Nothing in the World
Here we lean way into the over the top hacking tropes of the 90s, including a shot where we travel through the wires of the computer.
As Mica hacks the game, the graphics become glitchy and trippy.
In a performance setup, we see Mica singing a duet with her in-game Avatar. They interact with each-other through the screen.
Everything's fine, until...
that night, when Mica and Matt have stepped away from the game. The Hydra slithers OUT OF THE SCREEN and begins wrecking havoc around the house.
The Hydra is a semi-translucent glowing pixelated menace, chasing Matt and Mica around the house. They try to fight it off with household objects but their efforts are useless.
See reference below for glitchy semi-translucent projector lighting.
Just when the Hydra is about to devour them, their game Avatars (now also out in the real world) slice off its heads and save the day.
In the final scene of the video, Mica and Matt stand face to face with their Avatars, their idealized versions of themselves.
Matt and his Avatar circle around each-other cautiously. Mica extends a hand and her avatar meets it with hers.
Finally, Mica and her Avatar step together so that they overlap, unifying into one being. Matt and his Avatar do the same. It's a quiet sincere moment that visually captures the idea of self-acceptance.
As the song ends, Matt and Mica are sucked into the computer screen, to live inside the game.
Theme
Overall, we aim to make a video that speaks to the theme of yearning for and imagining a new identity. I'm drawing from lyrics in the song "talking bout the future like we're done", "tell me what you want at 31," etc. For most of the video, Mica and Matt create alternate identities in the world of the game, living through them vicariously. At the end of the video we finally see their imagined identities and their real identities unified.
The video will be stylish, campy, and fun, but underneath that we'll communicate a genuine feeling about this theme.