'Six Shooter' Short Analysis

1. SectionA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_xMyx_SogA
The twentysix minute short,‘Six Shooter’,wasMartinMcDonagh’sfirstcynical footstepinto
the mediumof cinema.Priortothe film’srelease in2006, the directorhadalreadyreceivedawealth
of appraisal fromthe WestEnd and Broadwaytheatre scene.Despitebeingonly34,he had written
overa dozenplays,makinga name forhimself asa tragicomedyprodigy.Hisgarishcombinationof
genreswascarriedwithhimintothe filmshe laterwrote anddirectedsuchas ‘InBruges’and the
highlyacclaimed‘Three BillboardsOutside Ebbing,Missouri’.ComingfromanIrish/English
background,McDonagh hasoftenfeaturedIrishactorsinhiswork,providingopportunitiesfornow
famedactors suchas ColinFarrell,BrendenGleesonandhisson,Domhnall Gleeson- the lattertwo
appearingin‘Six Shooter’whichisalsosetinIreland.
As the firstfilminMcDonagh’snow small,butsuccessful,repertoire,the shortservedthe
purpose of givinghima first-handinsightintothe differencesbetweenthe filmandtheatre industry,
as well asallowinghimtoexperimentwithamediumnew tohim.However,alongside other
McDonagh work,it doesn’tdisappointwithbloodyandironicsentiment.Possiblyinspiredbyother
blackcomedywriters,suchas the CoenBrothersor Tarantino, he implementsarange of cynical
humour,suchas gore,toyingwiththe most taboosubjectsof humanlife aswell assometimes
copiousamountsof swearing.Although,thatisn’ttosaythat hiswork isn’toriginal asinadditionto
the black humourtheyoftenofferaprofoundsense of catharsisandemotional relief-makinghima
masterof bothlightanddark. Subsequently,‘Six Shooter’wasmostlikelyanattempttoget his
name knownbythe sovereignkingsof the filmindustry,toprovide asmoothbranchfrom theatre to
cinema,andas the 2004 Live-ActionShortOscarwinner- itdoesn’tdisappoint.
Workingfroma positionof relative,theatrefame- itislikelythatMcDonaghalreadyhadan
audience of fansalreadyfollowinghiswork.Due tothe subversive subjectnature of hisproductions,
the demographicisprobablyeitherolder(30s,40s) and more mature- engagedbecause of the
dramaticbrilliance of hiswriting- oryounger(teenage) –engagedinthe superficial entertainment
providedbythe darkhumour.Eitherway,hisleftfieldtastesdonotsuite the majority.
Stereotypicallymale- onaccountof the gore andextensivetaboo- hisaudience likelysitinthe
middle classrange of the socioeconomicscale (Bor C1), howeverdue toMcDonough’sniche
demographic,hisaudience ismore likelydrawnbecause of taste ratherthanincome orclass.
Furthermore,due tohiswrittenbackgroundonthe stage,itispossible thathe retaina large amount

2. of histheatre supportinthe box office- moreovermembersof thisclique maybe higheronthe NRS
scale (UpperMiddle Class) aslive theatre oftencostslarge amountsof money- especiallywhere
McDonagh was operatinginthe WestEnd.
As a resultof hisspecifictargetmarket,he hasto deliveronthe elementsthathisdemographic
enjoy- suchasthe comicviolence andgeneral blackcomedy.Inthe case of ‘Six Shooter’,these
elementsare evidentfromthe outset.Inparticularthe openingscene encapsulatesMcDonagh’s
ownbrand of black humour.Inthe scene,setina hospital,Donnelly,BrendenGleeson,istoldbya
deadpandoctorthat hiswife passedawaylastnight- stunnedbythe news,Gleesonthenproceedsto
listentothe doctor explainaboutthe cotdeathandmurdervictimhe has justseento,“Son shotthe
headoff her”.Afterbeingleftalone withhisdeceasedwife,Gleesonthencontinuestoleave aphoto
of Davidwithher;theirpetrabbit.The geniusof McDonagh’swritingisnot onlythe entertaining
comedyhe utilisesbutalsothe wayinwhicheachof these events-the cotdeath,the murder,the
rabbit- setup laterscenessuchas the womenwho’sbabyhasdied,the boywhomurderedhis
motherand the attemptedsuicideof bothDonnellyandhisrabbit.Thisintelligentwritingisvery
appealingtohisdemographicandthe cause of histheatrical success,asit isthese setupswhich
allowthe dramaticplotdevelopmentsandsubsequentcatharsis.Asacultfilmmaker,hisfilmsmay
not be verycommerciallysuccessful,howeverwitheachproductionhisfanbase growsandhis
acclaimis broadened.
SectionB
‘Six Shooter’wasreleasedin2004, therefore producedduringthe beginningof the digital
revolution.Subsequentlythe shortwasfilmedin35mmcolourcelluloidasitwasstill the industry
standardand may have beencheaperandmore reliable thanoptingforannew experimental digital
camera.The cinematographyismostlyhandheld- oftenthe case forsmallerproductions- owingto
the ease of settingupand filming.However,sticksare still usedforseveral shotsthroughout-
especiallyinthe firstandlastscenes.Thischoice mayhave beenmade soas to give bothscenes
more of an emotional punchasineach,Donnellyisonthe receivingendof emotional trauma.
However,itcouldalsobe due to the crampednature of the train thatthe restof the filmresidesin,
as tripodswouldbe toolarge to fitintothe ‘set’.‘Six Shooter’itself wasthe winnerof several film
awards- mostnotablythe Oscar for bestshortfilm, yetalsothe Cork FilmFestivalandthe Leuven

