Synopsis

A factory worker becomes convinced that the industrial robot he operates is stalking him. After spotting the machine outside the plant, on public transport, and throughout London, he confides in his supervisor and leaves his job, but the pursuit continues. As the mechanical creature closes in, the worker's fear escalates into a hallucinatory breakdown, with the city dissolving into shifting geometric forms and color. The video leaves open whether the robot is real or a product of his troubled, possibly drug-affected mind.

Factoids & Trivia

• The video premiered on MTV on March 18, 2005, ahead of the single's May 2 release.

• Filming took place around London and at the MG Rover car plant in Longbridge, Birmingham.

• The live-action footage was shot on MiniDV. The filmmakers chose the format for its handheld, documentary-like feel and to keep the production below $100,000.

• The robot was designed as a "self-assembled" creature built from assorted elements of machinery observed inside the factory.

• Framestore CFC completed the robot effects in an intensive two-week period.

• The opening exercise-show sequence plays against the video's darker industrial anxiety and references the then-recent popularity of Eric Prydz's "Call on Me."

• The video won Best Video at the 2005 MTV Europe Music Awards.

• The track features vocals from Kele Okereke of Bloc Party, making the video part of a broader collaboration between the Chemical Brothers and a prominent indie-rock vocalist.