Murder Town

The challenge of a short video is telling a story without a lot of time to do it. This challenge benefits the viewer, however, who doesn't have to sit through endless exposition, pointless dialogue, and contrived build up. You get right to the good stuff- in this case a poker game quadruple murder and later an ambush/gunfight. Doug Masterson, my co-producer, did a brilliant job building the set for the poker game, especially because there was no hammer handy. Never one to be stopped by the odds, Doug found a suitable rock outside and used that to bang nails into boards and create the illusion of an 1850's saloon.
I really tired to put the audience in the action with lots of point of view and over the shoulder shots- I wanted the main shootout to feel more like a war movie ala Saving Private Ryan then your typical Western. The director of photography Wil David deserves the real credit. He was absolutely amazing- keeping the camera steady but adding just enough movement to create a sense of urgency. The mid-range and long shots are similar to war time news footage- you can practically feel the fear of the camera man caught in the cross fire. What you couldn't feel is what Wil and my cast of amazingly talented actors were going through- scurrying up muddy embankments, falling on rocks and through thorn bushes- lying on the ground freezing. But I think these things are detected by the viewer on a subconscious level and add realism and depth to the video.