A ten-minute Western period drama, shot in HD entirely on location in the Philadelphia region, using local actors and equipment. Videotaped using a Sony HDR-FX1 HDV camera. Edited and scored entirely on Apple Macintosh computers using iMovie HD. Postproduction included correction and alteration effects from c/fx and Adobe AfterEffects.

It’s early December of 1883. While the bulk of the population remains in the East, Oklahoma, Texas, the Plains, and the area between the Rockies and the Sierras are still largely uninhabited. Buffalo Bill Cody has just staged his first Wild West Show. Wild Bill Hickok has been dead less than eight years, Billy the Kid and the Clantons less than two years, and Jesse James less than a year ago. Dodge City, Kansas is still the ‘Cowboy Capital’, but the last cattle drive from Texas is only two years in the future. Back in June, Bat Masterson joined some friends for the Dodge City War; not one shot was fired. Only three weeks ago, all the nation’s railroads standardized their schedules.

Six men ride into the small town of Flat Rock, Texas. Relying on the newly-issued schedule, they’ve come to rob the eastbound train, loaded with gold from the mines in California and Colorado. They all carry the firearms— revolvers, rifles, and shotguns— typical of the era, along with the usual nasty assortment of knives, derringers, and pocket pistols carried by desperate men. It’s cold outside, but there’s a fire in the saloon, along with whiskey and beef and beans. Being who they are, of course, they keep their gunbelts on. Lighting the lantern, they sit down to play some poker. Before the sun goes down they will need to fuse some dynamite and prepare for the train but, prior to that, things will go badly for one of them.

Cast:
Doug Coe as the Kid
Scott Dietrich as Lefty
Ron German as Pickett
Ivan Goloub as Slick
Tina Newberry as Kate
Eric Schaffer as Stone
Mark Seymour as Rico
Peter Weinstein as Pete

Crew:
AD: Mark Seymour
Armorer: Henry Fardan
Caterer: Christine Castellano
CGI: Ivan Goloub, Mark Seymour
Cinematographer: Ron German
Composer: Glenn Finnan
Costume designer: Henry Fardan
Director: Mark Seymour
Grips: Ivan Goloub, Mark Seymour
Historical advisor: Henry Fardan
Producer: Mark Seymour
Props: Michael Benson, Christine Castellano, Henry Fardan
Screenplay: Mark Seymour
Sound: Scott Dietrich

Locations:
Fort Mifflin
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Flat Rock railroad tunnel
Flat Rock Hill, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania

Venice Island railroad, Manayunk, Pennsylvania

Newlin Grist Mill Park
Glen Mills, Pennsylvania

Equipment:
Camera: Sony HDR-FX1 HDV

NLE: iMovie HD on Apple Macintosh computers

Sound: Marantz PMD660 Portable Solid State Recorder

Arms:
Revolvers:
Colt Lightning, .38-40
Colt 1873, .45

Rifles:
Colt Lightning, .38-40
Winchester 1873, .44-40
Winchester carbine, .45
Springfield 1870, .50-70

Shotguns:
LC Smith, 12 gauge
Winchester 1887, 12 gauge (an anachronism)