"Alone I Break" Treatment By John Novak

Colors: Red and black; the dark red sky and the seemingly never-ending “pillar of the untouchables” into the black abyss.

We open with the camera going up a narrow pillar with hundreds of faces sticking out; the “pillar of the untouchables.” While going up, all the while the camera is rotating around; we notice the faces struggling to free themselves from their helpless state and the dark red sky ahead. The camera reaches Korn at the top of the pillar just as Jonathan starts singing. As the first verse is being sung, the camera slowly zooms out showing you Korn and the many helpless faces. We also see flashes of different faces on the pillar and different members of Korn during the first verse. Right when Jonathan gets to the pre-chorus, the camera zooms quickly into the “pillar of the untouchables” and blurs into the many memories of all the faces. All the while we see flashes of Korn playing. We see Jonathan screaming into his mic when he sings “these feelings will be gone.” When it gets to the chorus we see the pillar, then blurs into more memories of hurt and despair. We also see flash shots of the faces, Korn, and the pillar as a whole.

The memories of all the faces would be of pain, rejection, sickness, loneliness, and helplessness. Some examples of the memories would be a child being abused by a parent, a child crying and cradling his/herself in his/her dark bedroom, a family visiting a terminally ill loved one in the hospital, an elderly man/woman sitting alone in a dark dusty room, a kid being picked on because he/she is different, a kid being laughed at by many people, a boy being rejected very harshly by a girl, and a death of a loved one. Some memories shown will be out of focus, gritty, and overlapped; while other memories will be clear as day.

During the second verse we see more of the faces on the narrow pillar. We notice the faces are very much alive and are struggling to break free from their imprisonment. We also see the pillar from far away with the ground far below. The dark hazy red sky in the background gives you an eerie feeling. We also see Korn at the top of the pillar looking as though they belong there, like a leader of the untouchables. During the second pre-chorus we see more horrible memories. Then like before, we see Jonathan scream into the mic “these feelings will be gone” with little flashes of bad memories. We see more memories during the second chorus with flashes of the pillar, Korn, and the faces. When the third verse is being sung, it shows the faces trying desperately to free themselves. With Jonathan singing very lightly into the mic we notice that it is beginning to drizzle. By the time the chorus comes around it is steadily raining. Everything is wet and seems to glisten in the dark hazy red sky. We see faces trying harder than ever to free themselves, Korn playing in the steady downpour, and far away shots of the “pillar of the untouchables.” Near the end we see little flashes of a particular face. When Jonathan finishes his last word we see his face; only to our surprise he and the rest of the band are part of the “pillar of the untouchables.” Korn singing on top of the pillar was only in Jonathan’s mind. We slowly zoom out with rain hitting all the faces on the pillar, quietly and painfully trying to break free from their memories.

END

Note: When describing the “pillar of the untouchables” refer to the scene with the field of faces from ‘What Dreams May Come’ with Robin Williams. Only the faces are on the side of a tall pillar made of earth. When describing how the memories will be shown refer to the intro of the movie “Seven,” and the music video “Closer” by Nine Inch Nails.