The Dada Weatherman - Child For Life Music Video Treatment

1. Music Video
Treatment
The Dada Weatherman
-
“Child For Life”

2. The Dada Weatherman - “Child For Life”
Hang around in concrete all the day
To keep my feet on the ground and stay
Yes, I’m clean as a whistle, I’m proud to say
Still live my life like a kid and play-ay-ay
Some of them die death throughout the day
In the cupboard he threw his brains away
I fell walked around to the other way
I get my eyes and mind clear for my own
Now I know I will be a child for life
Now I know I will be a child for life
When I see things I cannot forget
I push back into my youth and wait
In the mid the day is not back yet
The younger I stay, the better I get
Now I know I will be a child for life
Now I know I will be a child for life
Now I know I will be a child for life

3. Treatment
The idea for this music video resides from a narrative-performance with
camera shots switching between characters/ actors lip syncing &
performing, and then the characters/ actors acting out the narrative
element of the song in order to grasp the audience’s attention through a
series of juxtaposing and conflicting scenes that capture the interest of
our desired target audience.
The beginning of the music video will start prior to the song actually
starting as the audience are shown a narrative piece of the protagonist
being talked down to by their boss/ co-worker as they sit at their menial
desk job. This is considered the present within the video in this circular
narrative music video meaning the song will eventually link back to the
same shot the audience will see in the opening verse. This shot will be
used to introduce the protagonist to the audience - as well as build up a
feel for the emotive response we are looking for from the audience - and
create a grounding for the atmosphere and genre of narrative we are
creating to help build the impact of the overall song.
As soon as the song starts, there will be a lyric and visual match as we
will physically see shoes on concrete as the song reads “feet on the
ground” in the second line. Matching the beat and the tempo of the
music, the following scene will track the protagonist in a mid-shot
walking towards the camera surrounded by foliage to imply the words
“clean as a whistle” to mean lacking of taking any substances that are
deemed ‘adult’, whether these may be illegal drugs, cigarettes, or even
alcohol. At this point in the music video, the main actor would be lip
syncing, and walking to the beat/ tempo of the song to hold that
accompaniment between the music and the visuals.
The following scene is contrasted between the older character and
previous scene taking place in the present day of the timeline the song
resides on. In this short clip, the audience will see the child form of the
protagonist literally demonstrating the line “life like a kid and play-ay-
ay” by running around a field playing football with a collaboration of
close up shots of the character’s shoes kicking the ball and moving shots
of the movement of the character themselves as they race across the
football pitch.

4. Treatment
A contradiction to the lyrics “some of them die death” is created within
the character switch where the child is swapped out within the football
pitch to that of the main protagonist expressing their inner child - as
demonstrated within the previous shot - despite the line implying the
child within someone being repressed.
Contradiction to the previous imagery is then created when we depict
the protagonist curled up in a ball, basically breaking down both
mentally and physically in an enclosed space so dark it feels almost like
an abyss that helps to illustrate the line “in the cupboard he threw his
brains away”. The contrast between the previous shot and this one helps
build up an understanding of the conflict within the protagonist’s mind
of wanting to be care-free and childlike, and holding all of his
responsibilities and stress and having to act a specific way for society to
accept them, causing this break-down.
The melodramatic sequence of the protagonist stumbling and getting up
only to walk in another direction will be dramatised by the use of close
up shots so even the audience feels somewhat unsteady, like the
protagonist at this point within the music video.
The following sequence demonstrates a decline in mental stability as we
are shown the protagonist hunched over a bar, ‘drowning’ in an alcoholic
drink, which contrasts the previous illusion that the protagonist hasn’t
touched any ‘substances’ before. This helps to demonstrate negative
growth within the character as they are trying to ‘cure’ themselves
almost blindly. This also, somewhat, builds on the supposed state of the
protagonist in the previous shot, stumbling around.
Once we reach the chorus, the music switched to a more angelic and
almost ‘hypnotised’ feeling, where the audience will see shots of the
child form of the protagonist playing in the park and having fun: playing
football; going on swings; messing about on a climbing frame. This may
be shown in slow motion to keep up with the almost surreal feeling of
the music and the fact that these sequences are being played in the
protagonist’s head.

5. Treatment
As we switch back out of the chorus, the character switches back to the
main protagonist in the abyss like state, showing close ups of negative
emotions that are designed to be perceived as a reaction shot as the line
reads “when I see things I cannot forget”. This is used to engage the
audience and allow them to guess what may have provoked this reaction
from the protagonist.
As the lines switch, so does the imagery to the beat of the music as we
see the protagonist ‘downing’ the last of their alcoholic drink, causing
this feeling of dizziness and the feeling of being unbalanced as the
protagonist shakily gets off their bar stool. This is designed to give an
illusionary feeling to the narrative as if the protagonist’s existence isn’t
even necessarily real, or that it is only just there.
The following line reads “the younger I stay, the better I get” is
accompanied by the graphic match of the protagonist ‘falling’ off their
bar stool towards the camera , forcing the imagery to become black, and
then showing the child running away from the camera from the dark as if
to symbolise an almost surreal event in the protagonist’s mind where
they ‘become a child again’.
The fact that the protagonist is seen as almost intoxicated through
alcohol in the previous shot, depicts how these scenarios may be taking
place in either an unconscious or disproportioned mind.
As we reach the second chorus, the audience is presented again with a
series of slow motion imagery of the child playing and simply being a
child to demonstrate this complete ‘fall’ into being a child once more.
Before the abrupt fading out of the song, the main protagonist will be
seen, almost dazed, once again, at their desk at their medial job, which
will complete the circular narrative loop of the music video, before the
screen fades to black and the music and the video ends.

6. Costume
The adult protagonist within the music video will be
portrayed as a kind of business man with a mundane job,
wearing some form of suit/ formal attire and therefore will be
wearing a shirt and tie with dark trousers.
To contrast this, but without completely opposing the link
between the characters, the younger protagonist will be
wearing a more casual shirt with dark jeans to create a small
link between them and the adult protagonist, but without the
cliche of the younger actor wearing oversized clothing for the
audience to make the link that they are the same character.

7. Location
There will be a small variety of
locations within the music video,
designed to further illustrate the
contrast between the adult and the
child characters within the video: the
dull office and dark pub locations will
help to emphasize a sense of the
mundane and a sense of lacking of
excitement and enthusiasm, making
the viewer feel confined; the park
will be a wide, open space for the
child character to ‘be free’ and ‘mess
about’ in, contrasting the dark, and
boring locations associated with the
adult protagonist.