Web series research
- 1. Web Series Research Harry Adkins-Pennington
- 2. Existing Products- Countdown Channels Countdown channels take specific parts of a subject like characters in a movie and rank them from best to worst, most of the time in lists of 10 but there are some videos where the number is different, but the average is often a list of 10. WatchMojo do lists on multiple different subjects including other YouTubers, movies and tv shows. It is set up for anyone to come in and watch any of their videos with almost no swearing except for some clips they use for their countdowns and only when it is necessary like when the countdown is about the most inappropriate tv shows and movies; even for these countdowns, they always give warnings about these so if someone doesn't wish to see or hear anything that they do not want to, they can just leave the video; however most videos that have swearing is censored when the swearing and violence isn't necessary. Occasionally, WatchMojo will do a VS video for certain characters, devices or companies to spice things up; each video is voiced by multiple voice actors, including Rebecca (AKA WatchMojo Lady), Ricky, Phoebe, Noah and Todd Haberkorn and the videos are only voiced over by the actors. What to expect when watching WatchMojo: • Constant countdown lists • Always opinion based but they act like what they say is fact
- 3. Existing Product-Review Channels Review channels look at different forms of media and different subjects and give their own opinion on these subjects. These are different depending on the YouTube channel itself. AngryJoe is a review channel that mostlydoes video gamereviews but will occasionally do movie reviews and gaming news. What sets Angry Joe apart from most other review channels is that for his video game reviews, him and his acting team (Other Joe and Dell) will do parodies for different parts of certain games;for example, for his review of Mortal Kombat11, he makes fun of some of the flaws in the gamelike the progression walls by using a parody at the start of the review. These help him stand out from the crowd as mostreview channels just sit in front of a camera and give their opinion on a game. Similar to countdown channels, at the end of each year, Angry Joe does a countdown on the best and worst games of the year to further show his opinion on certain games, sometimes he'll put games that he hasn't done a full-fledged review on to show how bad it is. Nostalgia Critic is a movie review show where Doug, the NostalgiaCritic (NC for short), reviews movies that either are nostalgic or have a nostalgic tie-in, similar to Angry Joe, NC does parodies for most of his reviews using his team for the different characters and unlike Angry Joe, possibly because he doesn't want to risk copyright NC almost creates a whole universe with the different characters like the Devil and Santa Christ. Both NC and Angry Joe have done a cross over when reviewing Man of Steel and BatmanVS Superman What to expect from AngryJoe and NC: • Child unfriendly content with swearing and reviews on more adult and mature movies, tv shows and games • Detailed reviews on the games and movies you enjoy • A bit of yelling at least
- 4. Example Video The video I will be focusing on is AngryJoe's Mortal Kombat 11 review, titled Mortal Kombat 11 Angry Review because I am hoping to use a similar style of review for my project. The video starts with a fade to black transitionto a far, eye level shot of Angry Joe and Other Joe dressed up as Scorpion and Sub- Zero walking towardseach other from outside the frame, with Scorpion coming from the left side looking to the right and Sub- Zero coming from the right side lookingto the left, with the two of them stopping near the centre of the screen preparing to start the fight until the Corporate Commander (AngryJoe original character) comes into frame from the left hand side to stop the fight and give the two fighters a "progression roadblock"before leaving Sub-Zero and Scorpion to try and get past the roadblock, ending the scene with a "grindality"which is a parodyversion of the famous fatalitiesthe Mortal Kombat franchise is known for and cutting to black. For this scene, they used a small clip of the original MortalKombat theme tune before Corporate Commander comes in and then the music goes silent with a scratching sound effect. The next scene is incrediblyshort, it is simply a black screen with a small explosionspecial effect in the background before the cover of Mortal Kombat 11 Premium editionon the PS4 appearsin the centre of the screen with the title "MortalKombat 11 Angry Review" appearingshortly afterwards before, again, fading to black for the next scene; the covers of the games are always at an angle but there is never a link to why they are at an angle. They use the same music used for most of their game reviews called The Human Abstract - Crossing The Rubicon 8-Bit. For the next scene, it cuts straight to the "studio" (greenscreen) where AngryJoe walks into frame from the left-hand side, stopping by the screen further to the right, explaininghow much he loves Mortal Kombat and advertisinghis own board game version of the franchise, censoring his swearing. The screen beside him shows some of the gameplaythat he has recorded while reviewing the game as he talks about how much he loves the newest instalmentbefore starting to talk about his biggest issue with the game, suddenly cutting to a mid, high angle shot of Joe complainingaboutthe microtransactionsin the game, showing the audience exactly what he sees.
