WEBISODES

I What is a webisode ?

A- Definition of a webisode

The word webisode is a contraction of two words : web and episode.

It is generally short and webcasted by streaming or downloading.

It can be used as a preview, a promotion , a short or a commercial.

It can be made in the continuity of a tvshow yet existing or it can be created for an internet purpose.

A web episode is part of a web serie which a composant of a new medium : the web television.

Most of the new webisodes have their own Web adress and are discovered online through search advertising or virally (which is the equivalent of word of mouth in the internet)

B- History of a websiode

1995: Created by the first Internet serialized fiction called The Spot created by Scott Zakarin It was used to describe the series. Derivational words also created at the time: Webisodic

in 2001 with the burst of the internet bubble it is nearly the end of it and more or less in 2005 it starts again with brands like unilever or jeep as we are going to see later

In 2009 Webisode is inducted as a word into the Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary

II- Some examples of webisodes

- UNILEVER : online soap opera parody. To webcast it, unilever sent an e-mail to its list of customers and then let things go virally.
The storyline concerns the life and loves of animated vegetables that live inside a refrigerator.

- HEROES : in december, showtvs stop being broadcasted, there is a break during the holidays and the episodes go on in january. In order to satisfy the fans who were desperates to see new episodes, NBC created a serie of webisode which do not influence the main action but just give some additional informations about the characters or fill some gaps in the senarios.

- CONVERSE/ TARGET : I am going to show you some webisodes made by converse and which represents a fragment of various people’s life.