Web Series Wednesday: Set The Table

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Every Wednesday SnobbyRobot.com highlights a web series and hosts a chat with creators on twitter using the hashtag #WebSeriesWednesday. We watch the show together and comment on it - Last week Set The Table was the featured show and these are my final thoughts on it. Be sure to check in on Twitter tonight at 5 PM PT as I'll be watching and tweeting Louis Grant with creators Damien Blackshaw and Todd L. Green.
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Set The Table is an interesting show. It's well put together, well written, well shot, well acted, well edited, etc. Across the board it's pretty well done, but it's only six episodes long, with about 35 minutes of show. This is something that is quite common in web series. Production is time consuming and expensive, so short makes sense, but is it the best way to go?

First let me start with my critique. Each episode is essentially a single scene, or sequence, which makes Set The Table essentially a grouping of six scenes. I think the single scene / episode format is great for web series and it works well here. The issue is that nothing is able to get resolved in the six episodes. I'd say the combined story feels like less than one act.

 

Currently creator Deborah Adair is working on creating a season two to help give us a bit more to chew on, but the biggest hurdle is finding the money to make it. Money is always the challenge in web production, and the relationship between money and length is starting to feel like an issue that producers need to learn to deal with.

While the classic three act structure has come under fire on the web it has also become clear that stories, no matter the format, need to have a beginning, middle and end. When I look at a series like Set The Table from the perspective of an audience member I have a hard time seeing myself getting hooked. The show just does not get deep enough into the story, to that point where an audience member can decide that they need to watch more.

 

A lot of series are created with this one season = one production cycle model because it makes sense financially. It is a convergence point between old media production and new media distribution. Creators need to be experimenting with new ways of telling their stories and producing their content. If you have money for a half hour of content you should tell a complete story in a half hour. One big fear people have when it comes to getting hooked on new television shows is the fear of a show getting canceled before the story is told - the same phenomenon exists on the web I am sure - people will pass on a show that takes two years, three production cycles and two kickstarter campaigns to tell.

I don't want to give the wrong impression about the show though, because I really enjoyed it and there was definitely something special going on somewhere. The real interesting thing here is that, despite its short length, I was able to feel a real connection to the story, characters, ideas, and themes - which is something that even a television show like LOST couldn't accomplish in seven years... I think this is the combination of good, personal writing and quality acting performances.

 

Becca (played by Adair) and her husband are a couple struggling with the challenges of mid-life. Their daughter has moved away and is perusing a life of her own, their jobs and extended family have pulled them away from each other and put unwanted burdens in their place. At its core Set The Table is a story about recalling the times when everything was in its right place, and trying to find a way to put it all back together. 

In a lot of ways Set The Table is the type of story that asks a lot of questions but does not offer any answers - which I love. Where we see Becca and her husband trying to rediscover that spark through the personal touches of homemade food, we also see challenges get in their way (spilling the coffee beans, and being forced into the latkes felt symbolic) and no resolution. Ultimately the story leaves us perhaps with a bit of foreshadowing, as we see Becca's mom struggling to let go of those same memories of the past, and the times where everything was how it should be. Maybe one day Becca's daughter will come home from France and pull her out of a tree.

It is rare that I feel a story work on that level for me and I believe that is the result of some personal writing and working with actors that really get the material. Sometimes I feel like one of the biggest problems in web series is that creators are too scared of telling the stories that really mean something to them. With Set The Table I believe I found a show where that is definitely not the case. I wish we could see what Deborah could share with us if given a little more time and a little more room to let these characters grow and change. Hopefully we do.

Set The Table can be found at their website http://www.watchsetthetable.com  and for more reviews and web series coverage visit SnobbyRobot.com.

American Detours Season 1 Episode 3

American Detours, presented by American Collectors Insurance, pairs epic American roads with collector cars. Episode 3 features a in a head-turning '68 Shelby Cobra, a one-time Hertz Rent-a-Racer cruising the historic Brandywine Valley in Pennsylvania. Visit www.AmericanDetoursTV.com to see and share the full episode now.

Scoble gets a good look at Open Garden, seamless connectivity across 3G, 4G, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth

Open Garden leverages crowdsourcing to create seamless connectivity across 3G, 4G, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. It enables users to create their own ad-hoc mesh networks with other Open Garden-enabled devices including smartphones, tablets and PCs. And it offers benefits for nearly every player in the mobile ecosystem: consumers, carriers. handset and tablet manufacturers.

 http://www.opengarden.com

Orange Juice in Bishop's Garden: Retro Tuesdays - Aleca Piper

Retro Tuesdays is back for another OJBG interview of yesteryear, this time with Aleca Piper (aka Maggie) flying solo, speaking about her time on the set of OJBG.
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Telly, LA Web Festival, and Webby honoree award winning teen web series following the lives of 18 kids as they grow up and get down in grunge-era Washington DC.
"The bad things we do. The things we get caught for--and how they are never the same.

Meet the Mayfarers: Ep. 2.11 - "The Return of Claire"

Claire returns to the family, who never knew she was gone in the first place.
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“Meet the Mayfarers” is a comedy about an estranged, dysfunctional family who is forced to live together for one year in order to get their grandfather’s massive inheritance.

