The Raid director posts new samurai short film on YouTube

Gareth Evans, the director best known for his work on The Raid series, has just posted a treat on YouTube for fans of his uniquely stylized martial arts films.

The director uploaded a five-minute short film, shot entirely on one camera, that allowed Evans to play around with close up sequences during intense battles. The result is an often times shaky, intimate take on heavily choreographed fight scenes that samurai film buffs should find rather entertaining.

The story focuses on a young warrior during a period of civil war who's tasked with delivering a treaty between two fighting warlords, according to Evans' description on YouTube. However, during her mission, she's tracked down by two assassins who want to intercept her journey and prevent her from delivering the treaty. As a result, she must spend a large portion of her trip fighting these assassins so she can deliver the letter and bring peace back to her country.

Evans added that the short was designed over the course of one week and then shot over three days in Wales using only a Sony NEX-7 camera.

Evans will tackle The Raid 3 as his next feature-length film, but development has yet to begin and there's no estimated window for when that's expected to be released.