Bryan Schlam directs a faithful love letter to the spaghetti western, in this captivating promo for Michigan-born virtuoso guitarist Billy Strings. 

The video for Seven Weeks In County boasts plenty of style inspiration and iconography from the classic 1960s movie genre: gunfights, jailbreaks and campfire theatrics abound, every frame ramping up the chaos and pulpy drama in a satisfying fashion. 

As the video starts Billy is locked up in the sheriff's office, then narrowly escapes a hanging - and that's just the start. It's an ambitious feat, and perfectly captures the nostalgia of this cinematic era, including the shooting style adopted by Sergio Leone in his classic spaghetti westerns. 

"We shot at Luck Ranch, which is at Willie Nelson’s house," Bryan Schlam explains of the production. "It actually was the set from [Willie Nelson '80s movie] Red Headed Stranger. The interior from the bar was renovated so I had our production designer Dakota and his art team recreate the bar from RHS. We even matched the original wallpaper. And we used an amazing stunt coordinator who was a stunt man in Red Headed Stranger.

"For super close up shots, we used a filter called a split diopter, which puts both the foreground and background into focus. The most noticeable shot is when Billy tries to get the guards key’s with his guitar. It’s an effect that really isn’t used too often but it’s a technique that I’ve really grown fond of."

Schlam adds that everything in the video was filmed as practically as possible, which led to some ingenious solutions by the production team. 

"The guns had CO2 cartridges and powder, so there were actual pops from the guns," he says. "The close up where the rope breaks was a firework that split it in half. The camera mounted on the gun was practical too - the rig was hilarious. I think it was attached about 6 feet away from the camera on rails. It did the trick but it was a really unique set up that our crew had to figure out how to make from scratch.

"The close ups of the horse riding with Billy were shot on a saddle rig on the back of a stunt truck. Billy had to practice while we were filming with the other cast members so they would just drive him around the ranch as he learned how to ride a fake horse. It was really funny.

"The gunshots - which were really intense - were added in post and our VFX artist Jack even figured out a way to put bullets in the chamber of the gun when it comes out of the bushes in the ambush scene. Then we put together a cut and sent it off to a lab to print it to film. So what you're watching was shot on an Alexa 35, but then was transferred to film, giving it that vintage look that would match Sergio Leone’s spaghetti westerns in terms of aesthetic. We wanted to stay away from any American western references and keep everything Italian.

"The intro credits were our names but I made fake italian versions to make it more authentic. Maybe it was a bad call having it say in big letters “directed by Bruno Sclavi” instead of my name but I had to stay committed. And the audio in the credits scene where Billy plays live was recorded on my iPhone."