Happy Tree Friends Ka-Pow! Ep.1 “Ka-Pow! Alpha”| A Web Series Review on the Watch List

A Cartoon Comedy Web Series

3 Swirlies

Interesting.

It looks like the animation studio that does Happy Tree Friends is trying to branch out into something new. This 10 minute video features three shorter videos; “Weaponized Animal Regiment”, “Buddhist Monkey” and “Mole in the City.” They are all very different, but still have that blood and guts and violence Happy Tree Friends style of comedy. It feels more like a programming block than a series.

I wonder if they felt they were running out of ideas for Happy Tree Friends, and they wanted to move on to other concepts? This one’s called “Alpha” and the next one is called “Beta” which makes me wonder if these are only test episodes to see how the internet audience would react. Maybe the three different series will change based on feedback, or maybe “Beta” will feature different characters. We’ll have to watch the next one to find out.

I kinda feel the same way about these cartoons as I do about Happy Tree Friends, they’re really well done and super polished but the gags are all just blood and violence. I have nothing against blood and violence, but for me the jokes feel repetitive.

The first one, Weaponized Animal Regiment, reminded me most of Happy Tree Friends. I feel like they were trying to give it a formula, with Flippy ruining the mission and getting everyone killed and then his split personality taking over and giving everyone around him a beat down. I didn’t really understand Buddhist Monkey, and I’m not sure I was supposed to. It is essentially a parody of martial arts films. There’s a shadowy bad guy, and an assassin sent to kill Buddhist Monkey and they fight. All that I get. But then the Pig Assassin’s wicker bowl/hat turns into a crab monster? I’m confused. And finally, Mole in the City made me think of spy vs. spy, maybe just because the bad guy’s a rat. I felt like it was the least like Happy Tree Friends, in that there was less violence and more caper type fun.

All in all, I guess my sense of humour just isn’t the same as the guys behind Happy Tree Friends. I’m more of a Moolt guy, I suppose. But I am interested in this experiment in new shows, so we’ll check into Ka-Pow Beta when we get a chance here on The Watch List.

From YouTube Description:

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Camera Obscura Ep.2 “The Camera” | A Web Series Review on The Watch List

A Horror Web Series

5 Swirlies

Episode 2: The Camera by Camera_Obscura

“Maybe your Grandpa has secrets. Maybe they should stay that way.”

This episode of Camera Obscura is creepy as hell. Bravo.

The first one was good in a setting up back story kinda way. This one, despite the sorta short, mostly “this is what’s happening” scene (Smart! Never assume your audience has seen previous episodes. Drew Dewalt does a nice job of making the scene feel organic while essentially catching up any late comers. The cool/creepy camera helps.) is right into the creepy demons are all around us.

And not to ruin it for you, but that sudden appearance of the demon is super creepy. What really sells it is that first glimpse of it, that first ‘what is that?’ And then it… it sees her watching it. Classic horror movie stuff, but here it doesn’t seem cheesy. It works.

This show is a Daily motion exclusive. I wonder if they paid for it? If so, how much? I imagine that the demons must have been pricey to build.

From Daily Motion Description:

Clara realizes Grandpa Sam’s involvement with the occult was much deeper than she thought.

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Overturn Ep.2 | A Web Series Review on The Watch List

A Sci-fi Conspiracy Web Series

1 Swirlies

“Stay away from me. Stay off my couch! Who are you?”

Wha!?

I gotta say, I don’t like things that are deliberately oblique I like to think I’m a pretty smart guy, but I have only the faintest idea of what this series is about. The two episodes don’t even seem to belong to the same series.

I know, I know, I’m supposed to be intrigued and then head over to the website to “solve the puzzle.” And look, I’m really sorry to the people involved with this series for being hard on you. This is merely my opinion, I’m sure there are plenty of people out there who love this show. I wish I could recommend it more, because the reason I do this blog is not to hold up things to ridicule them like 90% of the internet does, but to help introduce people to series they may not other wise get a chance to see - to make it easier to watch and follow web series in general.

I like stories that force you to rise up to their level, that ask you to trust them and learn as you go. Something like Radiance is like that - I had no idea going in what it was going to be about, but I found myself liking the characters and wanting to be around for the ride. I didn’t feel like the creators were deliberately withholding information that I needed to know to understand the story. I just felt like I didn’t have all the information yet, but as each episode goes by I’m getting more and more context.

Yes, this is only the second episode of Overturn, and I’m sure if I watched to the end all would be revealed. But here’s where they lose me - the whole foundation of the story is designed to be a mystery to be solved. What’s it about? Go to the forum and tell us your best guess. What’s going on? Join us on Facebook and discuss it with other fans. This not a story meant to be watched and enjoyed - it is meant to be figured out with very little clues and context. And I’m sure they’ll get to the episode where you find that you have been deliberately misled in order to keep you guessing.

