This House Has People In It.
Adult Swim
The YouTube channel Adult Swim joined YouTube on March 2nd, 2006.
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Since then, they have made 8,302 public videos and gained over 2.5 million viewers. Their videos generally follow the theme of unconventional humour, and their most notable production would be Rick and Morty, which has gained a large following after it's release on Netflix. Adult Swim is unlike most YouTube channels in that it isn't run by one person. It also runs off of the Cartoon Network channel during the night, despite being a different entity to Cartoon Network.
The Video
This House Has People In It is part of a series by Adult Swim called Infomercials; the videos are mostly styled like adverts but will have a twist to them. For example, the previous episode in the series, Unedited Footage of a Bear leads into a YouTube advert style commercial for a fake allergy relief medication. It starts out like an ordinary American commercial but soon develops into a psychotic thriller style production. This House Has People In It is an infomercial for a fake security company called AB Surveillance Solutions that has been created by Adult Swim and AB Video Solutions, the production company responsible for the video. AB Surveillance Solutions even has a fake website link in the description of the video that leads to a website with fake information. If you take a look at the FAQ page, it's clear it isn't real. This website goes further if you find the login information, where you can find the archives of the surveillance footage in the house. You can find more information on the website from this video at 13 minutes in.
The video begins with an information screen on the surveillance footage then goes to the parents talking about going on holiday. It also shows the grandma watching a pottery show (which also has it's own fake website) and the son setting up for his birthday party. The daughter is lying on the kitchen floor where the parents are and it's made clear that they believed she was just throwing a tantrum, but then they realise she is stuck to the floor. she begins to sink into the floor and the repair man in the basement hears the shouting and comes up to help. The dad starts ranting and the mum and repair man are trying to get the daughter down safely. When she falls through, the security cameras flicker and you can't really tell what has happened apart from that all the people that arrived for the party are also now face down, and you can hear screaming from the parents.
The video begins with an information screen on the surveillance footage then goes to the parents talking about going on holiday. It also shows the grandma watching a pottery show (which also has it's own fake website) and the son setting up for his birthday party. The daughter is lying on the kitchen floor where the parents are and it's made clear that they believed she was just throwing a tantrum, but then they realise she is stuck to the floor. she begins to sink into the floor and the repair man in the basement hears the shouting and comes up to help. The dad starts ranting and the mum and repair man are trying to get the daughter down safely. When she falls through, the security cameras flicker and you can't really tell what has happened apart from that all the people that arrived for the party are also now face down, and you can hear screaming from the parents.
Character
Each character is given a subject number that is used by the information screens but they do have names also. The use of this subject number format rather than names adds to the unsettling nature of the video, as it's as though the security system that we are seeing the point of view of is categorising them as not human.
The parents seem to be an ordinary couple, with the dad (Tom) talking about going on holiday out of the country which the mum (Anne) thinks is a crazy idea. However, as the situation develops Anne is trying to get Madison (the daughter) down safely with the help of the repair man but Tom starts to panic and has a monologue about how the family stick together. Tom doesn't handle the panic as well as Anne does which adds to him being more of an irrational character.
Despite Madison not doing anything apart from lying down throughout the video, we still learn a bit about her from the conversation her parents have. Anne tells Tom that Madison didn't tell her when she was going to be coming home, and she is a typical teenager with lacking in communication with her parents. This gives an idea of her age.
The repairman doesn't have much of a developed character as he doesn't have much dialogue but he helps out Anne to get Madison down safely. He also tries to calm down Tom as he does his monologue in the basement.
The son Jackson is about to have his birthday party but his parents tell him to keep the guests outside. He begins to hide the decorations and cakes behind his bed in his room, and when his mattress is removed by Anne you can see there is a lot of other things hidden in his room. His party decorations also aren't of the best quality as you can see the "Happy Birthday" banner is spelled incorrectly, which also gives a subtle sense of him perhaps not being the favourite child.
The Grandma in the production is sitting watching the pottery show on the TV. She has one very odd line that can be considered a euphemism and also, when handed the baby, gives complete disregard to her. She is almost the comedic relief of the show but also adds to how the family seems very normal in the beginning but then it's revealed they are all very odd in different ways.
