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Broken Bells releases sci-fi short film featuring 'Star Trek' and 'House of Cards' stars

Broken Bells releases sci-fi short film featuring 'Star Trek' and 'House of Cards' stars

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after the disco
after the disco

Danger Mouse and The Shins' James Mercer have teamed up again as Broken Bells, and for their second LP, the duo has put together something much bigger than a standard music video: they're helping to create a trippy, sci-fi short film to go along with it. The short shares the name of their upcoming album, After the Disco, and uses its poppy, psychedelic music to score the otherwise nearly silent action. The film follows a romance that unfolds between House of Cards' Kate Mara and Star Trek's Anton Yelchin, who appear to get swept away into some futuristic landscape, spaceship, and disco.

In an interview with Complex, the film's director, Jacob Gentry, says that the short is based on a story written by Danger Mouse and inspired by sci-fi imagery sent to him by Mercer. "James Mercer was sending me images of Barbarella and Logan’s Run, that sort of late ‘60s/early ‘70s science fiction," Gentry said. "The same way we mixed all those visual styles is the same way Broken Bells mixed all the musical styles from every era to make something unique. It has an otherworldly feel." This is Broken Bells second time collaborating with Gentry — in 2010, they teamed up with Christina Hendricks of Mad Men for another sci-fi video, though it was only for a single song.

After the Disco is being released in installments, with the second part debuting last Thursday. Its creators aren't saying how many parts will be released in total, but with the second short's cliffhanger ending, it appears there's still more to come.