Music  Video  Treatment    

Artist:  STATE  OF  MIND  Track:  RETURN  OF  THE  PROPHET                                                          Director  –  Preston  McNeil  Co-­‐director/DOP  –  Aleksander  Sakowski  28th  February  2011  

 

 

Synopsis  The   video   watches   down   as   an   suspense-­‐action-­‐thri.   The   video   will   give   the  viewer   misleading   visual   clues   to   the   scenario,   building   up   a   picture   of   what  looks  like  gangsters  getting  rid  of  a  body.  The  reveal  at  the  end  is  that  they  are  all  mates  that  are  playing  a  prank  on  their  friend,  who  has  passed  out  from  drinking.    The   follow   link   is  a  perfect  example  of   the  emotion   rollercoaster   that  we  want  the  viewer  to  take  when  watching  the  ‘Return  Of  The  Prophet’  music  video.    Lovefield  (short  film  by  Mathieu  Ratthe)  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4meeZifCVro  

   Outline  The  first  shot  is  a  phone  sinking  through  dark  water.  The  screen  and  number  pad  are  glowing.    The  camera  slowly  zooms  out,  revealing  body  lying  in  the  middle  of  the  floor.  The  camera  continues  to  pull  back  through  a  doorway  and  down  a  hallway.  A  group  of   men   dressed   in   suites   charge   past   the   camera,   leading   us   back   into   a  warehouse/office  space.  In  the  space  is  a  lifeless  body.  One  of  the  men  kicks  the  body  and  then  checks  the  body  for  a  pulse.    The  phone  continues  to  sink  through  the  dark  water.    They   pick   up   a   corpse   off   the   floor   and   anxiously   carry   the   body   outside   and  throw   it   into   the  boot  of   the   car.  They  all   jump   into   the   car   and  when   the   last  door   closes,   the  music   stops.   They   have   a   brief   conversation   about  where   the  best  spot  to  toss  the  body.  During  this  conversation  they  drive  off  and  the  guy  in  the  passenger  seat  starts  playing  with  the  radio,  moving  through  various  stations  and  stops  when  he  finds  ‘Return  Of  The  Prophet’.  The  driver  tells  him  to  turn  the  stereo  up,  as  they  drive  away  from  the  city.  The  night  is  turning  to  morning.    As   they  are  driving   they  approach  a  police   car  on   the   side  of   the   road  with   its  lights   flashing.  The  men   start   freaking  out.   The  police   officer   issuing   the   ticket  stops  what  he’s  doing  and  watches  the  car  closely  as  it  drives  past.    The  phone  stops  glowing  as  the  phone  sinks  further.    Dawn  is  breaking  and  the  car  stops  at  an  isolated  wharf.  They  get  out  of  the  car  and  hesitate  and  argue  before  opening  the  boot  and  pulling  the  body  out.  They  carry   the  body  to   the  end  of   the  wharf,  while  one  of   the  guys   is  still  protesting  about  disposing   the  body   in   this  manner.  He   loses   the  argument   the  body  gets  carried  to  the  end  of  the  wharf  and  tossed  into  the  water.    

 

 

We   see   the   body   hit   and   enter   the  water   from   just   below   the  water.   The  men  stand  at  the  edge  of  the  wharf  watching  the  water  as  the  body  sinks.  The  water  erupts  as  the  corpse  comes  back  to  life.  He  is  confused  and  seriously  pissed  off.  He  begins  hurling  abuse  at  his  mates  who  are  all  in  hysterics.    There   is   a  montage   of   all   of   them   on   a   night   out   on   the   town,  which   ends   up  drinking  back  at  one  of  the  work  spaces/home.  The  friend/corpse  guy  gets  more  and  more  wasted  as  the  night  goes  no,  until  he  passes  out.    The   final   shot   is   of   all   of   them   in   the   car   heading   home,   soaking  wet   the   guy  checks  his  pockets  and  asks  where  his  phone  is.    Treatment  The  style  of  filming  and  dialog  will  reference  Alfred  Hitchcock,  Quentin  Tarantino  and  Guy  Ritchie.    Quentin  Tarantino  –  Reservoir  Dogs  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvoKT481EmU  

 Guy  Ritchie  –  Snatch  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8jVN5UAji8  

   The  video  will  be  predominantly  hand  held  to  add  intensity,  only  using  locked-­‐off  or   crane   shots   in   ascent   particular   actions   or   to   slow   the   paced   of   the   video  down.    The   colour   palette  will   be   relatively   subdued   to   complement   the   dark   tone   of  track.  The  montage  will  exploded  into  full  saturation/life  to  create  more  impact  of  the  hustle  and  bustle  of  the  city  and  getting  drunk.      Characters  All  the  guys  will  be  dressed  like  Italian  gangsters,  alla  the  Rat  Pack.  

 

 

 

Visual  references  The  Chemical  Brothers  –  Galvanize  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2hzVV2Nwfs  

 Prodigy  -­‐  Smack  My  Bitch  Up  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DC0kh_dULo  

 The  Streets  –  Blinded  By  The  Light  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7MCbis75wk&feature=relatedScenario's  

 How  To  Destroy  Angels  –  The  Space  In  Between  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWbfgGDl6XE  

 Bulletproof  –  Soundtrack  To  Forever  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXHWHQv5Cq8  

 The  beginning  of  Batman  -­‐  The  Dark  Knight  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0OYBEquZ_j0