Q&A: Joss Whedon examines 'Dr. Horrible'

Jed Whedon, Maurissa Tanharoen, Joss Whedon, Neil Patrick Harris, Nathan Fillion,
Felicia Day (front), Zack Whedon // Photo credit: Amy Opoka.

Writer-director Joss Whedon  answered a couple of e-mail questions about the origins of "Dr. Horrible" and what he thinks of the Internet as a creative medium.

How did knowing that Dr. Horrible was going to be on the Internet change the way you approached the making of it? What kinds of stylistic or narrative elements might work on the Internet that might not on TV or film?

The first answer is obviously freedom: not just creative but structural, in terms of running time, number of episodes, presentation and (fingers crossed) monetization. Nothing is set in stone. I'm a very traditional storyteller, and I'm in no way Internet savvy, but I did appreciate the elasticity of the medium. The story was also geared toward the Internet audience -- and not just by putting "blog" in the title. The fact that Dr. Horrible does blog is part of his character, which is the guy alone in his room ranting about the world not being the way it should.  We're long past the age of "everybody on the Internet watches 'Star Trek' and lives in their parents' basement," but there is a modern societal truth about the kind of guy who needs to tell the world his troubles and show off his talents.  And I relate to that guy. Neil's blogs wouldn't work in the same way if they weren't coming from your computer screen. Correction: They will work brilliantly on DVD. Or at a midnight screening in your local city! Other difference in doing it without major backing: I become a whore.

Most importantly, there is the silly. The things that have hit on the Internet have almost all had that quality, from "Star Wars" kid, to "The Landlord," to 1,500 prisoners doing "Thriller." Not just the I-made-it-myself aesthetic, but the truly, transcendently goofy. The absurd (which is important to me, as an Absurdist) is part of the Internet's identity. Maybe it's just a stage, but it's an awesome one. On TV, Dr. Horrible would be greeted with a lot more skepticism than on the Internet. We knew as writers that we could bare our ridiculous souls to the point where people would suddenly, sincerely burst into song -- it took six years to achieve that kind of audience trust on "Buffy."

And finally, it does have to be said that every time a shot wasn't perfect and we had to move on, we'd just proclaim "It's an Internet musical!" and comfort ourselves with the idea that it would all be very tiny.

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Whedon talks about making money from the show here...

Comments

[Martha Thomases]

You may enjoy the interview Joss did with ComicMix.com:

http://www.comicmix.com/news/2008/07/15/interview-joss-whedon-on-doctor-horribles-sing-along-blog/

[Tony Smith]

I think any venture headed by Joss Whedon with a cast like this is going to be more than just a little internet musical.