- 5. Example Video For the Nostalgia Critic, I will be using a video from his series called Old VS New where he takes an older film from a franchise and compares it to a remake of that franchise, going through different parts including the main and side characters, the writing/story and villain. I will be using his video of The Karate Kid because I believe he explains every section clearly without having other guests on the show which caused distractions. I chose to go with Old VS New because I hope to do something similar for my project by comparing two different games in a similar fashion. I will also use his review of Suicide Squad because he doesn't use clips of the film, instead, he uses his team to parody scenes in the film which is similar to my project. For every part that the Nostalgia Critic is talking, he is either talking over clips from the films or just talking straight to the camera which is not very interesting, but I think he does this because for most of his proper reviews, he usually uses parodies to help explain and mock parts of films. At the start of the older episode, Nostalgia Critic does his usual intro and after he says "welcome to another episode of Old VS New" the intro animation is a still image of a child and an old man having a fight in a massive desert while opera music is being played in the background and a lightning strike effect appears by the end before suddenly cutting back to the Critic. When he did an episode of Old VS New for the Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield Spider-Man movies, the intro changed from an animation to a live action version. For the scenes where the Critic is not in frame, he shows clips of the films as he explains why one side is better than the other in a certain aspect. For the start of the Suicide Squad review, the intro rolls, starting with the intro of the whole channel itself which consists of the pin of the logo moving towards the world part of the logo, then the Nostalgia Critic intro which consists of an explosion to a wormhole with multiple clips of his other reviews while some of his characters randomly move around the wormhole before the title turns into view, fading to the Nostalgia Critic himself beginning his intro.
- 6. Existing Product-Gaming Channels Gaming channels are what the name suggests, channels that do gaming, mostly playing the newest game so viewers can see what the game is like. Jacksepticeye is an Irish YouTuber who most of the time, plays the newest hit game and gives his opinion on them, similar to review channels but not to the same level of detail. He used to bring his own personality to the channel and to YouTube itself by yelling and swearing like an Irishmen but due to YouTube changing its policies and catering to the delicate little snowflakes, he has had to tune down his personality in order to get paid by YouTube. What to expect when watching Jacksepticeye:
- 7. Existing Product-Unboxing Channels Unboxing channels make videos of themselves getting certain products out of the box and showing the audience what it is and what their opinion is. Unbox Therapy does many different unboxing videos, mostly technology like phones and gaming computers and explaining what the product is, what it is for and what is inside it; for example, recently, he unboxed a one of a kind computer called the Big O which is a combination of a Nintendo Switch, a PS4 Pro, an Xbox One X and the most powerful computer parts available at the time of the video. What to expect when watching Unbox Therapy: • Many different products available to the public • Occasionally some devices that are not available to people due to being one of a kind or being incredibly expensive
- 8. Existing Product-Tech Channels Tech channels base their videos on exploring different ways of technology, whether it is building computers, tutorials on different componentsand sometimes reviews on certain devices. Austin Evans does mostly tech videos, exploring the "innovations" of new devices and helping people understand how computers work. However, every so often, he makes another video on his series called Mystery Tech where his crew purchase different weird products for Austin to unbox and review, most of them being absolutely rubbish and not worth the price of the product but some occasionally are pretty good and worth it. What to expect when watching Austin Evans: • Bad dad and some childish jokes • Technology products you may not have heard of with links to purchase them • A lot of Amazon products • Some competitions between Austin and his crew like Broke VS Pro • Mostly family friendly content but with a few rare inappropriate jokes • Sometimes random rubbish that makes no sense • Tutorials on how to build computersand what each parts do
- 9. Example Video A good example video would be Unboxing Weird Tech from My PO Box where Austin unboxes products that other people have sent to him via his PO box. The video starts with his usual intro "hey guys, this is Austin" which is not very original and unique. The camera shoots the intro as a mid, eye level shot from the right-hand side to show that Austin does not have any more power than anyone else
- 10. Existing Product-Theory Channels Theory channels use evidence they have found in certain forms of media in order to come up with a theory Game Theory and Film Theory are two channels that come up with theories on certain movies, tv shows and games, both these channels are hosted by Mathew Patrick, also known as MatPat and he writes the theories and goes into detail on the evidence and how it connectswith the theory. One of his most theorized game if Five Nights At Freddy's (FNAF) with 30 theories on the complicated story. What to expect when watching both Game Theory and Film Theory: • Bad puns and dad jokes • Theories going into detail on how the theory works with the game or film • Mostly family friendly content unless specified by MatPat
- 11. Existing Product-Abridged Channels Abridged channels use different series, mostly anime since they are easier to edit than live action, and edit them to make the show more comedic TeamFourStar is one of the most popular channels that do abridged series with Dragon Ball Z Abridged and Hellsing Ultimate Abridged which are incredibly popular and basically created the abridged genre. What to expect when watching TeamFourStar: • Abridged series with a lot of time and effort put into them
- 12. Existing Product-Gaming News Channels Gaming News channels take a look at the latest news in gaming at repeats it to their audience, so everyone is up to date on everything that is going on. • Dynasty is one of the most popular gaming news, he finds any leaks and rumors about certain games and add-ons that will be revealed and added soon. • Mystic is another gaming news channel that more focuses on any new gaming hardware releasing like new consoles and pc parts