Matt Flynn, Ali Valiyev and Guy Cowey

You’re So Green Treatment

The video begins with the artist Poppy walking through a forest with a lit Chinese lantern in one hand and a coin in the other hand. As she walks, people will pass clutching unlit light bulbs looking down. Once she reaches two trees with numerous lanterns hanging from them, a man in a hooded cloak holds out his hands. She gives him the coin and the lantern. He pockets the coin and hangs the lantern on a tree with the other lanterns. He then takes her hand and leads her off into the mist.

The story

During the video, there will be numerous images of both destruction and self-destruction in non-destructive/beautiful ways. The images are a man in red paint pulling a belt tight on his arm whilst screaming, a melting ice cube, a stick structure being burnt, a flower’s petals being picked with blood dripping from it, the wheels of a trolley across a floor, a spinning wheel, an egg breaking on the floor, an hourglass with the sand flowing to the bottom and a woman in gold paint sleeping on a bed of leaves covered. These images will be played and intercut among the performance/narrative action.

The story

Images

The entire video is based around destruction and self-destruction but in a non-destructive and beautiful way. I took inspiration for the concept from the video ‘Royals’ by Lorde which has multiple and seemingly unrelated images and the singer performing throughout the video.

Behind the video

I also took inspiration from the opening sequence of Six Feet Under which has numerous images related to death and destruction, some direct and some indirect but never in a violent way. Those images appear in a much more beautiful and artistic form.

Most of the intercutting images will likely be shot in the studio against a black background. I plan on using medium shots for the ‘light bulb people’ and close-ups on Poppy to ensure the audience know she is the artist. The video will be shot in real time but the destruction images will be in slow motion to indicate how painful destruction can be contrasting to Poppy.

The Chinese lantern sequence will be shot in a forest hopefully using a green filter on the camera to emphasise the green reference in the song title.

How it will be made