I get why you’d want to design a web series this way. On the face of it, it seems like it will be good for community building. Watching the show isn’t enough you have to become involved. But first and foremost - entertain me. I don’t want to feel like I’m being given a quiz. “Quick, name three objects in the room you just saw.” “Was it really a dream or is he lying?” Can’t I just eat my burrito and watch your show?

This is what Lost has brought us to. To me, Lost was never about the mystery. Lost was about the characters. I found Lost entertaining, and I spent very little time trying to puzzle it out. To solve it. Where I stopped caring about Lost was when it began pandering to the “I want answers” crowd. All of a sudden, characters took a back seat to connecting all the dots. To giving people answers so that they could know if they got more things right than the other people in the forums.

And now the “I want answers” crowd, to whom Lost was something that you could win at, are making web series.

So where does that leave us with Overturn? I’m probably not going to keep posting it - it will be the first series that I have deliberately abandoned since starting The Watch List. But I can’t cover every web series out there, so by choosing to continue posting this one, I’m not posting any other show. I hope that there are people out there who discover this show through The Watch List and enjoy it. Just because I don’t like doesn’t mean you have to not like it. Just head over to YouTube, or the link to the website is below.

From YouTube Description:

Overturn - international sci-fi mystery web series - Episode Two
http://www.overturnseries.com Solve the puzzle.

Also check out this:
http://www.webseriesnetwork.com/profile/OverturnSeries
http://overturn.blip.tv

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Throwing Stones Ep.5 “Pawn Stars” | A Web Series on The Watch List

A Teen Horror Web Series.

3 Swirlies

“Friday night lights. I’m the reason they come.”

Writing for this blog, I have to watch a lot of web series. Like any reviewer, there are times when if I didn’t have to be watching a web series I’d be doing something else. So I think sometimes I can be a little impatient with some episodes. Episodes like this one.

I like this series. I was looking forward to seeing it. I was waiting to see what happened to the girl that got thrown out of the room last episode. Instead, what we got in this episode is a back story to the three remaining characters in the room, back story that could have been delivered with a little less exposition.

I’m beginning to chaff at the fact that I don’t really know what these kids are scared of. What happened to them? Who attacked them? How did it start? I thought that the series would cut between the present and the beginning of the assault, but it hasn’t. At least, not yet. So while I get that they are scared, and I get why they are scared I have a hard time being scared for them. I like them, and I want to see them come out okay - kudos to the script writers - but I don’t feel the jeopardy. Is someone looking for them? Has the killer gone home? Are they being attacked with a knife or a gun or what? All of that matters to make me care if they stay in that room or not.

From YouTube Description:

Throwing Stones is a horror story about a group of high schoolers who have to attend Saturday School and find they must work together to overcome their differences in over to survive when students end up missing. As if, high school wasn’t scary enough! The series stars Lindsay Seidel (Lionsgate hit The Final), Cherami Leigh (The Mist, Fast Food Nation, HBO’s Temple Grandin), Rebekah Kennedy (upcoming horror features Blood is Blood, House Hunting, and Season of the Witch w/ Nic Cage), Chad Cox (Powder, ER, Spin City, The Good Guys), and Kayla Carlyle (From the Dark), Lynn Andrews III (MTV’s: High School Stories). Writers Bart D. Van Bemmel and Jason A. Wheeler have five feature-length screenplays in production including their dark comedies BUTTERSCOTCH, SWISHER, ANGELS AND DUST, their teen comedy RUSHED, and their teen horror THROWING STONES (which this web series if based on).

Watch this web series at KoldKast.TV or Mingle Media TV.

To find out more about “Throwing Stones” visit: http://www.throwingstoneswebseries.com.
Follow on Twitter @StonesWebSeries or LIKE us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/throwingstoneswebseries

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Hard Drive 13 Ep.3 “Classified Steganography” | A Web Series Review on The Watch List

A Conspiracy Thriller Web Series

3 Swirlies

“Classified. Yeah, that’s what Dad always used to say.”

This is one series that gets right to the action. You gotta admire that. And I finally get to see some of the shooting guns out of moving cars clips that we were teased with at the beginning of the series.

If you like your web series with lots of on the run, it is all a conspiracy, ‘watched the Matrix again last night’, you’ll love Hard Drive 13. If you’re looking for something nuanced and character driven, you should probably stick with something else.

Another Vancouver series, and this is very well made. Those green screen shots are hard to pull off - and while they’re not perfect, they are pretty good. And having guns on set, well… that’s either expensive (as far as web series are concerned) and you gotta call in a lot of favours. If you want to find a load of talented people looking for a fun side project to stretch their creative skills, I doubt there’s a better place for it in the world than Vancouver right now.

