TURTLE SKULL - APATHY

MUSIC VIDEO OUTLINE

A dark object/entity enters into a “garden of eden” and takes over the consciousness of the inhabitants

This is the concept for the apathy music video boiled down to a simple sentence. In the song what is coming through for me are themes of technology and the ways that it affects our behaviour and the hypnotic quality it has on society. I see the idea for the music video as some kind of allegory around this theme with technology represented by a powerful and hypnotic object that is controlled by some malevolent being or beings. this shapeshifting creature wields the object like a lure, absorbing the inhabitants of the world into its mesmerizing light and then consuming them for sustenance. The creature is like a mythical dragon hoarding energy, that needs to “slayed” by the people

This dragon enters into a beautiful and moody natural environment where a small group of inhabitants are absorbed in their regular daily lives. It will begin on the fringes of the community finding its first victim and then slowly moving into and mesmerising the larger populace. As this happens the people and the environment distort and reality starts to crack. We will switch between story telling sections and then abstract moments where we are “inside” the hypnotic object with flowing forms and layers of animation.

my idea for the conclusion of the video is that the inhabitants eventually overwhelm the object by completely covering it and absorbing its light themselves. this is a fairly liquid idea the moment and i like to leave the ending a little bit open so i feel like theres a mystery in the project and we can go a few different threads along the way.

ENVIRONMENT / AESTHETIC TREATMENT

Visualy I would like this clip to have a dark fantasy feeling to it. I think it suits the mythical theme and suits your particular flavour of music and storytelling. Bellow are some quick explorations of the environment i did early on. I wanted to play a little bit with the idea of the black and white environment and then having this very bright and hypnotic object pierce the space for maximum contrast. These explorations are pretty simple and stark, mostly atempting to get depth and atmosphere. I would like the setting to probably be in a more forested and enclosed environment mostly with more plants and mosses and enclosed spaces. I often think of the northern rivers environment where you are based and referencing something more foresty and volcanic.

I thought a fun visual story telling idea would be to have some old pieces of technology rotting and dissolving into the roots and rocks of the forest. this would create a bit of visual interest and add another abstract layer of storytelling into the world for people to pick up on. Probably also some phosphorescent details sprinkled about the forest to heighten the magic.

I know Dean you mentioned we maybe didnt want to go too dark with the black and white and it would be nice to introduce some poppy elements also. I think alot of this will come through anyway in the object and abstract sections but I thought another aproach would be to have the bakgrounds in a more limited color pallette, so that it would keep this feeling of the environment being seperate from the object but still be visually juicy and fun. there is an example of what i mean under these black and white experiments 

ENVIRONMENT EXPLORATIONS

CONCEPTS

Here are a few creature and character explorations to check out. Early on i like to keep things pretty broad and try lots of different shapes and forms and levels of detail before i refine it down. These designs also usually go through alot of simplification so that they can be animated. my idea for the vibe of the creature is this mythical chimera beast, a little bit dragon but perhaps some other surreal elements. a little bit freaky and weird and maybe not so much scary. although i could lean more into a horror feeling if that feels appropriate for the theme. I thought the creature could even shape-shift a bit as part of showing its increase in power through the video.

with the character designs i went pretty loose and broad. I think something fun and whimsical could be nice to add contrast to the dark theme and lend the beings some sense of innocence.  I also need to keep the designs relatively simple if i want to have a bunch of inhabitants of this world. there is definately a bunch more drawing to be done before i arrive at something but this is a first attempt at capturing a bit of the vibe

ABSTRACT SECTIONS

I have had a small jam on some abstract ellements to try and find the vibe im after. im into the idea of some central liquid wavy sun that draws the eye into its centre. the colors can be animated flow in and out and have the whole thing breathe. i want it to feel hypnotic and also warm and inviting. There will be a bunch of experimentation to find the right thing but i will try some layering of other line animations over the top and perhaps some of the characters or creatures can shine through or enter into these abstracts parts of the video

SONG STRUCTURE

I usually draw up a bit of a map of the song structure to work out how a narrative might fit with the music and see what time we have for different things. Much of this becomes more defined in the editing/storyboard part of the process. at the moment i see the verses being for the storytelling parts and the chorus for the energetic abstract elements until we shift into the later half of the song where things will chop and change a bit.

FURTHER VISUAL REFERENCE 

Here is a selection other images that have some color/form or just a general vibe that fits with some visions for the clip