The Valley of the Pagans (music video)

The music video for The Valley of the Pagans premiered on the Gorillaz YouTube channel on November 5, 2020 as Episode Eight after an interview between Anthony Fantano and Damon. The song features American singer-songwriter, Beck.

Original Music Video
Reupload of the original version of the video. It was removed due to copyright issues with Rockstar Games.

Synopsis
The video opens up in the Kong Studios garage where Noodle is driving the Stylo, but a portal opens up behind them and Noodle backs up into it. The portal transports the band to Los Santos, San Andreas. 2-D chats with Beck on his smartphone in the back seat of the car, while Noodle drives the car and breaks multiple traffic laws; racking up a 5-Star wanted level in the process. The video ends with the band driving through another portal that sends the car crashing into the ocean in front of Point Nemo where Plastic Beach remains.

Credits

 * Director: Jamie Hewlett
 * Co-Directors: Tim McCourt & Max Taylor
 * Producer: Eva Dahlqvist
 * Production Managers: Lisa A. Smith, Samia Ahmed
 * Production Assistant: Laurence Moss
 * Animation Supervisor/Lead Animator: Venla Linna
 * Animation: Simone Cirillo
 * Clean Up Artists: Paola Costigliola, Kay Sales, Simone Cirillo, Venla Linna, Daniel Morales Ramirez
 * Compositing: Freddie Lewis-Walls, Bernardo Varela, Elliott Kajdan
 * Compositing Assist: Skye van der Walt
 * Matte Paint: Yann Benedi
 * Production Company: The Line
 * Gorillaz are managed by Eleven Management

GTA V Locations
Below are the locations in Los Santos in the order they appear:

Alternate Music Video
On March 9, 2021, the Gorillaz released an alternate version of the music video with all Grand Theft Auto footage removed. This new version of the video uses the visual effects from the live performances of the song.

Synopsis
The video opens up in the Kong Studios garage where Noodle is driving the Stylo, but a portal opens up behind them and Noodle backs up into it. The portal transports the band to a Highway. While Noodle drives the car, 2D sings in the back seat. The footage of hologram Beck performing the track is set against moving roads of the highway along with chaotic visual effects. The video ends with the band driving through another portal that sends the car crashing into the ocean in front of Point Nemo where Plastic Beach remains.

Credits

 * Director: Jamie Hewlett
 * Co-Direction: Block9, Steve Gallagher
 * Executive Producer: Paula Clark
 * Producer: Alexa Pearson
 * Video Design: Gemma Yin Taylor
 * Video Design: SHOP Animation
 * Production: THE LINE
 * Producer: Eva Dahlqvist
 * Production Managers: Lisa A. Smith, Samia Ahmed
 * Production Assistant: Laurence Moss
 * 2D Animation Supervisor/Lead Animator: Venla Linna
 * 2D Animation: Simone Cirillo
 * Clean Up Artists: Paola Costigliola, Kay Sales, Simone Cirillo, Venla Linna, Daniel Morales Ramirez
 * Compositing: Freddie Lewis-Walls, Bernardo Varela, Elliott Kajdan
 * Compositing Assist: Skye van der Walt
 * Matte Paint: Yann Benedi
 * Footage sourcing: InfamousSabre
 * Gorillaz are managed by Eleven Management

Trivia

 * The music video on the band's YouTube page was set to private four days after it premiered. This is likely due to fair use disputes with Rockstar Games, which owns the Grand Theft Auto franchise.
 * There was speculation at the time that the video may had been removed due to possibly showing a spoiler for an upcoming Grand Theft Auto Online update. However, this was simply misinformation caused by Grand Theft Auto fans mistaking Plastic Beach for the then-rumored island of Cayo Perico, which was later added to the game on 15 December 2020 as part of the Cayo Perico Heist update.
 * The alternate version of the video lacks the Song Machine Intro, the Gorillaz Productions Logo and a teaser for The Lost Chord.
 * The majority of the original music video was filmed in Grand Theft Auto V.
 * 2-D has Beck, Elton John, Fatoumata Diawara, Moonchild, and Slowthai on his iFruit contacts list.
 * 2-D's phone becomes progressively more damaged over the course of the music video.
 * Despite reaching a 5-Star Wanted Level, the band is only pursued by a single police cruiser though this may be due to the limited number of "actors" available to operate the vehicles (the interiors of the cruisers are never seen throughout the entire music video).
 * The path driven by the Stylo throughout the duration of the video makes no logical sense in regards to the passage of time but, the in-game passing of time is accurate based on the time on 2-D's phone and the in-game sunlight.
 * The Pink Phantom can be seen hiding in the trunk of the Stylo.
 * Kong Studios Garage is filled with many easter eggs and references:
 * Giant number 2 can be seen on the Almanac cover.
 * The submarine is a reference to Doncamatic music video.
 * "No More Gangs" is a title of one of the rarest arts from phase 5.
 * Murdoc's helmet from Aries music video can be seen on the shelf in the background.
 * Russel's drums from Désolé music video can also be seen.
 * Fonda, 2-D's motorcycle from Aries music video is standing behind submarine.
 * We can see the Pazuzu statue from original Kong Studios, and later Plastic Beach.