Thought Bubble

Music video for "Thought Bubble" by Disconnectica. Music, video, and effects by Robert Webb. The video shows the protagonist as a fractured mosaic, with different parts coming in and out of clarity at different times. As the singer sings "Don't know know who I am?" we literally can't see who it is. An experimental and somewhat disturbing video.

The song has been played on radio stations in Australia including 3RRR, 4ZZZ and RTRFM.

  • Robert Charles Webb
    Director
  • Robert Charles Webb
    Writer
  • Robert Charles Webb
    Producer
  • Robert Charles Webb
    Key Cast
  • Robert Charles Webb
    Visual Effects
  • Project Type:
    Experimental, Music Video
  • Genres:
    Experimental, Music video, SFX, VFX, Effects, Alternative
  • Runtime:
    4 minutes 5 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    May 8, 2023
  • Production Budget:
    0 AUD
  • Country of Origin:
    Australia
  • Country of Filming:
    Australia
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Digital Cinema Package:
    Unavailable
  • Prague International Music Video Awards
    Prague
    Czech Republic
    September 7, 2023
    Finalist
  • Athens International Monthly Art Film Festival
    Athens
    Greece
    January 28, 2024
    Honorable Mention
  • Festival de Indie
    Chennai, Tamil Nadu
    India
    February 10, 2024
    Winner Best Avant Garde Music Film
  • United Kingdom Music Video Festival
    London
    United Kingdom
    May 28, 2023
    Special Mention
  • Parai International Musical Awards
    Chennai, Tamil Nadu
    India
    February 20, 2024
    Official Selection
Director Biography - Robert Charles Webb

Robert Webb has been creating music and music videos in recent years. A programmer by trade, he also writes software to create trippy effects for use in his videos, thus bringing together several big interests: music, film and software.

Robert previously made short Super 8 films. He entered the White Gloves Film Festival six times between 1996 and 2000, where film-makers had 48 hours to shoot their film, shot in sequence, and unseen even by the film-maker until the festival. All six made it into their best-of screenings. He was also accepted into the Metro Super 8 Film Festival in 1997.

Rob moved onto other projects, but returned to another interest, making music, around 2018, which led him back to film-making in the form of music videos soon after.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

I wrote the music first, and then found visuals to complement it. The song is cryptic but hints at a character full of self-importance, a big fish in a small pond, trying to impress someone with their hubris. I decided effects based on Voronoi diagrams would be perfect. This is a kind of organic geometric tiling. I wrote software to allow me to control effects based on these tilings, to segment and obscure my face in different ways.

As I sing "Don't you know who I am" my face is unrecognisable. Only the mouth comes somewhat into focus as the tiles gather around it to increase resolution. I wanted to show the disconnect between the character's hubris and reality. Similar in the second verse by using the effect to break my face into unrecognisable pieces.

The chorus is more sinister, somewhat stalkerish. Here the effects bringing me into focus but segmented into small pieces, having many eyes, seemingly looking in many directions. An inescapable gaze.

Finally we reach a chotic end, in terms of lyrics, music, and visuals. First an explosion of colour after being desaturated for two and a half minutes. And ending with the tiles that make me up being sucked into the void to the crack of thunder.