2. Concept
After conducting extensive research into the chosen track, I have
came up with a concept that is based around a person affected by
a specific mental illness; MPD (Multiple Personality Disorder).
Rather than going with the interpretation that the track is about
somebody losing a loved one, I want to present the concept of
that almost loss of identity and control that people with MPD
experience. I thought of this idea when I heard the following lyrics
from the track:
‘And then I felt chills in my bones, the breath I saw was not my
own, I knew my skin that wrapped my frame wasn’t made to play
this game’.
As well as the focus being on the main character and their
different personalities, there will be another character featured to
portray the affect that conditions like MPD can have on family
and friends, and this character will be the main girl’s sister.
I feel that this may be a challenging concept to try and portray, as
the lack of understanding around the disorder means some
people simply think it involves being happy, then sad, then angry,
and so on. I have planned for my main character to have three
main personalities, based on theTwenty One Pilots discography:
1) ‘Blurry’ (sinister, ominous, evil) – Blurry Face
2) ‘Mr Skeleton’ (reserved, quiet, sad) –Vessel
3) ‘Faith’ (happy, liberated, content) – SelfTitled
3. MPD – Multiple Personality
Disorder
Multiple Personality Disorder is a mental disorder that makes the
victim believe that they are more than one person, and this alters the
way they act; depending on the ‘character’ they are at the time.The
cause for this is currently unknown, and researchers rely on case
studies in order to try and discover what causes the disorder. Due to
the cause being unknown, this makes it harder to treat and control,
and often victims become so overwhelmed; they end their lives. As
much as I shouldn’t, I find this disorder very interesting to read about,
and this is why I would like to try and represent it in my final video. It is
also quite uncommon amongst people, and I would like to raise more
awareness of it in order for people who don’t know about it to be more
accepting towards people who have it.This illness isn’t a case of
‘pretending to be someone else’, sufferers physically cannot control
themselves or their personality, and this often results in feelings of
isolation and confusion. It is very common for sufferers to develop
memory problems and lose contact with reality. It is a very tragic
disorder, and I wish there wasn’t such a negative stigma or lack of
understanding around MPD.
4. Significance of MPD withTwenty One Pilots
Throughout the entireTwenty One Pilots
discography, there are many references in the lyrics
to feelings associated with Multiple Personality
Disorder (such as Depression,Anxiety and Confusion).
The most iconic example of this is the whole Blurry
Face album and concept.Tyler paints his neck and
hands black, in order to represent that ‘Blurry’ is
slowly taking over him and making him feel insecure,
and this is similar to what people with MPD feel when
it comes to their other personalities.As well as this,
Tyler’sTwitter bio was ‘Who is Blurry Face, and why
does he want me dead?’, which demonstrates this
rivalry MPD sufferers have with their alternate
personalities. Despite ‘A Car,ATorch,A Death’ not
being from Blurry Face, I would still like to make
intertextual references (with relation toAndrew
Goodwin’s theories regarding music videos) to the
‘Blurry’ character, as I find the whole thing really
interesting and thought provoking.
‘Who is Blurry Face, and why does he want me
dead?’
5. Costuming – Blurry / Blurry Face
Tyler spoke about how he paints his neck and hands
Black to symbolize that ‘Blurry’ makes him feel
insecure about the stuff he makes (his art – singing
and playing instruments), and having this paint
shows that Blurry is taking up space inTyler’s head
as he is paranoid about what Blurry thinks.
‘The Red Hat’ – Another thingTyler has debuted during the Blurry Face era is this Red hat that he wears, as well as
matching Red socks. And as you can see in the image ofTyler to the left (taken from the ‘Stressed Out’ video) he is
wearing mostly Black, with elements ofWhite and Red. He also has the Blurry Face backpack which hasWhite straps and
the main part of the bag is Red.These were on sale to the fans in 2015 and sold out practically instantly; I have two.
6. Costuming – Mr Skeleton /Vessel
The costuming for the ‘Vessel’
era will be relatively straight
forward.Twenty One Pilots
often wear these Skeleton
hoodies for photo-shoots and
performances, and I have the
exact same one; which helps a
lot. Accompanied by Black
trousers (skinny jeans) and
Black shoes, this character will
be very easy to portray in my
video. I will have my character
sometimes with the hood fully
zipped up covering their face,
and other times with it down.
7. Costuming – Faith / SelfTitled
WhenTwenty One Pilots first started out, they were
not as much of a ‘gimmick’ if you like. As you can see
in the first image, there used to be three members,
howeverTyler is the only original member, and Josh
joined later. Due to this, I don’t think it is a good idea
to have this as one of the alternate personalities, this
is going to be the main character’s original
personality; which makes Blurry and Skeleton seem
more tragic.With regards to the costume, I will have
the character dressed quite casual, but smart at the
same time. I am thinking a pair of skinny jeans with
vans, and a checkered shirt (that links to my colour
palette and strengthens my brand identity). I believe
that this personality will appear more ‘normal’ in
comparison to the other two, and this is why I feel
that having such a contrast will show how devastating
the disorder is, and represent how quickly things can
change.
8. Narrative
Linking in with my concept, we have a teenage girl who has Multiple Personality
Disorder (MPD), and slowly, her world is falling apart. Her loved ones are scared of her,
she feels helpless, and the personalities are getting more and more angry as the days
go by.The only way she can find slight peace with herself is by hiding under her
blankets and reading with a torch; this way she feels like her other personalities cannot
get in.The girl’s main feelings are fear and sadness; fear represented by the colour
Red, and sadness being represented by the colour Blue. She feels these feelings
practically all the time, and they control her, she tries to carry on, but sometimes she
can’t. She knows there is no cure for her disorder, so she thinks ‘what’s the point?’, but
there is that small part of her that doesn’t want to lose to Blurry and Mr Skeleton. Her
full face will never be seen in the video, because she doesn’t know anymore if that is
really her; or someone else inside her head.
9. Performance
Personally for me, a way I feel is good at letting out your feelings is by dancing, in a way
you kind of forget them; as you’re too busy focusing on the movements and
choreography.And after watching the ‘American Beauty, American Psycho’ video from
Fall Out Boy, I have decided that I would like to include dance in my video. Whilst I was
shopping the other day, I came across something called ‘ElWire’, and I felt that this
would be perfect both visually and conceptually for my video. Going with my colour
scheme, I bought a Red and a Blue set.When I previously mentioned on my narrative
slide that the girl is always feeling sadness and fear, I would like to use my ElWire to
visually represent that the character constantly feels surrounded and engulfed by these
two feelings.
As well as the dancing performance, lip syncing will be featured in my video, in order to
stick with typical forms and conventions of music videos. Also, there will be acting; to
portray the narrative to the audience.
10. Camera
Like I mentioned earlier, you will never see the full of the girl’s face throughout the
video, so I will have to carefully consider the camera work and shot types that I will be
using. I will definitely be using an ‘Extreme Close Up’ to capture the girl’s mouth when
she is lip syncing to the track, so the audience can see the link between the track and the
video, as well as work out that the girl is singing about how she feels. I will also be using
‘Medium Long Shots’ and ‘Medium Close Ups’ in order to show the surroundings, and
focus the audience attention onto factors that are essential to the story, but are not
‘Close Up’ material; which is another shot type I will be using for smaller details. In the
first video I analyzed (Twenty One Pilots – Can’t Help Falling in Love withYou) there
were only 32 shots in total, however I would like to have at least 50 in order to show a
variety and make my video seem like it is moving more. Plus, there are three
personalities to project, and I would like to create a visual representation of how hard it
is to control yourself when you have this disorder.
