Why Gemini Division Disappoints
August 18th, 2008
It should go without saying, but don’t read this post if you’re not interested in my editorial opinion of Gemini Division’s first two episodes.
I just watched the first two episodes of Gemini Division, the much hyped Rosario Dawson online sci-fi series that launched today and is having its moment in the spotlight as web-series de jour.
Along with many folks, I had high hopes for Gemini. I saw it as a chance to move the ball forward for web video. On paper, the project looks strong: Rosario is a recognizable celebrity with digital and genre crowd street cred, Electric Farm is a production company with funding and previous online experience and NBC Digital is a major distributor with enough promotional muscle and presence to drive traffic where and when it desires.
Along with many folks, (update:more here, and in the comments on Hulu here), I’m disappointed with the first two episodes. Here’s why:
- Gemini Division looks cheap, but it shouldn’t. The Wall Street Journal reports that the show was a “$2 million Internet production.” At 50 episodes, that’s $40K per episode. At an average of 3 minutes per episode, that’s $13,333 per minute. Where did the $2M in production value go if it didn’t go on the screen? The entire show is shot with green screen backgrounds that look like they were done in iMovie. Not impressive. For digital productions with a budget of that size, I would expect more.
- The photography is lazy. Filmmaking is filmmaking - you have to be creative with the camera. The first two episodes are all shots from locked-off camera angles or web-cam POVs. These can be useful tools for certain story elements when added to more cinematic angles and shots, but as the sole viewpoint for the audience they get boring fast. Imagine the same thing for the next 48 episodes. Dave Klein, the director of photography, who has worked on a ton of great projects such as Clerks, is better than this. Maybe he was either told that Gemini needed to feel web friendly and work for the green screen or he just got lazy. I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt and guess it was the former.
- Per the above, the content feels old. You have to let the camera play a role in telling the story. The web cam shot is a cliche gimmick that hit its peak with lonelygirl15.
- The project is old. I first heard about it when I was at Fox and we had a competitive digital project that was being shopped around town. This was back before the writer’s strike.
- Gemini suffers from an unnecessary urge to force feed the audience on technology references. It has to be edgy and hip to be relevant. It packs the first 5 minutes with as many tech references as possible - talking into cell phones, PDA displays, user interfaces GUIs, etc. It feels like an old guy came in and pitched a show and led his pitch by saying “I know the teen audience, the internet audience, and here’s how I’m going to prove it to you. Every shot is going to be technology centric. The opening shot will be of Rosario talking into a PDA.”
- Why does the first episode open with Rosario’s lips covered during her initial monologue? Seems like a footage gremlin that they couldn’t fix in post. But didn’t they cover that shot another way?
- The official website is cluttered. Painful to look at and onerous to navigate. They video player has been buggy on my Mac on Firefox and Safari.
- In a world where networks compete for eyeballs, branded entertainment is not a sustainable entertainment model because it places an artificial limit on the creative freedom of the filmmaker. That’s why ad supported network TV evolved out of single sponsor shows into commercial pods, because greater competition for viewers led to a loosening of the restriction on content creation. Show producers wanted more creative freedom and they got it. The economic model of Gemini Division is interesting and important, but is ultimately moot specifically because it’s branded entertainment. (Note - I’ve removed some sensitive financial data from this paragraph at the request of an interested party).
- To the above point, NBC’s display advertising wraps are less than innovative.
- Gemini’s interactivity is over-hyped. In an interview with io9.com, Gemini Division writer and director Brent Friedman spoke about the show’s Alternative Reality Game component:
the ARG begins on Friday the 29th. In the game, audience members, “can become a Gemini Agent,” according to Friedman, “so you can get recruited and face the same moral choices [as the characters]. When you join Gemini Division through the ARG, you get your own PDA [and] the longer you spend on the site and on your PDA, you get widget upgrades. So it enhances your experience. We want to be able to replicate the way Anna uses her PDA on the show. You’re going to be sent on investigatory missions that will ask you to find different things that will lead you to different sites.”
