Film and Television: Contemporary Approaches and Analysis

This essay provides a comprehensive analysis of contemporary approaches to film and television, focusing on the impact of web series on the millennial audience. It explores how the fast-paced lifestyle of the 21st century has led to a preference for web series due to their convenience and accessibility. The essay examines the advantages of web series over traditional television, including on-demand viewing, lack of interruptions from advertisements, and diverse content. It highlights the influence of platforms like Netflix and discusses how web series cater to the preferences of the millennial generation, offering informative and meaningful content. The analysis also considers the economic factors driving web series production and the breaking of traditional rules. Finally, the essay discusses the web series' ability to address current social issues and challenge stereotypes, using examples like 'Orange is the New Black' to illustrate its points.

Running head: FILM AND TELEVISION
Contemporary Approaches to Film and Television
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author’s Note:

2FILM AND TELEVISION
Introduction
The modern-day scenario is changing rapidly and the change is felt in almost each and
every scenario of life. The life of this modern 21st century has become nothing but a rat race. The
life is changing rapidly in the modern 21st century. People are very busy with their life and their
work and they actually keep on looking for some kinds of shortcuts that will help them to fulfill
their objectives and at the same time also manage their time accordingly. So, web series has
several advantages for them and have rapidly influenced their lives. The millennials are the ones
who have a great affinity towards the web series1 It helps them to get quality and informative
experiences without any interruptions. This is also a great advantage over the traditional
television shows.
Analysis
In this monotonous lie, watching television is one of the major attractions that they have.
So, it is for this reason that they always want to bestow some time from their extremely busy
schedule for watching some of the other shows of their choice2. However, the millennial group of
are the ones who have a good affinity towards the watching of the television shows. However,
1 Kassaye, W. Wossen, and Alexandra Hutto. "Advertising Implications of Millennials' Motives
and Device-Platform Consideration Sets An Exploratory Study." Journal of Promotion
Management 22.1 (2016): 16-33.
2 Barroso, Alicia, et al. "Crowding, satiation, and saturation: The days of television series'
lives." Strategic Management Journal37.3 (2016): 565-585.

3FILM AND TELEVISION
they often face a major problem if their favorite shows are being telecasted only on the normal
traditional television. They will face the problem of getting to watch their favorite show at the
right time and most importantly at the time of their choice or as per their feasibility. It can so
happen that they want to watch a particular episode of their favorite show at a time of their
choice but they cannot do so because this episode will come only at a particular fixed time. A
good example can be the television series. For an instance, it can happen that a particular show
on the television comes at about 9 am in the morning and it is at this point of time that an
individual has to leave early for school office or any other important work. So, he or she may not
b able to watch it at all or can watch only some parts of it. So, they might try to see the episode
during the repeat telecast of the show3. The repeat telecast might be shown at about 6 pm in the
evening. This time is again spent either in the office or while getting back home from the office.
This is one of the major drawbacks that the millennial face at this point in time. So, they are
much more inclined towards the web series that they can readily watch on the internet. The
internet TV or the web series helps the millennial to watch their favorite shows very easily and
also at the time of their choice. Also, this is a major advantage because most of the millennial in
this 21st century are tech-savvy people and they are very much well versed in the usage of the
electronic gadgets like desktop or laptops. They are also very active in the world of internet. It is
the internet that occupies a major portion of their time. So, they are actually very comfortable in
viewing the web series through their smartphones, laptops and other such devices. They can
easily see these during the free time or the office breaks that they get. Another advantage is that
3 Latiff, Dzaa Imma Abdul, et al. "A study of usage patterns and TV shows analysis on Internet
TV." Journal of Education and Social Sciences 3 (2016): 111-117.

