Hitman 101 is an action packed character oriented web series with a lot of production value. The show is probably the most relevant to this blog of all previous shows featured on #WebSeriesWednesday as the series is dramatic and the characters have real depth.
The show drops you right into the middle of the action, with a hitman doin’ his thang. You know, stalking and killing. The episodes take their time building character and revealing just exactly what is going on – you know beyond the stalking and killing. I think that is a really effective storytelling style for the web because it allows the show to hook viewers with the excitement of the action – you know the stalking and killing – and it invites them to stay to learn more about the characters.
I strongly believe that series create fans through interesting and emotive characters. This is challenging on the web because character development is an investment storytellers make in the present in the hopes that it will pay off in the future. Web viewers are literally milliseconds away from closing your window, so you have to catch them right off the bat and hold on to them. By dropping the viewer right into the action and them slowly building character the show hopefully holds the viewers attention and then is able to pay it off at the end.
What I was most impressed with were the production values. Lots of locations, lots of nice shots and nice action sequences. These things take time and money to pull off well so they are impressive for a web production.
I am not sure if the show was created in the hopes of making money or merely putting the teams talent on display, but either way the team put their best foot forward. As I mentioned before, the show used a lot of locations, and they were all well suited to the story. A lot of web productions have clearly redressed the locations they have access to in order to make them look like something they are not. Hitman 101 has a lot of cool locations that you won’t really notice – which is a good thing. The police station looks like a police station, the interrogation room looks as you’d expect, and the filthy trailer looks lived in. This all added to the realism of the production.
If you have not had the chance to see Hitman 101, then you can check it out over at http://badguyfilms.com/hitman101
No Comment