AUSTIN, Texas—Everyone kinda, sorta knows the story of The Vast of Night before they even hear of this movie.

“We wanted to let people know, ‘OK this is an abduction in New Mexico—we know this story, you know this story.

How can we find a way in and do something special, to make something new?' I wanted to make it like the films I enjoy, which are usually about people learning about each other, their dynamics and relationships.

Patterson has worked as a videographer and amateur filmmaker around Oklahoma City for years, partially financing The Vast of Night from funds gained through shooting Oklahoma City Thunder promotional videos.

It may have taken four years to go from script to screen, but the craftsmanship behind this film only grows more impressive (and becomes more glaringly obvious) as the story unfolds.

The Vast of Night team took the same obsessive approach toward more central aspects of the film like the radio station and switchboard, too.

(Patterson initially toyed with the idea of a stage play, and those locales would’ve been two of three main sets.) To help these young actors better sink into the world and roles, Patterson wanted to make sure the switchboards used for the film could be actually used.

“He got under the hood and got them functioning again, then he built a system where you can make calls,” Patterson says?

The old-school looking radio station required even more small film ingenuity.

The team made a set for the interior of the station and hosted it next to the basketball court at the Whitney gym… because they didn’t actually have permission to go into a radio station to film.

“We knew they were going to bulldoze [the building for the town radio station] a month later, and the company had said, ‘Yeah you’re good to use it,’” Patterson recalls.