This treatment sheet outlines a concept, narrative, and production elements for a music video for the song "A Car, A Torch, A Death" by Twenty One Pilots. The concept involves a dancer named Beth whose torch, representing her grief over a lost loved one, gradually dims throughout the video. The narrative follows Lola dealing with the recent death of her twin sister by dancing, though she finds no relief. Key locations include an empty parking lot, dance studio, and graveyard. Beth will perform dancing, acting, and limited lip syncing. Props include a photograph, torch, lighting wires, and flowers. Costuming involves black dancewear to symbolize mourning.

1. Treatment Sheet
TWENTY ONE PILOTS - A CAR, A TORCH, A DEATH

2. Idea Explanation
After watching the ‘American Beauty American Psycho’ music video from Fall Out Boy, I was
inspired to include a dancer in my video, as I feel it is a very expressive feature of a video, and
this could potentially add to the conceptual meaning behind the video. As well as adapting
feedback from my survey for my audience research, most of the takers did not like the idea of
a video primarily being lip syncing, so having a dancer would also limit the amount of lip
syncing down to very little, or even none at all.
In this Treatment Sheet, I will be covering my ideal Concept, Narrative and Performance
elements that I have came up with for my video. I was going to make more than one sheet,
but I have collated my ideas together to form just the one Treatment Sheet.

3. Concept
When I was working on a Lyric Breakdown for my chosen track, I found that the song appears to be split into three different
sections that link to the title ‘A Car, A Torch, A Death’. The first part of the song is about a Car, the second part about a Torch,
and the remaining third part is about a Death. I found this really clever and unusual for a track, and I really wanted to work
around this split for my concept; as well as the symbolic and chilling meaning behind the lyrics. I feel that the track gets
sadder the further it plays, so for this reason, I thought of the idea of the colour gradually fading out through the course of my
video. I would like the video to start off as being quite vibrant and bright, and when we reach the end, all of that colour is
going to have vanished; and the mood will be a lot lower than it was at the start.
In terms of the concept, I would like my video to be very empowering and symbolic, just like the track. My idea is to have my
dancer featured with a Torch throughout the video, and as we progress through the video, the Torch will gradually be fading
out and dying, and this is going to represent that my dancer is dying (an interpretation of the track was highlighting that
people die for the ones that they love, just like Jesus when he sacrificed himself on the Cross to eliminate sin from the Human
Race). To symbolize this, I am going to have my dancer express her love for someone at the beginning of my video (possibly
through the use of Beth holding a picture in a frame close to her heart, but then a shot of her placing it
down and appearing to be quite sad about it). Linking back to the love interest, they will appear at end of
the video, but in an unconventional way; and this element will be the plot twist for my video.

4. Concepts Present in the Video
1) Beth (dancer) has lost
someone that she loved very
much, and as the video
progresses, the grieving
becomes too much for her,
that she mentally dies inside,
and this is represented
through the Torch getting
dimmer and dimmer
throughout the video.
2) The idea of Self Expression. Beth resorts
to Dance to try and distract herself from the
grieving of losing her loved one. But, as she
gets tired, she is reminded of the reason
why she is trying to distract herself; and this
is when she crumbles and goes to the
Graveyard for the final part of the video.
3) The thought that just because
somebody has passed, this doesn’t
mean that their legacy and impact is
forgotten about by people who knew
them. I want to show that Beth is
devastated regarding the loss of one of
her loved ones, and that she is really
mentally and physically distressed
because of this.

5. Feelings to Present Based on Concept
Sadness – The obvious factor, but my character will appear to primarily sad, due to the
loss.
Anger – Maybe my character felt like she could have prevented the death in some
way? Maybe she’s angry that it happened to her and so soon? Maybe she doesn’t
think it is fair?
Tiredness – To show the mental impact the death has had upon her.
Happiness – When my character is dancing, she is forgetting about her loss, and
appears happy; because she is distracted.
Hope – Mainly at the end of my video when my character and her loved one are
reunited.

