Harris) is a shy, awkward guy with a secret: he's villainous mastermind Doctor Horrible. Desperate to join the Evil League of Evil, he files an application. It doesn't help he has an enormous crush on Penny (Felicia Day again), a lovely do gooder down his laundromat. Or that his nemesis, egotistical lunkhead Captain Hammer (Nathan Fillion) keeps foiling his schemes ...
Put like that, it sounds like the stuff of Saturday morning cartoons. I wish I could convey how brilliant it is. The songs, the music, the writing ... brr. I'm not keen on NPH and actively allergic to Fillion, so it speaks volumes when I say they're both fantastic. If you've never seen a Whedon show, this is the best possible introduction. If you want a three act tragedy with insanely catchy tunes, you can't go wrong with Doctor Horrible.
Cracked: After Hours (2010 - present)
Sitting in a diner and chatting about life is a sitcom staple, so a quartet of Cracked's leading writers have taken that to its logical conclusion. What lifts it above the mundane is the nutty topics they discuss: the horrifying truth behind beloved franchises, which Ninja Turtle they are, whether Princess Peach would be better off with Bowser. (She would). It's like hanging out with your mates down the pub, and after a few viewings, the gang do feel like your friends.
There's hapless, lovable Dan, armed with a card for every occasion. There's smart, fiery Katie, generally more knowledgable than the boys. There's gorgeous, effortlessly cool Soren, honouring them with his presence. Lastly there's Michael, an opinionated, obnoxious loudmouth who never lets Katie forget they once had a 'thing'. Their leaps of thought are accompanied by animated sequences, leading to some unforgettable images.
The best thing about the series is indisputably the writing. The cast never let their personas (heightened versions of themselves) slip. The script always reflects what they're talking about: after outing Principal Belding as a creepy stalker, they realise one of the extras has been following them from diner to diner. If you want a fun, pop culture crammed way to spend an evening, watch a few After Hours.
Twisted by Team Starkid (2013)
Starkid first came to prominence with their series of Harry Potter parodies starring Darren Criss. Though hugely popular, the shows are hit and miss - the songs and jokes don't always work. This can't be said for Twisted, their Wicked style take on Aladdin in particular, Disney's movie musicals in general. As a parody it's top notch, but it's genuinely funny and moving in its own right.
Jafar is an honest, hardworking politician who can't catch a break. Years ago his adored wife was stolen by the Sultan; his life since has been hell. When the flighty Princess insults Prince Achmed, ruler of the kingdom of Pi'xar, it's up to him to prevent war. Unfortunately the Princess runs away, falling under the spell of a sleazy ne'er do well called Aladdin ...
Wicked had to jump through considerable hoops to make their "true version" fit the Oz narrative. Twisted shows the events of the Disney film, flipped. Original Aladdin is a pathological liar - this one's even worse, and a sex pest to boot. The Princess is naive and self centred - again, only an exaggeration of her personality in the film. May I add that if you want a good night's sleep, don't look too hard at Monkey. That puppet is terrifying.
There's so much to love. The title number, where the other Disney villains turn up to share their true histories and lend Jafar support. The opening song, parodying the beginning of Beauty and the Beast (Jafar collides with Belle while they're both engrossed in books). And then there's my personal favourite, No One Remembers Achmed, where the petulant prince bemoans his fate as a "throwaway joke." Don't take my word for it, check it out for yourself!
