Narrative

Our narrative is relatively complicated. It tells the stories of two characters: Doug and Dougie. Both characters are completely identical but lead very different lives. Doug is a business man who always looks professional. He has a reasonable amount of money and so can afford luxuries in his life. His house is clean and tidy and he has a solid friendship group and a girlfriend. Dougie is the opposite. He doesn't have a job and has no friends to rely on. He has a strong addiction to drugs and has alcohol problems. It is this that has pushed all his friends away and has stopped him from initiating any form of relationships. He has a limited amount of money, all of which is spent on drugs and alcohol, and his house is severely cluttered.


The first thing the audience will see is a countdown from 5-1 set out in Lego. The Lego introduces the concept of childhood from the very beginning and the countdown shows the synchronisation with the song. This then fades into various clips of cartoon shows. The cartoons are fairly old, mainly from the nineties, to show looking back on a person’s childhood. We have tried to choose cartoons which may have some connection with postmodernity and other sociological perspectives. For example, we have chosen The Teletubbies which can connect to postmodernity through the use of the televisions they have in their stomach, linking to digitalisation. The bright colours of the show and it's unique plots may also show a certain psychedelic aspect and so links to the songs genre. These then merge into clips of a playground. The clips will be sped up in editing to connote how children seem to be growing up too fast.


The plot begins with the two characters returning to their houses. Doug is returning from work and so places his bag down onto the floor, retrieving some work, before entering his kitchen. Dougie returns to the house under the influence of drugs, he is stumbling rather than walking and is hallucinating. He trips over the vast amount of clutter that garnishes his hallway; he believes he falls over a professional bag. He looks back towards the bag and sees it is not there. This represents how he aspires to have a job and a more successful life. He then turns and stumbles into the kitchen.


Doug walks into the kitchen, grabbing an apple to eat and begins to do some more work. This shows his dedication to his job and his professionalism. The apple represents his healthy lifestyle and the fact that he takes care of himself. Simultaneously, Dougie staggers into the kitchen and grabs a can of beer. This shows what he believes to be important in life - alcohol. He then sits down at the table, he looks dazed and gaunt. Doug carries on doing is work before his girlfriend enters and hugs him. This identifies his social life as he has a relationship and someone to love, therefore he is not alone. Whereas, Dougie is alone and isolated. Dougie then grabs a glass of pills and pours them onto the table. He begins to hallucinate the pills spelling out the words 'Control Yourself'. This not only is synchronous with the lyrics but also shows how Dougie wants to change his life and control what he is doing as, right now, he feels out of control.


Dougie's hallucinations begin to get worse as he looks up from the pills and to his fruit bowl, situated on the kitchen table. As he watches, the fruit jump out of the bowl and begin to circle it. Once again this hallucination is shows his lack of control but could also link to children and their imagination as many people addicted to hallucinogenic drugs tend to hallucinate about their life and what they want their life to be, hence Dougie hallucinating about his childhood. Meanwhile, Doug has proceeded to his bedroom. He is shown playing the game Grand Theft Auto (GTA) on his Xbox. He is accompanied by his girlfriend. Synchronously, Dougie is still hallucinating. He begins to see a snake (taken from the retro game titled Snake) slither across his floor. The snake is made from brightly coloured post-it notes. The snake slides through a game of Pong (also made from brightly coloured post-it notes) which is also being played on the floor. The use if the two retro games is compared to Doug's playing of GTA on the Xbox. The difference in the time and graphics of the games identify that Doug is more modernised and is in touch with the digitalisation of the time. Whereas, Dougie is separate from society and so is shown as not being technologically advanced. This is also shown by the old mobile phone situated on his cluttered kitchen table.


Doug proceeds to go to bed. We see him getting into his bed and falling asleep. However, the effects of Dougie’s drug intake begin to take effect and he slowly slumps onto the kitchen table before passing out. The screen fades to black. We then begin to see a number of cartoon clips in a dream sequence. These represent the loss of childhood for both characters and how postmodernity has forced them to grow up too fast. These clips are integrated with clips of the playground from the beginning of the video.


Dougie then begins to wake up. He slowly lifts himself up off the table, rubbing his eyes awake in the process, before clutching his mouth and running to the bathroom. We then see him regurgitating blood. He looks up into the mirror to see his gaunt face. His reflection then transforms into an image of Doug. This shows how much Dougie aspires to be professional, important and loved. The screen quickly changes to Doug waking up from a nightmare. He shoots up out of bed with a large intake of breath. He then rubs his eyes before venturing out of bed. He makes his bed and gets dressed into his suit. He carries on his routine by shaving and brushing his teeth. This shows the normality of his life.


The scene then changes to Dougie sitting on the floor. He has his head in his hands. He looks lost and alone. The shot is then merged with various shots of help brochures, varying from drugs and alcohol to men’s health and heart troubles. This connotes his desperation to get help but because he feels so lost, he feels like he can never help himself. He then stands up drastically and runs out of his house. Meanwhile we see Doug leaving his house for work. He enters a car and drives off. We then see Dougie running down many streets. He looks panicked. He then comes to an abrupt stop as he sees an abandoned teddy bear on the floor. He picks the teddy up and stares at it. The teddy bear represents childhood and so as he clutches on to it he is trying to reconnect with his childhood. He then stands, dropping the teddy on the floor. This signifies his willingness to grow up and change so he can be everything he wants to be. He the runs into the road. We see Doug driving his car down a road. As he is driving, Dougie runs into the road in front of him. Doug presses his brakes quickly and comes to a sudden stop right in front of Dougie, who is standing shocked in the middle of the road. Doug looks up at the person in the road. His face changes from a scared expression to confusion as he ventures out of the car. He walks over to Dougie and stands directly in front of him. The two stand together looking into each other’s eyes. Both characters are identical.