To me, the fun of filmmaking is using problem-solving skills and mustering a little ingenuity to tell your story, especially when you have absolutely no budget. Young filmmaker Will Garber figures it all out in his short thriller Prey.
Sam (Sam Garber) is the host of a web adventure series situated in the Black Hills of South Dakota. With him on his journey is his cameraman, Will (Will Garber), capturing every single moment. The broadcast starts normally as Sam goes through his pack, pulling out a hatchet, knife, meals, and a propane stove.
As the duo gets some pretty good footage, they hear a growl off in the distance. Before you know it, Will is attacked by the creature and is in pretty bad shape. Can our heroes find the courage within them to survive?
“…Will is attacked by the creature and is in pretty bad shape.”
Running at just over seven minutes, our budding teen filmmaker has put together an excellent short film. Prey tells a very straightforward story of two adventurers being hunted. Garber has a clear vision regarding what he needs to capture and makes good use of sound and visual effects in post-production to convince us that a carnivorous create is hunting our pair. Lastly, the editing is perfect in keeping the story moving along and splicing in some of the camera effects.
Any criticism I have would be in the realm of things to consider in the next film. First, I’d say that the smartphone camera overly through the short is unnecessary. I don’t think it’s necessary to convince us the film was shot on a phone. We already know.
Another idea would be to make the narrative about the two brothers as opposed to the brothers against the creature. What happens when two brothers are pushed to their limits to survive? Would they turn on one another? Can the siblings resolve their difference for the sake of survival? Does one brother want to bump off the other? The storytelling possibilities are endless.
Will Garber’s Prey is a great example of an emerging filmmaker following their passion and making their first of many movies.
To screen Prey, visit Will Garber’s YouTube Channel or his official Twitter account @WillGarberFilms.
"…an emerging filmmaker following their passion and making their first of many movies."
