Trailer: “H+”
Watch this trailer:
Looks like an awesome movie, doesn’t it?
But it’s not a movie.
Okay, a fantastic TV show.
Not a TV show either.
What is it?
It’s a web series. And by the looks of it, the most audacious one yet.
I started tracking scripted web series early on in this blog — for example here, here, and here. But my interest in them tapered off for a variety of reasons, mostly because on a purely quality basis, they suffered in comparison to TV and movies. And almost all of that had to do with funding. The economic model for making money on web series apparently hadn’t matured enough for studios or venture capitalists to justify significant budgets to projects. And while there is a certain amount of creativity that arises from flying by the seat of your pants, that can only take you so far in terms of how something looks and feels on a screen.
But along comes “H+”. From Seriable:
If this Bryan Singer-produced web series is successful, as I predict it will be, there will be a major increase of professionally produced web series’ in the next year. I would guess that the web series may even start to compete with the online viewing of regular TV shows, as a smaller format may be appealing to those who are at work, or don’t have enough time to fully commit to an hour of viewing.
Here’s the synopsis:
“H+” takes viewers on a journey into an apocalyptic future where technology has begun to spiral out of control…. a future where 33% of the world’s population has retired its cell phones and laptops in favor of a stunning new device — an implanted computer system called H+. This tiny tool allows the user’s own mind and nervous system to be connected to the Internet 24 hours a day.
But something else is coming… something dark and vicious… and within seconds, billions of people will be dead… opening the door to radical changes in the political and social landscape of the planet — prompting survivors to make sense of what went wrong.
Three things:
* Bryan Singer: The director of X-Men, X2, and Superman Returns is involved as a producer.
* Warner Bros.: At the very end of the trailer in the credits, you see the Warner Bros. logo. Not some unknown prod co, but a major studio involved as a marketing, distribution, and perhaps most importantly funding entity.
* This quote: “…a smaller format may be appealing to those who are at work, or don’t have enough time to fully commit to an hour of viewing.”
In our current cultural universe, all roads do seem to be pointing toward shrinking attention span syndrome, ironically veering toward the old days of movie serials:
As usual, I have no dog in this hunt, no connection whatsoever to this project except for one long-standing and abiding interest: The growth of new media markets that can become a source of jobs for writers. So if only for that reason, I hope “H+” is a smashing success.
What do you think of the trailer? Would you watch this series? What do you think about the current state of web series?
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