Today I decided to do something a little different for #WebSeriesWednesday where I watched ‘Devine Intervention’ – a show created by a group with no real production experience or budget but a lot of desire to make something worth watching. This weeks’ installment should serve to help people just beginning to make their own web series to avoid a lot of very common pitfalls.

Before you get started make sure you grab a production handbook and skim through it. Play around with lights, sound equipment, and your camera set up before you start. Production is very much about planning, and at the very least you need to know exactly what you are getting yourself into before you start.

As I watched ‘Devine Intervention’ there were a lot of mistakes that people only make once – such as not using a bounce card in areas with lots of back lighting, or filming in cramped, echo-y areas. These things are corrected with practice, but for non-pros moving beyond that there are a few other suggestions I would make that should make your productions better.

Rehearse

Devine Intervention used a lot of theater actors not used to acting for the camera. At first they seemed uncomfortable in their roles – overacting and uncomfortable, but as the show went on they became very believable. It appeared they just needed to warm up and get used to the work they were doing. Every job is this way, no matter what you do, it takes a little time to get good at it. Make your actors spend some time in character, in front of the camera and simply acting before you start filming.

Get an experienced sound person

Sound makes or breaks a production. People can live with substandard lighting or occasionally clunky acting but if it doesn’t sound right, people wont buy into what you are selling. It really is the most important technical aspect of a production and it’s vital you get it right. Don’t cut corners here. This is really the biggest flaw in the production.

Limit exposition & the time spent on talking heads

Very common in low budget productions, and in this one in particular, was a lot of scenes of just two people talking. There is nothing wrong with this on its own but you need to keep viewers visually interested at all times. The backgrounds need to be interesting and the perspective needs to change constantly. There is something of a rhythm to dialogue and editing is rhythmic as well. You need to find some kind of pace in the editing that keeps up with the words your actors are saying. That means you need lots of shots – cut aways, inserts, angle changes, whatever. There just needs to be something to keep the scene interesting beyond just the words spoken. The more you struggle with finding new ways to keep a scene visually interesting the more likely you are writing over-long exposition.

You need more shots

I see this in almost every web series I watch. Long takes can work, but they are artistic, they exist to serve some specific purpose. In general shows need a lot more shots edited together. Doing a fight scene in one or two takes will always look cheesy because you guys are not really fighting. Editing more shots together lets you remove the lie and suspends the audiences’ disbelief. This works in almost every type of scene. You don’t have to go all music video style every time, but 5 shots in a 2 minute scene is an eternity.

Write great characters

Devine Intervention nailed this. Their main character was flawed, struggling and it took some real ‘Divine Intervention’ to get her back on the right path. The show’s plot served to grow the character – to propel her past her most detrimental shortcomings. ‘If it’s not on the page it’s not on the stage.’ There needs to be a reason people watch your show, and there needs to be a big reason people overlook your mistakes. That reason is almost always character. If you do not write interesting characters who grow and change throughout the series people wont watch, even if your production is flawless.