When Brandon and Leah first introduced their concept for a period piece video set in the Old West, we knew it was going to be aces-high and so we strapped the chaps and saddled up for a wild one.

See, we lived on a healthy diet of Spaghetti Westerns growing up. Italian film director, Sergio Leone, created one of our all-time favorite trilogies, the “Dollar Trilogy”, which starred the ultimate anti-hero’s hero, Mr. Clint Eastwood. These films and their characters created story more through attitude and movement than through dialogue exchange, which was a visual style we embraced as we returned to this genre.

After a couple of round-table sessions with Brandon and Leah, a narrative approach became unanimous. Our collective intent was to create a story whereby the world echoed the song’s emotional landscape. It was important to everyone to remain true to the lyrics while accentuating their meaning in a more illustrious way.

We intended to bring a gritty yet vivid contemporary look to the piece. Authenticity was achieved through heavy reliance on the work of an incredibly talented Art Department within a famous location, Melody Ranch Studio. This ranch in Newhall, CA, features a massive western town where many hard riding shoot-em-ups have been produced with legendary cowboy actors like Roy Rogers and John Wayne.

The budget could only afford a single day on the ranch, which made for a very ambitious shoot requiring rigorous organization. There was no way to “make our day” without employing a two camera system and thus we horseshoed into two directorial units. We relied heavily on storyboards and rehearsals during preproduction to help us ‘hit the pin’ with continuity, performance and style.

It was an epic showdown and we tip our hats to everyone that worked on the shoot, from cast to crew. We would not be releasing this video today if it were not for a collection of genuinely gifted creatives‚ who invested themselves full-heartedly and were willing to go above and beyond the call of duty.