Finalised Video Concept

As discussions of the video's complex narrative concept have progressed we have decided to scale back certain ideas, and have finally come up with something semi-coherent. We decided ambiguity was key in selling the idea and making it more simplisitic in terms of everything the audience sees. To this end, I have started a rough (i.e. quickly done, without all the musical timings finalised) storyboard, detailing the images and shots required. As we have said before the peice is set in modern day, as budget obviously does not allow anything else. Also, it is a more effective peice if set in modern day, suggesting that the "dystopia" exist in society already, linking nicely back to the research I carried out on conspiracy theories (as ever, doing far too much research for a short peice, but I feel that vast knowledge of the subject matter is required, to use the images and symbology effectively, and with some authority).

Essentially we have a sequence of events that follow this rough time line:
Blank black background, white title "Uprising", with sounds of heavy breathing and panic,
Est shot- a human eye
We see that the eye is being held open by a Matrix-esque "agent" type figure, whilst another looks on.
The eye belongs to the protaganist, who is being forced to watch a telvision screen, upon which are series of images.
The agents exchange a glance.
The music then starts, and the band are shown, obscured partially by darkness, and the fact that we are only shown parts of them and their instruments in extreme close up. This is intercut with the action throughout the remainder of the video.
The Protaganist awakes, fully clothed, in a bath, presumably in his home. He evidently has no memory of how he got there.
He (very briefly) changes.
He goes downstairs in a semi-daze and turns on his television. He is watching various channels, flicking, pausing briefly. Each one seems to trigger an unpleasent reaction and he leaves the house at speed, pausing to throw on a parka.
He walks down the street and sees various people and objects that remind him of his brainwashing video, but he shakes them off.
As he walks he sees someone he recognises. It is the agent that held his eyes open earlier, who recognises him. The music pauses briefly, a close up on the protaganist's eyes as it all floods back to him.
The music kicks in again, and the agent pursues the protaganist briefly.
The protaganist bumps into a black-clad policeman in an alley and falls at him. He yells something that is not heard by the audience due to the music. The officer looks at him. Then back at the agent.
We then see a low shot of the officer grabbing the protaganist.
Cut to the band, now fully visible, performing the end of the song.
The Protaganist awakes in a bath fully clothed.

I will upload the rough storyboard when it is complete.

narrative ideas

in a recent discussion with the group we had a long talk about the basic narrative. this was a very long process of trial and improvment and explored many differet outcomes. we started with that which we already decided we liked and built on from that point. We started with the opening scene of the video, and we wanted an introduction to the video which is featured in some music videos such as when you were young by the killers etc. our introduction will consist of our protagnist being forced to watch images on a tv in a bedroom while tied to a chair or bed. in the room their would be 2 typical bad guys who are overseeing this taking place. i picture them to be representative of agent smith from the matrix. there would also be a woman in a red dress in the bedroom who would also be featured later on in the video. this woman and her later role is an intertextual reference to the matrix in general. at this stage in the video she would be less glamarous and possible be smoking when seen in the shot. one of the agents would be in some way making the protagnist's eye stay open, which would then swap to a tv showing several conspiracy related pictures and some random photos, and the word "forget". the final shot of this introduction scene would be the agents exchanging glances and then cutting to black.
the black would lead into the following scene of the protagnist layed in a bath. the music would start with the opening to this scene, and the main character would sit up gasping and possibly shaking. he will be full dressed, possible in work clothes and will be very confused and "panicy" when he wakes. he will get out of the bath, exit the house and begin walking to an unknown destination, seeing several things related to the images he was shown in the start of the video in the bedroom scene. from this point we began to debate the ending or the climax of the song. i made several suggestions, such as he sees one of the agents from the opening scene who winks at him and points toward his jacket pocket. at this point the protagnist looks in his jacket to find a weapon, probably a knife, at which point he sees a man who was in the video at the start, and starts uncontrollably running toward him with a killers intentions. when he catches the man, he pounces on him and kills him, and the dead mans wrist bears a tattoo of the illuminati logo on his wrist. the protagnist would then attempt to escape from the situation, when he is confronted by a police officer who stops him. the police officer place his in handcuffs and he also has the tattoo. At that moment, the officer who winked at him comes from round a corner, discreetley showing the officer that he also has the tatto.

