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TheOffice

http://www.nbc.com/The_Office/video/sub_141.shtml

The Office is a mockumentary style sitcom set in a gereric office somewhere in the United States. It is based on the popular sitcom with the same title that was set in the UK. The drama is seen through a camera that seems invisible to the office employees at times, but at other more intense and private moments we view characters as though the camera is hidden and peering in through a window or door from another room in the office, which gives it a voyeristic documentary feel. Between the dramatic scenes there are interviews with various employees who are commenting on the situations that are unfolding in the office at the time.

There are 10 webisodes of The Office on the NBC website. Each of them approximately runs between 1min 30sec to 2min 30sec. These webisodes focus on a group of three accountants in the office that have discovered three thousand dollars missing after trying to balance the books. Each webisode consists of them interogating a different employee in the office about the missing money. In my opinion The Office works really well for this online short format. It introduces us to the lesser known characters from the television series, and keeps the same tone of the television series.

The webisodes look very similar to the television episodes as the shots in both are mainly quite close. The majority of the series takes place in the office, so even the wider establishig shots are still relatively close to the subjects. From memory, I believe that the television series has longer shots though, with more panning, whereas the webisodes cut between closeups more often. But as tighter shots are generally used when making shows for smaller formats, the shooting style of The Office translates well to the online medium.

These small vignettes represent the television show very well, and so are a good advertisement for people who arent familiar with the sitcom. They are also made specifically for the web, so they entice regular viewers of the series to visit the website, as these extra scenes cannot be viewed on television. Id say the target ausdience for the Television show is anyone who have ever worked in an office. I dont think the online webisodes really reach out to any untapped audiences apart from perhaps bored office workers who may be surfing the web and for whats on tv. But nonetheless, they are fun to watch and seem to take advantage of the medium.