Bitter Ground Broken

Ekelbrode is a sequence taken from our limited series Bitter Ground Broken. The story takes place in a dieselpunk world in the years following a catastrophic biological war where our lead, Cadulbrockt Craid, attempts to save his devastated homeland and in the process reclaim his humanity.

This short film serves as a standalone story as well as a proof of concept for our larger goal, the Bitter Ground Broken limited series. 

We find Cadulbrockt on a Reclamation Wagon, a roaming labor camp for prisoners of war, where he is finishing up his last day of incarceration. After a night of celebration, he returns to his cell to find the mysterious mycologist, Malta Neftitf, waiting for him with a secret from his dark past.

Malta forces Cadulbrockt to revisit a traumatic memory that took place on the last day of the war and in doing so, attempts to coerce him into delivering the sparocktinum fungus, her life’s work, off of the Reclamation Wagon and into the hands of doctor Stetstil. 

The world of Ekelbrode is inspired by the bleak and unapologetic perspective of Come and See, the stylized grit of Peaky Blinders and Daniel Plainview’s industrious quest for power in There Will be Blood. 

We have designed our scenes to be practical and small. We know our team and we know how incredibly talented they are, so we have full confidence that we can channel every penny onto the screen in meaningful ways. And where things do seem large-scale and wildly implausible (the mushroom factory), we have it covered! Ben grew up on a mushroom farm and we have already secured that location at no cost. 
Here are some images of the craft and resources we have at our disposal to make this film a reality. 

A mood reel to position you in the world.