Where I think this series loses me is the story. I know, I’m watching some very interconnected episodes months apart, but I’m still not really sure about what it is about. I’m sure we’re meant to be intrigued by the mystery, and I’m not saying that I don’t want to discover things about the series as it develops, but I do want to know why I am watching. What makes this hacker so special? Is he looking for his father, or is he on the run from the government goons? The motivations of the characters are pretty vague.

And can I just say, what paranoid hacker on the run keeps using his cell phone?

From YouTube Description:

Nomad receives a cryptic message from an old friend; a strained reunion is abruptly cut short.

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Naomi The Show Ep.4 | A Web Series Review on The Watch List

A Comedy Web Series

3 Swirlies

“Don’t make eye contact.”

Naomi the Show follows a predictable formula, but it is always guaranteed to have a laugh at the end.

This one featuring a gross homeless guy feels, surprisingly, more cartoony than the episode featuring the giant raccoon trying to cop a feel. I did like the shout out to working Vancouver actors, “I did a spot on Stargate Atlantis.” I wonder if that’s true?

What really makes these episode work, all of them, is that Naomi is just too polite to get up and walk away. It works in a short format, where the comedic weight is on the zany characters and Naomi’s reactions to them. I’m not so sure this same character would work in a longer format. Which is actually a compliment; the show’s creators, Naomi Dayneswood and Jennica Harper, did a nice job picking a set up for their show that works for the medium.

I do feel that the only really funny bit is at the end, with the reveal of how the guy “knows” her, and the last coda line. But that’s still pretty funny - and you couldn’t show that on TV!

One of my favourite parts of the show is the music; simple but effective, it conjures just the right mood for the series. Many series, even some well done series, put on a high energy rock track that they like for their credits, not really setting up exactly the same mood as their show itself does.

I do think this is a well done show, and I think it is paying off for the creators. Their show is playing at the Sharpcuts Festival, in Guelph, in three separate web series blocks. Good luck, Naomi!

From YouTube Description:

In Episode 4, Naomi meets her biggest fan.

Find out more about Naomi: The Show at http://www.naomitheshow.com

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Baman Piderman Ep. 11 “Happy Winter Friends Part 2″ | A Web Series Review on The Watch List

A Cartoon Comedy Web Series

2 Swirlies

“Piderman, it’s just a moving tree. Remember?”

I barely understand what’s going on in this series. On one level, it’s kind of exactly how a young child would tell a story. It’s almost pure play. On the other hand… what is up with those weird doppleganger basement dwellers? In the last episode they were presented as if they would have a big role in this episode, the second of the two parter, but their appearances were so short I don’t even know what they were doing. Cooking? Eating cereal? (I only got that from a comment on YouTube.)

It’s surreal, that’s for sure. And I admire it for that. I also admire it for using Batman and Spiderman and not being sued… yet. (So they’re a YouTube partner but using copywritten characters? The internet is a mass of contradiction.) I spend more time trying to figure out this show while watching than laughing. Maybe I’m just too literal a person to really get it.

With millions of views across the episodes, they certainly don’t need for me to get it.

But that thing with Tuba’s Dad wanting Baman to marry Tuba? Creeeepy.

From YouTube Description:

Can Baman & Piderman save Pumkin on Da Journey?

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Radiance Ep.4 | A Web Series Review on The Watch List

A Science Fiction Drama Web Series

4 Swirlies

“Fill up the sink! Now!”

A super short episode showing various people’s reactions to the crisis.

The more I watch this show, the more impressed I am with its nuances and complexity. It is not what I thought it was when I started watching. This episode deals with one person who has a hard time coping with what seems to be a dire situation. And everything, the acting, the camera, the editing, the sound, all work together to put the audience into the headspace of that character at that time. And it is weird because the look of the show screams ‘a bunch of friends had a camcorder and just started film one day’, goofing around. But clearly, writer and director Jim Hansen (not Henson, but Hansen) had a plan, because you can’t co-ordinate this many people to tell this story without a clear plan and a strong hand on the tiller.

I had a conversation the other day with friend of this blog and web series type person Elize Morgan, about what is and isn’t fan fiction. To me, fan fiction is less the desire to tell a story, but the desire to insert yourself into someone’s world, to dwell in that space. It’s selfish, while non-fan fiction is more about sharing a story or a point of view on the world, to the world.

Whether you agree with me or not (and I’m certainly used to people disagreeing with me) what I’m really getting at is this; some web series are essentially just people who want to dwell in that space of being movie makers. They have been sold on the glamourous thing that is making a movie, and want to make a movie - and what story they are telling and why are kinda secondary. (I blame Hollywood’s ingenious marketing, but that’s another rant.)

