The Whole World
From Videoville
Artist: OutKast with Killer Mike
Director: Bryan Barber
Label: Arista
Year: 2001
treatment
This video will create the strange and surreal world of an over the top urban-style circus. The look and photography will be next level, with edgy processed colors and a trippy feel. The setting will allow us to explore the theme of Outkast’s interaction with their fans/critics in a stunningly visual way.
We open on the keys of a piano, lit by an intense spotlight. Large fingers reach into frame and begin playing the opening notes. The camera pulls back and we realize that the fingers and hands are normal sized but the piano is a tiny baby grand. The camera eases back farther and we see …
DRE delivering the opening lines of his verse – playing this miniature piano. The bold spotlight creates a ring around him, the rest of the frame falling off into darkness. Dre is dressed in a strange outfit – an intense and edgy clown. His look is not funny but dramatic and intense – accented by the surreal color look. Dre’s make-up includes a single tear on his cheek as we push in for an amazing close-up.
Suddenly the lights blaze brighter and we can see – Dre is in the center of a huge circus tent, right in the middle of the main ring. Lights illuminate the entire space and we can see the seats are filled with an audience and we push in on them to reveal …
Everyone in the stands is dressed in stark black and white suits. The mixed crowd watches Dre intently – almost as if they are critiquing him. The people barely move, and when they do their motions are perfectly synchronized. We see a whole row of people cross their legs at the same time – keeping their intent focus on the performance. This audience has an odd feel, weird and unsettling.
Dre’s performance matches the vibe, making us feel like something else is going on underneath the surface. Suddenly there is a commotion behind him as …
Three horses appear – pulling a colorful cart decorated with sparkles and plumes of feathers. The feeling is a circus, but we cannot tell if it is the 1930s or today. The energy is intense as the cart slides to a stop and Dre helps down a gorgeous woman in a sequined stage outfit. Dre grabs a top hat and a new coat and he becomes …
A magician. Dre helps the girl into a magician’s box as he kicks into his rap section – his movements filled with the flourishes and pantomimes of a trained illusionist. The girl smiles broadly as the spotlight glints off her shimmering clothes. The doors of the box close around her and Dre produces two large blades – ready to use them to “cut the girl in half”. As he plunges in the first blade we …
See the audience react. Some scribble notes while others lean together to whisper. These people are not easily impressed.
In the center ring – Dre opens the box and the girl steps out – she is fine. Dre takes a dramatic bow as …
The ring is overwhelmed by the circus’ main parade. The ring is alive with movement and color as we see …
BIG BOI dressed in a pure white suit – a Cab Calloway style bandleader with a orchestra behind him on rows of pure white risers. The look is stylish and sophisticated, a cross between this edgy circus and the Cotton Club.
On the chorus we see JOI and PEACH – dressed in shimmering trapeze girl outfits. They sing the hook as the circus circles the main ring around them. Everywhere the camera points is color and movement.
There is also an amazing Cadillac in the circus parade and we cut inside to see Dre and Big Boi packed inside with a dozen other guys. Instruments are still being played, even inside this impossibly packed vehicle. The trombone slides in and out, just past Big Boi’s ear.
Cut to KILLA MIKE delivering his verse in the center of the ring. As he raps a pretty female assistant hands him a glass wine goblet and he bites it! Mike chews the sharp glass and then spits it out. He is the circus’s amazing toughman. Around the ring, we see a trained bear, dancing to the beat – dressed in funkified circus clothes.
Next Mike lifts up a metal bar with platforms hanging from each end like a giant scale. Three sexy females sit on each platform, tilting subtly like they are being weighed. Mike lifts them easily, even as he performs. The bar bends, but Mike never slows his performance.
As his section Climaxes we see Mike holding up a huge Cadillac. This is his climactic stunt, but we see the audience barely reacting. Some of the fans/critics hold up scores – all of them 6s. Mike drops the car as he steps out of the spotlight and …
The chorus kicks in with it’s swirl of wild circus activity. The parade swarms through, wiping the scene to the next act. As the Cadillac drops in the center ring, the door open and people start to file out – clowns, musicians, trapeze artists. More and more people climb out – more than could ever fit inside.
We will also shoot a cutaway performance of Outkast, framed against the graphic canvas signs that advertise the side show attractions. Big Boi, Dre and Killa Mike groove in front of the edgy colored images. Some of the paintings are of Outkast while others feature, the bearded lady, the fat man, etc. We may also see sword swallowers and jugglers, behind the performers in graphic silhouette.
Joi and Peach stand on a trapeze bar as it is lifted high above the ring. The spotlights follows them as they go straight up, a gorgeous and flowing shot.
On the ground, a pretty female loads a guy into an oversized cannon, preparing to fire him across the ring. The audience stifles a yawn (moving in unison) as the cannon fires right on the climax of the chorus. We track across the space as the guy lands safely in a net and we …
Transition to a backstage dressing room where BIG BOI delivers his performance. There are pretty female dancers around getting dressed as Big Boi counts the night’s receipts into a black box. A funky old TV gets strange images, adding an odd light to the side of Big Boi’s face. Big Boi is disappointed in the night’s takes and scowls – encouraging the dancers to get back out there and earn him some more money before the show is over.
Big Boi grabs his white top hat and heads back towards the ring and steps into the spotlight in perfect time. The light hits him and his face lights up in a smile, trying to work the unresponsive audience. The last performer, the guy who spits out big jets of flame, passes Big Boi as he takes the stage to front his orchestra. Big Boi delivers the final lines of his verse as …
He climactic chorus starts and everyone in the circus files back through the ring. Now we see a huge elephant (possibly carrying Joi and Peach). The circus explodes with color and lights. Clowns dance and jugglers juggle. The tumbling acrobats throw back-flips over and around Outkast as they hold center stage. Big Boi takes off his top hat and sweeps it wide as he bows. The hat crosses the frame as we …
Cut to an early morning scene as the circus pulls out of town. The last truck has clowns and midgets in the back, seated on bales of hay. A sign on the side reads “Struggling Bros. Outkast & Aliens Traveling Circus.” Off this final image we …
FADE TO BLACK
