Funemployed – Ep 11 – Series FINALE – Gave it a shot.

THANK YOU for following us this past month and making our first ever web series a huge success! It meant so much to see the enthusiasm and positive response. We wouldn’t be able to make these videos without you and your support by watching and sharing with your friends. We couldn’t have asked for more. Thank you.

Though this is the end of “Funemployed” you can be sure that there are many more things ahead for KevJumba and Wong Fu Productions. We’ve learned a lot from this project, and hope that we can make more web series in the future! As long as you want them =)

“Dance To This Song” music video coming TUESDAY Aug 3rd to KevJumba’s channel!!

Behind the scenes commentary, Outtakes, and deleted scenes HERE:
http://wongfuproductions.com/2010/07/…

**Made with no budget and no crew =P

FEATURING
Chester See – http://youtube.com/chestersee
Kina Grannis – http://youtube.com/kinagrannis
David Choi – http://youtube.com/davidchoimusic
Ryan Higa – http://youtube.com/nigahiga

MUSIC by
David Choi – http://youtube.com/davidchoimusic

SUBSCRIBE
http://youtube.com/kevjumba
http://youtube.com/wongfuproductions
http://youtube.com/funemployed

FACEBOOK
http://facebook.com/kevjumba
http://facebook.com/wongfuproductions

TWITTER
http://twitter.com/kevjumba
http://twitter.com/wongfupro

OFFICIAL
http://kevjumba.com
http://www.wongfuproductions.com

STORE
http://areyouaniceguy.com

5 Swirlies

“Wait. We won, right?”
“Well I sure hope so! ‘Cos if not then this nice handsome man walked all this way for nothing!”

Surprise, surprise! Judy has dumped Douche (Duke) for Jason!!! Awwww!!! It’s shocking that Judy dated Duke to begin with, he’s so revolting. (“Hey Cindy! Hey, sexy! What’s going on? That looks sexy on you. You should hike it up a bit.” ?? EWW.) She’s so sweet. Well, maybe it’s not so shocking because she’s so nice.

So Kyle, Jason, and Aaron are hanging out at home waiting to see if NigaHiga will show up at their door to announce that they have won the contest (the grand prize: $50,000). Imagine Kyle’s horror when the door knocks and it’s Judy. Then NigaHiga worms his way into their living room to surprise them with the GRAND PRIZE!!!!

I gave this episode 5 swirlies because it really hits home the fundamental thing that drives the whole series, which is also at the heart of the work of KevJumba, Kina Grannis, David Choi, NigaHiga, the WongFuProductions crew, and all of the other YouTube celebs that made this series happen. And in the hearts of anybody trying to produce creative work, period. Judy summed it up well in the last episode: “I feel like we all deserve to be excited about what we do.” And the joyous celebration at the end of this episode really makes you see the excitement and passion that has gone behind the entire series. Even if they hadn’t won the prize, the message would still have hit home.

Do what you love, and love what you do!

Now it makes me wanna go out there and make things I wanna make!

Congratulations to Wong Fu Productions and everybody involved on a really funny, inspiring, and thought-provoking webseries!!!!

/cheeze

Rise ‘n Shine Og: Ep. 1 “Locked Out”

A show about an adorably hateful British woman living in Canada, trying to make her way through the world one miserable morning at a time.

3 Swirlies

“Get on the ground!  Shut up!”

This series is basically a one-woman monologue—if that woman were a potty-mouthed Bridget Jones.  Except our heroine is Og— and she doesn’t mind breaking the fourth wall all the time (think Malcolm in the Middle).

The series feels like a quirky indie film—not without its charms—and it looks good for that aesthetic.  And yet, the length of the episode (18 minutes) suggests that the creators see this as more of a potential TV show than a web series.

The story itself is rather simple.  Og gets locked out of her house, and has to retrieve a spare key—obstacles (and hilarity) ensue.  However, there’s a huge logic hole: Why doesn’t Og just drive back to her boyfriend’s work and get the key from him?  It’s the simplest solution, and yet, it takes her until the end of the episode to do just that!

If you can forgive story holes like that, then you just might be able to go along for the ride.  And Anita Smith is quite good when it comes to bringing Og to life.  She is the heart and swearing soul of this show—though it does take some time for the audience to warm up to her prickly, downtrodden, endearingly-pathetic character.

Unfortunately, the acting of Og’s boyfriend (who also directs this episode) is not up to par with Anita’s compelling performance, but, at least, he’s not heavily featured.

On a technical note, I watched the show in full screen, and found the drifting shallow focus distracting, especially when the majority of the show features Og in close-up and medium shots.  Was this intentional?  If so, why?

In the end, this episode was a lot longer than I had bargained for, and longer than it had to be.  Og’s monologues, although funny and biting, didn’t necessarily push the story forward—just her character.  And by the first or second monologue, we’ve already got plenty to go on in terms of figuring out who Og is with all her quirks.

Yes, this is very much “The Og Show.”  And if you can fall in love with the character, you’ll probably happily tune in to more of Og’s daily mis-adventures.  And if you can’t, then this might not be for you.

Ruffus The Dog: The Second Voyage of Sinbad

Ruffus reprises his role as the famous adventurer, Sinbad the Sailor, with his stalwart crew mates Ray and Harry, the Hausen brothers in The Second Voyage Of Sinbad.

