8/9/2019 Chad Vader Case Study

1/14

Chad Vader: Day Shift ManagerCase Study

Sarah OBrien

8/9/2019 Chad Vader Case Study

2/14

Background

Chad Vader: Day shift manager is a mini online comedy series

There are eight episodes in Season 1, each between five and sixminutes long and it aired on June 25, 2006

It was originally created for Channel 101, where it was cancelled

after two episodes

The programme is still running and it on to its third series

The first episode of Season 2 was released on the internet onFebruary 1, 2009 and subsequent episodes have been periodicallyreleased.

Season 3 will start being released on the internet in early 2010Season 1 Episode 1: A Galaxy Not So Far Away

8/9/2019 Chad Vader Case Study

3/14

Institution

It is produced by Matt Sloan and Aaron Yonda who make up a smallindependent company called Blame Society Productions.

Chad Vader is created for a niche audience of Star Wars fans. Though thecreators said that they did not create Chad Vader as a "fan film" series itessentially is a spin off and parody of Star Wars as the main character isDarth Vaders younger brother with many lines and situations parodied from

the Star Wars films. The creators made Chad Vader for fun "We had been making videos for the

Internet and other places for several years," says Sloan. "Chad Vaderwasone idea in a pile of ideas that we had pitched to some networks and gottensome positive feedback. They were filming part time along side a day jobbut then after a few episodes quit their jobs to focus on it full time.

The creators fund the series themselves and the first series cost less than

$3,000 (the $600 Vader costume was the biggest expense). Blame society productions funds the series through its income from DVDsales and merchandise.

8/9/2019 Chad Vader Case Study

4/14

Audience

Age: 15-35Gender: Predominantly MaleEthnicity: Most of the characters

are Caucasian but itsaudience is a mix of racesand lots of different peoplelike Star Wars

Location: Suburban as this is

where it is filmed and peopleliving in Suburbia can relate tothe location.

Interests: Sci-Fi, Comics,Computers,

GamingClass: Working

Spending Power: Low/Medium

Religion: JediNationality: Mainly American but

Chad Vader has had widesuccess globally

8/9/2019 Chad Vader Case Study

5/14

Production Web 2.0 has allowed the production to viewing process

to be quicker Things move so slowly in the televisionand film world, we didn't want to wait around forapproval. We wanted to make it ourselves."

Web 2.0 has also allowed Chad Vader to be viewed byits right audience and also a much larger audience

abroad and of different ages. It was cancelled only aftertwo episodes on a cable channel in America but on theweb it had immediate success and the first episode hasbeen viewed 9 million times.

8/9/2019 Chad Vader Case Study

6/14

Distribution/Exhibition

All the series can be viewed on YouTube andMyspace

Also signed a deal with Superdeluxe.com after

season 1. A comedy website which hosts seriesof original content such as Chad Vader. By popular demand the series has actually been

released on DVD and is available in 6 languagesincluding Portuguese, Spanish, French,

Chinese, Hebrew and Lingua Franca Nova. The audience do not have any control over theplot.

8/9/2019 Chad Vader Case Study

7/14

360 Degree Saturation

As previously mentioned the audiencecan watch Chad Vader online and onDVD.

They can also watch a spin-off of ChadVader called Empire Market TrainingVideos online or buy them on DVD asSeason 1.5.

The creators both have blogs and thereis also a Chad Vader blog in whichvideo blogs of Chad and the creatorscan be seen.

The audience can buy Chad VaderMerchandise

Clips of the series have also beenshown on television on shows such asGoo

d Morning America.

8/9/2019 Chad Vader Case Study

8/14

3.0 Future

In the future I think that Chad Vader maygo on to be successful on television as this

is what the creators hope as wellHopefully well have some sort of TVshow moving forward and they arenegotiating with television companies If

they like what we give them in terms of thedeal were offering, Id like to think weretracked to make a pilot.

8/9/2019 Chad Vader Case Study

9/14

Media 2.0

Chad Vader is apart of Media 2.0 as it is an onlineseries. Just by being online, Chad Vader has openeditself up to Media 2.0 allowing people to access itwhenever they want and wherever they want.

It is also produced by a small independent company thatmay not have been able to put their work out there if itwerent for the internet. Blame society productions alsoposts Video blogs so the audience can see what thecreators are up to and where they are in the productionof the show.

However it is not entirely apart of this theory as ChadVader does not allow the audiences ideas into the show,though the creators Matt Sloan and Aaron Yonda readout fan fiction in their video blogs.

8/9/2019 Chad Vader Case Study

10/14

The Long Tail

Chad Vader is apart of the long tail theoryas it is a niche programme which is now

available to the masses. The pubic cannow watch shows such as Chad Vaderand other mini online series because ofweb 2.0. Chad Vader was cancelled on

television but has been able to continueonline because the its niche audiencehave easy access to it.

8/9/2019 Chad Vader Case Study

11/14

Wikinomics

Chad Vader does not fit under the theoryof wikinomics. This is because it doesnt

allow its audience to contribute towardsthe production of the series. Chad Vader isnot an open source and its audience cannot share ideas to put towards the

programme.

8/9/2019 Chad Vader Case Study

12/14

Reception Theory

Chad Vader supports the reception theoryas its audience has a dominant/preferred

reading of the text. The audience sees Chad Vader as thecreators wanted them to.

This is because the audience have similarbackgrounds as they are Star Wars fans.

8/9/2019 Chad Vader Case Study

13/14

Uses and Gratification Theory

Chad Vader supports the uses andgratification theory. It allows people to take

their mind of stress and use Chad Vaderas a diversion because it is funny.

It also enables fans of the Star Wars filmsto be more social and talk about this on

top of their other fan trivia.

8/9/2019 Chad Vader Case Study

14/14

Issues

Chad Vader could face copy right issuesbecause although the character of Chad is

original the concept behind him isnt. Chad solely exists because of the StarWars films as he is supposed to be thebrother of the main villain Darth Vader.