- ARGs are fun to produce and make for great press, but they’re a resource drain and very few people ever play them out. The rule of thumb is that for every 1000 views you’ll get 1 participant. That’s not a marketable ratio. You have to start with a great show. Web shows that focus more on their interactive functionality and less on content are bound to fail.
- In order to be successful and grow a real audience, web shows can’t just be as good as TV shows, they have to be better. Mass audiences want passive entertainment in comfortable settings. Digital platforms are, by definition, built for interactivity, but interactivity isn’t what audiences want. It’s a nice bonus for early adopters and fanboys, but commercial audiences want escapism. They want drama. They want a soap opera.
Despite the effort, Gemini Division is a step backward in a landscape that is being pushed forward by massive demand, by technology and by the inevitability of the digital generation coming to a position of power.
The digital video world moves fast. We’re now in an era where the standard for original entertainment content on digital platforms has been set by Dr. Horrible, We’re hoping to push that envelope further with shows like Humanzee and Meatdog.
Tags: a-bo the humonkey, dr horrible, gemini division, humanzee, internet, rosario dawson, web video
Posted by: jake Posted in Analytics, BusinessYou can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
August 18th, 2008 at 5:57 pm
I’ve seen mostly positive reviews for Gemini which I’m kinda hooked on so far. Look at what NewTeeVee says in their review, and they tend to hate everything! Cant wait to hear their thoughts on Humanzee cause it looks so bad…….
August 18th, 2008 at 7:03 pm
Wow. For someone with so much inside information it’s amazing how inaccurate this write up is. Not sure why you feel the need to publically bag on a competitor’s content, but I’ll resist the urge to return the favor. Instead, I’ll offer up some legitimate (and unbiased) reviews of Gemini Division’s first two episodes. While not every review has been glowing, those in the digital media business - the ones whose opinions really matter - clearly do not share your extreme level of disappointment.
http://blog.wired.com/underwire/2008/08/gemini-division.html
http://station.newteevee.com/2008/08/18/gemini-division-rosario-dawsons-intimate-sci-fi-confessional/
http://io9.com/5038088/when-args-take-over-movies-and-tv-gemini-division-is-born
http://www.reelpopblog.com/2008/08/review-gemini-d.html
All the best,
Brent Friedman
Creator/Exec Prod “Gemini Division”
August 18th, 2008 at 7:28 pm
Watching web series is a bit of a hobby I share with my wife. When I saw your blog, thought I’d speak up…
Funny, I’m completely enthralled with Gemini so far. Shot through the POV of her handheld device — presents some cool storytelling possibilities, right? Anything her handheld can do, we’ll see. Like when Rosario hit play on some video she shot (*non-locked off* by the way)… could open up some fresh perspectives rather than just her constant string of memory or whatever. The handheld becomes the honest observer.
And anyway, why spend so much time flaming the way it was shot? It’s green screen — most cam movement comes after the fact (unless I don’t fully understand green screen)… Thank god most of the episode’s locked off… Have you ever tried to watch somebody else’s video on their mobile handheld? It’s stomach churning — a boat in a January storm is more fun.
Agree with you on the buggy videoplayer, though. I’m a Mac-er, too. WTF? (Just checked, works on my wife’s PC. Maybe a Mac thing?)
Find it weird that a web company has decided to deep six a competing web company. A little transparent, don’t you think?
Still, can’t wait for your series to come out.
August 18th, 2008 at 8:10 pm
I think you are right Jake. I am pretty sure there isn’t much like what I saw of Humanzee. Thank goodness. But wait you are wrong there too. There is that other show, A-Bo the Humonkey.
Not sure what the ratio if for Humanzee, but am pretty sure it is much less than 1 in 5000.
I disagree with you on all counts.
