Monday, May 28, 2007

Webisode? Or Wepisode?

I've seen it both ways...

Sort of like principal photography, or principle photography. A colleague of mine got into a big debate the other day with co-producer about which version is correct. He (and I) thought it was principal, she thought principle...and we're still not sure of the right answer.

According to Wikipedia:

Principal photography refers to the phase of film production during which the movie is actually shot, as distinct from pre-production and post-production.

But if you Google principle photography, it comes up everywhere...like IGN:

X-Men Wraps Principle Photography
by Steve Head

February 10, 2000 - We are able to confirm that X-Men has recently completed principle photography. However, second unit photography will continue for the next week or so in various locations.

So who knows...though I still think it's principal.

Anyway, some shameless promotion of something that has nothing to do with me - here is the 2nd webisode/wepisode? of Sanctuary, Damian Kindler's high-end and strictly online sci fi/supernatural series.




Been interesting reading some of the comments on the forums about this ground-breaking venture...fanboy/girls are extremely complimentary but there is some grumbling about the two week wait between the release of each 15 minute segment (or act, I suppose). And I can understand that...we are so used to the 'TV hour' format and structure (42 minutes approx) for this genre of series, it's going to take some time to break viewers of that habit.

The other primary discussion point seems to be about the disparity in the pricing of segments for each territory around the world. Apparently it costs about a third more for each HD ep download in Australia, New Zealand, the U.K. etc. than it costs here in North America. The consensus seems to be sanctuary for all should be 'one price for all'.

I hope (for Damian's sake) they work all this stuff out and begin to discuss the creative and storytelling proper, though I fear that might not be able to occur until an hour or two has been posted and the whole can be digested as opposed to just the parts.

But forge on, good people...may PRINCIPAL photography begin soon on your next slate of Sanctuary WEBISODES.

4 comments:

Jacques P. said...

Don't rely on what a journalist wrote ("principle") -- I'm one and we make spelling mistakes all the time. "Principal" means first, primary, the top ... so it's "principal photography."

Cunningham said...

I'm liking Sanctuary, but not loving it...and I do soooo want to love it. It is a show with monsters in it after all...

But, I get the feeling that Sanctuary isn't comfortable in its own skin yet: with the staging, the pace, the characters, etc... It has a slow pace and awkwardness, a lack of momentum that makes me wonder where the show is going. This is not good for a monster show (and yes, I know it is more than that, but for arguement's sake lets call it a monster show). There's mystery and then there's lack of drive and conflict. Unfortunately, I think Sanctuary is the latter case.

And there are ways to getting around the two week wait, and the "oh, what happened last episode?" when you click "play."

Chapter recaps and highlights, just like LOST or even the old serials are what's needed. All Marvel comics include them these days, because every comic is someone's first...

And then of course there's the cliffhanger...

wcdixon said...

Yeah, I hear you Bill...but I think whatever lack of mementum you're sensing is from the shortness of the segments - and thinking of them as episodes in the traditional tv sense. You're conditioned to expect x, y, and z to occur in an 'episode' when in fact, an episode hasn't even happened yet (basically 2 acts of the pilot/origin/setup episode - which by definition can be kinda sluggish as the arena and world and characters get established).

Not sure of my point but watching and rooting and seeing how it all shakes out as well.

Kelly J. Crawford said...

Yeah, it seems that, for now, they're concentrating on setting the stage, establishing the characters, the mood, the world of Sanctuary. Just when webisode one started to get really juicy, though...it ended. This 15 minutes per act/two week wait deal is a little hard to adjust to but I'm in it for the long haul, if only to see if there's potential for The Black Tower to go the internet route.

KJC (who's being inteviewed by Sci-Fi Talk about my show-yet-to-be tomorrow)