Short Stories 2011: The Pit

“People in the pit like getting hurt and there’s a mutual respect there, even if it does end up in a bit of blood”

Relentless Energy Drink Short Stories returns with the fifth episode of 2011’s competition – one that’s not for the faint-hearted. Director Dave Depares throws us into the midst of one of rock music’s age-old rituals in his film The Pit, taking the viewer on an intimate journey deep into the middle of the battleground otherwise known as the mosh pit.

Primal energy

The Pit studies the rituals of crowd-surfing, moshing, pogoing and their related activities, attempting to unfold the psychology of those who partake in these manic, raucous celebrations of energy and emotion. It’s a study of the politics and anthropology therein, and of the detached hedonism that its proponents gorge themselves on. The film delves deeper into the psychology of the pit, and aims to illustrate that there’s more to it than meets the eye.

"Depares finds a strange sort of beauty within the chaos"

Depares utilises his background of directing music videos and reviewing gigs as a music journalist to dive inside the mindset of both fans and band members, giving a bold account from both sides of the fence. “I’ve always been fascinated by crowd politics,” he reveals, “The way different crowds respond to different bands, the changing energy levels, the positioning of various crowd members within the venue and their roles within the crowd. There are the planks, the head-nodders, the dancers, the pogoers, the moshers, and the crowd surfers.”

The instigators and the participants

The Pit features interviews with ardent moshers and crowd-surfers who risk ejection from the venue (not to mention injury), the musicians who throw themselves into their rock archetypes every night, including Cancer Bats’ Liam Cormier and Trash Talk’s Lee Spielman. Depares finds a strange sort of beauty within the chaos, and exposes a world that was previously only known to those foolhardy enough to experience it at first hand.