A web series doesn’t usually follow the same principle as a television broadcasted series. Something as simple as a platform to broadcast on can heavily impact the production of it. According to Julie Keck, the web series “[doesn’t] have to worry about [garnering the numbers] as much. As subscriber-based platforms, it’s to their benefit to tell stories that attract audiences not being served by mainstream entertainment” (Julie Keck, The Line Blurs Between Web Series and TV Shows, 2015). Because web based shows are a relatively new platform, they have only recently started gradually appealing to more mainstream audiences, but are still heavily consumed by the underground audiences. Unlike web shows, TV broadcasted programs rely on weekly ratings. Keck goes on to say that “Amazon’s ‘Transparent’,…’House of Cards’…, and ‘High Maintenance’… are way more interesting than the patients who pop up each week on… ‘Grey’s Anatomy’. None of these shows would survive for a second on cable, let alone broadcast TV, but they work on the alternate networks because those networks aren’t relying on [the] week to week numbers.” (Julie Keck, The Line Blurs Between Web Series and TV Shows, 2015)
After Hours is a YouTube based comedy web series from channel Cracked. The series contains four main characters; Soren, Daniel, Katie, and Michael, who, in each episode, discuss a topic based around a pop culture. In the episode, Why Sauron Is Secretly The Good Guy In ‘Lord Of The Rings’, the characters discuss why Sauron is secretly the good guy in Lord Of The Rings.
One of the main distinctions between a web series and the traditional TV show is the amount creative freedom that goes into it. “The thing that’s really exciting about web series and content for the web is it really allows for a lot of experimentation” (Dagmar Weaver-Madsen, Paula Bernstein, What’s the Difference Between Shooting a Web Series and an Indie Film, 2015). Unlike in television industry, the main restraint that web series production may have is budget. This gives the producers the opportunity to be more experimental with its humor. Through this, they can use dodgy editing and cheap special effects to their advantage. After Hours, in this sense, differs, as it is done with a proper filming location, professional actors, and professional equipment. However, what differs it from a traditional TV show is its structure. Being a lot more independent, a web series doesn’t have to run for the full half hour length. In this case, an After Hours episode will usually run from 8 minutes to 12 minutes, and therefore doesn’t have to be story driven. Each episode is completely dialogue based, and is set in the same location throughout, only consisting of two camera angles. Non-reality TV shows generally have to be story driven and move from scene to scene. A half hour to whole hour version of After Hours would simply be difficult to watch.
Bibliography
Keck, Julie, ‘The Line Blurs Between Web Series and TV Shows‘, [http://mediashift.org/2015/04/the-line-blurs-between-web-series-and-tv-shows/]
Bernstein, Paula, ‘What’s the Difference Between Shooting a Web Series and an Indie Film‘, [http://www.indiewire.com/2015/05/whats-the-difference-between-shooting-a-web-series-and-an-indie-film-61482/]