Fall of Kaden: New Media Winner With One Old Media Flaw

There haven’t been enough modern noir dramas in the web video world, if you ask me, and Fall of Kaden, produced by Tape 6 and CJP Digital Media, fills that slot nicely.

In the 10-episode series now running on Koldcast.tv (whose player, I have to say, has recently dramatically improved), Kaden the loan shark (Adam Leiphart) lends his last $10,000 to a gambler with a tragic past (Brian Troyan), tangling together their lives and leading the way towards an epic confrontation. Kaden doesn’t provide much in the way of mystery, but its depiction of addiction and despair creates a world in which everyone is under someone or something’s thumb — even Kaden himself.

Now on episode 4, Kaden‘s benefited from some great press recently, including a mention in The New York Times, and as an example of independent web drama, it’s a solid representation of the medium’s ability to showcase original voices. The series is also extremely well-shot and produced. It does have two flaws, however — one well-intentioned misstep, one major old media mistake.

Every episode of Kaden is heavily dosed with voice-over from Kaden’s point of view, a filmmaking technique that screenwriting professionals go back and forth about: Story guru Robert McKee considers it “flaccid, sloppy writing,” but Billy Wilder, one of the greatest screenwriters of all time, implemented it heavily but creatively, advising writers to “be careful not to describe what the audience already sees. Add to what they’re seeing.” Kaden definitely takes the Wilder approach for the most part, overlaying Kaden’s musings about the nature of humanity on the action as it unfolds, but it could stand to be cut back. Some of the heavier moments of the series, such as when a character succumbs to her vices, would play much better without it.

And the biggest hurdle Kaden viewers are asked to face when watching the series is the first thing they’re confronted with — a well-shot but dry as dirt 30-second credits sequence, which opens every episode. Opening credits are a decidedly old media conceit in this medium, and slapping one of that length on the beginning of a 5-minute episode is a lot to ask of an audience, especially if they’ve already sat through a pre-roll ad.

It’s a mistake that gets made frequently — even The Guild is a little guilty. But many people will watch more than one episode in a row when they first discover a new web series. Think about what happens when you watch a TV series on DVD — by episode 3, you’re reaching for the remote to fast-forward to the real beginning of an episode. But there is no fast-forwarding in online video.

Those issues aside, Kaden belongs to the new class of indie drama pioneered by Drawn by Pain and continued by shows like Life After Lisa and The Sanctum. And if this is the sort of programming we can look forward to as more independent creators get the support they deserve, then this medium is doing fine indeed.

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