A blend between Narrative styles and the more abstract concept based video, my music video depicts the invasion of a sentinet computer virus running rampant in our lives. Cue stop motion dancing chick-ens, glitches, zombies and one eccentric yet stylish robot to redefine what we call normal.

The Pitch

The video/script - Introducing the HackerAs our video opens we are introduced the Hacker character the creator of the Burnin Fever virus. It will be set in a dark and isolated room with the intention of presenting the character as sinister and mysterious to create tension for audiences viewing and to hook them in. Thus as a result of these shots revolving around this moment should omit the fea-tures that audiences can really identify such as the hackers faces to further convey this sense of intrigue.

As soon as we hear the Alan partridge sample played during the track we cut to shot of an anchor-man reading the news and in the top right hand corner audiences should see a shot of paparazzi harassing someone in a trench coat. As the video progress and the beat drops we should cut to a close up of the Hacker pressing the enter key and an-other cut to the man who is the main subject of said paparazzi shoot to reveal himself as the robot character.

The video/script - The Robot and intro to the virusAs as we hear like a fever burnin, we should be introduced to a range of kinetic text flashing on screen to convey this subliminal message effect. In between each line of lyric we see various footage of the robot interacting with many events and situations in altered way such as a mid-shot of the robot playing the gui-tar cutting to the flashing text then cutting back with said robot making guitar gestures with a manikin. This rhythm of text, footage, text will be repeated throughout this sequence. Eventually we are introduced to workers within an office watching the virus and then suddenly becoming infected by said virus turning into the zombie like creatures. It should be noted however that said zombie like creatures don’t look like your conventional zombies but rather people in giant rubber masks or covered in a range of household appli-ances such as tin foil to convey a comic yet creepy look.

In between the infection of the office workers there will be a range of abstract stop motion based scenes such as dancing raw chickens, rotating manikins and toy soldiers worshiping a giant monument. Overlaid onto said scenes will be an old VHS static effect to emphasise the scratchiness of the track as well as com-municating to audiences that this section is showing the video and effects of the virus. Furthermore the stat-ic/glitch effect should work in exaggerating the distorted and strange imagery.

The video/script - The infection invaisonOur office workers have now been rendered as lifeless zombies as we see them take to the streets and attack those who aren’t one of them in a classic zombie apocalypse fashion. Take note that we should not see these infected charac-ters make any real physical contact with those non infected i.e no lunges or bites but rather when such movements are about to take place we see a cut to said non infected, infected to leave the worst to the viewer’s imagination. When we do witness those who have just been infected said infected should be taking part in everyday activities which have been altered in some way i.e. making breakfast will be exaggerated into a shot of an infected pouring milk into a bowl of bread with said milk overflowing everywhere and causing a mess. Eventually we see an extreme long shot of the infected walking towards a city to hint the invasion that is about to take place. After that we fade back to the hacker as he preps the final upload of the virus.

The video/script - FEVER, FEVER, FEVER

Next, when the track starts playing the lyric FEVER, FEVER, FEVER repeatedly we should see flashes of ab-stract imagery such as toys on fire, raw chickens giving birth as well as old cheesy stock footage such as computer adverts from the 80’s to represent the virus’ overload. Also said use of computer ads would fit in well with the computer theme present in the video. This footage should be chaotic and illustrate to view-ers the disruption the virus is causing. In between said sequence we will hear a range of voice samples of news anchor-men; this will be represented on screen as the robot and one of the infected as the anchor men to show the virus’s increasing takeover of visual mediums and eventually the real world. Finally at the end of this sequence we are introduced to a mid-shot of the robot playing golf with a doll head attached to a tangerine and underneath the shot the words “UPLOAD COMPLETE” should be flashing to signify the viruses total takeover.

The video/script - Aftermath of the infectionFollowing the previous sequence we are next introduced to the effects of the virus taking over the real world portrayed on screen with people moving on stop motion animation on beat to show a lifeless zombie look towards these people. As the video progresses and the sounds become much more scratchy so do the visuals in terms of what is depicted on screen as well as the quality of the footage becoming much more glitchier. During this sequence we cross cut back and forth between various footage of the robot causing chaos as well as footage of the infected creating mess such as infected riding in trolley carts whilst throwing food around them and also infecting those around them.

The video/script - The EndingFinally we fade back to the dark and isolated room of the hacker as he watches over the chaos he has caused. As the hacker lays back to relish in his accomplishment we see a POV shot of one of his infected drooling orange juice onto him. We then cut to high angle shot of the hacker in terror a cut to black, to which we are introduced to the robot again as a news anchorman asking the question “What do you get when you cross a ballerina and a bastard? Ballesteros was his answer” which shall be illustrated on screen with an im-age of golfer Seve Ballesteros superimposed onto the body of a ballerina. This final image should cement the “random” and whimsical tone of the video in viewer’s mind and hint towards the robots takeover of the world.

Who is the Robot?Inspired by the likes of daft punk and other DJ’s who choose an anonymous robot persona, in my video the robot initially represented the artist Tropiika interacting with the world presented in the video, how-ever as my ideas developed and progressed I would like to think of said Robot character as more of the personification of the Burnin Fever virus. The intention behind this character is to blend the stylish formal wear with more colourful and whimsical look to represent how erratic the virus is as well as its personality. In terms of the helmet design it will take taking visual styles from video game and computer graphics such as pixel art. This pixel head direction for the helmet design is to connote a software look to the character whilst contrasting this with his more human body to exaggerate the strangeness of the character by con-trasting a large blocky head on a tall and thin body. This should also work well in conveying the Robot as more of an alien like creature; something that should not belong in our world.

StyleThe video will inhibit a style which blends the creepy yet humorous styles of Chris Cunning-ham’ Aphex twin music video with some of the whimsical looks of some of Peter Gabriel’s music videos as well as some of synthpop artist, Com Truise’s technological themes and retro footage splicing. I will be filming on a Sony handicam HDR HCS9 as its compact shape allows for capturing shots that would be too cramped for a larger camera and also retains good video quality. In terms of software Photoshop will be used to construct video graphics which shall be imported and animated in after effects. Furthermore filters and effects such as glitch effect will also be handled in after effects. For some scenes an Apple Ipad and ASCII video app may also be employed to convert footage into ASCII art. Finally, editing will be handled via Final Cut Express and I movie to animate the stop motion sequences with ease.

Moods

Moods

Overall Burnin fever is a music video which blends conventions of the concept and nar-rative based music video depicting the invasion of a computer virus on our world which causes chaos and anarchy in a whimsical and eccentric way.