“Body Bag” By Yellow Shoots

'Body Bag' is the way we compartmentalize death when not able to properly grieve.

The short film IN MEDIAS RUSH is an experimental cinematic journey into the depths of a manic mind. A poetic retro-sci-fi narrative unfolded in a string of unsettling tableaus that encapsulates the male protagonist’s ambiguous feelings about his birthday. While balancing between realities in his silent struggle with severe mental illness, we plunge into the film at a neatly orchestrated birthday party. The protagonist is accompanied by his girlfriend, and they are drinking cocoa on the couch in their mutual home. The setting breathes pure perfection, but through the voice over we sense that another reality is soon to be revealed. With one foot on the accelerator, he is heading towards the edge. The thematic focal point of IN MEDIAS RUSH is mental health problems among young adults, and the social/personal consequences related to the existing taboo on the subject. The film wishes to formulate an honest cinematic space in which words, sound, and image artistically interprets and articulates some of the perspectives related to especially bipolar, anxiety, and psychotic disorders. IN MEDIAS RUSH was nominated in the category 'Best Danish Short Film' at Copenhagen Short Film Festival in 2020. Original title: IN MEDIAS RÆS Directed by: Esben Persson -------------------- DK: IN MEDIAS RÆS IN MEDIAS RÆS er en filmisk rejse ind i dybderne af et manisk sind. En ung mand fejrer sin fødselsdag, mens hans tanker tordner afsted. Med en uvillig fod på speederen har han kurs mod kanten. FR: IN MEDIA RES IN MEDIA RES est un voyage dans les profondeurs d’un esprit maniaque. Un jeune homme fête son anniversaire tandis que ses pensées se multiplient. Malgré lui, il se dirige vers un point de non-retour. -------------------- Cast: Peter Alexander Bach & Amanda Overby Drew Director // Script writer // Set designer // Costume designer // Editor // Speaker: Esben Persson Photographer // Editor: Lasse Mølsted Producer: Latifa Lykke Ben Mabrouk Assistant producer: Cecilie Creutsberg Music composer: Martin Bejder Sound designer: Mads Hye Chief Lighting Technician: Rasmus Bruun Liboriussen VFX: Jonas Fonnesbæk Lodahl Colorist: Kristopher Paterson Graphic designer: Jakob Toft Kristensen -------------------- Shot on RED Monstro 8K with Lomo Squarefront Anamorphics.

“Body Bag” is a story of grief, and the ways in which we grieve when it feels impossible to do so. How we process and compartmentalize—mentally and physically—life and death. It’s a frame narrative, told through memories and conceived because of the passing of an old friend.

Though there is a bit of magical realism in the film, especially with how literally the song title is taken in the form of the body bag we see in the intro and outro, the story is very much rooted in the real world, in a very truthful account of grief. When Isaac (the lead boy and old man) stands bewildered amid a sea of livestock carcasses, he learns that grief and death can be very cruel things.

If there’s any greater sentiment that the song “Body Bag” captures for me, it’s that kid like desire to understand death and one’s own grief. Unfortunately, these things are never very clear-cut, no matter how old we become.

Nathaniel Stevens - Director

Credits

Elesar Pictures presents “Body Bag” feat. Ryan Mitchell Grey

Music by Yellow Shoots
Song written by Yellow Shoots and Ryan Mitchell Grey

Written and Directed by Nathaniel Stevens

Executive Produced by Gregory Matthews and Brickhead
Produced by Adrian Lausell

Starring Isaac Harte, Luke Friis, Bob Feathers, Brad Herzog, Lisa Matthews and Annie

Director of Photography: Derrick Chen
Steadicam Operator: Collin Welch
1st AC: Idil Eryurekli
1st AC (Philadelphia): James Powers
Swing: Sam Clegg
Edited by Nathaniel Stevens
Color: Parker Jarvie (Company 3)
Sound Design: Sean Paulsen
Titles: Faysal Matin
Illustrations: Joaquín Esteban Jutt
16mm print by Metropolis Post NY

Special Thanks:
Greg and Lisa Matthews, Jim Jones and The Brandywine Red Clay Association
Cuyler Walker, Jake Strauss, Bre Kelly, Luc Ung, Handheld Films, Kissin Fresh Meats Inc

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