"Sirens" - Montana Fire

Working Title: Montana Fire
Song: Sirens
Duration: 4:34

About the Band:
According to the band's Myspace page (www.myspace.com/montanafire), Montana Fire’s “songs are sweet enough for the girls, with enough rock for the boys, clever for other musicians, and poppy enough to dance to”. This description of their sound perfectly sums up the band’s ability to span the genres of contemporary music.

Members:
Cameron Bone – vocals/guitar
J.B. – bass/vocals
Tom Arthur – guitar/vocals
Dean Tyler -- drums

Musical Style of the Video:
Form:
The video incorporates both performance and narrative.

Tag Line:
Godzilla as directed by Ed Wood.

Intended Musical/Visual Approach and shooting style:
I chose Sirens because it’s my favourite Montana Fire song. One night when I was watching them play the song the idea came to me, as though in a dream upon waking. I immediately had the image of the band running from the cat, but done using rear projection, so that it's obviously fake.

Montana Fire are serious about music, but the boys are fun and easygoing with a sense of humour, and I felt that though this narrative about a giant cat with eyes that shoot lasers doesn’t have much to do with the meaning of the song, it captures the band’s sense of humour, and fun-loving attitude. Rather than being a video that visually expresses the themes of the song, I think it’s a video that will visually express the personalities within the band.

I was inspired by films like Godzilla, and any parody of those kinds of movies. Though I had forgotten it, not having seen it since my childhood, my major source for inspiration was The Goodies. One episode, "Kitten Kong", featured a giant cat attacking a city. I also think the idea of making something ordinary, like a pet cat, into something monstrous. I am somewhat of a science fiction nerd.

I also love those old B-movies, like Ed Wood films, where the effects are really cheesy and the acting is really bad. I like things that look bad on purpose, as well. When a film or television show, or in this case a music video, uses this visual style or attempts to capture this particular aesthetic (bad-on-purpose), it’s not to rubbish the original filmmakers, it’s to pay a visual tribute to pop culture through the expression of a particular visual style that has influenced you, or contributed to filmmaking in some way.

The idea is that the band is rehearsing for a show. Unbeknownst to them, the city is being terrorised by an insidious monster. This monster is a giant cat. But a giant cat who can shoot lasers from its eyes. The band finishes their rehearsal and venture outside, and are plunged into chaos. The song ends with the band fleeing the cat.

Ideally, the band rehearsal footage will be shot in the studio, along with the last scene, with footage of the cat keyed into the background while the band runs on the spot and pretend to dodge lasers. If this option were not open to us, the rehearsal footage could be shot in my garage, and the footage of the band running could be composited with the footage of the cat in Adobe After Effects.

The footage of the band rehearsing the song would be very traditional, in the vein of a performance-based studio shoot, with traditional shots. That is, a wide shot of the band, with close-ups of each band member, and perhaps some handheld footage. Footage of each band member feeling as though something is wrong would also be required.

The footage of the cat, whose real name is Siegfried (Ziggy to friends and acquaintances), can be shot in the garage, or even in Ziggy’s home. The set will be inspired by the Powerpuff Girls – some cardboard skyscrapers made to a smaller scale than Ziggy, one in the foreground, and one in the background.

According to Ziggy’s owner, Ziggy can be trained to come forward, and encouraged to play with things. I think it’s just as amusing if he does nothing, but having some footage of him playing with toys and hitting things would also be appreciated.

A roadside location may be needed for one particular scene, which involves a man being ‘attacked’ by Ziggy, a woman being toyed with by Ziggy, and the band both scrambling into a car in order to get away and getting out of it and fleeing the scene. For these scenes, we’ll be cutting from the exterior location to the footage of Ziggy. I think that if the locations look different it will add to the cheesy, 1950s B-Movie, Ed Wood-style look that I am aiming for with the video.

Special effects, such as Ziggy’s eye lasers, can be made using Adobe After Effects.

Treatment:
We see a black screen with a special emergency message. It says simply, ‘City Under Threat’. We see people running in terror.

In a small garage/rehearsal space, a band rehearses their swinging tunes, oblivious to the danger outside the walls.

We see the source of the townspeople’s terror. It is a cat. Not just any old cat, but a giant cat!

A man sees this cat and screams in terror. This displeases the giant cat. It unleashes the full extent of its wrath upon the man. We see bright green and purple light in the cat’s eyes. The man is petrified, yet fascinated. The light from the cat’s eyes become lasers – No! The man is now nothing more than a pile of ash.

Back in the rehearsal space, the band continues to play. One of the members senses a disturbance outside, but shrugs it off and continues to play.

Outside, the cat is resting, merely waiting for its next victim.

In the rehearsal space, other members are sensing that all is not right with the world outside, but they continue to play.

The cat appears to be playing with an object. What is this beast from another horizon playing with? It’s a person.

The band finishes their rehearsal. They pack up, and leave the rehearsal space.

They venture outside. They witness the terror of the cat with laser eyes with their own eyes, which do not shoot lasers. They dodge the lasers and head to the nearest car. The cat strikes out at the car, shaking it, but fails to destroy it.

The authorities arrive. The cat quickly destroys the police car, reducing it to rubble. Then the fire truck is reduced to flames, how bitterly ironic. The ambulance is crushed with the cat’s mighty paw.

The band flees the scene. But the cat sees them. The cat follows them. The band runs for their lives, dodging the cat’s laser-beam eyes.

The End…?

Budget:
Shooting days: 2
Editing: 4.

Crew Size and Equipment:
Equipment
Camera (1)
Playback facilities
Lighting kit
Props
Studio lights
Green cyc in studio

Crew:
Producer
Director
Camera operator
Playback operator
Art Direction
Lighting technician
Editor

Locations:
The Media Production Studio at the University of Newcastle
My house
Hunter St Mall, Newcastle.

P.S. :
This is the treatment for a music video I produced for my friend's band. Check them out at www.myspace.com/montanafire. You will not be sorry you did.

Of course, the video looks nothing like this treatment. But I still think it would make for a great video. I think access to resources was our main issue, along with the fact that we didn't have enough time to prepare. I will come back to it one day, so stay tuned...

Oh, and here's the video:



Now, I must stress that this was made for student purposes only, and we have not (and are never likely to) gain profit for it. Please to enjoy.