Features the song: “Over Seas”

4 swirlies

“This one’s filled with rubies and… supermarket discount coupons!”

Full disclosure: I love puppets.  Also, I’m twitter buddies with creator Robert Mills, although I have never met him in person!

But rest assured, that does not affect the fact that I really liked this show.  It’s exactly what I would’ve loved to watch as a kid.  It’s fun, honest, wholesome, good old fashion storytelling.  I would most definitely recommend it to my young cousins!

But it’s also one of those rare shows that parents probably wouldn’t mind watching with their young kids.  The creators have made a real effort to sneak in a few jokes for the adults, and we appreciate it.  Heck, I just about laughed out loud when I saw the puppets partying with Ruffus Sinbad!

Also, I swear Lamb Chop was in that mambo line.

In short, the puppets come alive.  The voice actors are awesome.  The comedy is imaginative with jokes and physical slapstick—well, as much slapstick as puppets can handle!  The story has a solid beginning, middle, and end with enough obstacles to keep the kiddies entertained for thirteen minutes.  And it all looks great.

Plus, Ruffus sings!

“Glee” had better watch its back.

But hey, the real judges for this show will be your kids.  So let us know what they think!

Anyone But Me S02E01 “The Real Thing”

Once again, please welcome guest reviewer Elize Morgan in her second of two reviews for The Watch List!

Go to www.AnyoneButMeSeries.com for up to date info on Season 3.

In the aftermath of a turbulent trip to New York, Vivian and her friends have a day of unexpected encounters.

4 Swirlies

With a third season currently on its way, Anyone But Me is one of the longest running dramas online. A series that hits all the right buttons in all the right ways.

The premiere of season two hands in on all the promises that it offered in season one – the drama, the questioning, the awkward pauses. It’s a soap opera with all that entails, but it offers a way for people who often don’t get a voice – lesbians, friends, and younger people living it “real” rather than the Hollywood stereotypes.

It hits an audience for pretty much that entire reason:
http://www.anyonebutmeseries.com/Season2-c.html

It’s “realness” that allows some of the tiny issues that afflict so many soap operas (melodrama). Anyone But Me does more in a shorter time than most longer form series and is a great run already.

Ruffus The Dog – “The Emperor’s New Clothes”

In this notorious version of “The Emperor’s New Clothes”, Ruffus plays a dishonest tailor who takes advantage of a less-than-wise Emperor, preying upon his ego and vanity, to sell him something less than he had before – and more than his loyal subjects had bargained for.

Features the song: “Emperor’s New Clothes”

<4 swirlies

“Life has no meaning if you don’t look good”

This one is a kids’ show. It sort of warms my heart that people are taking the risk of producing web series for kids. Or should I say, “The Kids.” Having said that, I have to admit that I have no intention of researching the producers and this series may have been funded with porn and/or drug and/or Shamwow money and is most likely leftist brain-softening propaganda.

This segment is a re-telling of “The Emporer’s New Clothes” and it pretty much stays true to the themes of the original, while offering enough new content to keep if from seeming like the producers were dumpster-diving in the annals of the public domain, hoping to hit big playing “flip this fable.”  Desperate selfish joking aside, this clip is really good.

Why is this worth watching? The writing and puppetry are really slick, it rolls along smoothly, it has a catchy original song, and it offers at least one penis size joke, in case you were worried that you wouldn’t have an opportunity to feel dirty and weird during the course of the 14 minute tale.

As a cynical adult, I found it a little distracting that the characters were shot on green screen and keyed into the 2d environments but I’m sure children would find that magical and whimsical.  All in all, this is a solid production. Show it to your kids.

Best Laid Plan – Tom’s Big Date

Tom finally gets his dream date, but his friends’ advice might be a recipe for disaster.

Watch the entire series NOW at http://www.webserials.com

4 Swirlies

“If you’re buying her dinner, then you’re grabbing her by the back of the head and kissing her deep. Now get out of here and make it happen!”

It’s a ball’s hair over ten minutes, which made me hesitate before hitting play. But seeing as it is from WebSerials.com,  I thought I’d give it a chance and I’m glad I did.

The first thing you see is a claim that this series is 100% improvised. There’s a lot of camera angles and editing, which makes me doubt that claim, but the video is funny either way!

There’s 6 characters in the first scene, which helps keep it high energy and the one-liners flying. It builds, there’s goals and stakes, there’s a sharp button on the resolution – very strong writing. (Or improvising?)

The second scene brings it down to 3 characters, but the brilliant addition of a very funny and dry waiter to interfere with Tom’s Big Date. I like that they didn’t make the character of the waiter more silly, but kept to very simple and very small but potent escalations that drove up the stakes for Tom.

The humour dips once Tom saves the date from ruin, and ventures into more emotional, drama territory. Which is nice but… really, that switching gears is very tough and I don’t feel like they made it work. I think, at the end of the day, the writing and the acting wasn’t up to the task.  I felt the emotional tones but once the basic tension of the scene was over, there was nothing left to keep me engaged. But kudos for the attempt!

I also noticed that the credits are pretty long, about a minute, which brings the total length to over 10 minutes. I think that on YouTube, there’s the same factor at play that makes prices always end in 99 cents. If this clip was 9:40 it would be much attractive to those who stumble on it than it is crossing into double digits.

Overall, a very funny episode that shows off the comedic talents of those involved very nicely.

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