Thank you, Fewdio, for FINALLY missing the mark for once. You’ve finally given me something to restore my tattered credibility with, and it’s called Viral.
There’s a very good reason there aren’t any pictures of convicted murderer Albert “The Carnivore” Carneghy, and the Fewdio short Viral, weighing in at a whopping three minutes, will show you why. Actually, they’ll only KIND OF show you why, and this is why finally I can actually issue something less than a glowing review of a Fewdio work.
The problem with this one is that they didn’t go far enough. They really needed just a couple extra minutes to fully tell this story, because as it sits, they’re leaving it somewhat open to interpretation. This is a policy I never fully agree with–a movie, ANY movie, needs to have a complete story; beginning, middle and end. While I understand the necessity–and approve somewhat–of leaving a few loose ends behind to allow for the possibility of a sequel, the whole should still be whole, and Viral was not. Instead, you had to guess at what was going on, and though your guess will probably follow one particular path, which I won’t say for fear of spoilering, it’s still just a guess.
So finally, FINALLY, I’ve managed to find a Fewdio horror short to actually warn you off of–Viral is not one of their best. Oh, I’m not complaining really loud here, especially not over three minutes invested in it, but I AM less than satisfied. And with Fewdio shorts, that’s downright rare.
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RealMuscleOnline.com » Blog Archive » FitClicks said
April 23 2009 @ 10:55 pm
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GoldenSpurcasino said
April 23 2009 @ 11:13 pm
I still thins is cool, not so cool as the others, but still really cool.
FewdioDave said
April 24 2009 @ 11:10 am
You’re welcome.
Yes, Viral is definitely our most stream-of-conscious film, sort of experimental. God, that sounds pretentious, but we really were trying to do something a little different… trying to tell a story without really telling a story, if that makes sense. It works for some; some people love this one, others hate it.
I personally generally feel the same way you do… while I don’t like to be handheld through a story, I do like for all the pieces to be there. But Viral was definitely meant more as a sort of fun puzzle and interesting visual piece than a full-on story. Again, ugh, that probably sounds pretentious, but I think you get what I’m saying.
Anyway, point is, I stand behind the film, but accept your criticism of it. Thanks again for reviewing our films, and we genuinely appreciate the honesty!
Steve Anderson said
April 24 2009 @ 12:36 pm
Golden Spur–yes, that’s the perfect way to put it. Good, but still low end of the good scale. ESPECIALLY for these guys–I’ve seen and covered quite a few Fewdio shorts, and this is not one of the better ones. Fewdio shorts are, to use the old analogy, like pizza. Even when they’re bad, they’re still pretty good.
And Dave–of course you appreciate the honesty. I’ve been nothing but good to you up until here.
Seriously, though, you’re right in the sense that Viral is a better showpiece than an actual movie but you’ve done plenty of visually stunning work (Bedfellows comes immediately to mind) that contains a full narrative. And you could’ve done that with Viral too, if you’d just gone on to show what I was pretty sure happened–that The Carnivore was actually so evil that even just his picture is a transmission source for blinding rage. All you needed to do was put a few more words on the end of that phone call, or show the guy at the computer go out and beat up whoever kept pounding on his door. That’s all you needed and you would’ve had a full narrative. Two extra minutes of runtime, if that, and you would’ve had it. I admire Fewdio’s ability to tell a full story in a short space–that’s not easy to do. I spent enough time covering shorts for Film Threat to know where I’m coming from.
FewdioJohn said
April 30 2009 @ 4:09 pm
Hey, guys! John Crye from Fewdio here. I wrote and directed this one, so if you don’t like it, I’m the one to blame.
As Dave mentions, this one is meant to be a puzzle. In fact, it started as a game: FewdioDrew gave me a picture (the one seen in the film) with the challenge to write a short based on the picture that could be shot in a single night. VIRAL is the result – an experiment in minimalism. I feel that the experiment was a success. Just take a look at the comment here from Steve Anderson: He suggests adding dialogue to clarify the story. However, he clearly understood the story without it!
I’d say I was sorry that you didn’t like it, but I’m not. If you liked EVERYTHING Fewdio did there would be something wrong with one or both of us. But I do hope you’ll keep watching. We’re bound to get it right again some day.