Director Ben Berman (“The Amazing Johnathan Documentary”) has decided to tackle the anxieties of COVID-19 quarantining with a short film he made during his time in isolation. “The Follow-Up” premiered as a Vimeo Staff pick six days ago. The 5-minute screenshot short uses the Cameo platform — where users can actually pay to get personalized video shoutouts from celebrities — to capture the current zeitgeist of hypochondriac anxieties and total social lockdowns.
The screenlife device works quite well— this intimate and personal portrayal of COVID-19 angst has Berman challenging himself to tell his short story in new and exciting ways. The narrative unfolds in nontraditional fashion as a mix of personal feelings, washed-up celebrities, and paranoid Google searches blend together in artfullly amusing ways.
When Berman started working on the film he was, and still is, in lockdown in his Los Angeles home, where, for most of his days, he was taking up meetings for a handful of commercial and documentary series jobs. It’s now clearer than ever that this global shutdown will get many people to try and figure out new ways to tell a story. Berman seems to be the first notable filmmaker out of the gate to do so.
Check it out below: