Treatment

Mise en Scene

• The environment of the video will be that of a science laboratory. However, there will be two conditions of the lab - one in ruin, and one fixed up - according the the narrative being displayed (present and past respectively). It will be illustrated using pencil and biro pen, and will largely remain still - in the past version, this will be to highlight the clinical nature of the lab, but in the present version, this will be to emphasise how it has been abandoned, and that it is inactive.
• The main character is a machine, so therefore will not be wearing any clothing. However, laboratory staff that may be present in the past narrative will be wearing white medical coats, over white shirts and black or grey ties, or grey or black dress shirts for any female staff.
• The props in the scene will consist of various mechanical tools, such as drills and wrenches. There will also be mounted equipment, such as mechanical arms suspended from the ceiling, and computer equipment also. In the past narrative, this machinery will be white and clean, whereas in the present narrative, what's left of it will be rusted, faded and broken.
• The main robot character will be unable to maneuver himself around the scene during his singing sequences. However, he will be able to move his head, upper torso and one remaining hand, for expression's sake.
• The past narrative will be illustrated in a still fashion, with the drawings scrolling across the screen and inter-fading gently, to match the pace of the song. Some little bits of animation may be present, such as close-ups of repairs or fixings being made to the robot character, or the scientists interacting with him.
• The past narrative's lab will be illustrated to appear bright and clinical. The present narrative however will be drawn to appear lit by one, dim light in the ceiling, which will flicker on at the beginning of the video. This light will possibly be slightly beige in colour, to make the abandoned lab seem slightly sickly.
• The video will be largely black and white, due to the illustration style I am opting for. However, small pin-point details may be coloured, such as scientist's ties, lights on the equipment and robot, and maybe a female scientist's lipstick. Blood may be present in the video, which will be coloured red.

Camera angles

• The singing sequences with the robot will be framed at eye level with the machine, and will be facing straight towards him. The shot will be wide however, to highlight the desolate loneliness of the machine, and to display how damaged his environment is.
• Animated close-ups will be used in the otherwise stationary flashback sequences to show parts of the robot being installed, repaired or tweaked, giving an intimate glimpse into his early beginnings.
• The still illustrations in the flashback sequences will slowly slide along the screen or zoom in with an eased tween, to allow for some motion, and maybe to draw attention to particular details in the illustrations.
• When the robot is acting dangerously, or things are going wrong, the robot will be viewed at a low angle, to make him seem imposing.

Editing

• The singing sequences will use long, drawn out shots, which slowly zoom in towards the robot. This lingering will highlight how the robot himself has also lingered in this space for so long.
• The flashbacks will have a slow editing pace between illustrations, to allow the viewer time to take them in, and also to match the pace of the song. As the pace builds up however, the pace will build up, as the still illustrations are cut away to show the small, animated segments showing the robot's construction and repair.
• The editing pace will slow right down after the robot has commit his crime, before fading back to the present narrative to show the robot in his current state again.
• Still illustrations will slowly wipe or zoom across the screen, in the direction of a point of interest. They will also fade gently into eachother.

Animation

• The animation will be made using Macromedia Flash 8, using eased tweens and tweened fades.
• The characters and props that will move in the product will have their puppet components illustrated using physical means (pencil, biro, ink pen) to give a grimey look.
• Backgrounds will be largely pencil sketched, with some photo-manipulation using Photoshop CS5 to add some extra depth or shade that is otherwise difficult to produce physically.
• Still illustrations in the flashback sequence will be performed using the same method as the background illustrations, but will be treated softer, to make these scenes more 'angellic' and bright.
• The art style will be simplistic, but with enough anatomical accuracy to remain legible.

Performance

• During singing sequences, the robot will be largely immobile, only being able to move his upper body, head, and remaining hand. During the flashbacks however, he will be illustrated in a way which shows that he was fully able to function and perform tasks.
• The scientists in the flashbacks will be illustrated to be calm and collected, but will be shown to be rushy and panicky when things go wrong however.
• The robot will have a small monitor where his lower jaw will be, which will have an animated (possible rotoscoped) mouth upon it. This will lip-sync with the lyrical content of the song.

Representation of artists and other groups

• References to Coldplay's previous works will be shown throughout the piece as easter eggs for keen fans watching the piece, but also to keep ties with the source material of the song.
• The scientists will be illustrated as a mix of age ranges. Some will be young university students, while others will be adults, and maybe even elderly.
• The piece has a large overriding moral of the ethics of science. As this machine is built to be intelligent, but is angered, and due to his rage abandoned, it asks the audience the question of whether or not it is ethical to 'play god', and create new life? Also, as the machine is reciting the lyrics to the song, where he is apologising for all he has done wrong, it shows that if we were to create a being with emotions, to abandon and abuse it would be just as devastating for it as it would be for us if we were in it's shoes.

Intertextuality

• References to Coldplay and their previous works will be hidden in the background and flashback artworks as easter eggs for keen fans, and also to keep ties with Coldplay themselves.
• The machine's 'mouth monitor' is somewhat inspired by the design of the face of the gardner robot in Steven Spielberg's AI: Artificial intelligence, and also the main character in the music video to Gotye's song Life's a Mess.

Link between visuals and lyric

• The song portrays the author's apologetic view on his partner leaving him, and his wish to 'go back to the start' and fix the severs he created. As the machine is reciting his lyrics, the context has changed, as he is apologising to the scientists who have abandoned him, and who he harmed.
• The title 'The Scientist', and also the verse referring to science and mathematics, both reference to both the machine himself (a creation of science) and the environment he is in (a lab).

Voyeurism

• During the singing sequences, the robot character will be focusing on us, the audience, with his eyes/cameras, making it seem like we are the scientists whom he is apologising to.7

Where the video will be shown

• This video will most likely be published to my personal YouTube channel, but I will also make a Vimeo channel to post it too also, as Vimeo is a more artistic website, and would appreciate the video more.

Target audience

• The main audience of the piece will be persons who listen to music of a similar kind to Coldplay, who seem to be interested in artistic content such as animation or film which has meaning to it.
• The film will not be suitable for children, as it will likely display blood.

Inspirational Moodboard

Screenshots from the following music videos:

• The Shins - The Rifle's Spiral
• Gotye - Life's a Mess
• Portishead - The Rip
• Tool - Sober

And also David Firth's cartoon 'A Black and White cartoon about Roof Tiling'

Annotating lyrics

I have printed the lyrics to the song I will be using, and have jotted down some ideas as to how I could use the song, and how it's meanings could reflect to my video. 

Textual Analysis: Gotye - Seven Hours with a Backseat Driver

Mise En Scene

• The city in the video is very mismatched in it's design, quite like the structures young children may build with wooden blocks. This makes it seem like quite an innocent place, which contrasts against the behavior of some of the characters.
• A majority of the animals in the video are not anthropomorphised, making them seem normal. These are the animals who are performing the most mundane, repetitive tasks, which may suggest that to be normal is boring.
• The characters who are acting more raunchy are anthropomorphised, making them different from everything else, therefore showing that straying away from the norm is interesting.
• The elephant is wearing considerably more clothing than the other more anthropomorphised animals, giving him (?) a darnsite more innocence than them - a virgin. He is also wearing a bowtie, making him seem more formal, and therefore mixing with the norm (note the ducks who also wear bowties).
• The other anthro characters are wearing very skimpy clothing - the leopard especially so - making them sexualised - this is supported by their suggestive behaviours.
• The leopard is staged as the elephant's greatest desire, and due to the fact that he is the most 'idealistic' in his design, it's shown that the elephant would rather act promiscuously than perform to mundaneity by being the black bird's vehicle.
• The city is coloured with a subtle pink tone, suggesting that the day is at sunset, and the pink of the sky is reflected off the buildings.
• The anthro animals are all coloured very brightly, and also very different to how they are in real life, highlighting their difference and diversity against the crowd animals (the ducks).
• All the colouring is softened lightly by a hazey overlay, which suggests a warm environment.

Camera Techniques

• When observing the mundane activity, the camera is positioned above the action, laying it in an isometric view. This could suggest how lowly it all is - we're literally looking down on it.
• However, when more raunchy behavior is in session, the angle of the camera is down and level with the characters, which is the norm with most cinematography - this could suggest that it is normal to be different.

Editing

• The scenes where the elephant is travelling are shown in long, continuous tracking shots, quickly zipping away to view scenarios around the elephant for brief moments - this emulates the monotonous action of the elephant, and his tendancy to maybe slip out of concentration once in a while to observe his surroundings.
• A lot of the editing matches the tempo of the music, which is appealing visually, and helps blend the two products together.
• The editing pace increases dramatically when the elephant steers out of control, emphasizing the frantic, panicky nature of his accident, and it's drastic effects on the city. 

Performance

• The footsteps of the elephant match the drumbeat of the track, adding emphasis to his size and weight.
• The thrusting of the hippo and the leopard and zebra in the club scene match the cowbell (?) playing in the music, adding a sense of interest to this action, and also making it seem exotic.
• When the elephant cries at 2:22, his crying matches the strange string instrument's tune, as if it's his voice. His tears also hit the floor in time with this tune.
• The more anthorpomorphised animals are performing suggestive behaviours, supporting their 'animalism' and also their deviance away from the norm, mundane existence of the rest of the cast.

Where shown

• This song was around before Gotye's entry into the mainstream with 'Somebody I used to know', so the video is most likely to have been more seen online than offline. However, indie television channels may have also aired it.

Target audience

• Although the design of the characters may suggest otherwise, the video is essentially aimed at adults, due to the raunchy nature of the character's actions.
• Gotye's audience at the time of this song's release mainly consisted of those interested in indie music, so the video's arty design matches such an audiences interests.

David Firth: A Black and White cartoon about roof tiling

The style of animation in this cartoon has inspired me to work with both pen drawn and digital techniques in my video, as it gives a bleak and sunken look that would be good for the sad theme of the song I may be animating to (The Scientist by Coldplay). This would require me to create all the components and illustrations I need by hand using pencil and sketching pen, and then scanning/photographic them and making them move within Flash 8, largely using tweens. The lip sync technique shown above is also something I'd like to try, but a bit more eloquently.

Caution: There is some explicit language and imagery in this cartoon.