This week on #WebSeriesWednesday we attempted to summon an old god to our plane of existence while dealing with the typical challenges that come with turning 30.
First we discuss old business, The Common Cult feels like something that is on TV. The show has that sort of Joss Whedon, clever back and forth dialogue, matched with a tinge of darkness. There is something rhythmic about the way the jokes are set up and delivered that gives the show great pace.
The Common Cult is the second web series from ‘Working Fish‘ to be featured on #WebSeriesWednesday – the first being ‘Mermates‘ on the very first show back in May. Common Cult has the same witty banter, and high concept premise as ‘Mermates’ but with significantly less fish puns – just one this time by my unofficial count.
And now for new (media) business! I noticed somewhere around episode five that each of the episodes were generally focused around one specific character. With roughly six minute run times on each show there isn’t too much time to dedicate to more than one character’s story. With all the different ways people have found to write and structure web series I keep coming back to this one as an ideal format.
Working Fish is writer, creator Michael Jonathan Smith, producer, actor, editor Chris Yule and actor, producer Alex Aschinger. These three write, produce, shoot, edit and upload the entire show.
The release of the final episode of The Common Cult last month marked the second time the group has delivered a top notch web series in less than a year. – a turn around that caught me off guard. Smith credits this to having the scripts written ahead of time, but there is something here to be said about being focused on your work.
The most striking thing about their productions is just how professional they feel. It’s not just the writing that is TV quality, the camera work is slick, the editing is sharp, and the production design and associated artwork is top notch.
While there are a lot of slick productions out there, I am amazed at how just a few people working with so little money could create something with so much polish. Even cooler is that they raised the money for the show themselves through Kickstarter.
I’ve quickly become a fan of this groups work, and you just might too if you check out their stuff at http://workingfishtv.com