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Web series vs feature

MileCreations

MileCreations

It's always entertained my mind to create a continuing story. I enjoy TV with the series like Homeland where it is a long continuing story. Obviously it's a silly idea to try and create a proper series (although I suppose I could make a pilot).

But a web series feels like a real potential. Each episode is its own contained story but overall a continuing one. It also means that if viewership has dropped quickly I can perhaps edit the following episodes to end it quicker or spark their interest more. Butttt investment value is low. I'm extremely unlikely to make any sort of money off it or get any other distribution apart from uploading to YouTube.

So that's where the potential feature comes in. 10 episodes each 10minutes long easily is a feature which I could then attempt for distribution or at least put into a tonne of festivals. In the long run this is where I'd want to be (making features, TV movies). Buttt problem here is that is a lot of initial work to commit to, time wise. I'm also worried that because next year I will be at a film school that I will be doing short films (this isn't bad obviously, but if I had done a Feature then it may feel like a step back).

So basically I'm interested in hearing whether people would make a web series or a feature? I know some like Dima have just completed a feature but Michael has just competed (or about) his web series, what are your reasons for choosing that medium?<edit, you know what I mean when I say this ...

Oh and yes I have the concepts for a story long enough
 
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This is something I've been thinking about lately, my ideas are not yet distilled so bear with me if I blather a little.

I watch movies. A lot.
I haven't watched a regular TV episodic show since 'The West Wing' went off air in 2006. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_west_wing_episodes
Although I grew up on M*A*S*H, WKRP in Cincinnati, Magnum PI, A-Team and such, as a young to full adult I didn't watch many more TV episodic shows.
I think 'The X-Files' was about the only one. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_X-Files
But mostly just a lotta films.

Recently I've tried to get into 'Game of Thrones' and 'Breaking Bad'. And I just can't.
The ongoing dysfunction as entertainment and the inability to conclusively resolve problems both internal and external grate on my general sense of internal peace & quiet.

Films (usually) have a beginning, a middle, and a nice little end tied with a bow.
Not always, but usually.
TV series' have an ENDLESS SUPPLY of non-resolving issues, often both in the characters' personal and professional lives.

I believe the different content nature appeals to different people, or at least to different aspects of some people.

Now, in recent history I've watch two different webisodes, 'Angel of Death' and 'Malice'.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angel_of_Death_(web_series) http://www.hulu.com/watch/110127
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malice:_The_Webseries http://www.youtube.com/user/malicedownunder

Yeah, it's limited experience, but it's what I got to bring to the table.

Neither seems to have really done much for anyone.
Pretty much a lot of "experience" was generated, but little else.

'AIDAN 5: The Web Series' I've seen a few episodes of, but can't honestly say I've followed with interest in their outcomes.
http://www.youtube.com/user/Aidan5Series


Both 'Malice' & 'Aiden 5' had successful crowdfunding pitches.
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/530407494/malice-the-webseries
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/benbays/aidan-5-season-2


I guess the two things I wanna point out are:
A) You have to conceive and write for a specific mindset.
Button-up films and an ongoing series are two different critters.
KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE WELLLLLLLL!!!!!!
B) You can't really think of a web series as X groups of Y-minute long scenes you can eventually stitch together to make a financially successful film.
Maybe you can.
Lord knows I've been thinking about it and have done the same math, but I see no successful model of it working.
Certainly no consistent model.


I think that with spending $X on a feature you have the potential of making some return, whereas with a web series you could also spend $X and are not likely to ever see a dime in return.


Do those observations shuckNjive with your's, as well?
 
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Why not write a feature as 10 episodes? Each episode advances the plot while the whole is contained and limited to the single series.
And you'd be surprised, but with the right marketing and the right content you can make a good amount of money from Youtube videos.
 
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I agree with rayw, that the content is too different to really consider it simply recuttable from one to the other. Not with significantly extra footage to adjust the story.

For what to do first, it's harder. We've been working on one of each lately, and in some ways the webseries is even more preproduction work. We need backstory and situations for multiple characters. Of course, the feature has backstory for everyone also, just not to quite the same detail as the webseries has multiple "main" characters, and each one gets their time.

That said, I'm feeling like we'll still probably focus on the webseries first. In our case, it's shorter and we can continue to get experience and more dedicated people involved. As far as the money is concerned, of course we will pursue distributing it, but we're also realistic about what the likelihood of that is, so the money isn't really a factor in the decision. And, as MetalRenard said, there is money to be made with the right content and campaign on YouTube.

In our case, the two aren't related. But, if I were thinking about a feature, it could be a good test case/exercise to make a webseries based on it. Pick some of the more interesting/challenging scenes (without giving everything away), some of the backstory that isn't actually in the feature, etc, and create a short(ish) webseries out of it. Nothing about that will stop you from making a feature later. And heck, getting a few good webseries out might attract the money/help you need to finish it.

CraigL
 
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I like Craig's approach.

To expand on the principles, consider the idea for the feature as your primary goal to be secured AFTER the secondary goal of developing both experience and an audience via a web series.

First, make a series so that you can...
Second, make a feature.
Kinda like what 'X-Files' has done and now the 'Veronica Mars' producers are working on.

So, what your web series needs to do is to be the prequel to the eventual feature. :)
 
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Ray has a point that I find highly interesting... with an episodic/continuing series, you can get away with unresolved issues. I never really thought about that... I wonder if some writers use that as a way to escape writing a resolution for certain characters.
 
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The biggest issue that you have with a series is enforced output; you need to put out episodes on schedule or your audience will abandon you.

