
Christian Felner, a student at the University of Southern California also known as Felly, plays the hero in his musical neon horror film, “Desert Eagle”. Desert Eagle takes place in the Southern California desert hills as Felly and his music label, 2273, take on the roles of modern day cowboys. These aren’t your everyday rodeo riders. Felly and his crew play a young and reckless squad of contemporary cowboys who are in search of the Slime Monster and negative energy, that is threatening their freedom. They will stop at nothing to restore peace to society and save the innocent woman from the Slime Monster. 

The first scene I chose (from 0:48 to 1:08) introduces Felly and his posse in a bar, when the deputy delivers an old school missing person poster to them. The bar has flashy neon lights that catches the viewer’s gaze because seeing them in a normal cowboy saloon is unexpected. There are close up shots throughout the scene that alternate between Felly and the deputy. The slime monster, and purple ooze antagonist, is shown kidnapping a woman who has animated tears running down her face. These tears represent the physical and emotional anguish that this girl is experiencing. The slime monster is a purple man who is horrifyingly repulsive and has this feeble girl in his grasp. He seems to have harmful intentions and is petrifying her with his wicked look on his face. She is being held captive, however, Felly and his crew are on a mission to find and rescue her. 

The second scene (3:34-3:50) starts with a medium range shot of Felly’s cowboys sprinting toward battle. A cowboy gets shot by one of the slime monster’s members and tumbles to the ground. The blood animation shows the damage done by the evils of the slime monster and negative energy that 2273 is trying to eliminate. The scene then changes to a medium shot of the girl who is gagged and has a fearful look in her eyes. It transitions into a close up of Felly’s face that shows an animation of tears running down his cheek. It then shows him going into a hazy, cloudy room where he finds the girl, removes her gag, and unties her. There is a close up shot of her getting rescued and she appears extremely horrified, yet relieved once Felly is there to untie and save her from the evil that abducted her.

The animations used throughout the video, really catch the viewers eye and emphasize the symbols that are expressed. The animated tear drops, used twice in the video, is a visual symbolization that represents the pain and misery of each character when evil engulfs their presence. The blood animation, in the second scene, represents the sacrifice that was made to save the girl and defeat the slime monster. The neon lights represent a different setting than the old west we are accustomed to watching in cowboy movies. This unique bar scene uses these neon colors and flashy images to show even though they are in an old west setting that times have changed. However, there are things in this video that are comparable to old school herdsman including the missing person poster and the horses.

 In the first scene the girl is crying because she is in the hands of the slime monster and is terrified for her life. She is living a nightmarish fantasy that is suffocating and stealing her freedom. These tears symbolize the physical and emotional, anguish that this girl is experiencing. Automatically there is a feeling of sympathy for her because of the innocence that she resembles. The slime monster’s hideousness makes it extremely fitting for him to represent the wicked and negative energy that triggers the tears in this video. 

The second scene shows the motif of tears running down Felly’s face. This shows his sorrow and anguish for his fallen cowboys in response to the evils the slime monster has committed. The director uses close up shots throughout these scenes to amplify the character’s emotions and enhance the motif’s message. You can see the mourning in Felly’s face for his fallen comrade as the tears run down his cheek. The damage that was done to save this girl was devastating however, it was completely necessary to defeat the evils that threatened society. 

The viewer doesn’t know if there is a reason behind why the girl was kidnapped, however I believe the director chose the slime monster to represent the immoral, malevolent things we face in the world today. Just like how present-day terrorists target and attack innocent people, the slime monster is causing havoc and kidnaps the peace and safety from society. This is why I believe the director decided to have 2273 play modern-day cowboys because they are fighting to rightfully steal the peace back from the evil and injustice in today’s world. The dark, evil energy is what stimulates the tears and suffering and is what 2273 is trying to eliminate. Felly does an outstanding job of using symbols to represent emotions and gives the viewer a distinct image of what each character is feeling. Desert Eagle ingeniously reinforces how Felly’s creativity and innovation has been the answer to his success.