25 word pitch

25 word pitch on Prezi

our pitch received a mixture of positive and negative feedback when presented to the class. the pitch was useful for bringing to light some problems that we might have with practicality such as our black cat idea e.g. we had not given much thought to how we were going to encourage the cat across ion the direction that we wanted. other problems were also brought to light such as the very complex storyline ideas we have come up with recently

video analysis the pretender

The pretender by the foo fighters is a very popular song about political unrest and people parties and governments making promises they couldn't keep, however the band stated they would like for people to have their own interpretation of the song. i think this song can relate to our own video in the idea of a conspiracy because it is about governments making fake promises to please people, and our video will include goverments doing things behind there peoples backs. other interpretations of the song could also fit with the theme of our video such as the fact the song is about someone or something pretending to be something it's not in general, and the so called Illuminati do not display their true nature to the public, or so the story goes. the video also fits in with this theme as i will show and annotate, and the video to me also shows some sort of organisation or government body trying to silence the band from their singing of the truth, which to me represents our protagonist in that his memory was removed so that he could not tell the truth of what happened, i.e. he was "silenced".

i have chosen this shot mainly for the lyrics rather than the videos reflection of their meaning. the lyrics in the section to me are all about the way in which the band or protagonist they represent has been "silenced" and put out of the way so that he cannot cause trouble or get in the way of the plans. the music is slow and sad and reflects this idea. in the beginning of the video we can see the lights switching on to reveal the band walking toward the set. Andrew Goodwin theory tells us this is illustrating what the song is telling us, and shows us that the band, which we now know represents our protagonist, are "shining a light on" the truth and illuminating total darkness. the Pitch black in the begginning shows us that the public or the viewers that the protagonist would be preaching to know absolutely nothing of the truth. We also see Dave then wrapping a bandage around his hand, which could suggest that he has been injured by the Government body that is opposing our protagonist, or it could suggest that he needs support in sending his message e.g. no one believes the protagonist because he is alone in his beliefs and lacks evidence.


This clip shows the entrance of the first police officer, or riot controller. Even though our video wont be showing the enemy directly, it will be hinting about it. the band and the officer are opposite each other showing they are both on different sides from one another, and the officer is in a black uniform, which tells us two things: it relates the person to the government, the enemy of this particular song, and the colour Also connotes that this enemy government body is black and this could suggest they are twisted or not what they seem - similar to the point about the pitch black at the start of the video, it suggests that the public know nothing of the true government at all. The video once again illustrates the lyrics: " what if i say your not like the others, what if i say your not just another one". even though this suggests that Dave is comparing him to someone else, a different part of the government or a different countries government, the point remains the same in that he is saying that the government body isn't what it seems, and the video illustrates this by introducing the opposing character, who in one shot is shown lowering his visor on his helmet. This along with his shield and uniform shows he is here to stop the commotion and stop the protagonist from spreading the truth. the lyrics also at one point say "what if i say i will never surrender"? this confirms the illustration that the protagonist is engaging the enemy in war or battle and wont stop until his message is heard by the people. Our music video will probably be less aggressive and the protagonist wont be trying to spread his truth, but it will be more about the aftermath of this story. lets say that the government body in this video succeed in silencing the protagonist, our video would be the following on of this when the protagonist goes back to normal life having been "silenced".