The second biggest issue is consistency; every episode needs to be as good or better than the first. You've developed the audience, now you have to fulfill their expectations.
 
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For me a web series is more frustrating than a feature. Others have covered the creative aspects of it, so I will cover the online marketing aspect.

With a web series you have to optimize each episodes keywords for the youtube and google search engines. If you do not, you will probably not be found organically. That means that each episode must not only have a storyline, but it must also have a storyline with long tailed keywords that can be used as road maps to your content.

For a 10 episode series with 5 key phrases that is 10 times the marketing you would have to do for ONE feature with 5 keywords. Broken down, that means you could have spent less time and gotten the same exposure or more time on the one project while increasing the potential for the project to be seen.

Offline it is far easier to find distribution for a feature. Especially if you used the extra time to build up interest in your movie with videos, photos, etc all housed on the same website.

Moving away from marketing to experience and prestige. Anyone can make a youtube video. Heck, almost anyone can make a short (Good or Bad), and you get better with each movie, but seriously, how many people can say they COMPLETED a feature film?

The planning, organization, and execution needed to complete a feature will prepare you for a career making movies. A series of shorts can never compare to the experience you get making a feature.
 
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mckinise said:
The planning, organization, and execution needed to complete a feature will prepare you for a career making movies. A series of shorts can never compare to the experience you get making a feature.
Click to expand...

This is a matter of execution. I'm not talking about coming up with an idea Tuesday, writing it Wednesday, shooting Thursday to post on Friday. This is the typical YouTube stuff. Agreed, that sort of thing might be fun, and give you some experience, and is not comparable to what you or I are meaning.

I'm talking about building your world, coming up with a series arc, then individual character arcs, then specific episode stories. I'm talking about shooting the series in one or a few large shoots, virtually necessary to get the consistency required in the talent especially for something with a limited budget. The only difference from a feature, will be the editing.

If you do a webseries like this, it will be easily comparable to the experience and effort of a feature, perhaps even requiring more work and providing more experience in the preproduction side of things.

And again, the point is to plan for a future. In the scenario I mentioned, the webseries would be specifically to practise things from the movie, show things that lay the groundwork and set up questions/issues that the movie will tackle, ALL of which helps you plan, prepare and market it. Tackling your FIRST major project with a deciding factor being "which is more distributable" is naive, plain and simple; it won't be distributable, that's virtually guaranteed.

And, I'm not sure about your exposure calculation. Having 10 things out with slight different (episode specific) keywords would get you far more exposure than one big thing with the same number as only one webisode... right?
 
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CraigL said:
This is a matter of execution. I'm not talking about coming up with an idea Tuesday, writing it Wednesday, shooting Thursday to post on Friday. This is the typical YouTube stuff. Agreed, that sort of thing might be fun, and give you some experience, and is not comparable to what you or I are meaning.

I'm talking about building your world, coming up with a series arc, then individual character arcs, then specific episode stories. I'm talking about shooting the series in one or a few large shoots, virtually necessary to get the consistency required in the talent especially for something with a limited budget. The only difference from a feature, will be the editing.

If you do a webseries like this, it will be easily comparable to the experience and effort of a feature, perhaps even requiring more work and providing more experience in the preproduction side of things.

And again, the point is to plan for a future. In the scenario I mentioned, the webseries would be specifically to practise things from the movie, show things that lay the groundwork and set up questions/issues that the movie will tackle, ALL of which helps you plan, prepare and market it. Tackling your FIRST major project with a deciding factor being "which is more distributable" is naive, plain and simple; it won't be distributable, that's virtually guaranteed.

And, I'm not sure about your exposure calculation. Having 10 things out with slight different (episode specific) keywords would get you far more exposure than one big thing with the same number as only one webisode... right?
Click to expand...

I agree on the execution aspect. The prep work and size/complexity can be comparable, and sometimes provide a more robust experience .

The keyword part depends on the popularity of the word and the competition. If you can find a word/phrase that is very popular with low competition it is easier to rank. The problem is finding that combination. Usually you will find keywords/phrases with either low popularity and moderate competition or high popularity and high competition.

When that happens you may find yourself on page 15 to 20 even after a lot of hard work trying to rank the terms. Even if you rank in the top 20 pages for 50 words with 100,000 searches per month you will find very little traffic. In fact, you would probably be better off ranking top 3 with one word and 100,000 searches.

The more videos and words you add the harder it is to find time to rank them all adequately. That said, if you are somehow able to latch on to other videos popularity through related videos, a diverse list of words could help, and several videos could possibly be seen by more people. Then again, you have also spent several times the work for promotion or money for promotion.

There are pros and cons to both. Me, I find it easier to get up for one huge project these days.
 
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CraigL said:
I'm talking about building your world, coming up with a series arc, then individual character arcs, then specific episode stories. I'm talking about shooting the series in one or a few large shoots, virtually necessary to get the consistency required in the talent especially for something with a limited budget. The only difference from a feature, will be the editing.
Click to expand...

Yes to clear anyone else up, I the OP am talking about this too
 
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rayw said:
So...
After cogitating on this for a week what's this project's current developmental status? :)
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Still writing 'episodes', been busy with a lot of other stuff in the last week, pretty big luck I stumbled across your question immediately.

I think I need more of the core story and characters fleshed out before I can really make a decision. But a web series is looking slightly more likely. Although I'm strongly considering filming it in such a way that it can easily be edited to a feature as well.

Just extreme long term thinking, I was thinking perhaps releasing episode one, seeing the reception then deciding whether to edit it as a feature or web series.
 
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