I know this is not fresh from the oven. This music video was released a year ago but since I'm at a topic of "speaking music digitally" much lately, i thought i'd archived it here as part of my online thought-library as well as my research on a probable paper i would be doing.
We all know how the speed of information convenience our lives and it is screening more daylight to our hope for tomorrowland at the same rate it is baring our remaining privacy. A threat in all-pervading digital surveillance like how George Orwell envisioned indeed. Instant access to net in exchange for an instant access to us.
In Pet Shop Boy's revolutionary Integral campaign, the song "Integral" is about the invasion of our civil liberties by the government, video produced and tailor-made by UK-based The Rumpus Room. The video utilizes a commonly used QR codes (barcodes for mobile phone) as the leading visuals to more hidden messages which viewers can pause and scan them to decode their curiosity. There were about a 100 of them embedded in this beautifully art-directed music video, by my much loved and respected Tomas Roope of Tomato and partner of The Rumpus Room. Who is AWESOME at doing audio-visual usually with mind-spinning graphics embedded with subliminal messages within.
In his eight years heading up Tomato Interactive, he worked on projects with Ron Arad, Sony, TV Ashai, Underworld, V&A, Massive Attack, Levi's, Guinness and MTV, to name a few.
More to a music video, Rumpus Room associated with civil-rights activists to create specific online content to amplify their voice through the internet. Like Chemical Bros' "Midnight Madness" which I've posted earlier, mass-collaboration between artists and fans are much practiced in this new era of mixed-ownership. They too, provided raw materials for free download and encouraged Pet Shop Boy fans to participate, and create their own version of Integral music video.
They are 2 versions to this. One is the black and white QR code versions while the 2nd one is set out to be more televisual. It was created by printing out the black and white version and then shooting it stop frame in relevant and resonant locations. Sweet.
Without further much ado.
The B/W QR code version:
RGB televisual version.
If you've done nothing wrong
You've got nothing to fear
If you've something to hide
You shouldn't even be here
Long live us
The persuaded we
Integral
Collectively
To the whole project
It's brand new
Conceived solely
To protect you
One world
One reason
Unchanging
One season
If you've done nothing wrong
You've got nothing to fear
If you've something to hide
You shouldn't even be here
You've had your chance
Now we've got the mandate
If you've changed your mind
I'm afraid it's too late
We're concerned
You're a threat
You're not integral
To the project
Sterile
Immaculate
Rational
Perfect
Everyone has
Their own number
In the system that
We operate under
We're moving to
A situation
Where your lives exist
As information
One world
One life
One chance
One reason
All under
One sky
Unchanging
One season
If you've done nothing wrong
You've got nothing to fear
If you've something to hide
You shouldn't even be here
You've had your chance
Now we've got the mandate
If you've changed your mind
I'm afraid it's too late
We're concerned
You're a threat
You're not integral
To the project
Sterile
Immaculate
Rational
Perfect
And if you are keen on knowing the brains behind this, heres the
Making Of Integral.
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