TODAY ONLY: Free Download of Orange Juice in Bishop's Garden Season 1 Pilot

It’s simple. Like Orange Juice in Bishop's Garden on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter, and share this photo with #OJBG and we’ll send you a code to download the OJBG Season 1 pilot for free :)

This offer is for TODAY ONLY! So get sharing!

Lunch With Zombies!

We Are Going LIVE, in the flesh, relatively speaking anyway, with Nicholas Minter on

his show Nick @ Noon TODAY 12:30pm EST!

 

A105 Listen Live!

 

 

Feel free to call in and give me a shout out

or just talk all things Zombie Socks!

Check out all our pieces here

BLIP TV

 

Q&A: Sherlock Is Trying To Kill Me

5/20/13 Moore, OK Devastating Tornado

At least 233 people were injured and at least 91 people have been confirmed dead by the Oklahoma Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.

From Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_Moore_tornado




The 2013 Moore tornado occurred on the afternoon of Monday, May 20, 2013, ranking as at least a EF4 intensity when it impacted Moore, Oklahoma, United States, and other adjacent areas, killing at least 91 people and injuring more than 233 others. The tornado was part of a larger weather system that had produced several other tornadoes over the previous two days. The tornado touched down at 2:56 p.m. CDT (19:56 UTC), staying on the ground for approximately 40 minutes over a 20-mile (32 km) path. The tornado touched down west of Newcastle and crossed a heavily populated section of Moore. It was possibly over 2 miles (3.2 km) wide at its peak.

Back from the Con

It has been a whirlwind of activity here....we are days away from finishing Season 1. (Only 5 filming days left!) And the promotion circuit is in full tilt. We are enjoying a spring full of Sci-Fi Conventions. Most recently Sci-Fi Valley in Altoona, PA. Here are a few tips for those unfamiliar with the world of conventions....

 1.) Make sure you are legal: Let's get the dull business one out of the way first. If you are headed to a convention, make sure that you have the necessary paperwork filed with the State Tax Office. If you are planning on selling anything, you probably need to have a temporary tax registration. A group that we work with drove to a convention, set up their table and was doing well, until a representative from the tax office showed up and asked to see their license. When they could not produce one, they were shut down. They could hand out promotional material, but could not make any sales at the event.

 2.) Look the part: I have not had the kind of figure that would look good in a chain-mail bikini since before I had kids, but that doesn't mean that you should not get into the spirit of the event. Particularly, turn it into a promotional opportunity. Wear a T-shirt for your show if you can. And if you have a group attending, get them to match! You'll look professional and hopefully get some questions about your show.

 3.) Free Promos Rule: People at cons love the promos, so give them things to help them remember your show. We sold one DVD at the event simply because we gave collector cards and a poster to a guy's son. The cast signed them, and doted on him, thanking him for coming and expressing appreciation for his interest. Dad laughed, thought it was awesome, and bought the DVD right then.

4.) Be nice: Duh. This one should be a no-brainer but you'd be surprised. You may not be a geek, and may think that all of the people wandering around in their super hero costumes or zombie makeup are a bunch of weirdos, but keep that to yourself. Because these weirdos are not only smart, but they are loyal fans, and the best marketers that you could ever ask for. If they like you, they will promote you to their friends, and that is what you want!

 5.) Network: Cons are a great place to network. This weekend we met a reviewer and gave her a copy of our DVD for consideration. We also met a great make-up artist. Vince is an amazing makeup artist who was more than eager to share his knowledge with Zoe. Vince called Zoe...a badass makeup chick for making her own scar wax :) She learned a lot about effects makeup and picked up some great new tools. Clint met Mike Dougherty who is the Director of Browncoats: Redemption and the upcoming Z*Con. Mike was awesome to chat with and really did a fine job with Browncoats: Redemption. He really knows his stuff and was incredibly supportive of our work on Shotgun Mythos.

 6.) Be prepared for anything: No, really. I mean it. Be prepared for anything. We were prepared to network and to promote the show. We were prepared for the wild costumes and the hard core fans. We were even prepared to fail...to have no one stop by and to have the weekend be a bust (thankfully that was not the case!!!). One thing did throw us a bit, though. We have custom jewelry pieces that were made by a local jeweler, using the symbolism of the show....Spider and skull earrings and fairy stones with spiders, skulls, celtic knots and birds. One lady stopped by our table, and chided us for not letting people know that the jewelry was connected to the show. (Nevermind that we had 3 banners hanging behind the table, the show playing on two monitors, the DVDs next to it, and a sign that explained the symbolism as it related to our show next to the jewelry...but I digress...) Apparently she had been about to buy one of the bird pins, thinking it was a dove, but realized that since it was tied to the show, it would offend God. Still scratching my head and not sure of the proper response to that one...

 At any rate, we had a great time, made new friends and fans (bird lady notwithstanding.) And we are looking forward to Balticon next weekend!

 

The Butterflies and Rainbows Song

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