Radiance Ep.2 | A Web Series on The Watch List

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

4 Swirlies

“Alicia…”
“It’s Alisa.”
“That’s not important.”

Waddyaknow - a YouTube comedy disaster web series featuring gay and lesbians.

I wasn’t too sure of what to make of the first episode, but I knew that I was kinda digging it. Well, this second episode cements that.

With a pitch perfect mix of character based comedy and the firmly established WTF what just happened genre of YouTube web series, Radiance delivers a fun, very short episode without seeming to try too hard. And while the camera work and available lighting makes everything look gray and hazy, the sharp timing and performances of the cast make me want to hang out with them - like I’m missing out by not being part of the disaster.

And there’s 19 episodes in the web series, so there’s plenty more fun to go!

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.

Black Dawn Ep. 3

Unable to contact anyone else, Adam and some of the others venture into the darkness to find out if his family is still alive.

Next episode: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-RKz4…

Download season pass: http://www.webserials.com/blackdawn/c…

“The Black Dawn” is a groundbreaking online experience, combining a web series with video blogs, short films, and an online comic. Visit http://www.webserials.com to see more.

2 Swirlies

“It’s 11 AM, and it’s still pitch black out.”

It’s been awhile since I checked in with this 2009 web series about a mysterious dark cloud over Los Angeles… looking for it’s long lost brother. No, just kidding. Just about everyone’s dead and no one knows why.

In this third episode, they go driving around L.A. looking for other survivors – and his family.

I’m not too sure where they were going. First there was the stuff immediately after the cloud and everyone died, and now I’m not sure what the character’s goals are. I know, some might say I’m only on episode 3, and it’s been a long time since I saw the first two, but I don’t really know anything except that people are dead. What’s the story here?

What saves this episode is the impressive acting and pathos towards the end. I felt myself getting a little bit wattery eyed myself.

Black Dawn – Ep 2.

Adam finds other survivors, but as they gather together it is clear that no one knows what has happened.

2 Swirlies

“We don’t know what tonight is going to bring. Or tomorrow.”

In true movie fashion, the beautiful girl in distress is the second character we meet. Will they get together?

This is the second episode of the series, and we see that there are, indeed, some survivors from whatever it is that killed almost everyone in L.A. The survivors huddle in a basement and get what surely must be the worst pep talk ever – a real downer followed by, “Everything’s going to be okay.”

I’m still waiting for this series to get going. I’m a sucker for science fiction, so I guess we’ll see what picks up next…

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?