Introduction
Black Mirror is a British TV series created by Charlie Brooker. It focuses on dark and controversial themes that examine modern society, particularly in regard to the unanticipated consequences of new technologies. Each episode has a different cast, setting and reality. The episode that chosen for this project was BLACK MIRROR-The National Anthem.
Synopsis Princess
Susannah was kidnapped. In order to have her safely returned, her abductors demanded that Prime Minister have live sexual intercourse with a pig on nation television, with a list of technical specifications designed to make it impossible to fake. The news was leaked and provoked public attention. The government failed to find out where the princess was kept before the deadline. The Prime Minister had no choice but to perform the act in front of the world, and although the public was disgusted by the performance, no one stopped watching. Later it was discovered that the princess was released thirty minutes before the performance, and the whole event was planned by an artist to make a point of the fickle nature of the public and the effect media has over them.
Objective
The objectives of the title sequence were to show the credits, to provide some hints of the story implicitly, to create a weird and mysterious atmosphere and to provoke the audience to keep on watching the show. I also considered this project as a chance to practice filming techniques and to create animation with a darker and more serious mood.
Treatment
One of the most interesting parts of the story is the changing of the public’s attitude towards the Prime Minister. In order to demonstrate the tension between the public and the government, a puppet was used to represent the Prime Minister while some monitors were used to represent the public. Footage of people’s eyes and mouths were composited on the monitors to represent the public’s opinion towards the Prime Minister. Three square mirrors were used to create a tiny “infinity mirror room”. The infinite reflections of the puppet created a mysterious and bizarre mood which indicated the Prime Minister’s dilemma.
