Jubenhimer
Member
The two most dominant forms of mainstream visual story telling are Theatrical Movies, and Television shows. Both are very similar to each-other in a lot of ways, but they also are very different in how they tell stories. Films are long form. One and done experiences that only tell a single story at a time. TV shows are episodic, and tell multiple stories at once over the course of a Season. Drawbacks are present with both mediums though. Movies have massive budgets, complete with many special effects and set-pieces combined with big name actors and creative talent. But they're also more expensive, with a single movie ticket running you at least $15. TV shows are cheaper to access, usually available on Free Over-the-air broadcast networks, or low-cost Streaming services, with even some of those being free. The trade off is working with a much lower budget, and often interruptions from commercial sponsors to offset the costs.
From a style of writing and storytelling perspective, which do you usually prefer? A Long 1-3 hour movie, or a 4-5 Season TV show? Speaking from a writing perspective, I prefer the setup of TV shows. I like good stories, but I also like consistently building on those stories. Finding ways to add to them, improve them, and make them better, and TV is an ideal medium for that style. With a movie, your story is limited by the length of the film, and while you can make sequels, the time you have to develop characters or expand on world building is still limited to only a couple hours at a time. With a TV series, you have the freedom to consistently improve on a concept, as well as find new ways to use that concept with each episode. TV shows lend themselves better to simple premises, because the episodic format allows you to see how far you can stretch that premise with each episode. As well as tell a grand narrative that can be just as long and intriguing as a movie.
From a style of writing and storytelling perspective, which do you usually prefer? A Long 1-3 hour movie, or a 4-5 Season TV show? Speaking from a writing perspective, I prefer the setup of TV shows. I like good stories, but I also like consistently building on those stories. Finding ways to add to them, improve them, and make them better, and TV is an ideal medium for that style. With a movie, your story is limited by the length of the film, and while you can make sequels, the time you have to develop characters or expand on world building is still limited to only a couple hours at a time. With a TV series, you have the freedom to consistently improve on a concept, as well as find new ways to use that concept with each episode. TV shows lend themselves better to simple premises, because the episodic format allows you to see how far you can stretch that premise with each episode. As well as tell a grand narrative that can be just as long and intriguing as a movie.
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