this clip is important because it shows the arrival of the other officers. in the last paragraph i spoke about the arrival of the first officer and how the lyrics said "what if i say your not like the others". the arrival of the others could suggest that the truthful and good governments our protagonist was comparing the original officer too have shown their true colours, and they are on the side of the original officer. before the band were outnumbering the officer, and now the band are highly outnumbered massively by the officers, which works very well in connexion to our video as some Illuminati believers insist that they actually control the world and the governments are just their puppets. The lyrics are the same as those in the last chorus, amplifying the message that they are not what they seem. The lyrics seem to now be grouping them all together, which could suggest for our video that the Illuminati are all together, and they all wear the same uniform which further pushes this idea. The lyrics previously stated that the protagonist would never surrender, and he stays true to this despite being massively outnumbered, and continues to sing. this clip in comparison with the lyrics only shows amplification and illustration, unlike the muse video which i annotated, which shown a lot of disjuncture. this gives us a wide spectrum for our video as videos of this genre show a lot of variation.


the lyrics in this clip are key to the videos meaning: Dave begins to sing "Who are you"? over and over, which is amplification. this shows a very key point to our music video, as our protagonist will be unsure of what is going on, and as we can see here the band has charged into it's enemy, finding themselves massively outnumbered and questioning who the enemy actually is. Not knowing who the enemy truly is is something i would like to put into our video, and is a massive part of the structure of the genre of conspiracy. the mystery plays a very big part to keeping the novelty and excitement of the video. when these lyrics are sung the officers all begin lowering their helmets, not giving our protagonist an answer and showing they are about to charge, which metaphorically could mean silencing them. even when the officers are beginning to prepare for the attack, the band holds their ground, showing no signs of being intimidated or prepared to surrender, which will inevitable lead to their defeat as their enemy is so powerful.

this is the final shot of the video, and shows the officers running in slow motion as the song slows down, almost like the band is preparing to fall to their enemy. When this slow part of the song ends, the big red object behind them explodes and sends red liquid shooting at the soldiers, connoting the blood that would be spilled in battle. This leads to the officers becoming blind and unable to stop the protagonist from spreading their message as the band continues to sing the same lyrics, once again showing amplification. the video illustrates the music, as the fast paced music explodes so does the big red object behind them. From my interpretation this would be representative of the public finally becoming aware of the truth of the "Illuminati" conspiracy at the last possible moment before our protagonist is silenced.
From analysing this video i have seen that we have a wide range of possibilities for our own video as far as Andrew Goodwin theory goes. this video is full of amplification, illustration and symbolism whereas plug in baby was full of disjuncture. this video has also shown me the way in which camera shots can help to keep the video in time with the song at fast paced times.

Video analysis plug in baby

Plug in baby by muse is very Representative of the alternative genre we are studying. the video has a very haunting and meaningful feel to it, which is a similar effect that we would like to capture in our video.


This shot shows strange effects, almost like a visual effect on a stereo or equalizer. this distorted effect creates a disturbed feeling and instantly opens the disturbed nature of the song up to the audience. at this point in the song, there is a strange distorted noise building in the backgorund at the same time as the picture distorting making the music seem powerful and capable.

this shot shows the band jumping around and playing a quite high end looking home, which seems mainly to be in disjuncture with the song, not illustrating it. however the song and the video are related in the way that they are both sensless and seem to be representative of nothing. when asked, Matt Belamy the lead singer and writer said that he could not actually remember what he had wrote the song about, but rather that it had been a mixture of random thoughts in his head put alongside the chords and riffs he had written in the past. this shows that the video follows the tune and the music rather than the lyrics or singing, and is therefore not entirley in disjuncture with the song.



this shot shows after the band singing and playing a woman sat in a suggestive pose, which again seems to be in disjunture with the song. the shot emplys the male gaze theory, showing off the pose in 3 different shots, one of which shows her legs in an open position. this again supports the idea of the male gaze. Her clothing is also exposing a lot of skin e.g. her legs in the fish net tights. She also relates in a shot to chocolate box theory, pulling a suggestive face, looking directly into the camera, eyes slightly closed etc. this does not seem to fit with lyrics like the other shots, and the shot of the woman.

