We’re going off the rails with this crazy, yet festive, book trailer!
The holidays can be rough. Stuck in a house with drunk family members, judgement… Sorry, what were we talking about? Oh right, these awesome commercials we made to promote the 19th installment in James Patterson’s Women’s Murder Club series, The 19th Christmas. Each of the 12 videos is only 15 seconds long, and reflects a classic form of Christmas kitsch, which we tweaked with a touch of murder. It’s what James Patterson would do! In this case, our cute Christmas village train is unexpectedly delayed.
We have a confession to make: we love building practical sets. These short videos were a perfect opportunity for it. They gave us room to play with set design and our favorite props, like fake blood and big knives, but they also gave us a chance to get creative by baking sinister cookies, wrapping up bodies with a bow on top, and using string lights to restrain our “victims.”
So, yeah; things got crazy. So what makes this polar express a pulse-pounding success? Well, it’s a one-take wonder. That’s right! Our own Cameron Shaw was pulled in with a moment’s notice and handed a knife. We rolled the camera, and he nailed that perfect stab on the first try. Awesome? Yes. Somewhat terrifying? Also yes.