WellsJohnson has a good comment and little clip over at: http://io9.com/5038088/when-args-take-over-movies-and-tv-gemini-division-is-born.
August 19th, 2008 at 6:20 am
money quote: “In order to be successful and grow a real audience, web shows can’t just be as good as TV shows, they have to be better”
LOVED this post. You are now officially on my list of “must read” sites.
Thank you very much for sharing your thoughts on this.
Chuck
https://mvp.support.microsoft.com/profile=B7673B22-B373-4094-AA24-9A70D7D5A670
August 19th, 2008 at 10:26 am
While it is true that not everyone’s perception will be the same and that we are all entitled to our own opinions I have rarely seen a less-researched article.
While I appreciate your emotionally driven op-ed piece I was expecting more factual reporting containing less internal marketing.
Being able to write intelligently about a subject without actually researching what you write about qualifies you to blog…but it’s a bit cliche, don’t you think?
August 19th, 2008 at 11:53 am
Can’t you webisodic series producers all get along? Good god, gentlemen, you get to play make-believe for a living! (A very good living at that.)
I’m just happy to see any alternative to “Two And A Half Men.” Keep ‘em coming, comrades!
BTW, one of the coolest angles to this story? The name of the VP at NBC Universal Digital Studios: Cameron Death. I’d keep an eye on him — he could be an alien posing as a Hollywood 2.0 exec. (There’s a plot line for you all…)
Freddy J. Nager
Producer of lots of little things
including The Worldwide Scoop
August 19th, 2008 at 12:10 pm
[...] I expect that yesterday’s Gemini Division release was a highly anticipated and frenetic moment for you and the web-at-large and wanted to make sure that my message wasn’t misconstrued in the noise that surrounded it. [...]
August 19th, 2008 at 12:53 pm
Just ask yourself would you ever watch this on broadcast television?
August 19th, 2008 at 6:14 pm
Jake’s article aside, the comments here sound like the GD production offices all got defensive and hopped on to post a comment. Even Brent Friedman’s post offers nothing to the discussion except a childish “nuh-uh, our content is good, see?”
Regardless of your taste for the show, Jake does make some good points. First and foremost is the production value. If these are truly 40K an episode, I would hope a huge amount is going to Rosario, because she pulls her own weight, while the special effects do not. It’s not that they’re awful, but they’re definitely not $40K good. It makes it difficult for studios and others with money to get behind web series if that’s what their dollars will buy.
With all that said, I still feel that Gemini Division isn’t necessarily a “step backward,” but it surely isn’t a step forward. It’s just more content on the internet that’s shorter and lower quality than what we see on television that does nothing to take advantage of the unique characteristics of the medium. Using a webcam as a framing device doesn’t mean you’re making new media. Back to McLuhan, folks — the medium is the message, and whatever medium we’re using here is stale.
August 20th, 2008 at 12:01 am
[...] Electric Farm competitor Safran Digital Group, levied a whole pile of criticism at Gemini Division earlier this week, including a bunch of details that Friedman, in a comment, said were “inaccurate.” But [...]
September 29th, 2008 at 2:00 am
[...] JakeZim.com Safran Digital Group COO Jake Zim blogs about everything from company news to industry views to how to stream porn on your iPhone. Most of all, Zim understands the No. 1 rule of blogging: Be provocative. Which, of course, can be both good and bad. Sample post: “Why Gemini Division Disappoints“ [...]
October 3rd, 2008 at 7:17 am
@brent I know I’m late reading this post but this jumped out.
“those in the digital media business - the ones whose opinions really matter”
I think you are mixed up with your viewers. The #1 most important person to you are your viewers, not those in the business.
Oh, and the #2 most important in the business are viewers that are reviewers. However on the internet, everyone can be a critic, not just the professionals. Jake has every right to his opinion, even if he competes for the same audience/participants.
Unfortunately for you, “those in the digital media business” are at least #3 on the list of the most important.