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they will also not be missing any particular episodes4. Even if they miss a particular episode of a
series of a particular season, they can watch the same later. They will be able to watch the shows
on the web series on a 24/7 hour basis.
The other problem that they face in the traditional television is the repetitive
advertisements. These ads often hamper the essence and the charm of the actual television series
that the viewers are trying to watch. The millennial often gets very irritated when they are
continuously being interrupted while trying to watch a show peacefully. The millennials are the
ones who have reached their adulthood in this 21st century. The two important points that are to
be noted here are that they are all adults and have crossed the teenage. So it is quite obvious that
their interest and preference patterns will change a lot. They now look for something meaningful
and informative in the content of the show that they watch. A major feature that is seen in most
of the modern household is the fight between the parents or the other elderly or younger family
members and the millennial over watching the television. The parents and the grandparents are
often interested about watching the popular daily soaps or the serials that are shown on the
television channels while the younger siblings are mainly interested in watching the cartoon
shows or the other such comedy shows. These shows do not really interest the millennial as they
want to see something different and something very informative5. With the arrival of the new
entertainment companies like the Netflix, the millennial have got easy to access and interrupted
4 Paluck, Elizabeth Levy, et al. "Does product placement change television viewers’ social
behavior?." PloS one 10.9 (2015): e0138610.
5 Rezaeenour, Jalal, et al. "Developing a New Hybrid Intelligent Approach for Prediction Online
News Popularity." International Journal of Information Science and Management (IJISM) 16.1
(2018).

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series of shows and episodes that can be seen at any point in time. The other advantage is that the
content of these web series is not like the same and traditional concepts of the daily soaps that
are telecasted on the television. These shows are made with good graphics and are of a very rich
and informative content as well. These shows are usually made on some very current and
informative topics that help the viewers to get some very good and interesting facts. One of the
very good examples of the web series is the House of Cards, Orange is the New Black, the
Catering Show and many other such series. It has also been seen that the targeted audiences of
these web series shows are mainly the millennial. In other words, these adults are the individuals
who have reached the age of 18. They are the tech-savvy people and they spend the major
portion of their time sitting in front of their laptops, desktops or other such electronic aspects and
like to spend their time by surfing the internet. In the entire time of a day that is 24 hours, they
send about more than 32% of their time in searching the net and using the apps and the web
series. So, they are very much inclined towards the creating and using of these web series.
These are being used largely by the students of media and filmmaking as well. They find
these platforms to be very interesting and very useful as well. These students saw mainly the
millennial who find interest in making something based on the current affairs or the issues of
some public interest and public concern going on in the country around them. This not only gives
a good opportunity for the career prospects of these students but also for providing some quality
content for the benefit of the other millennial as well6. Some of the reasons that are inspiring the
millennial to create web series are
6 Wall-Series, Pete, and Philip Rayner. As media studies: The essential introduction for AQA.
Routledge, 2016.

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The price is reasonable
The major advantage is that these web series can be made at a very low or affordable low
cost. Funds can be collected easily through crowdfunding7. Creating a television series is much
more expensive than making web series8. The funds can be gathered easily by a group of young
aspiring students of any media or film study department. Some young entrepreneurs may also
start making some web series of their own. The mode of gathering the funds is very easy. The
funds can be raised through crowdfunding. This has a twofold aspect as it is the same group of
people that gave the funds will also become the audiences and will help in promotions of the
same9.
Breaking the rules
There are no hard and fast rules of the network that the web series makers need to follow.
They can make the web series of their choice with their freedom and the only thing that they
have to do is abide by the terms and conditions of the website of the video-sharing10.
7 Kuppuswamy, Venkat, and Barry L. Bayus. "Crowdfunding creative ideas: The dynamics of project backers." The Economics of
Crowdfunding. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham, 2018. 151-182.
8 Harris, Lauren Carroll. "What are our stories worth?: Value, the culture wars and the'Screen
currency'report." Metro Magazine: Media & Education Magazine 192 (2017): 120.
9 Williams, Cameron. "The streaming arms race: Original VOD programming in Australia." Metro Magazine: Media & Education
Magazine 195 (2018): 116.
10 Fontanini, Giulia, Marco Bertini, and Alberto Del Bimbo. "Web video popularity prediction
using sentiment and content visual features." Proceedings of the 2016 ACM on International
Conference on Multimedia Retrieval. ACM, 2016.

