The webseries The Book of Jer3miah follows a college Freshman as is so-far very normal life becomes shrouded in mystery and racked with action and suspense. However, the interesting part of adventurous plot is that it's presented in clips of under five minutes. Therefore, the creators of The Book of Jer3miah had the challenge of making each clip entertaining and suspenseful.
Since I viewed several episodes one right after another, I'm not sure I got the full webseries effect. When watching these tiny episodes altogether it almost seems silly when something outrageous happens every 2 and half minutes. A project like this should be enjoyed as it was intended.
That being said, I noticed many areas in which the creators were successful.
The tight plot introduces several characters, but keeps them involved enough that the viewer wouldn't forget them from week to week. In one of the earlier episodes, a girl name Claire introduces herself to Jeremiah, and I love story develops between them even though Jeremiah is often absent, busy speaking with mysterious men and getting beat up every other time he opens a door.
The creators trust the viewers to piece things together. For instance, when Jeremiah's parents die the camera shows smoke while Jeremiah screams there names. The audience figures out for ourselves that they are dead, and that's enough until a conversation reveals further information (that his parents were hit my a semi) in a later episode.
While plot intensifies, the viewers are reminded of the normal everyday occurrences still happening. Sometimes books and movies (and presumably webseries) seem to imply that the world stops when one of their character is facing challenges, but in Jer3miah, the insertion of Mormon activities such as ward pray and family home evening lessons into the plot grounds this over-the-top story in some reality.
Overall, I seem to be one of the few of my demographic who has not caught on to webseries in general (Lizzie Bennett Diaries, anyone?). I can't seem myself being interested enough in a story to wait a week to catch another 3 minute segment, but if I wait for the whole series then I face the problem that they were not really meant to watched fluidly. So, for me and my friends at the old folks home, webseries in general aren't for us, but all you smart phone users and YouTube enthusiasts out there should probably give this series a try.
Haha I love your old folks reference...quality. I liked the focus you brought to the fact real life things are still happening--that's one of the things I can't get over about movies and TV shows. Does no one ever have to go to the bathroom? Do they just have such entertaining lives that they never watch Netflix? Do they have never ending amounts of money to do whatever the heck they want, whenever they want? I just appreciate that you brought attention to this seemingly little detail. It's a really important one, I think.
ReplyDeleteI agree that one of the strengths of the creators was allowing the viewers to piece things together on their own. I feel like that is a crucial element to a web series since it is impossible to fit in many details in a 3 minute clip. They have to be obvious but not so obvious that we lose interest.
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