Style Frame for the Music Video "What's In It For?"
Treatment:
The playful sound of “What’s In It For?” finds synthesis with a “trippy dipped” puppet performance, that magically (and ironically), comes to life from within a garbage can.
Found in a woodland park, the sun is bright and shinning on a seemingly bleak Winter backdrop (raw chain link fence, bare trees, industrial garbage can.) But this moment of glorious sunshine instigates the musical interpretation of “What’s it in For?” by Avi Buffalo in Muppet form. Avi’s puppet persona arises from the garbage container, a Peruvian blanket unfolds from the inside and drapes over the can, an exquisitely rare plant rises from the ground… …increasing decoration grows onto the scene. The garbage can is completely transformed into a decorative stage/shrine for the Muppet‘s performance.
The format is not unlike an animatronics display at Walt Disneyland. Additional characters and props come onto the scene to reflect the instrumentation and vocals. (ie: On the “ooohhhhhs” two twin Muppets boisterously rise and sing.) The puppet movements are energetic, as they thrust themselves from the interior of their container. Towards the end, a small choir struggles to sing together, while squished inside the “garbage can stage.”
The lyrics pour out of the Muppet’s mouths as paper letters. These paper letters float into the air, and cascade over the scenery of the city park. At the end of the video, the Muppets and the décor sink back into the garbage can, and the paper lettering is shown discarded in the city park (floating on the surface of a pond, caught in trees, stuck in a gutter.) The last shot is a hand-held camera move that reveals a mass of lifeless puppets and a collection of decor that folds back into the interior of the garbage can and disappears into the blackness within.
