The official music video for the Gorillaz song El Mañana, the fourth and final single alongside Kids With Guns of the album Demon Days. It was released on 10 April 2006 along with the single itself and was produced and animated by film production company Passion Pictures.
Synopsis[]
Noodle is floating along peacefully in the sunshine on her floating island. Suddenly the peaceful calm is shattered when two attack helicopters appear and start shooting at her with machine guns. Noodle takes refuge in the windmill. The helicopters fire at the windmill and damage it. Later Noodle comes out of the windmill to look around, and sees that the once beautiful sky has turned completely cloudy and dark, but the helicopters see her and attack again, and she is forced back inside the windmill. Eventually the island is so damaged that it cannot float anymore and starts to fall to the earth. It crashes on the ground and one of the helicopters drops a bomb on it.
Background[]
During the Demon Detour, Gorillaz were constantly under attack and suffering multiple threats, but none of the band members were aware of who was responsible for the attacks. Around this time, Gorillaz secured a new label in the United States, with the head of it being Jimmy Manson. Manson had initially auditioned for the guitar during the early stages of the band, but Murdoc rejected him after Noodle was choosen as the band's guitarist instead.
After Murdoc discovered that it was Jimmy Manson who was attacking the band, he devised a plan with Manson to eliminate Gorillaz and cash in on their success. Murdoc's plan involved using the Flying Windmill Island from the Feel Good Inc. video and having Noodle ride on it during the El Mañana one. Murdoc planned to stash guns in the windmill tower, and Jimmy would shoot the guitarist out of the sky while he would, supposedly, parachute off to safety. With the plan in place, Murdoc informed the other members of Gorillaz, who were initially skeptical but eventually agreed to it. Murdoc's actual intention, however, was to eliminate Jimmy Manson instead, by trapping him inside of the island while it was falling down.
During the El Mañana video shoot, the windmill island, with Noodle still in it, was blown-up on-screen. After director Jamie Hewlett called cut, the medical team rushed to search for Noodle, but she was nowhere to be found. After Noodle's apparent death, everything fell apart. Kong Studios, the Gorillaz HQ, began to crumble, with 2-D and Russel leaving the band not long after. However, the release of the band's autobiography, Rise Of The Ogre, revealed the truth about what had occurred. Murdoc had locked Jimmy in the windmill with no guns to shoot with, while Noodle had safely parachuted off in time. Jimmy Manson died during the island's crash.
The only question Murdoc didn't know the answer to was who was piloting the helicopters in the video, and who did they belong to. Initially, Murdoc had planned for the original helicopters from the Feel Good Inc. video to fire fake bullets. However, a group of unidentified helicopters suddenly appeared and began firing, then quickly departed, leaving the wreckage behind. It was later discovered that the helicopters belonged to an underground organization named 'The Black Clouds'. After they left the set, the actual helicopters from the Feel Good Inc. video arrived, claiming that they had been delayed by bad weather.
Animatic[]
Other than the unfinished drawings and animations from the animatic, it doesn't have many notable differences from the final version of the music video.
Availability[]
Music Video[]
- DVD format of the 'El Mañana' single;
- Phase 2 DVD 'Slowboat To Hades';
- DVD edition of, 'The Singles Collection 2001-2011';
- Official Gorillaz YouTube Channel.
Animatic[]
- DVD format of the 'El Mañana' single;
- Phase 2 DVD 'Slowboat To Hades';
- Official Gorillaz YouTube Channel.
Credits[]
- Record Company: Parlophone
- Artist Management: CMO
- Production Company: Passion Pictures
- Directors: Jamie Hewlett & Pete Candeland
- Executive Producer: Andrew Ruhemann
- Producers: Emilie Walmsley/Cara Speller
- 2D Animation: Robert Valley, Heath Kenny, Rikke Asbjorn
- Key Assistant to Director: David Burns
- Animation Assistants: Miles Peters, Brent Odell, Jonathan Wren, Gail Walton, Richard Wake, Gerry Gallego, Rachel Glodowski
- FX Animators: Simon Swales, Barney Russell
- FX Assistants: Mikolaj Watt, Sky Bone, Jane Wright, Katerina Kremasioti, Monica Brufton
- Toonz: Phil Holder, Tim King, Megs White Dore
- Art Direction: Daniel Cacouault
- Matte Painter: Christobal de Oliveira
- Creative Assistant: Paul Cheshire
- Technician: Tony Clarke
- 2D Co-ordination: Jen Nunn, David Burns
- CG Animation: Wesley Coman
- CG Supervisors: Chris Hemming, Antoine Moulineau
- CG Modellers: Stuart Rowbottom, Adam Sharp, David Usher
- CG Lighting: Adam Sharp
- CG Effects: Lukasz Pazera
- Senior Compositor: Johnny
- Still Compositing: Niamh Lines, Cassiano Prado, Ed Salkeld
- Technical Director: Mark Wilson
- 3D Co-ordination: Emma Philips
- DoP (live action shots) Richard Stewart
- Camera Operator: Richard Stewart
- Producer (live action) Russell McLean
- Make Up: Cecile Nonon
- Editor: Jamie Foord
- Post Production: Rushes
- VFX Artists: Duncan Malcolm, Marcus Wood, Brian Carbin
- Rushes Producer: Carl Grinter
Videos[]
Gallery[]
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| The full image gallery for El Mañana (Music Video) may be viewed at El Mañana (Music Video)/Gallery. |
Trivia[]
- The video is a continuation of themes in the 'Feel Good Inc' video. The floating island and the menacing helicopters both return.
- Noodle supposedly parachuted off of the island as it was descending towards the ground.