 The Cat Hunter is the tale of a specialist (Noah Martin) who takes care of “problems.” Much like a mafia soldier, he is willing to do whatever is necessary to “fix” the problems he is assigned to. However, unlike a hit man, this specialist focuses on one type of target: errant cats.
Essentially, if you're one of those people who have a cat that you refuse to control so that it has become a menace to your neighborhood, then the Cat Hunter will be hired by whomever leads your neighborhood homeowner's association to take care of the problem. Whatever he feels is necessary to eliminate the threat is fair game, even if it involves kidnapping your family at gunpoint, tying up those he feels are most dangerous, and threatening anyone who gets in his way as he stocks his prey.
The concept of an underground society of hit men that specialize in animals is quite clever. The idea that other homeowners might prefer hiring one of them as opposed to simply reporting nuisance animals to Animal Control is a rather clever indictment of government inefficiency.
The film is told entirely through narration, with noir-style shots and lots of cigarette smoke to give it a very “Max Payne” feel. (The original Rockstar video game, not the awful interpretation that Hollywood foisted on the public last year.) The acting by Noah Martin was solid, with believable performances from two child hostages that the main character decides he doesn't have to tie up because he can simply threaten them to get them to behave.
Finally, the ending was buyable and clever. Plus it had a bit of a moral by tying into the idea that pride comes before a fall and how the dangers of feeling too comfortable with your job can lead to not taking appropriate precautions.
All in all, even though this was a short form piece, as opposed to a feature, I really felt like this was a huge step forward for director Nils Myers, whose feature, Ocatilla Flats, we critiqued in 2007.
The visual look on The Cat Hunter was, quite frankly, gorgeous. Nils harnessed the HD capabilities of HVX200 with the beautiful shallow depth of field abilities of the Redrock Micro M2 and quality Nikon SLR lenses. Because of the HD sensors of the HVX200, the synthetic “film grain” created by the spun glass wheel in the M2 was recorded at a smaller size that it is when recorded on the SD sensors of the DVX100. As such, the resulting recordings look much more like 35mm film, as opposed to 16mm film.
Of course, the higher light requirements of both the M2 and the HVX200 meant that Nils and his crew really had to get the most out of their 300 W and 650 W Lowell lights. Impressively, they really did an amazing job with this, even managing to get spectacular night shots. The polished look of the camera setup and masterful lighting was paired with well composed shots that were compelling and well-laid out.
|
