A Conversation with the Burghart Brothers on ‘Head Count’
Join us for an in-depth exploration into the heartland of suspense as we sit down with the visionary Burghart Brothers, directors of the neo-western thriller, “Head Count.” Born and raised in Kansas, the brothers bring their unique upbringing and experiences to the forefront of this captivating film. From the vast landscapes of the Midwest to the intricacies of counting bullets, the Burghart Brothers share the inspiration behind their passion project, offering a glimpse into the artistry and storytelling that has made “Head Count” a genre-defying standout.
What inspired you to take on the challenging genre of neo-western thriller for “Head Count”? What drew you to this project?
We were born and raised in Kansas, and we wanted to make a film that not only set in Kansas, but about Kansas. In the small town farm culture of where we grew up, “cowboys” and “westerns” are the culture. There’s an old saying “write what you know” – and with our writing partner Josh Doke we pulled from life experiences, and people we knew growing up and implemented them into the film.
Eventually our directing style led us to embrace traditional filmmaking techniques of the 1970’s and 80’s – but infusing them with modern editing and camera movement. We had made Head Count as a short film back in 2014 – and the high concept aspect of the idea gave us a structure to build upon, and the genre of Western made the most sense to execute the idea.
“Head Count” seems to blend elements of suspense and emotional depth. Can you share how you balanced the action with the character-driven aspects of the film?
We’ve learned that the emotional tone of great films ebb and flow – for horror movies there is a building of tension then release that repeats. For romantic movies there is happiness that then turns to despair and repeats. We are big fans of the early work of the Coen Brothers and Sam Raimi, like Blood Simple, Raising Arizona, No Country for Old Men, The Evil Dead, Spiderman. It’s important to keep the audience guessing and guiding them through the highs and lows.
The Coens do such a great job of creating characters that feel real and are also colorful at the same time, and everyman/woman protagonists often find themselves in brutal dangerous situations that reveal their true selves. And Raimi has such a passion for electric camera movement and action montages that leads itself well to smaller budget filmmaking. You get the feel of big action, but it’s all implied with cuts and sound design, and the viewer’s mind brings it all together. So combining these character elements with that stylistic camera and editing, helps us to walk that line of action and drama.
The film features a unique premise with the protagonist having to count bullets amidst a life-threatening situation. Can you tell us about the creative process behind developing this intriguing concept?
Like I mentioned before, we initially made Head Count as a short film for a 48 hour film competition back in 2014 – where you have to write, shoot, edit, and deliver a short film in just two days. After trying many years to get a horror film off the ground, we took a step back and decided to write something smaller – utilizing locations, cars, and props we already had access to here in Kansas. The structure of each bullet becoming its own sequence led us to tackle the story as a series of short films. But through the process of shooting out of order and interweaving storylines, it just felt like shooting a traditional narrative, and the bullet-memory non-linear storytelling didn’t really factor in until the editing process.
Everything was meticulously storyboarded so we knew how it was all going to fall into place. We wanted to make the audience an active participant in trying to count the number of bullets with Kat, and were adamant about throwing in a few curveballs in terms of how the bullets go off.
The chemistry between the cast members, particularly Aaron Jakubenko and Melanie Zanetti, is remarkable. How did you go about fostering such authentic on-screen relationships?
Zoom, really changed the game in terms of connecting with, auditioning, and rehearsing with actors. Thankfully we were able to have some rehearsals beforehand – but Aaron and Mel really stepped into their roles as Kat and Jo so effortlessly. Because the film sticks so close to the character of Kat, we learn so much about him through the eyes of other characters, and how they interact with him. We did our best to give the actors long takes where they are able to run through as much of the scene as possible without stopping during heavy dialogue scenes, especially between Jo and Kat. Great actors like Aaron and Mel find a way to connect to the material and dialogue on a personal level, which makes the performances more earnest. We try to write from those personal feelings as well.
Ryan Kwanten’s role as the enigmatic police officer adds a dynamic layer to the story. Can you share what it was like working with him and how his character contributed to the film’s narrative?
The Sawyer character that Ryan plays is certainly written as a foil to Kat. Kat is oftentimes too smart and charming for his own good, which gets him into trouble. But interacting with Sawyer, he hits a wall that his skills can’t crack. Ryan stepped into his character so well, and did such an amazing job of putting new and fresh spins on the dialogue and how it’s delivered, making the character his own – even ad libbing lines and actions that fell right in step with the tone of the film, making it even better. Ryan’s a true seasoned professional and brought elements to his character that other actors might not even address – such as the style of clothing for the character, and the fact that he’s got specific favorite hats that he wears for work and play. One of the later aspects of post-production in filmmaking is color grading, and that team doesn’t need the dialogue to do their job – so they end up watching the film without sound. Ryan’s performance was so dynamic and fun, that the color team knew exactly what the Sawyer character was like without a single line of dialogue – so that is some impressive, expressive acting on Ryan’s part.
