Mise en Scene (Props)

 Within our scene there is a notable collection of props that provide narrative details within their subtext. 

When making a scene about a band, the obvious necessity is instruments. With our four instruments some basics were required, so what's interesting is actually the drums. We originally did want normal drums but that proved unfeasible, so we needed to get crafty. In some way we needed a prop that would both fit the aesthetic that we could use. The simple answer? Buckets. It helps reinforce the frontman's desperation and need to make this work that he'd resort to buckets (Canonically this and all the instruments were bought from money the Frontman scammed out of a guy, more on that in a second).

With the audience of their performance, we wanted to convey a little about society within the subtext. One of the ideas we were most passionate about was hitting the bassist with a monster can, perhaps a cheeky way to do a small comment on homophobia (In previous blogs I clarified the bassist is gay). In a weird twist of fate, one audience member had to unexpectedly leave early, so to maintain continuity we had him drop the can on the floor, which in a neat twist of fate, let us provide a shot of the Monster being picked up on the ground, in a way representing homophobia as the lowest form of hate possible. While the narrative focuses exclusively on the band, the connection of ambition to human nature makes it worth providing some societal commentary.

With the climax of the short film, the Frontman is beaten by a guy in a drastic escalation of the scene. When we were deciding how this climax would arrive, the decision came to utilizing crutches of the keyboardist. We wanted something to pack weight, so the crutches fit perfectly. At the same time there's something to be said about something so fundamental for some being used to cause harm, which we found an interesting way to smack the frontman with reality, making his persistent denial of it more effective.