3. Short FilmFestival.Apartfromdistributingthe filmacrossfestivals,one of the production
companies,Film4,releasedthe shortontheirwebsite.Finally,in2019 ‘Six Shooter’wasuploadedto
YouTube,followingthe release of McDonagh’sprestigious‘ThreeBillboardsOutsideEbbing,
Missouri’.
As McDonagh’sfirstventure intocinema,ithasverylittle visual orauditorystyle.Itbe
describedasa case of substance overstyle- afterall hisexpertise isinwritingandnarrative.Despite
this,the fullyIrishcastand settingmayappeal toa niche audience,thoughwere mostlikelychosen
as a resultof his ownheritage andpre-existingcontacts.However,the filmdoesdepictrealistically
bloodyviolence inaverystraightforwardmanor.This buildsuponthe penultimatescenesemotional
impactas ‘the boy’we have spenttwentyminutesgettingtoknow isriddledwithbulletsin
poeticallytragicslow-motion.McDonagh’sare notfilmsforthe fainthearted,therefore byfocusing
on thistheme/aesthetiche attractsthe more seasonedfansof violentcinema.
The filmisin keepingwithMcDonagh’sonbrandof the tragicomedy.Asoftenthe case,the
leadhas beenwrittenasthe ‘straightman’,generallyanormal personreactingtothe insanitythey
are surroundedby.Inthe case of ‘Six Shooter’,there isalsoanoverexaggerated,comiccharacter-
‘the boy’- who’sdrastictroublesare revealedinthe filmsclimax.Incomparisonwithhisotherworks,
it couldbe saidthat McDonagh’s filmshave maturedwithhisage,hismostrecentproductionsstill
containthe most taboocontent,howeverdeal withthe tragicelementsof the narrative ina much
more sophisticatedway.Forexamplethe denouementof ‘Three Billboards’focusesonthe meritsof
acceptance and benevolence,offeringthe vieweradichotomyof moral questionsthatare given
time to ponder.Alternatively,one of hisearlierfilms,‘InBruges’,endsinanambiguousactof ironic
retributionthatisbothcomic andtragic- leavingthe antiheroonthe brinkof death- questioninghis
slightlylessthanmoral choices.The primaryconstantof a McDonagh tragicomedyisthe lackof
blackand white morality,insteadfocusingonthe manyshadesof greyin-between.Within‘Six
Shooter’,the final scene capturesthe genre,offeringaheart-breakingbotchedsuicideattemptthat
leavesDonnellywithadeadpetrabbitandan emptygun,to whichhe remarks:“What a fucking