“Head Count” has been described as a passion project. What personal experiences or inspirations did you bring to the film, and how did they shape the final product?
Any indie film where there are limited funds, and the directors are wearing multiple hats to get the job done become passion projects – because passion is what is fueling the engine. Growing up in western Kansas there’s a lot of idiosyncrasies from the region that we tried to pull into the narrative – some realistic and some romantically stylized. At one point the character’s visit an old rundown religious grandmother’s house out in the middle of nowhere – which we strangely saw a lot of growing up because houses like that became the “high school party house” once grandma passed away. There’s a few authentic retro cars in the film, and the car culture of rural america is unique in that your car becomes a reflection of your personality. There is no walking or taking a bus around because all these little towns are spread apart, so driving 10-20 miles to the next town to get some business done is just a way of life. Familiar locations like honky-tonk bars, dirt roads, farm houses, and weird grandma houses are all things we look back on fondly and work into the film.
In an era where traditional westerns often struggle to find their place, “Head Count” stands out. What challenges did you face in reimagining the western genre for a modern audience?
I think a lot of westerns today are chasing the superficial elements of what makes a film a “western”. They put everyone in wild west costumes, build a main street with a dirt road and wooden storefronts, and throw a few horses in there and say “look it’s a western”. But because they are trying to emulate the past, they also embrace older filmmaking styles in terms of how the film is shot and edited which generally leads to a slower pace that really sits with you (obviously there are exceptions like Raimi’s The Quick and the Dead). I think it’s harder for modern audiences to embrace that kind of slower pacing and more nuanced character performances in westerns shot today – there’s an earnestness and grit that older films have that carry you through them that modern westerns are missing.
We knew that we had to paint a bit of a fantastical version of Kansas, we wanted people to be constantly guessing what time period the film takes place. We love the editing process and working with our editor, Edward Schroer. We knew we had to cut at a quick pace and utilize reveals and even some jump scares to keep the audience active with the western setting. We work in older elements like prisoners on a chain gang, 1970s clothing, corded phones, car’s from the 70’s and 80’s – but then we also drop in modern elements like smart phones, and people address modern pop culture touchstones. In life, you don’t just drop the past every 10 years, culture is cumulative and messy, so we tried to bring that to the screen.
The film has received praise for its storytelling and direction. Can you discuss some of the key artistic choices you made that you believe contributed to its success?
We definitely place a lot of emphasis on visual storytelling. How much information can you reveal without dialogue? How can a cut in an edit emphasize a scare or an emotion? Because of this, we storyboard every single scene of the film. This not only gives us a blueprint for how the story unfolds before we shoot a single shot, but it also allows us to maximize the amount of setups we can pull off in a day of shooting – so we are able to have enough footage to make creative angles and montages. Because we have seen so many movies, we know how and when to subvert audience expectations, how to move towards a scare, and how to hit an emotional beat at the right time. Additionally, because of so much film knowledge we find ourselves pulling from so many sources and references (including video games, comics, photographs, songs) that eventually the film becomes its own style entirely.
As directors and brothers, how do you collaborate and complement each other’s strengths when working on a project like “Head Count”?
We always work in a “the best idea” wins, mindset, which can occasionally be tough. But we do so much pre-visualization, no one really sees those moments. On set we pretty naturally shift into the roles of Ben working with the actors and Me (jake) getting behind our cinematographer or working with the production designer. Then sometimes those roles switch, or one of us has to go put out a fire and the other is running the show. We’ve been at this for 25 years already, so we have a shorthand that makes it so we spend the least amount of time talking to each other as possible on set, so we can focus on communicating with the crew/actors.
“Head Count” takes viewers on a thrilling and emotional journey. What do you hope audiences take away from the film, both in terms of entertainment and deeper themes?
Mostly I’d hope people are having fun, and are entertained. Maybe they recognize themselves or someone they know in a character. It wasn’t made with a specific audience in mind.the film explores brotherhood and romantic relationships but I think deeper down it’s a story about freedom, and what that means to different people, and the lengths people are willing to go to achieve what they think is freedom.
What future projects can we expect from the Burghart brothers? Are there any genres or themes you’re particularly excited to explore in your upcoming work?
We really want to explore the horror space, because the genre itself is the star. It welcomes high concept ideas and has a very big reach. In cinemas today it’s usually a handful of multimillion dollar I.P. films that are sequels and reboots. But then there’s always a horror film on the slate – it’s just a genre that won’t die. I think it just pulls in audiences and gives them a safe space to experience fear and tension – and eventually release. But we definitely have a handful of high concept genre-bending films that we’d love to make. It’s all a matter of the right people seeing Head Count, and wanting to help us create something even bigger.
Finally, if you had to describe “Head Count” in just a few words to entice potential viewers, what would those words be?
It’s a uniquely structured, pulpy thriller with a strong Midwest connection and killer performances. Or- It’s Memento meets Blood Simple. In Kansas.
Be sure to check out more interviews at Action Reloaded.