6. Narrative
Lola (played by Beth Moorby) is a 19 year old girl who has recently lost her twin sister to an illness, and the only
thing that seems to distract her from the grieving is to dance and try forget about it. She tries to be strong in
front of other people, when inside she feels as if she is dying. Before her sister died, they used to sleep in each
other’s rooms and read stories under the bed covers, and the only light they had was this torch that Lola takes
everywhere for this very reason. They both read together the night she died, so Lola hasn’t let the torch go since
it happened. Lola notices that the Torch is very much like her feelings, in the sense that it started off very bright,
but it is gradually running out of power (Lola is missing her sister more and more everyday), and simply
changing the batteries is not an option, because that would mean breaking that bond between Lola and her
sister.

7. Locations Based off Narrative/Lyric Meaning
A Car, A Torch, A Death
An empty car park - I would
like to present the
emptiness that my
character is feeling from
losing her sister. I am
planning on shooting this
scene quite early on in the
day, so it is quite light, and
fits with my idea of the
video getting darker as it
goes through.
Dance Studio/College Studio – It
would be nice to capture my dancer in
an actual dance studio to show where
she has learned her technique,
however ours is very busy during my
planned filming schedule, so this
facility may not be available when I
need it. So, with the College Studio, I
can book it out, and also my ideas for
lights will work in here very well, as it
can be very dark when all lights are
out, making my lights stand out more.
Grave Yard. This is where my
character is going to be reunited
with her sister, and it is one of the
first places that comes to mind
when the word ‘Death’ is
mentioned.
As well as these three main locations for the sections of the track, I am looking at doing some filming in my
own bedroom, where my character is going to perform some acting, as well as a large section of the lip
syncing for the track. I would also quite like to go around the Seaton area, as there is a specific location
that I think would be good to capture some shots of Lola at.

8. Performance
My Dancer Beth, is not only going to be dancing as part of the Performance element, but there are several other
performing factors that she is going to demonstrate throughout my video:
Acting – This is essential I believe in a conceptual video, because poor acting will not present the concept to the
audience, and the video will not be understood as a result. As well as this, Beth will have to keep a straight face
for various takes, and sometimes exaggerate to really portray how her character is feeling; and I do not like half-
hearted acting.
Lip Syncing/Miming – I do not consider this a main element, however it is a general music video characteristic,
and I would like to link what is happening on the screen more so with the track for the audience who maybe can’t
grasp the concept. I will ensure that Beth lip syncs important lines from the track, ones in which that will make the
concept slightly more evident. With regards to my Primary Audience Research,
quite a few of my survey takers dismissed the idea of a music video with a large
majority of Lip Syncing; so this is another reason why I’m reluctant to demonstrate
a lot of it in my video.

9. Props
- Photograph of ‘Lola’ and her sister ; This will help make part of the narrative clear to the
audience, and it is an easy way to represent who the character is thinking about.
- A Torch ; Crucial for my Concept and Narrative. It also links in with the name of song (A
Torch) and it is the theme of the second part of the track.
- Camera ; To film my video.
- Tripod ; For steady shots.
- Light Wires ; With reference to the light element, I have purchased two 3m long light wires,
one Red, and one Blue (linking in with the Colours associated with Twenty One Pilots). Plus,
I also plan to capture some shots of Beth in the Studio with the lights off and the wires
turned on, as I feel it will create a very interesting and abstract range of footage. And, it will
all be about the movement at this point, and not what Beth looks like.
- Flowers – For the end scene (preferably Red and Blue, to match the
colour scheme of Twenty One Pilots)

11. Costuming
For the start of my video, I am planning on having Beth dressed in her work clothes; to give
off the impression that she has just came home from a shift. Then, there is going to be a
scene where you can see she is changing her outfit, and this is when Beth will be getting
changed into her Dance Wear ready to dance. As she is leaving the house, Beth will put a coat
on, but not zip it up so the Dance Wear can still be seen. Then, for the duration of the video,
Beth will be wearing this all Black Dance Wear (Black to symbolize the mourning and grieving
of losing her sister) and some scenes with the coat over the top.
(NB- All Costuming details are displayed on my Story Board Sheets for future reference)