4. day”. Roll credits.
SectionC
‘Six Shooter’wasproducedwithabudgetof 185,000 euros,despite thisrelatively sizeable,
short budget,the mis-en-sceneisreasonablydownplayedandveryrealistic.The drabaestheticof
the filmismostlydue tothe accuratelyplainenvironment.The initial hospital scene wasprobably
shoton locationandas a resultcapturesthe sterile,depressinglyblandtone of mostclinics.
Followingthis,the nexttwentyminutestake partona cheaptrain travelingacrossIreland.Asthey
filmedthese scenesonareal,movingtraintheyonlyhadseveral hoursa dayto complete this
sectionof the short.Therefore,little effortwasputintothe lookof the train,howeverthisbenefits
the filmbylendingitanelementof social realism.The final scene,setinDonnelly’shouse,adopts
the lookof a middle aged,mundane livingroom, subsequently includingpicturesof petsonthe
brownmantelpiece.Furthermore,the pastel blue/greywallsandweak,redpatterncurtainscreate
the image of normality,whichonlyevokesmore pityforthe unluckyprotagonist.
The film’scinematographyissimilarlynaturalistic,mostlikelyutilisingnatural lightasmuch
as possible soasto lowerproductioncostsandshortenthe filmingprocess.The handheldnature of
the train sequence alsosupportsthis,givingthe cameracrew more roomto move aroundand follow
the action.The firsttwosettings,hospital andtrain,are bothblitzedwithlightfloodinginfromthe
manywindows.Thisonlyaddstothe bland,social realistictone of the film- whichisjuxtaposedby
itsmore exaggeratedsubjectmatteranddelinquentcharacter:The Boy.On the otherhand,the final
scene islightina much darker,more controlledfashionwiththe primarysource beingaveiled
windowbehindDonnelly,castingmuchof himintoshadow inorderto mirror hisemotional state,
evokingmore pity forhim.Unlike the pragmaticallyshottrainscene,boththe hospital andsuicide
scene were filmedonsticks,possiblyasitwasstill the industrystandardin2004, onlytwo years
after‘The Bourne Identity’andpriorto the handheldrevolution.Moreover,thismore stable

5. cameraworkplacesmore emphasisonBrendenGleeson,andcoupledwithhisclose upsinthese
scenes,focusthe audience onthe emotionalimpactof histraumaticdayas well asthe (black)
humourbehindit.
The short’saudiois fairlystandardandrealisticforthe majorityof the filmupuntil the
shootout.The firstinflectionof surrealismisDonnelly’svoiceoverexposition,“Twocotdeathsand a
women,hersonshotthe poorheadoff her”,whichlinksall the deaths,explainingthemtothe
audience.Followingthisthe slow-motionfootageislinkedwiththe longerdrawnoutaudioof the
gun fight,withcomparativelyhighgaingunshotsplacingthe viewerinasense of shock.AsThe Boy
iskilledbythe police the audiofades,leavinghimtofall tothe groundin deathlysilence,whichis
veryeffectiveininspiringsympathyforhiminhisfinal moments.
Editedina similarlystandardmanor,withfocusoncontinuity,the filmhaslittle tono
experimental cuts,thereforeimmersingthe audience in‘SixShooter’s’environmentviaitsrealism.
However,thisisjuxtaposedbythe surreal ‘cow’storythatThe Boytells,inwhichwe cut between
the presenttrainjourneyandhistale of explosive cattle,leavinghisdialogue runningoverthe top.
Thisadds a sense of overtlyabstracthumourto the filmwhichhelpsthe audience empathisemore
withThe Boy so as to heightenthe emotionalimpactof hisbloodydemise.

6. As faras effectsgo,the filmhasveryfew due toitsrealisticnature.However, the cow scene
isobviouslycomputereditedinaveryagedsense.Asthe cow growsin size the backgroundisalso
warped,implyingthatthe VFXeditorsimplystretchedthe image intheircompositingsoftware.
However,the final shootoutisshotwithcompletelypractical effects,real bloodsquibsandblank
bullets.Thismayowe tothe filmsslightlybloatedbudgetasthere are overtengunsin use that all
shootmany bullets.
SectionD
The 2004 shortwas producedasa solofilmwithnoplanstoextend the franchise,probably
because the filmwasmade forthe narrative as opposedtofinancial gain.‘Six Shooter’s’production
was fairlyroutine,howeverasthe bulkof the filmtakesplace withinamovingtrain,ithadto be
filmedwithprecisionandspeed.The crew onlyhadfrom8am and4pm to film, astheywere usinga
real,commutingtrain.Thisexplainsthe handheldcinematographywithinthe train.Furthermore it
can be assumedthatthe small cast wasfairlyhamstrungas itwas the firsttime BrendenGleeson
workedwithhissonDomnall.Forthe filmsdistribution,itisalsolikelythatMcDonaghusedmanyof
histheatre contacts toget the filmexhibited.