My original idea was based on this book called 'The Testament Of Gideon Mack' which is a strange philosophical tale about a reverend in a rural Scottish town who is unsure of his faith. One day he's out running in the wilderness and he falls down a precipice into a river which is locally renowned for its ferocity, and is washed into an underground cave where any mortal would be certainly drowned and smashed to a pulp. But on returning to the town from his disappearance the reverend tells of how he was actually rescued by a mysterious but friendly man who lived in the cave. He said he had fed and nursed him back to full health, and that this man was actually the devil. So the book deals with this duality of good and evil and where the lines between the two are blurred.
I liked this concept and thought it would be a cool thing to base the video on. At first the central pick-pocket character naturally runs away from what he knows to be his inner demon- in his case representing the upper classes and authorities who he steals from and is afflicted by- but then as the video progresses, like in 'The Testament...' the devil becomes his friend.
When I initially outlined my idea to Chris and Bill from Walter Robot, the central character was going to be a gravedigger because we wanted to use the digging motion to emphasize the beat of the song (and a guy putting a body in a grave really is the Last Man Standing!) and I wanted to have a rotating pyramid that looked like a hologramatic projection going on in his head- because the synth which starts the song gives me an Egyptian feel. But by changing it to a pick-pocket, Chris could cunningly employ the pyramid as more of a through-line. Now it works firstly because it was something the boy stole, and then being told to climb the massive pyramid and complete it with the last block makes a poetic conclusion to the plot. All the mysteries of Egypt and the pyramids and who built them etc. He completes his journey with his new found trust in his adversary, only to be swallowed up in the pyramid which is then enveloped in the devils palm as the final irony- the devil deceives him and beats him at his own game.
All the filming was done in a day on a green screen. I think the two actors did a great job. They were in immaculate Dickensian costumes which was a must. The only real props I believe were the camp fire and the rowing boat. I think that's what gives the video it's unique look. The way these basic organic props can be blended with painted animated landscapes by filming them on green screen is what makes that fairy tale aesthetic possible, and so affective. Gaz and I had an easy couple of run-throughs of the song each to get our silhouette shots. We didn't know exactly what to do with our singing bits at the time. We didn't have the band in the 'Pretty Buildings' video so initially we thought maybe we should play the two characters. Because of the time frame though, and the fact that Walter Robot are based in LA and we were in the middle of an extremely busy tour they decided to get actors in again. So instead of playing the characters we thought we should have some singing inserts as another texture, but not to take over in any way. Bill basically winged it in the editing and I think he incorporated it very well- I wasn't thinking 'white' so that was a nice surprise.
When we initially took the song to Walter Robot they had a deadline of about three weeks and I didn't have a clue what would be possible in such a short time. Chris made these brilliant embellishments to the story based on what he thought Bill- the effects guru- could achieve in that time, and I was frankly blown away with the environments he created and that amazing giant pyramid at the end!
-Pete
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