To be honest, at first - as much as I enjoyed it - that’s what I thought this web series was, a bunch of people got together with the idea that it’d be fun to be movie makers… now what? But this episode makes me doubt that. For all of the low budget atheistic of the show, I am beginning to feel like Mr. Hansen put some thought into what story he was going to tell and why.

Sure, they’re not braking any new ground by telling us that some people freeze up in a crisis, but they did an awesome job of portraying that moment to us.

I find this series so fascinating - often it’s not so hard to ‘read’ a web series (or at least to make assumptions about it); they spent money on this part but not that part, they had a big crew or just a director/camera person, they wrote it as a movie but shot it as a web series, this main actor is a pro but this supporting actor is doing it for the first time, it’s a showcase piece, it’s a vanity project… whatever. But I’m having a hard time figuring out Radiance. What I do know is that I’m glad I stumbled on it.

There are 19 episodes to go. I’ll be trying to post up two episodes every month, so that means we’ll be talking about this series for seven months! But looking ahead, this is actually one of the longest ones!

From YouTube Description:

Ten friends in Los Angeles experience an unusual event together- and try to survive.
Starring:
Brian Gattas
Jade Gordon
Tom Lenk
Chad Lindsey
Alisa Mcronald
Sam Pancake
Jack Plotnick
Christos Prevezanos
Chris Shea
Doug Stockstill
and
Rachel Stolte

Written and directed by Jim Hansen

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Break Ups: The Series Ep.5 “Cate and Timmy” | A Web Series Review on The Watch List

A Semi-Improvised Dramedy Web Series

4 Swirlies

“I’ll get back to you.”

This is a return to the silly funny episodes of the first couple from this web series. But at the same time, it explores a little bit of of the tension around marriage proposals, or non-proposals as the case may be.

There’s nothing terribly new about this observation, but some woman are only concerned about the relationship ‘moving forward,’ like getting married is something to tick off their list of life goals. And for some men, getting married is that final step towards growing up that they’ve been avoiding.

I’ve talked about this before, but what Break-Ups: The Series really gets at is the diverging needs and goals that drive people apart - that moment when what they want out of their lives clearly differs, and they can no longer pretend it doesn’t. Like many of the episodes, the fact that these two are breaking up isn’t even mentioned. But this is the moment, the moment when she realizes that he is never going to marry her.

Of course, they have been together for 11 years - why is the ceremony so important to her? And for him, is avoiding it really more important than his life with her? For such a short and silly episode, it really raises a lot of questions about the way people see relationships in general - of course, answering these questions is more than a five minute short series can handle.

From YouTube Description:

View our latest episode at breakups.us
—-
Starring and Improvised by:
Timmy Mayse
Cate Freedman

Shot by
Ted Tremper
Aemilia Scott
Naomi Epstein

Directed and Edited by
Ted Tremper

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Tyranny Ep.5 “Wake Up Calls” | A Web Series on The Watch List

A Sci-Fi Web Series

4 Swirlies

A great episode, completely without dialogue.

There’s a number of things to admire about this web series. They seem to have struck a nice balance between telling an ongoing, serialized storyline, and having episodes that feel like episodes. They don’t end each episode where I expect them too, instead choosing to make sure that there’s more than one scene, that they’re not just cutting out because this is the moment in the movie where they cut to something else - The makers of Tyranny actually cut to the something else, and end the episode when they’ve gotten to a point where what happens next is the next plot element to advance the story.

They also tend, at least so far, to make each episode unique. From the first two episodes that made me think this whole series was going to be constructed from montages, to this episode where there’s no dialogue and nothing’s really explained, each episode could kind of be a typical episode in its own series, if you follow what I’m saying. At the same time, the story feels like it is advancing, and the style chosen for each episode feels like the right choice to tell that part of the story.

It also feels longer than it is, in a good way. In the kind of way where you don’t feel time passing, but when the episode’s done you’re surprised to find out how short it was.

Am I 100% sure what this episode is about? Nope. Do I know where this story is going? Nope. And for many other series, this might be a problem. For this one, I’m intrigued and invested enough to keep watching and keep wondering.

You know, in the wake of Lost (or maybe its just the internet) there’s many webTV shows in which the audience is expected to puzzle out the meaning for themselves. But the vast majority of them are either way too opaque to be enjoyable, or so obvious seeming I don’t feel compelled to keep watching to see if I’m right. Sure, everyone has their own level of how much or how little information that want to be spoon fed in their entertainment, but for me Tyranny is just the right mix of “I think I know what’s going on but could be wrong” and the storytelling being so well done that I’m not really spending my time trying to solve a puzzle.

From YouTube Description:

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