WEB DRAMA

By Michaela McCole

WHAT IS A WEB DRAMA?

A web drama is a series of scripted videos, usually within an episode form following
from the previous episode. The web drama will be released only on the Internet and part
of the newly developing media called web television. A single example of a web series
program is called an episode or webisode. There are different sub genres within a web
drama for example one web drama may focus on humour and another on romance. They
can also focus on a specific target audience. A web drama could be showed on the
internet or through Netflix etc. There are two types of web drama, ones that will be
uploaded to Netflix will be more professional and with famous actors however another
type is the low budget web dramas. These low budget web dramas will be less

professional as the other and some of the people may even not be paid for it.

H OW I S I T D I F F E R E N T F RO M A
NORMAL TV DRAMA?
The things that are different are that this web drama is only viewed on the internet, whereas the other one will be
shown on TV. Furthermore this means that the drama that is only shown on the TV the shows are limited timings and
the web based drama means you can watch the show at any time you require. Another difference is that web dramas
usually are shorter than TV dramas as some TV dramas go on for hours, web based dramas last for around 10-20
minutes. An example of this is Proper Manors where one episode lasts for 9 minutes. Adding to this web dramas tend
to have lower budgets than TV dramas and could show through the acting. In Proper Manors the acting is of a poor
quality which you can tell that they have a significantly lower budget than EastEnders would. The main reason that
these web dramas will have a lower budget is because the series is normally free to watch online and you dont have to
pay or subscribe to be able to access this web drama. Lastly another difference is that at the bottom of a web drama

there is usually a space in which the viewer can write comments about this drama which allows for criticism and good
points to be put across, whereas a TV drama wont have this and will be more difficult to put your opinion across.

HOW IS IT SIMILAR FROM A

NORMAL TV DRAMA?
A similarity between a web drama and a TV Drama is that they all follow a storyline and a
narrative, they will also have different episodes within a series and a number of different
series. They will both have a title scene at the start to set the scene and they state who
directed the play and who will be starring within the play. They will have music/tune over
the top of the start of the drama. Furthermore they both have genres within the drama
such as Comedy, Romance etc. They both have cliff-hangers within the drama such as a
TV drama will usually end with a cliff hanger, and the one within Proper Manors was that
we didnt know who survived from the accident. This leaves the viewer wondering about
the programme and makes them want to watch the next one.

CONVENTIONS OF A WEB
DRAMA
The usual conventions of a web drama is:
They are short and usually last for no longer than 10 minutes.
They all star with unknown actors and usually are less talented.
They have a lower budget than a normal TV Drama and this can show through the performance
and this means you are able to tell who each character is e.g. the hero, villain etc.
The audience for a web based drama is usually teenagers and 20+ people.
The show is a series which means there will be a lot of episodes within the different series.
The web drama usually ends with a cliff hanger wanting the viewer to watch the next episode.