The man on the TV is a character of the video and is also the writer, Alan Resnick. He adds another layer of weirdness by using euphemisms and talking about things that aren't related to anything he's doing.
The repairman doesn't have much of a developed character as he doesn't have much dialogue but he helps out Anne to get Madison down safely. He also tries to calm down Tom as he does his monologue in the basement.
The son Jackson is about to have his birthday party but his parents tell him to keep the guests outside. He begins to hide the decorations and cakes behind his bed in his room, and when his mattress is removed by Anne you can see there is a lot of other things hidden in his room. His party decorations also aren't of the best quality as you can see the "Happy Birthday" banner is spelled incorrectly, which also gives a subtle sense of him perhaps not being the favourite child.
The man on the TV is a character of the video and is also the writer, Alan Resnick. He adds another layer of weirdness by using euphemisms and talking about things that aren't related to anything he's doing.
Goal
The goal of the actual video is to 'advertise' the surveillance cameras used, but realistically the goal is to unsettle the viewer and make them ask questions. The goal of the characters is of course to get Madison out of the floor, but I think Tom has insecurities about how he provides for his family and wants them to have a great holiday, but then realises he can't do anything to help Madison with what is happening to her and this confirms his insecurities and it sets him off into a rant. Jackson just wants to have a good birthday party and there is a sense that things always get ruined for him from Tom's line "this isn't a good time to have a birthday party" "I really wanted you to have a good birthday party"which makes him walk away and tell the guests they have to wait outside, and it's as though he's had to do the same before.
Conflict
The conflict in the story is provided by 3 characters. The most obvious is Madison as in the beginning they believe she's being defiant, but then they are struggling and trying to help her.
The second is the unidentified creature that seems to be running around the outside of the house. It's extremely hard to make out what it is but it adds to the weirdness of what is happening inside the house, and the viewer links the 2 plot devices to be a connected occurrence. We never see the creature in detail and it doesn't have any obvious role in the story, but it adds conflict for the viewer as it increases the confusion as to what is happening. There are flickers of other frames from different areas of the house and these have even more characters shown around the house, which if noticed, increases confusion with the story. The extra frames and people around the house are shown in more detail in this video at 7 minutes in.
The final source of conflict is from Tom. He gets in the way of Anne as she tries to lay down a mattress for Madison and is generally unhelpful throughout the video.
Change
The change in the story comes from how the characters change when they are put into a panicked situation. The obvious character to talk about here is Tom because as I previously mentioned, he begins a monologue that doesn't help anyone but he is trying to convince himself that his insecurities aren't true. However there's Anne who is very rational throughout the video. As soon as Tom says "she's stuck" she thinks Tom is being over-dramatic and doesn't immediately jump to help him. Then she focuses on trying to get Madison to wake up and tries to stop her sinking while Tom tries to ask if she has taken pills which once again doesn't help the situation, he's just panicking.
I think the change is that the family's insecurities and vulnerabilities have been revealed all in just 11 minutes. They act very normally in the beginning, talking about holidays and Jackson being excited for his party, the Grandma sitting watching TV and Madison seemingly being a defiant teenager. by the end, Jackson's party is ruined because his parents tell him to keep the guests outside, Tom is having a mental breakdown and Anne has lost hope for saving Madison. The Grandma stays oblivious throughout, despite a fire starting in the oven. She is the only person that stays the same throughout.
How did it affect my work?
I have kept up to date with Adult Swim for 5 years and have always enjoyed their confusing and weird style, especially their infomercial series and Dr Steve Brule. Riding on the boarder of horror and thriller, a lot of their productions aim to affect the viewer emotionally and that's something I want to aim for. I like how the video is styled like security cameras and I am considering filming my production in the same manner but I need to put some more thought and consideration into this before committing to it.
You can tell a lot about the characters just from their surroundings and actions rather than what they are saying most of the time which follows the 'show, don't tell' ideal. This is something I find important as it makes the production more interesting. By using this technique, it involves the viewer more and gives them the opportunity to learn about the characters rather than just be told the information.
Overall this video is something to keep in mind when deciding on the style of my production but it will be important to remember not to include too much horror aspects.
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