Online drama is a brave new world. It only really kicked off two years ago and so nothing is defined… which is what makes it so exciting!
The places we go looking for entertainment is shifting. Today we watch films on our ipods and surf the web while we ride the bus. Now companies like Myspace, Nokia, Ford, Disney, Bebo, Orange, Microsoft, even the good old the BBC, are all pumping money into online dramas. The digital days are upon us folks… and with it comes a whole new way of telling stories.
The most basic examples work a lot like regular TV shows, but to think of online drama as ‘TV on the internet’ is both restricting and boring. When you’re online you’re connected to the world, you’re jacked in, and there’s a vast ocean of stuff to look at. The more successful shows, like Kate Modern, Sofia’s Diary and Signs of Life, have recognised this and created stories that come in easily digestible bite-size chunks; stories that interact with an audience through Bebo, blogs, vlogs and games.
Online dramas offer the opportunity to experiment both technically and dramatically. There are no rules: just the goal of creating something new and exciting that makes people stop and watch. This can mean blending amateur filming with brand new digital media, scripted stories with improvised video blogs or even planned shoots with live events. Even more so than TV it’s about creating a relationship with your audience; interacting with them, involving them and drawing them into the world of the story.
In short… it’s the future.
Don’t believe us? Check out some of the links below:
The Writer’s Guild of Great Britain Article
Bebo planning to produce more Online Dramas
