Synopsis

A beetle-like creature begins an unlikely journey through a surreal apartment building, moving between rooms and encountering the strange private worlds of its inhabitants. An elderly man's model ship becomes the focus of a dreamlike voyage, while everyday domestic spaces turn uncanny and unstable. The creature's travels gradually take on a Kafkaesque quality, blending stop-motion figures, live-action puppetry, and bizarre transformations. Rather than following a conventional narrative, the video presents a chain of disconnected episodes linked by the insect's restless movement.

Factoids & Trivia

• The 1999 video uses a combination of stop-motion animation, pixillation, and puppetry, giving both people and objects an artificially manipulated, dreamlike movement.

• Its visual concept is a surreal interpretation of Franz Kafka's "The Metamorphosis," with the insect protagonist acting as a loose parallel to Kafka's transformed central character.

• The production has been described as drawing on the unsettling, handcrafted animation style associated with Czech filmmaker Jan Svankmajer.

• "Style" was released as a single on March 8, 1999, and reached No. 13 on the UK singles chart.

• The track is built around extensive Stylophone use. Orbital also experimented with several alternate versions, including "Bigpipe Style," which combines the electronic instrument with bagpipes.

• Orbital reportedly wanted to sample a Rolf Harris Stylophone demonstration recording, but permission was refused.

• The video was part of Orbital's late-1990s run of unusually ambitious visual projects, following the acclaimed stop-motion promo for "The Box."