The Farm – Short – dcff2018 (USA)

After years away, John reluctantly comes back to help on his family farm, but is soon reminded why he left.

John Broker : Director

“It was such a pleasure to do a project at my childhood farm with my brother and father! Maybe a horror story brought up memories or feelings from growing up with the scary barn or deep dark woods. As a kid you could imagine all sorts of monsters lurking. No level of CG or effects could beat your own imagination. So that’s what I wanted to capture.

I wanted something fun. I wanted to have fun making it. Good stories and good storytelling don’t have to be over complicated or take themselves too seriously. So I stayed simple and basic. This film has the sense of quick drive for the story and for each character. When you’re faced with mental and emotional stress of impending horror, everything should speed up. Each scene has a push or pull with all of the characters and the farm itself.

Why does John start out hating the farm? He’s been gone for a long time and maybe there was good reason. Why did Mike stay? We don’t really get to find out because we’re thrust into the creepiness of the old barn. We’re running through the woods being chased by something we can’t see. While this is just a short film, how much does this sound like most of us in our lives?

Keeping with the sense of drive, I made sure as editor to push each cut as quickly as possible. In composing the music, I created a background layer of a pulsing beat providing another element of a constant charge forward. The tone of the music echoed the tone of the film.

Why hate the farm? Because maybe there is something there that can kill you”.