Review: Gemini Division
If there could possibly be a pitfall to landing top-shelf talent to star in a webisode, Rosario Dawson reveals the problem in "Gemini Division," from Electric Farm Entertainment, NBC Universal Digital Studio and Sony Pictures Television.
It's not that she can't act; she is quite excellent actually as Anna, a cop thrust into turmoil while on a romantic getaway in Paris.
No, the problem is evident in the series' vlog format, most often seen utilized on YouTube by pimply-faced teens. With Dawson's mug spending much of the webisode just inches away from the camera, it should carry an advisory for heterosexual males: The following actress is so jaw-droppingly beautiful that you may find it hard to concentrate on what her character is actually saying. Best to pause the video, contemplate her pulchritude for as long as you need to, and resume play once you've gotten over how unfair the universe is because she is not your girlfriend.
Once the shock of Dawson wears off, however, the rest of the visuals seriously underwhelm. "Gemini" has a pulpy thriller plot that is strangely devoid of physical action if the first two episodes are any indication. Unless we some some flying fists or explosions soon, "Gemini" may be remembered most as a demonstration of the limits of modestly-budgeted Web programming intended for screens too small to project anything more than talking heads.
Anna does most of the talking into a futuristic-looking wireless device (for which Microsoft pulls off the product integration of the century by occupying the very first frame of the premiere episode with a plug for Windows Mobile). As we learn via nicely scripted bursts to an unnamed friend, Anna is on a weeks-long vacation with her beau, Nick (Justin Hartley), who has just proposed to her. But Anna hasn't consented because Nick has started to act a little strangely, and she's also distracted by a mysterious man who seems to be following them around the city.
The production values in "Gemini" aren't so much low as they are absent (at least in the first two episodes). Sure, a webisode isn't going to fly its cast to Paris to shoots strolls along the Champs d'Elysees, but the backdrops like the one depicting the Notre Dame cathedral are laughably bad green screens. Unless more than one actor is in the frame, "Gemini" seems almost two-dimensional because of how devoid it is of sets. Given that real production entities like NBC Universal, Electric Farm Entertainment and Sony Pictures Entertainment are behind "Gemini," it's reasonable to expect some elevated degree of production know-how. Without that, the series feels a bit claustrophobic.
That said, the writing on "Gemini" is good enough to keep the intrigue going. If the plot is sufficiently mapped out with the right twists and turns, the lackluster visuals may fade into the background of a good story.(Andrew Wallenstein)
Its so important for the interactive TV genre that Gemini Division puts on a good showing. This is the kind of innovative product that exploits the interactivity of the internet and changes the lean back viewing experience of traditional TV into something far more engaging. Its success would bring much needed attention to the indie interactive web scene.
Signing Rosario Dawson is a great choice, a neo sci-fi plot is a great choice, the one gripe I have though is geo-blocking the show limiting it only to a US audience, I think its a cop out and a failure to fully embrace the internet. NBC, why get only half pregnant?! In mitigation, I suppose with a huge marketing budget, Gemini Division does not have to rely on viral distribution like indies do. And it probably has found revenues in international distribution.
$1.75M is HUGE for the web TV world but my hope is that a nice chunk of that is allocated to marketing (and you can count Rosario’s paycheck in that) to bring attention to the nascent interactive web series genre … indies like ours will gladly ride this coat tail.
Posted by: Deleted: The Game | August 19, 2008 at 05:13 PM
Its so important for the interactive TV genre that Gemini Division puts on a good showing. This is the kind of innovative product that exploits the interactivity of the internet and changes the lean back viewing experience of traditional TV into something far more engaging. Its success would bring much needed attention to the indie interactive web scene.
Signing Rosario Dawson is a great choice, a neo sci-fi plot is a great choice, the one gripe I have though is geo-blocking the show limiting it only to a US audience, I think its a cop out and a failure to fully embrace the internet. NBC, why get only half pregnant?! In mitigation, I suppose with a huge marketing budget, Gemini Division does not have to rely on viral distribution like indies do. And it probably has found revenues in international distribution.
$1.75M is HUGE for the web TV world but my hope is that a nice chunk of that is allocated to marketing (and you can count Rosario’s paycheck in that) to bring attention to the nascent interactive web series genre … indies like ours will gladly ride this coat tail.
Posted by: Deleted: The Game | August 19, 2008 at 05:14 PM