As I refreshed my memory looking over some of the content out there on the web it shocked me how much it has come forward in production value. From the past stereotype of the DIY lo-fi productions you expect from the internet damn they got good at what they do :3 Makes me happy to see not only internet content getting better but more that more serious people taking the internet into their sights. So I compiled this short top 5 web series list!
5. The Black Dawn
This is a pretty serious web series that got me hooked. After the first episode I was like “Holy crap what the hell just happened!?”. Not so original as I’ve heard those stories before and anyone who has seen the BBC series “Survivors” might recognize a lot of the ideas but it’s still worth a watch. http://webserials.com/
The 4. 21 Conspiracy
This is another interesting series that shows that it’s not all comedy out there, this fairly indi looking piece from Australia got me hooked at the first episode, I just HAD to watch the rest! That’s what a good web series does, they are like little tit bits of awesome wrapped up in a 5 minutish package, just enough to swallow in one go and not enough to satisfy you so you have to go back for more! Though I thought the ending a little meh, the whole set up was brilliant. It’s hard to conclude something like that well, and though I think it was done well it was just a little depressing and not really “OMFG WOW”. Maybe The best way to keep a secret like that is not to tell it? http://21.spaceboy.com.au/
3. Karma Kula
OK so this is a very slow moving epic web series I stumbled across recently. It’s kinda… not so engaging and quite hard to get into. I think it’s a very good example of how maybe the big screen still holds the the key to master drama and epic scenes. It could be due to the ficle nature of watching web TV, maybe if you have a few minutes to sit back and really watch something this would be more engaging. Oh but it has THE coolest fight scenes EVER in ANY web series EVER in the history of TIME >_>
It reminds me of the old spaghetti westerns with the long pauses but that could be said of a lot of the eastern “kung fu” films too. The score seems very western though, it takes me back to Ennio Morricone, and the cheesy one liners are kinda appalling in a western way =p
I’d like to note that on later watching this series when I have a bit more time I was able to appreciate it more. Maybe epic drama can be done on the web? http://karmakula.ign.com/
2. ask a ninja
Not much to say here, it’s the simplest preset for a video series. An enthusiastic ninja answers your questions awesomely. How could it fail!? http://askaninja.com/
1. The Guild
This is a personal favorite of mine being a big WoW fan myself, it is pretty much true to the word what it’s like. I am totally Zabu, Airina is totally Codex
Felicia Day <3 http://feliciaday.com http://www.watchtheguild.com/
Well I hope you liked my top 5! I hope to make more soon.
So I haven’t had much time today to finish my post with galavanting around and such so I have decided instead of posting a half researched meh blog I’ll give it another day and instead let you know what I’m posting about the next week or so.
Well tomorrow I hope to release my top 5 internet video series. Now these will be reserved only for live action series. I will make a top 5 animated, mechinma and other genera in the weeks to come.
By the end of this week (hopefully Friday) I will upload a video tutorial of how to strip an audio track from a video file.
Next week I hope to do a review on some of the pro video editing software I’ve used.
Do a video tutorial on compression settings, what the all mean, whats best for the web etc.
Compile a list of the top 5 video sites to upload to.
There’s just a few things I hope to do in the coming blogs, hope you find them worth coming back for.
P.S. I’ll update this blog with links to the blogs as I make them, and if you have any surgestions for any of your top web series let me know!
Familiarity
In the past I have used both iMovie and Windows Movie Maker (WMM) when making video for the internet. Starting out with little knowledge of video editing software this can be a daunting task, fortunately I had a lot of experience with non-linear audio editing suits such as Sonar. Basically video editing software and sound editing software is pretty much the same thing just one has a video track. If you have used audio editing software like Sonar, Logic Pro, Pro Tools or a similar product you will be familiar with most of the functions of video editing software. Usually video editing software has a viewing screen or two, a time line, effects preset and file navigation.
iMovie WTF?
Windows movie Maker was probably the first video editing software I used. It was great! So simple, so easy to understand having had some experience with non-linear editing. Where as iMovie…. wtf? It makes to sense to me xD iMovie has some really cool features and is all sexy like a Mac should be but I couldn’t get my head around it.
iMovie only has one channel for the whole video, audio and transitions/effects and the video is set out in a block not a time line completely unlike every other video editing software I’ve used. WMM at least looks like the professional software bridging the gap should you choose to upgrade. WMM has one video channel, a channel for the audio that comes with the video, extra audio track (for backing music or overdubbing) and then a track for your transitions/effects. I personally find this layout much simpler than iMovie and easier to edit.
Looks
Now It’s not all bad for iMovie, it’s so fast and so smooth you wonder why you ever bothered turning your PC on in the first place. The scrubbing tool is constantly in play so it makes finding the right part of the video clip you are looking for a lot faster than WMM where you have to do a lot of starting and stopping. Being on a Mac this is also a totally doable feature, I hate to think how this would slow down a PC. But also selecting the part of the clip you want isn’t always intuitive if you’ve used other software. You drag your cursor across the clip to select a part to add to your “video block”. Simple enough and a nice feature you might think, well yes, if you’ve never used any other software ever before. It took me a minute to figure this out as I was trying to cut and edit the clip like I have done so many times before.
Conclusion
WMM is not the shiniest nor the most advanced piece of software in the world but it is simple and easy to use. You wont be able to shoot The Matrix on it but nor will you in iMovie. I found WMM a lot easier to sequence my video into the right order and add titles, simple transitions. iMovie confused me, I don’t know if I’m missing some secret button that makes iMovie really usable but I’m really not that interested (I have Premier Pro now )
iMovie
Pro
Fast, sleek, sexy
Scrubbing tool works really well to find clips
Probably really easy to use if you have no idea what you’re doing
Easy exporting features
Easy importing features
Cons
I really can’t get used to it
If you’ve used other software might take a while to adjust
No time line
You need a Mac (also seen as a Pro )
WMM
Pro
Simple, easy to use
Time line feature
Clear presentation of tools
Easy Importing
Easy exporting
Cons
Not many thrills and spills
Basic
Need a PC (Also if you have a PC this is a perk)
Both have trouble importing each others file types, WMM doesn’t like .mov, iMovie doesn’t like .wmv.
Final Word
Personally I liked WMM better than iMovie when I started out. No matter how much of a Mac fan boy I have become even I started with a PC. It’s better to start with what you have than never to start because some one told you you’re gear wasn’t the best. If you’re wondering whether to get a Mac or a PC that’s a totally different blog for another day. For me iMovie is too silly for words and WMM is so Windows it hurts, but in a good way, like how we all use Word not that Mac equivalent I don’t remember the name of.
Linear editing is the process of selecting, arranging and modifying content (usually audio/video) into the desired sequence.
linear editing is seen to oppose non-linear editing because of the destructive nature, for example in film where the film would literally be cut and paste into position, once it was set there was no going back.
Non-linear editing is a modern day editing method used in film, video and audio production. It is similar to a cut and paste technique used since the beginning of film but unlike with the physical cutting and pasting of film of old the process is no longer destructive.
It is seen to be apposed to linear editing because you have equal access to any frame of the audio/video at any time so the process can go back on its self (non-linear).
The UK is going through a “Digital switch over” where TV is changing from its old analogue methods of transition to support the new interactive Digital transmission. This means old TVs won’t work on the new standard.
Also called Color reversal internegative, or CRI, an Internegative is a second negative of a film made from the original. When a film is shot the first negative is taken from the camera and edited into sequence. From this cut-together reel of film strip the internegative is created.
