Karma Kula – Episode 2 “THE FROG IN THE WELL”

Karma Kula Mystic Warrior is an original live action/adventure martial arts web series independently created by the Ninjai Gang. Official Website http://karmakula.ign.com

4 Swirlies

“Mind if I finish my drink first?”

Karma Kula continues to deliver… and confuse.

Okay, so it seems at least one of my questions has been answered – this episode suggests they’re in India, and talks about “the assassins from the islands of the Japans.” If our hero is actually Indian, and not white as I thought last time, I can be forgiven because everything is tinted so red.

In this installment, he helps a woman with a well, and fighting ensues. For the first half or so, the style takes over the story and lets it drag a little too much. And then the sword play starts. As our hero himself points out – we have no idea why, or who this new attacker is. I’m sure it won’t be the last time they meet!

If you haven’t already added this series to your must watch list (and you don’t hate fighting sequences) I advise you to consider doing so.

It seems to me that this series makes extensive use of green screen. Does it bother you when you notice green screen use in movies and web series?

Raising Kayn – Ep. 1 The Puzzle of the Coin

The first episode of the popular web series “Raising Kayn”. Vampires, were creatures, ninjas and mad scientists, the Kayn family deals with them all in their search for the source of a mysterious coin.

2 Swirlies

This is an attempt to make a supernatural show for a family audience. Because there’s so many parents and kids watching online videos together?

This series is about The Kayn family and its involvement in supernatural mysteries. The mom is some sort of expert on everything whose biggest challenge in life is getting all her children to sit down for dinner together. The son is a sort of mad scientist who doesn’t like to come out of his lab (insert comic relief here). The older daughter fights things (that’s all we know so far) and the younger daughter is a teenage girl. They’re trying to solve mysteries and be home in time for prayers and bedtime.

This is the first part of the story, we don’t get very far into what’s going on except for a strange coin. Then the Ninjas show up. The production isn’t terrible, but the acting could be a lot better (like most webseries). It reminds me of syndicated series from the 80’s – the kind you’d watch on Sunday afternoon when nothing else was on.

This has that same feel as a tween comedy like Wizards of Waverly Place or iCarly, but not anywhere as clever or funny. (I should point out it is not a comedy). If you’re looking for something to watch with your children for family time, you might want to give this a chance. Me, I’m giving it two swirlies for now and waiting to see if it picks up next episode.

I Kissed A Vampire – Act 1

This is Act 1 of I Kissed A Vampire. To download the full series and featurette, please visit www.itunes.com/ikissedavampire.This is the first time the web musical, starring Lucas Grabeel, Drew Seeley, and Adrian Slade is available for free on YouTube.

2 Swirlies

“She sings when she gets emotional.”

Wow, Twilght meets Glee.

I guess one of the things the internet provides is a quicker way to cash in on trends. I don’t know who’s behind this show, but it looks like they sunk a bunch of money into it.

Essentially, the guy is a newly turned vampire and his biggest problem is that he’s worried that his crush slash best friend won’t love him. Add two extended music video sequences and a “surprise” ending and you have what feels like a pitch at tweens. Is it meant to be an online ‘backdoor’ pilot for a TV series?

The production is slick, but it feels too slick and doesn’t really help creating any kind of mood. The acting is pretty bad (sorry guys, I know you’re trying your best.) I suppose if you’re 13 and think Glee and Twilight are the high water mark of cultural achievement this is the show for you.

If, on the other hand, you’re still discussing the ending of the Sopranos, made I suggest something else from the Watch List’s extensive menu?

Does it matter to you if you sense a webseries is just a thinly veiled attempt to get a TV show? Like they’re only dating you to get to your hotter friend?

The Website is Down – Ep. 1: Sales Guy vs. Web Dude

Web Dude tries desperately to get his work done while assaulted on all sides by rampant incompetence. Will he survive???

5 Swirlies

Note: I realize many of you have probably already seen this video. In fact, it won a Webby in the viral video category. But if you haven’t it’s definitely worth checking out.

Most exciting use of Windows I’ve ever seen in a video.

Derrick, an IT person for PlasTrolTech Inc. gets a call from Chip in the sales department because he says the company’s website is down. Despite Derrick’s insistence that the site is up and running, Chip convinces him to reboot the web server and then all Hell breaks loose.

The entire episode is told from Derrick’s point-of-view. All of the visuals come from his computer screen. We see Derrick as he tries to troubleshoot the Internet problem, taking calls from various people after no one can get online – and most importantly, playing Halo, where he seems to gain the utmost enjoyment from shooting his comrade multiple times in the crotch.

The characters speak in a sort of South Park-esque style which adds to the absurdity of the situation. But what’s ingenious about it is that it speaks to anyone who has worked in an office setting and had to deal people that don’t understand how anything technical works. I’m not an IT person myself – but I’ve also been confounded by people’s ignorance when it comes to people not knowing how the Internet works even on the most basic level.

On the other side, I guess it also touches on how when people call tech support they often get the run-around or have more problems created, as is seen when Derrick reboots the web server “the wrong way” so the network needs to be rebooted on location.

But that might be pushing it a little because Chip is clearly an idiot, as we can see when Derrick uses Remote Desktop to access Chip’s computer and finds it with six million programs open and desktop icons arranged in a comical, insulting manner. Someone played a prank on Chip years earlier and he never knew how to rearrange them.

But simply put, the video is funny. Much funnier than most videos on the web. And although it’s the first in a series, it’s wonderfully self-contained. It tells a full story and doesn’t rely on you having to watch 20 episodes of it to figure out what’s going on. (Actually, that would be pretty annoying considering there’s only four episodes so far.)

And the show’s site has fun features to play around with too, such as a fake UNIX terminal and a Sales Guy Simulator (though that more relates to the second episode).

Finally, as it did win a Webby, I’ll just throw up a funny little promo video the creators made to announce this show was a nominee. I’m not reviewing it as it’s not really a separate episode. It’s more of a DVD extra, if the Internet was available on DVD:

Sales Guy vs. Web Dude vs. The Webbys