“Mouseshrooms” Takes Home Top Honors at 2024's 48 Hour Film Project - Greensboro

Mouseshrooms emerged as a standout at this year's 48 Hour Film Project - Greensboro, securing multiple award wins, including the coveted Best Film of 2024. Directed by Shalia Fuentes-Matthews and with a musical score from Christian Jessup, Mouseshrooms captivated audiences with its hysterical dark comedy, where a psychedelic adventure in an abandoned warehouse is unexpectedly disrupted by a building inspector and a talking rat.

The score for Mouseshrooms, composed by Christian Jessup, mirrors the film’s psychedelic vibe. Inspired by electronic rock composers like Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, and Disasterpeace, the music combines electronic and psychedelic rock components. The aim was to create a score that is both wavy and loose, while retaining suspense, avoiding quirky or tropey elements of the genre. The result is a blend reminiscent of Pink Floyd’s psychedelic rock, perfectly complementing the film’s surreal atmosphere.

Creating music for the 48 hour film festival requires efficiency and creativity. Following a kickoff call with the producers, Christian Jessup designed the score for Mouseshrooms with loops that matched the anticipated needs of the film. His music featured hit points for key events and individual instrument layers, allowing for seamless assembly during the editing process. This approach ensured the score aligned perfectly with the film’s dynamic narrative, despite the lack of a traditional post-production spotting and scoring process.