The official music video for the song Saturnz Barz by Gorillaz featuring Popcaan, lead single of album Humanz. It was released on 23 March 2017 along with the single itself and was produced and animated by film production company Passion Pictures.
Synopsis[]
The band members drive to their new house while Ascension plays on the radio. As Murdoc rings the doorbell, a thunderstorm starts. When they enter, 2-D goes to the kitchen, Noodle goes to the basement, Russel Hobbs goes to sleep and Murdoc takes a bath. Noodle finds a record and plays it, starting Popcaan's rapping.
A snake-like creature with an arm sticking out of its eyesocket grabs Russel and constricts him. A cycloptic, blue worm wraps around Noodle. 2-D, in the kitchen, gets food stuffed down his throat by a flying pizza slice. Murdoc sinks into the tub and starts to fly through space. 2-D then begins to sing the chorus. The final verses of the song are sung by all four band members. At the end of the video, they walk back to their car and talk about breakfast, with 2-D just wanting a peppermint tea, transitioning to the visualiser for We Got The Power.
360 Video[]
The 360° version of the music video was released on the same day as the regular version and set the record for the biggest debut of a 360° music video in YouTube's history.
Censorship[]
In the music video, Murdoc's penis was originally uncensored before both uploads were taken down not too long after their debut. They later uploaded a censored version with his private parts edited to be pixelated, which remains on the channel to this day. The original uncensored version is, however, still available on the Internet Archive, on Vimeo, and was also used for the Printworks concert which is ironically still available on YouTube.
Commentary[]
On the 1st of May 2022, a commentary edition of the music video by band member Murdoc Niccals was posted to Gorillaz' official YouTube channel, as part of a series of commentaries on some of the band's music videos.
Availability[]
Music Video[]
Censored[]
- Official Gorillaz YouTube channel.
Uncensored[]
Official Gorillaz YouTube channel(taken down);- Alex Holman's official Vimeo account.
360 Video[]
Censored[]
- Official Gorillaz YouTube channel.
Uncensored[]
Official Gorillaz YouTube channel(taken down);- Unoffical Internet Archive uploads.
Commentary Edition[]
- Official Gorillaz YouTube channel.
Credits[1] [2][]
- Director: Jamie Hewlett
- Producer: Cara Speller
- Animation Directors: Robert Valley and Daryl Graham.
- Production Designer: Reuben McNaughton
- 3D modelling: Alex Holman and Ian Brown
- Additional matte painting: Dan Lambert
- Opening shot compositing: John Taylor
- Production Company: Passion Pictures
- Animation: In collaboration with Google Spotlight Stories
- Supported by: YouTube
- Managed by: Eleven Management
Videos[]
Gallery[]
|
|
|
| The full image gallery for Saturnz Barz (Music Video) may be viewed at Saturnz Barz (Music Video)/Gallery. |
Popcaan Monsters[]
Popcaan, a Jamaican Reggae rapper, takes the form in the video of three monsters that torment the band members. He takes the form of a pizza slice, a worm and a snake monster.
Trivia[]
.jpg){kind=link}
The Detroit house in which the spirit house is heavily based off of.
- According to Damon Albarn, the music video cost $800,000 to produce.
- 2-D is wearing the same shirt (or at least a shirt that's really similar to it) that is seen on the DoYaThing cover.
- Noodle is the only member who didn’t speak throughout the video.
- The house depicted in the video is based on a house at 220 Hendrie Street in Detroit, Michigan.
- During the beginning of the video a disturbing face can be seen in the broken window of a house's basement, as well as a trash can moving.
- Peppermint tea can be used for problems with digestion, something that 2-D may have had due to being stuffed with food.
- The license plate on the band's car reads "BASS TZAR RUN" which is a close anagram for "Saturnz Bars".
- In the storyboard of Saturnz Barz a few differences can be seen; it was already raining, the song title would appear in the upper right corner with bright red during the wide shot, 2-D was wearing a denim jacket, Russel was wearing a baseball cap instead of a beanie, Noodle had a different hairstyle and the band looked surprised when the door opened by itself.
- Murdoc's quote, "The Bath" has been made into an internet meme, which is spelled "Da Baff" due to Murdoc's accent. Features of the meme include Murdoc's ecstatic face he makes (eyes gaping and his long tongue sticking out) as he pulls off his clothes to take a bath and poorly photo manipulated images of bathtubs.
- Saturnz Barz could be considered the Phase 4 equivalent to Clint Eastwood and Rock the House as it involves the band members being tormented by yet another supernatural being throughout the entirety of the music video before having everything revert back to normal by the time the music video ends.