ive been doing some research...

ive been doing some research on cults relating to our idea with the group face painting. firstly there was a sort of serbian gang around the early 20th century called Црна рука / Crna Ruka, meaning black hand, or 'unification or death'. they were a violent group whos aims were nationalism. i think this is relevant perhaps to our music video as the idea of unification (although perhaps in a different context) opposes that of lonliness which is also a central theme of our video.

the idea of an easily identifiable mark on the body is one that is used by many modern gangs aswell. gangs such as the japanes yakuza have full body tatoos to show dedication. this adds a more sinister twist to our video and so i think it is important.
I found this quotation on a website about cults

"Tattoo Cult: Crazed cult members actually burn indelible ink on their bodies. Cult members are encouraged (usually after consuming alcohol to paint their bodies with permanent messages of various images and words. Cult members also pierce their bodies and put various body ornaments and metals in unusual unnatural places such as ears, nose, tongue, naval and genitalia. “A severely disturbing cult - these tattooists and body piercers - Clearly brainwashed…. Ross" (www.rosscult.biz/)

i thought that was quite creepy.

Finally i looked at tribal paint;

I think these were very relevant to ours as they often all have almost identical paint and it is often thick and covers large areas (ours will have a thick white background).

I discovered that often tribe members will only apply paint after reaching puberty, in a way showing they have reached adulthood. this reflects the sense of belonging that the main character does not have in the video but all the other people seem to have.