7FILM AND TELEVISION
Less time consuming
One of the other great advantages is that the time required in making a web series is
much less than that of making a feature or a traditional film. Traditional filmmaking needs years
of expertise, training, writing, shooting, developing and other such stuff. However, one can make
a web series just within a month and present it to the audiences. There is also no tension
regarding hitting the targeted audiences. The targeted audiences are the youth and the millennial
to be precise. It is known that the targeted audiences will surely show their interest towards the
series and will eagerly wait for the next season to arrive.
There are several reasons that had made this concept of web series gain such a huge
popularity among the millennial. There are several brownie points that the web series enjoys
over the feature films or the daily soaps that are telecasted on the television. One of them is that-
There is the reassurance that no time is wasted and people are investing their time in some
quality content
The targeted audience of this web series is mainly the youth or the millennial. They have
this assurance that the show they are binge watching or are about to binge watch is not a flop
show and has been liked by many viewers by them11. A very good example can be the web
series called Orange is the New Black12. This show is based on the real-life incidents of a woman
11 Jenner, Mareike. "Binge-watching: Video-on-demand, quality TV and mainstreaming
fandom." International Journal of Cultural Studies 20.3 (2017): 304-320.
12 Desbarats, Carole. "Orange Is the New Black." Esprit 11 (2016): 53-57.

8FILM AND TELEVISION
called Piper Kerman who belongs to a god and well to do family. She has been portrayed as
serving her trial period for a period of about 15 months for the allegation of drug trafficking.
Apart from her, this web series has also featured many other female characters who display the
so-called taboos of the society like homosexuality, religious boundaries and extremism,
homophobia and other such aspects. In a nutshell, it is a feminist show the has changed the ways
in which the society often views the female characters13.
This is one of the most popular web series by the entertainment company Netflix14. It is
made on a very current and informative topic that takes place every now and then. Women are
often taken to prison for crimes of many sorts. However, they are not taken to the jails first
before being taken to the prison15. It is the place where they must be given proper help and
support but they are actually denied the same. It has instantly developed a very strong connection
with the targeted audiences that is the millennial. This is because the portrayal of the female
characters has set a path-breaking change in the ways the women actually seem me the real
world. They have portrayed the women as very strong, rebelling and powerful characters.
13 Austin, Craig. "Orange is the New Black." Education 95.11 (2014): 23.
14 Matrix, Sidneyeve. "The Netflix effect: Teens, binge-watching, and on-demand digital media
trends." Jeunesse: Young People, Texts, Cultures 6.1 (2014): 119-138.
15 Louis, Eunice. "The Prison System and the Media: How “Orange Is The New Black” Engages
with the Prison as a Normalizing Agent." (2015).

9FILM AND TELEVISION
These women are strong and are bold enough to break the traditional conventions. They
never give up and never really adhere to the social conventions. They know how to challenge the
stereotypes. These women display a huge valor and do not really believe in the aspect of being
sorry or being unapologetic for their flaws16. They feel that they are not really answerable to
anyone for speaking their minds out. It also dealt with the subject that was being taken up like
wildfire in the academic subjects and also by many of the journalists and activists. The theme is
that of the privatization of prison and the ill effects of the same on its inmates. This web show
not only deals with the current topic but also aims at bringing a social change by breaking the
stereotypes.
However, there are also some limitations with the web series or the internet television.
The very obvious reason is the fact that this whole thing is entirely a new concept and it
will take a long time to make a proper appeal to the masses. Apart from this, the cost that is
involved in accessing the same often is huge.
One can easily watch the daily soaps and the regular shows on the traditional television
by paying a one-time cost. However, the scenario is very different while one is trying to watch a
web series17. This is because while watching a web series or even while binge-watching one
needs several other additional components. The first among them is a proper internet connection,
wireless receivers, and adaptors as well. The web series will be not be running properly without
16 McKeown, Janet KL, and Diana C. Parry. "Women's Leisure as Political Practice: A Feminist Analysis of Orange Is the New
Black." Leisure Sciences 39.6 (2017): 492-505.
17 Desbarats, Carole. "Orange Is the New Black." Esprit 11 (2016): 53-57.

