With The Angels Ep. 5 “Hollywood Insighter”

Look familiar?

1 Swirlies

“This internet is supposed to be all about interacting. So let’s interact! Alright? ”

This very short episode introduces a new character, doing a video blog about television.

Not sure where this web series is going with this episode, and it has grown quite stale since it has been uploaded - he’s talking about an upcoming TV season that has long past us by. Which is mildly amusing, but doesn’t make me want to watch the next episode.

I think part of the problem for me is that this episode lacks any sort of context with the series, letting me know how it connects. I assume that Taffy meets this guy, so this is our way of meeting him before she does. I guess. I haven’t watched an episode for a while, so maybe I’m missing something.

This series takes a fictional character and has that character use YouTube to communicate with the audience, blending together the episode that have narrative elements with uploads (like episode 3) that are just stuff Taffy wants to share with us. While I loved that about the commercial in episode 3 I don’t love it so much here, because there’s no sense of how this guy connects to Taffy, while with the commercial you get the strong impression that Taffy’s feeling disillusioned with the promise of Hollywood.

A little more context would have made me connect much more with this episode.

With the Angels Ep.4 “Welcome Wagon”

I have a new neighbor!

4 Swirlies

“I’m gonna bake her some cookies.”

Taffy tries to meet her new neighbour, but has a hard time when her neighbour goes all new agey. “Have you heard about The Secret?”

What I think is interesting is that the commentators on YouTube really take this fictional character to task for her clinging to her Christian beliefs, not not being open minded to her neighbour’s ideas. I think that’s interesting for two reasons.

This is fiction. You can see in the way the actress plays the moment that she’s not entirely comfortable with the hard line she takes, but it is the only point of view that she knows. To me, that’s the point of the episode, that Taffy is having a hard time getting rid of her old self and learning to thrive in her new, more cosmopolitan environment. But angry people on YouTube just slam her for the surface of her dialogue without taking a moment to consider the subtext – the “author’s” intent. (In the case of scripted content, I like the think of the author as the collective collaboration of all involved, but especially the writer, director and actor.)

And second, this is fiction. Clearly, this series, while sticking close to a first person mockumentary style, is a fictional story. I don’t think all the commentators on YouTube miss that. So why are they addressing the fictional character with a sense of personal betrayal?

As script writers and content producers, we used to live in a bit of a glass bubble where the people we engaged with directly when creating all spoke the same language – all of them were behind the scenes in some fashion. (Unless you were doing plays, but even then how many audience members speak directly to the playwrite if they have never met them before?) There existed a sort of mutual understanding about certain stuff – like how characters were understood by the audience.

But now with the web, and more and more as series move from a TV base to a online video base, your audience can reach you more directly, and I think many of us won’t like what we find. I think we’ll find that creators and audiences – even successful creators and die hard fan audiences – don’t really speak the same language, and have very different expectations of how the other is engaged with the work. I think there will be some shocks on both sides.

What? Oh, right – the episode. Watch it for the subtitles that the actress brings to the last confessional piece. And read some of the comments and let me know if you agree with me.

With The Angels Ep. 3 “Sunshine Film Academy”

This is what started it all. I hope y’all will call and give them your two cents, before they hurt anybody else!

[ED NOTE: This is not a real commercial!]

5 Swirlies

Ha! I gave this 5 Swirlies for their balls in making an episode of the heavy “With the Angels” a gag commercial… and that’s the whole episode. I won’t be putting this into the Friday Playlist because, judging from the comments on YouTube, this might confuse some people.

I thought the commercial itself was funny, but what I really love is the context it gives to the life of our main character. I forget her name, it’s been awhile since I watched the first two episodes of “With the Angels.”

It also leads to the question of whether you should work to make it very clear to people randomly surfing around YouTube that a video is part of a work of fiction? Should you try to use it as a hook – like LonelyGirl15? Or should you add titles or graphics so that people connect with it and experience it with the right mindset?

Which brings up a larger question. How hard should a web series creator work to maintain the fictional reality of their show online? If someone is clearly interacting with a character through YouTube or whatever as if that person is really their friend, a real person instead of a fiction character, should the creator be obliged to break the reality?

Any thoughts, oh mighty and wise Watch Listers?

With the Angels – EP 2 “Sunset Sunrise”

Things look better in the morning.

3 Swirlies

“I thought I’d watch the sun rise over the ocean for the first time. Only the sun doesn’t rise over this ocean.”

We learn we a little more about Taffy, and get to see her try to bond with her roommate.

This one has a little less pathos than the first one, and little less in the way of overwrought voice over.

This is the real pilot – a lot of exposition (which is mostly well delivered) and a good grounding in what the characters are looking for. Taffy came to L.A. looking for a new life, and while she feels disconnected from the big city life all around her her trust in God allows her to have faith that she’ll figure it out.

Any series that can make me feel sympathetic to a character that talks about God and Jesus is pretty well done.

Still not sure about that accent, though.

This is still the only series I’ve come across that’s all drama. Does anyone have any recommendations?

With the Angels – EP 1: Life Of The Party

Fish-out-of-water story of a small town Arkansas girl swimming in the freak-infested waters of Venice Beach, CA

(Almost) 3 Swirlies

“Am I really that different from everybody else?”

