Ethan Wroth
Gorillaz - Stylo
Gorillaz are a English band created by Blur’s Damon Albarn and British cartoonist Jamie Hewlett. There original creation of Gorillaz was fronted by a group of animated characters that used to present all aspects of then band albeit Music Videos or Live Performance. Since their third album “Plastic Beach” the animated characters still remain although Albarn and co have taken to the the stage to provide a new live performance element. In this analysis I will be looking at their 2010 single “Stylo” from their recent album “Plastic Beach”.
Stylo opens with a unique style of shot that could be described as a POV/Tracking shot hybrid, the shot shows us a view of a road and its apparent that some sort of vehicle is traveling down this road due to the diegetic sound of the car in the background. We can tell very quickly that this vehicle is speeding because we are showed zoom on shot of a police radio moving accompanied by a medium shot of the Policeman outside his car, this is followed by a zoomed shot of the police mans donuts on his front seat which is fairly stereotypical but also indicates the laziness of the police officer outside the car. As the police officer finally hears his radio the muscle car shown with "Stylo" on the front accelerates past the officer and leaves a trail of dust and the police officer struggling to get in his car in time.
It is at this point we are first introduced to the characters driving the "Stylo", in typical Gorillaz fashion the occupants of the car are there animated characters who for many years fronted their stage shows and music videos. "Murdoc" is driving the car accompanied by "2D" in the passengers seat and "Cyborg Noodle" in the back seat, as the characters are shown it becomes apparent that there is a gun-shot through the windshield which suggests they are being chased. As the car continues through the desert we see "2D" singing along to the song taking on Damian Albarn's voice. The mix of the CGI characters with the real time speeding car is an interesting and fairly surreal combination and they focus on this point by just showing shots of the car traveling with its occupants for around 30 seconds.
Once the police officer finally catches up with them "Cyborg Noodle" leans out and begins shooting towards him with a shotgun, this then suggests that the band members are fleeing the authorities. "Noodle" then shoots out one of the police officers lights causing him to swerve and crash through a billboard with a "Super-Fast Jellyfish" graphic which is a inter textual reference to the future single on their album Plastic Beach. The gang then continue as they were through the desert along the dusty road.
It's at this point we are introduced to a new character when a silhouette of someone smoking a cigar is shown, as the "Stylo" car passes this man he proceeds to chase them along the road although his car bears no resemblance to any law authority. We are then shown a shot through the windscreen of the unknown car to be shown it is Bruce Willis taking on the role of the vigilante, this is then followed by the introduction of a CGI storm above the two vehicles. As the the vehicles speed down the road we see Bruce Willis again in his car but this time acknowledging the audience by staring straight towards the camera in some sort of cameo role. As Willis catches up with "Stylo" his intentions become clear when he produces a revolver from his passengers seat, Murdoc then realizes this and a reaction shot is shown to emphasis is horror. Willis begins firing shots and shunting the opposing car obviously trying to end the pursuit, as Willis leans out and shoots at them he is shown laughing in an almost mad fashion.
We then cut to shot of the policeman with his wrecked cruiser as he crawls towards the remnants of his doughnuts, this is a use of parallel action. As he continues to crawl, a CGI character rises from the ground baring a striking resemblance to the Grim Reaper. The black creatures approaches him and smashes down into the ground appearing to make the policeman disappear.
When we re-join the pursuit the diegetic sound of the engines is slowly increased in a crescendo that emphasizes the pursuit is getting faster and more dangerous, the "Stylo" car then drives off a cliff and Willis manages to stop his car in time. Willis exits his car, revolver in hand and shows some kind of sick enjoyment that his prey have crashed into the ocean. At this point it seems it is all over as Willis returns to his car, but the last shot of the video is of the car transforming into a submarine meaning that despite earlier thoughts the Gorillaz characters have lived another day.
I feel this music video is very unique because it's mix of realistic CGI along with real life footage makes it a fairly surreal experience to watch. The cameo from Bruce Willis also adds to the appeal of the video because it draws more attention due the appearance of a A-List celebrity.
