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Prairie Rascals

 


The time has come to release Prairie Rascals on an unsuspecting world. Bonehill Films' Cream Tea Western has gone down well at a few local screenings, so I've decided to make it free to watch on YouTube, at least for a month or two. If you've had a chance to catch our previous film, Gwenevere, you'll know roughly what to expect - we work at an absurd speed, with a tiny budget which almost all goes on costumes and catering. But I think the story is sound, Sarah Reeve's photography is lovely, and we have some great actors. 

 You can see for yourself on the Bonehill Films YouTube channel.

As with Gwenevere, the story was very much dictated by what we could afford and what locations were available. We've ended up with a tale of a young widow setting out to find some buried treasure before the bandits who did her husband in can get their hands on it. Her adventures eventually intertwine with those of a rich and naive young man from back east who has come to see the natural wonders of America, and gets rather more than he'd bargained for. It's an odd mix of comedy and melodrama, but I think it works. Brian Mitchell (with whom I co-wrote The Ministry of Biscuits and Lord God) did some script-doctoring and suggested a delightfully ambiguous ending - is it happy or not? I still don't know. 

Brian also wrote and recorded the music for the theme song Ballad of the Prairie Rascals which plays over the end credits. The rest of the music is by Nick Riddle, who has done us proud with his beautiful arrangements of various American folk songs. 

As usual, we were hugely dependent on helpful friends and neighbours who crewed for us or let us film in their fields and woods. Marika Keen has assembled a couple of short Behind the Scenes videos which give you a glimpse of the process: happy memories from the summer of 2024.


We've already shot another film, a short, black and white drama called Invisible Pictures. And in the New Year I'll be getting to getting work developing our next big project. 


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