Video Sharing websites like Youtube, Blip.tv and Vimeo give everyone and anyone the chance to be a storyteller. All you need is the dedication to develop your story from an idea or concept into a product for your audiences.
Here at Death of the Author Reviews we focus on literature, specifically teen literature but every once in a while we need to take a break from the books and watch a movie, see a play, listen to music or watch a webseries.
Webseries bring entertainment back to the public. Creators make content for their viewers offering them something that feels more personal than television or film, but still offers a social connection. Content watchers are able to connect with the creators and give them feedback, creating a sense of community.
But we’ve all heard this before.
A Guy A Girl and Their Monster is a webseries that I had the the pleasure of stumbling onto recently. The concept of the show is simple, its summed up as:
[quote]Henry is a monster, of the under the bed variety. Down on his luck he searches out the little girl he belonged to in the ’80s. He finds her in Los Angeles living with her fiance. They take him in and the trio learns to live together in the big city.[/quote]
A Guy, a Girl and Their Monster is adorable, endearing and hilarious and functions as a great example of what platforms like youtube can offer content creators.
Meet Henry the adorable (and sometimes annoying) titular monster of the series:
Sometimes even the best monsters need to practice their scaring
Since the concept of the show is simple it offers an infinite range of directions for the story to go, and Showrunner Jenn Daugherty takes full advantage of that freedom. Episodes can range from Henry harassing his housemates for food, or practicing being scary. My favourite episode so far is Episode 7: DnD. In this episode Henry invites some of his monster friends over to play a hilarious spin on Dungeons & Dragons called: Dungeons & Douchebags.
I was lucky enough to speak to Jenn and have her answer a few of my questions about her series and her thoughts on online video production:
1. What was the inspiration for your series?
Most of the writing that I do can be called urban fantasy or contemporary fantasy, except with none of the usual sexiness that you see in this genre. I mostly like to write about everyday people dealing with fantasy creatures or mystical environments around them. For example, a normal couple living in Los Angeles but they have a monster living under their bed. A couple of years ago I worked on another puppet based show called Monster’s Nut House. I was creating monster puppets for that show when I decided to create a monster of my own design. That’s how I got Henry. He never got entirely integrated into the show. I think he is in one scene and never had any lines. So I decided that I would write a web series just for him.
2. What do you think is essential when it comes to telling a great story
Characters. So many big films today create such beautiful worlds and epic stories but the characters that inhabit those worlds are empty and boring. If you have the right characters in even the most basic of stories then the audience will follow you.So if you’re looking for something a little offbeat, but possessing a whole lot of heart; I highly recommend you check this series out!
