The (usually good) advice most screenwriting gurus and film experts suggest is to start with the story first. However, for web series (in much the same way as any low-budget feature), the story may need to be kept in check with the reality of the situation. If you have a post-apocalyptic epic brewing in your head, there’s no reason not to write it – but you’ll want to keep reality in mind for when your actually want to make.
The premise for a web series usually emerges from the previously discussed factors. What sets are available? Who can play the characters? What can we manage in the realm of special effects?
This formula is apparent in almost every web series out there.
Agents of Cracked: the Cracked offices are available for filming. Daniel O’Brien and Michael Swaim worked together at cracked.com and have an established relationship they can work with. The jumpy-actions style of the filmmaking popularized by shows such as Battlestar Galactica is cheap and easy to mimic with very little overhead, all the while providing the show with a distinct action movie feel. Thus, parodying the buddy-cop formula of action movies, Daniel O’Brien and Michael Swaim star as two special agents at a hyperbolic version of Cracked.com.
Likewise, The Zombie Inconvenience emerged from the realization of these factors. We had, at best, a house and the nearby neighbourhood, an established actor and a younger comedian, and zombie effects are extremely cheap to produce. We chose to parody the one-take style of web blogs, partially because they’re an accepted style for our chosen distribution method (YouTube.com) and because they allowed us to film fast one-takes on a somewhat less-professional camera.
To break it down: setting + characters x (means of production) = premise.
e.g. bedrooms + Felicia Day x (very little means of production) = first season of The Guild
[Note: If this wasn’t Felicia Day, I may have accidentally described how most porn is made]
Here are a few made-up examples of how this can work:
Campground (setting) + single dramatic actor (characters) x single camera = web series about the last man alive.
Attic + Roommates x prop guns = web series parodying “Panic Room” style movies in which a group of roommates are hiding in their house as it’s being robbed.
Web series are about working with what you have.
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