Almost there…

There’s not too many attempts at straight out drama on the web. So I not only applaud “With the Angels” for trying it, but for getting so many things right.

A young girl from Arkansas moves to L.A., but finds herself an outsider in the shallow, flakey, freaky lives that populate Venice Beach. What really works for me is the idea of the perpetual outsider looking for a place to fit in. Usually it’s a problem when your main character is a passive observer, but these guys make it work.Main character Taffy is both protagonist and storyteller – we very much see everything through her eyes – a trick that is often attempted but rarely carried off.

Even here, there’s a few things that come close to dragging the good parts down. The confessional parts (especially the first of the two in this episode) made me glance at the time bar. Death for internet video. Luckily the moments at the party were skillfully done, turning Taffy into enough of an underdog to make us root for her.

My other big question mark is the accent. Is that for real? It sounds put on to me. But what do I know? My fiancee tells me every accent I try to do sounds like John Lennon.

So… some good. Some bad. Where’s the story? We’ll see if the people behind “With the Angels” have any clear idea in the next few episodes.

With the Angels Season One Credits and Outtakes

The fans have had their shout-outs – now it’s the cast and crew’s turn.

Fish-out-of-water story of a small town Arkansas girl swimming in the freak-infested waters of Venice Beach, CA

"Am I really that different from everybody else?" Almost there... There's not too many attempts at straight out drama on the web. So I not only applaud "With the Angels" for trying it, but for getting so many things right. A young girl from Arkansas moves to L.A., but finds herself an outsider in the shallow, flakey, freaky lives that populate Venice Beach. What really works for me is the idea of the perpetual outsider looking for a place to fit in. Usually it's a problem when your main character is a passive observer, but these guys make it work.Main character Taffy is both protagonist and storyteller - we very much see everything through her eyes - a trick that is often attempted but rarely carried off. Even here, there's a few things that come close to dragging the good parts down. The confessional parts (especially the first of the two in this episode) made me glance at the time bar. Death for internet video. Luckily the moments at the party were skillfully done, turning Taffy into enough of an underdog to make us root for her. My other big question mark is the accent. Is that for real? It sounds put on to me. But what do I know? My fiancee tells me every accent I try to do sounds like John Lennon. So... some good. Some bad. Where's the story? We'll see if the people behind "With the Angels" have any clear idea in the next few episodes.

With the Angels Season One Credits and Outtakes

	With the Angels Season One Credits and Outtakes The fans have had their shout-outs – now it's the cast and crew's turn.	From: withtheangels Views: 21495 26 ratings
	Time: 04:44	More in Shows

With the Angels EP 36 – FINALE – The Courtyard

The easy path isn’t always the right path. Thanks to Fiadamom for planting the seed.

Fish-out-of-water story of a small town Arkansas girl swimming in the freak-infested waters of Venice Beach, CA

"Am I really that different from everybody else?" Almost there... There's not too many attempts at straight out drama on the web. So I not only applaud "With the Angels" for trying it, but for getting so many things right. A young girl from Arkansas moves to L.A., but finds herself an outsider in the shallow, flakey, freaky lives that populate Venice Beach. What really works for me is the idea of the perpetual outsider looking for a place to fit in. Usually it's a problem when your main character is a passive observer, but these guys make it work.Main character Taffy is both protagonist and storyteller - we very much see everything through her eyes - a trick that is often attempted but rarely carried off. Even here, there's a few things that come close to dragging the good parts down. The confessional parts (especially the first of the two in this episode) made me glance at the time bar. Death for internet video. Luckily the moments at the party were skillfully done, turning Taffy into enough of an underdog to make us root for her. My other big question mark is the accent. Is that for real? It sounds put on to me. But what do I know? My fiancee tells me every accent I try to do sounds like John Lennon. So... some good. Some bad. Where's the story? We'll see if the people behind "With the Angels" have any clear idea in the next few episodes.

With the Angels EP 36 – FINALE – The Courtyard

	With the Angels EP 36 – FINALE – The Courtyard The easy path isn't always the right path. Thanks to Fiadamom for planting the seed.	From: withtheangels Views: 16161 47 ratings
	Time: 10:47	More in Shows

With the Angels EP 35 – Following Yonder Star

My last post.

Fish-out-of-water story of a small town Arkansas girl swimming in the freak-infested waters of Venice Beach, CA

"Am I really that different from everybody else?" Almost there... There's not too many attempts at straight out drama on the web. So I not only applaud "With the Angels" for trying it, but for getting so many things right. A young girl from Arkansas moves to L.A., but finds herself an outsider in the shallow, flakey, freaky lives that populate Venice Beach. What really works for me is the idea of the perpetual outsider looking for a place to fit in. Usually it's a problem when your main character is a passive observer, but these guys make it work.Main character Taffy is both protagonist and storyteller - we very much see everything through her eyes - a trick that is often attempted but rarely carried off. Even here, there's a few things that come close to dragging the good parts down. The confessional parts (especially the first of the two in this episode) made me glance at the time bar. Death for internet video. Luckily the moments at the party were skillfully done, turning Taffy into enough of an underdog to make us root for her. My other big question mark is the accent. Is that for real? It sounds put on to me. But what do I know? My fiancee tells me every accent I try to do sounds like John Lennon. So... some good. Some bad. Where's the story? We'll see if the people behind "With the Angels" have any clear idea in the next few episodes.