Netflixation

I’m converted… I’m sold… I’m a preacher of my new religion… well, hobby.

This hobby sees me turning off my huge wall mounted, flat-screen TV, unplugging my digital radio, quitting my current e-book half-way and storing my much loved DVD library in the loft. Unfortunately freeing myself from these trappings of my household entertainment doesn’t mean I’m outside enjoying the fresh air and doing some (much needed) exercise. Instead I am glued to the relatively small 7-inch screen of my Kindle Fire.

One reason. Netflix. A name I had heard and dismissed for a good while, thinking my Sky Plus was the key to my insatiable appetite for cult TV, films & box sets…. no more. Any household task seems more bearable by my ever present and handily portable Kindle, playing everything from the entire back catalogue of Saturday Night Live, to the hugely popular Breaking Bad, to interesting (if not bizarre) foreign documentaries. It takes me on an eclectic journey, recommending stuff I might like based on my viewing history. I’m unstoppable.

It hurts to leave the Kindle alone on my bed when I leave for work and I have to hide it when my inquisitive little boy is up and about, the temptation for both of us is too great – it is also full of children’s TV and film and the lure of such convenient electronic babysitting burns a hole in my conscience.

I am torn between a love affair with having immediate and unlimited access to new and old films and series alike, and feeling that I am wasting precious time (and losing precious sleep) to my strange, new 7 inch, flat world.

The new exclusive Netflix series ‘Orange is the New Black’ is a hilarious and moving black comedy series about a young middle class female New Yorker in prison, it’s brilliant TV. I binge watched my way through an entire series in a matter of days. You can only discuss it around the water cooler with fellow members of the Netflix congregation. You feel a bit exclusive. Delving into older, well established TV that perhaps previously was only viewable to an American audience, helps me make sense of newer stuff, I get jokes I would previously have missed and appreciate where some of my favourite actors started out. It’s like a virtual history lesson in cult TV. Speaking of history – don’t even get me started on my Downton binge.

My husband shares in the odd Netflix session with me. We binge watch the Emmy award winning Breaking Bad together. But he is ‘techy’ enough to wire the Kindle up to our huge TV. Don’t get me wrong, I love this comparatively cinematic experience, but there’s something addictive about watching it alone, on the move, at the kitchen sink, in the bath, the garden. It’s changed my TV and film landscape, and viewing habits forever.

Here at LAW I’m in good company. We have more than our fair share of film & TV buffs. Our passion for film has been extremely relevant in recent years, the huge rise in video as a medium for many of our clients was predicted and championed by LAW Creative. With our own in-house editing suite we can see a film through from storyboard to final cut.

So, if you can drag yourself away from Breaking Bad for a short while, why not watch our showreel above…