Katherine’s Maven Page

Blogging for Fellow Artists who want better web exposure

How could this be funnier?

I came upon this webisode online entitled "Cast This: The Reality", and I found it lacked some Ha Ha.


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First let's talk about what is GREAT about this webisode.  It looks great, and it sounds great.  Great production value goes a long way when it comes to web series.  But there is something missing from this scenario about the casting office.  The acting is good.  The writing is pretty funny, but the jokes just don't land.  Why is that?

Could it be that the editing needs to be more fast paced?  If so, would some music or sound effects help?  My guess is that this series is trying to be like NBC's The Office, which does not include kitschy music at all in their show.  Yet, I think that Cast This could use a little extra sillyness to make it's exasperated main character seem zany.  For now, one thing he is not is sympathetic or realistic.

What are your thoughts?




And BTW, this web series has an awesome website of its own:   http://www.castthis.net/  Check out bios of the actors and creators, plus additional episodes.

 

Ken Burns Effect

One of the things I enjoy creating for my clients is a custom photo montage.  These are often screened at wedding receptions, birthday parties, etc.  I create slideshows with motion and sound using Final Cut Pro on my mac.  They are a great way to show a personal history and celebrate family -- and on a very current medium, DVD!

Mac owner?  You can dabble in custom slideshows yourself using iMovie.  Here is a tutorial from Knight Digital Media Center explaining how to recreate the "Ken Burns Effect" with your family photos.  Ken Burns is a documentary filmmaker who often uses still shots in motion.  His latest film, The War, can be seen on PBS as a seven-part series.

http://www.pbs.org/kenburns/filmmakers/

 

Toyota's Web Presence

 

Click over to Toyota’s youtube channel, and you’ll find their latest commericals.  Best of all, there's an interesting making-of video for the new Prius ads which have my 10-month old son enraptured every time he hears the female a cappella voices. You know the ones? The 2010 hybrid car goes driving through a magical world of “nature” that is literally hundreds of silly people in bright colors, dancing, jumping and waving.

The tagline reads “Harmony between man, nature, and machine”.

I am fascinated by this campaign, but more-so, I am impressed that the making-of video is readily available to curious web surfers like myself.

 

Sometimes, disclosing your methods can further entice your audience. Sometimes something this new and cool has to be explained, like a magic trick that is spoiled the second time around for the audience’s benefit, making us chuckle at how it’s really done. Show us the invisible wires! Show us the green screen. We want to say, ‘I know how they did that!’ What once was movie magic is now more of a network of afficionados who have computer skills. The more one knows, the more included one feels. Indeed, I find myself wanting to explore who came up with the concept for the Prius campaign, who directed the commercials (he’s Japanese?), who produced the web videos and who sang the song.

And so, of course, the Toyota brand sticks in my mind all afternoon. Way to go, them.