this shot shows female limbs without exposing the rest of the shot giving a weird, eerie and distorted tint to the video. the music has become calmer at this stage of the song and less powerful. the meaning of the limbs is unclear in my opinion but suggests something being hidden, or only part of something being scene. this fits very well with our conspiracy theme music video. Also, the lyrics at this stage of the song represent this idea: "i've exposed your lies baby, the underneath is no big suprise". this to me fits very well with our idea for the video, as it suggests people already suspect something is happening but their veiw has been obscured and as a result there are many different variations of the conspiricy. this is also what will be seen in our video e.g. some people actually believe the illuminati are lizard men.

The important part of this shot is after the build up in the chorus, when the woman bends down and puts the headphones on. When she puts the headphones on, showing us that she is listening to the music, her body seems to become distorted, which once again gives us a surreal and disturbing effect on the video and the song. the strange distortion of the body is very similar to that in the picture distorting at the start of the video. this could mean that the music has the power to change people, and could be symbolic of being able to change peoples feeling and opinions by listening to it. this also has a similar feel to our video because of our conspiracy theory video, which will also show the ability of conspiricy to manipulate people.

Discussions of Concept.

At first our group dicussed music genres, and soon came to the conclusion we all liked different styles and genres, and so decided to discuss the concept of the video before we decided upon the genre or the actual song we would use.


We quickly came to the conlusion, through discussion of sci-fi-esque concepts, that as a group we were mutually interested in the conspiracy theories revoloving around things like the supposed New World Order the so-called "Illuminati" and the "faked" moon landings. We decided this would form the basis of our video, which would be largely concept-based (although with some element of performance involved, albeit somewhat enigmatically- the band in shadow, or only partially shown, or possibly obscured by science fiction paraphernalia). As the discussion developed we decided that the concept for the video fitted well within the alternative/progressive rock genres, and we selected Muse, a band renowned for their sci-fi inspired image and poiltically rebellious lyrics. The song we have chosen to use is "Uprising" from the band's 2009 album "The Resistance".


In keeping with said themes, we discussed inter-textual references, taken largely from science fiction films. and came up with the following:


A Clockwork Orange (Stanley Kubrick-1971)
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rT1DCun3U9M)


In the film a clockwork orange, the protagonist, Alex, is subjected to government-issued mind control techniques (named the "Ludivoco Technique" in the film). This obviously links to the themes of our video, mind control, and dystopian science fiction. It also has inter-textual links to Alternative rock a genre known for it's connection to sci-fi imagery, and, usually, strict left-wing agendas. Many alternative rock bands, particularly Muse, dicuss goverment spin-doctoring or populous control, and A Clockwork Orange is infamous for exploring said themes, and the Ludivoco scene is an important iconic scene from the film (also any Kubrick reference is good, as he was a science fiction director often associated with conspiracy theories by internet nutters).

The Matrix (the Wachoski Brothers- 1999)
The Matrix- Glitch/ De Ja Vu


The Matrix "Red Dress":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXQozTxQSiE

This is both a thematic reference, and an incorporation of visual elements from the film. For example, one thing we discussed putting in our music video, was a "woman in the red dress" type character, used in the film to represent the Matrix deceiving the humans (if you look the once, she appears to be a woman in a red dress, look again it is an agent with a pistol). As our video revolves around concepts of paranoid confusion and Dystopian science fiction realities, and as the Matrix is a very famous and popular film revolving around these issues, with instantly recognisable symbology we feel that these references in particular will resonate with an audience. We also intend to incorporate slow motion effects, and possibly De Ja Vu references, to also hint at Matrix connotations.




I personally also intend to fit some references to comic books/graphic novels in, such as Alan Moore's Watchmen (as well as the Zac Snyder film adapatation),




and Grant Morrison's Doom Patrol as well as potentially some of the occult symbols used it Mike Mignola's Hellboy series.