The music video debut from Flushing's very own Yak Ballz.
From the beginning, we were excited to be given the chance to create Yak's very first music video. We knew it had to be both engaging to the viewer and true to the artist. What immediately resonated with us was the idea of two opposing worlds existing together, and the treatment stemmed from there.
Production Stills:
Character Sketches:
Texture Reference:
Original Treatment:
“Buried Alive” is inspired by the superficial nature of American news coverage, while exposing the media’s ability to hide or ignore the same degradation of humanity that it contributes to. The video would have two very contrasting worlds each constructed as a reflection of its personality (or lack off.)
One, a gritty, intricately hand crafted, paper mache cityscape, made from newspaper and cardboard. This is the world Yak would be in. This would be constructed between sheets of plexi-glass, allowing us to cover the entire city in dirt yet still allow us to see everything. Similar to an ant farm in construction.
The other world is a cheap plastic toy world. It would feel clean, sterile, and shiny. This is the world our television personalities (talking heads) would exist in. Like cheap plastic toys, our TV people would have visible seams and hinges and even move in simple rudimentary motions. Created in 3d but appearing real, the talking heads spew out real dirt, that falls off camera.
Each world has its own separate story, tied together by Yak. The first being our media reporters and celebrity talking heads spewing out dirt. The context of what they are saying is expectedly irrelevant. I want to avoid parody and keep the plastic people anonymous. We are more concerned with the dirt. In the background we see the dirt is being covered up by fake grass and plastic trees. A fairly obvious metaphor on how our world is being transformed into a plastic society, using unsupportive dirt as its foundation.
Our next story is of Yak trapped in his apartment. Forced to watch his television to learn of his own destiny–think 9/11 news scrolls. He watches the plastic people spewing dirt and covering it up. A crippling and self conflicting act. He is performing the song in the shadows. In the flicker of the television we see Yaks soul screaming out through his lyrics. Though he appears to be trapped, we still aren't quite sure why.
The final shot shows the plastic people laying plastic grass on the dirt. We pan down to see the paper mache city under the dirt. Finally panning further we see Yak's apartment, buried alive.