© Jack Bowman 2004
General Internet writing. Whether you are writing movies, plays, Performance Art or Puppet Shows there are some things you need to considered each time;
1. You have to consider first of all the viewer of your finished product. This means he cannot be disappointed when he clicks on your works. This means small files. Currently, as of this writing, the finished product should be five megabytes or less in length.
2. You have to consider the server you are using. You will probably have to use a pay server. Adequate ones are currently $10 or less per month. There is usually a lot of space on a server that is not used. A friend may have this space that he will give you if you are producing your works or those of others. Some servers (very few) will only allow a one megabyte or less upload. Most will allow unlimited but do limit monthly download totals.
With these limitations the requirements are simple. Each segment of your movie, play, etc. can be in the range of 5 megabytes. With real media this translates to five minutes each segment. To overcome this you can of course make multiple Acts for your Plays, multiple chapters for your movie or multiple episodes for your puppet shows. An example of movie segments at 5 minute segments are located "24seven Internet Movie" http://www.24sevenmovie.com/ A cliff hanger fits the 5 minute segment because it is expected to be continued. For a detailed description of how this cliffhanger was written and put together read the information on this site http://www.bright.net/~dapoets/DATV/clifhang.htm You should also go to the links since they have a lot of information. This was written as four five minute segments.
The cliffhanger was written filmed etc. for the Internet.
For example of a puppet show you can see http://www.capjacks.com/ The script was written for five minute or less segments. The outline is as follows;
1. Titles
a. Name of film
1. Producer Author
2. Copyright
b. Performers names
c. Web Page address
d. Episode number
2. Introduction by Captain Jack
a. Magic trick
3. Puppet show
4. Comeback with Captain Jack and Parrot
5. The End marker
A Performance Art segment (a documentary) that was not written directly for the Internet but fits the five minute format is located at http://members.tripod.com/~jackbowman/mrhitler.htm This video is five minutes long but takes only 2 megabytes of space. It was done in 1998 so RealMedia must have changed its compression. The compression is what makes the file small. It also reduces the resolution.
Captain Jack's Puppet Show was written filmed etc. for the Internet.
For any Internet works the resolution has to be dealt with. Once a file is compressed (as much as they need to be for Internet viewing) it loses resolution. The solution is in the hands of the writer and cameraman. The writer needs to write scenes with bright colors and high contrast. The cameraman needs to make use of contrast and close-up shots. Even though the resolution is still poor and the image is small the film is adequate if the writer and cameraman make an effort to compensate.
Since all your information is compressed you should have a dedicated Web Site. This is a normal web site. On it you should have all the background information that you think is necessary. Be aware that true creativity is very different from what people normally see, so explanations are sometimes necessary. What most people think of as creative is actually just a rehash of old material. True creativity is taking you to a place that you have never even dreamed of. It takes you to a place that you would have never dreamed of if it had not been for the writer. It is high order stuff.
For an Internet film, play etc. you need the standard text such as title, performers, episode number etc. However for a five minute segment they have to be shorter than normal. If the films are FREE, as mine are, the viewer can watch the film over and over in case they need to see the credits for some specific reason. The editor I use is Ulead VideoStudio 7. It is made to edit both video and miniDV. I use miniDV because it is high resolution and low in cost. The cameras are inexpensive but they must have a DV out connection. Mine connects to a fire wire card in my computer. I think some will now connect to your USB.
You may want to know why you would want high resolution like a miniDV gives you when you are going to lose it with the compression. This is because you don't only save it in RealMedia format (the compressed one for the internet) but also in AVI (marked DV on VideoStudio 7) This gives you a high resolution copy but far too many megabytes (900 plus for a five minute movie) to put on a web site. This copy can be used for Public Access TV or for making DVD's to sell.
In summary these are the major points to remember. 1. Keep your film segments around five minutes each. 2. Use close-ups and high contrast to compensate for resolution loss. 3. Save your film in RealMedia format to get about a megabyte a minute of film. 4. Also save your film in DV or AVI format for non internet uses. 5. Make a normal web site that explains your material.