10FILM AND TELEVISION
the net connection. However, people watching any show on the television will just rewire the
electrical connection and the cable line or the channel connectivity. However, in case of web
series, the viewers have to keep a check on the proper internet connection as well. Without a
proper internet connection, they will be unable to watch the series properly. Then there is also
the problem of lack of varieties and lack of options. This is because of the fact that not every
channel has been successful in making their way into the internet till date. Not every millennial
have the same taste and preference pattern. It is for this reason that they might still have some
interest in watching some episodes that are telecasted on any particular television channel18So in
order to watch those serials, the users have to keep a backup. They have to still pay for their
cable connections or their satellite connections. Apart from this, people who use the internet for
binge-watching might not be able to keep up or maintain the interest of watching the movie as it
is likely that someone somewhere has already watched it and will already tell them the secret or
the storyline of the movie. Apart from this can also happen that some of the other episodes of a
particular movie may not be included in the episode on the internet TV19. It can also happen that
when someone is watching a web series they may feel that they are falling behind than others as
they have already see the movie and the posters and photos of the movie are put up everywhere
by now.
18 DaCosta, Behram Mario. "System and method for internet TV and broadcast advertisements." U.S. Patent No. 8,776,107. 8 Jul.
2014.
19 Latiff, Dzaa Imma Abdul, et al. "A study of usage patterns and TV shows analysis on
Internet TV." Journal of Education and Social Sciences 3 (2016): 111-117.

11FILM AND TELEVISION
Conclusion
So, it can be concluded that the choice of watching web series via the internet or watching
any episodes of the series on television depends entirely on personal choice and preferences of
people. So, there are pros and cons of both television watching and web series watching as well.
However, the concept of web series is a very new concept that is gaining importance rapidly.
Efforts are to be made the internet entertainment companies follow the process of constant
development and make it more popular among the millennial.

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References
Austin, Craig. "Orange is the New Black." Education 95.11 (2014): 23.
Barroso, Alicia, et al. "Crowding, satiation, and saturation: The days of television series'
lives." Strategic Management Journal37.3 (2016): 565-585.
DaCosta, Behram Mario. "System and method for internet TV and broadcast advertisements."
U.S. Patent No. 8,776,107. 8 Jul. 2014.
Desbarats, Carole. "Orange Is the New Black." Esprit 11 (2016): 53-57.
Fontanini, Giulia, Marco Bertini, and Alberto Del Bimbo. "Web video popularity prediction
using sentiment and content visual features." Proceedings of the 2016 ACM on International
Conference on Multimedia Retrieval. ACM, 2016.
Harris, Lauren Carroll. "What are our stories worth?: Value, the culture wars and the'Screen
currency'report." Metro Magazine: Media & Education Magazine 192 (2017): 120.
He, Xiangnan, et al. "Predicting the popularity of web 2.0 items based on user
comments." Proceedings of the 37th international ACM SIGIR conference on Research &
development in information retrieval. ACM, 2014.
Jenner, Mareike. "Binge-watching: Video-on-demand, quality TV and mainstreaming
fandom." International Journal of Cultural Studies 20.3 (2017): 304-320.
Kassaye, W. Wossen, and Alexandra Hutto. "Advertising Implications of Millennials' Motives
and Device-Platform Consideration Sets: An Exploratory Study." Journal of Promotion
Management 22.1 (2016): 16-33.