We are currently in post-production on this short film and are very excited for its release. This short will serve as a direct visual representation of the feature and is a fantastic way to showcase our vision.
Summary - Pine Grove Vixen (2022) directed by Seth F. Johnson, is a prequel short to Moon Rabbit Media’s supernatural thriller In the Pines and sets the backstory of the feature into motion. Russell Dubois (David Kallaway), an avid bowhunter, is following a blood trail deep into the pine groves of southern Georgia when he encounters a tracker and fellow bowhunter Trip Wallace (Frank Monteleone). Trip, a peculiar man, has been accidentally tracking Russell and the prey Russell has just shot. To Russell’s annoyance, Trip inserts himself into the situation and offers to help Russell with his hunt. As the two men move through the woods, a series of mysterious things happen and the weather worsens. Caught in the rain and now losing light, Trip becomes nervous about his new hunting partner and what Russell may have been doing before they met, but Trip decides it is too late in the day to try to walk out of the woods alone so he stays on with Russell. Just as night is about to fall, the men discover a foxhole at the base of a giant pine tree. Due to their circumstances, they are forced to set up camp at the giant tree. The men deal with the miserable situation by drinking their way through several flasks of whiskey and the relationship between them improves. They start throwing a hatchet at the giant tree, in an attempt, to scare the fox out, but this only makes their situation worse, when the Forest Vixen (Merrik Foune) decides to make her presence known, and it quickly becomes apparent that she has always been the one doing the hunting.
Director’s Statement - I am very excited for the release of Pine Grove Vixen. This project most closely represents my vision as a director to date. It has many narrative elements that are exciting to me such as a strong female character, rich symbolism, supernatural events, and a narrative deeply rooted in southern culture and ancient folklore. I am very excited about the technical elements this short and the opportunities that come with shooting high frame rate (HFR). Several things that are returning narratively from previous projects are an environmental setting, a naturalistic color palette, and our use of unconventional camera lenses to create a feeling of disorientation.