Quick note: this is NOT my actual article, but only contains a full descriptive breakdown of the video ‘Ghost in the Machine’.
In my previous post, I explored this in more depth, but I offer this now as a reference, a blank slate, purely descriptive. I kept it separate, to keep the actual article short and more clear, but still offer it to allow others to use it as a guide to do their own research, correcting or refining my observations, and see if any other conclusions can be drawn.
Ghosts in the machine
Black screen, soft background music, text:
“If your opponent is of choleric temper, seek to irritate him.”
fades in underneath: “Pretend to be weak, that he may grow arrogant.”
fades in underneath: “Sun Tzu” (as whistling of theme music starts)
Switch to video of dancing clown (1933 animation, “Betty Boop in Snow-White”)
Switch to evening or dawn shot of Beijing with Central Radio and TV Tower in background, with text on screen: “have you ever wondered”
sounds of gunshots, and voice narrating:
“As the world watches and listens in horror, the peaceful pro-democracy demonstration in China comes to a violent and bloody end.”
Abrupt switch to scene of Berlin, with the Berlin TV Tower in background, and voice of Reagan continues: “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!”
Cheers erupt, screen changes to a conductor in a beam of light, with the text: “Who’s pulling the strings?”
Text fades out, the word ‘WHO’ is bolded, and kept for last.
Screen to chess board (white king under ‘check’ from black knight, but still has white queen).
Switch to forest scene, female voice singing starts.
Text on screen: “Born from the ashes”
scene goes to a campfire in the woods, filmed backwards, and giving the impression of zooming in on a shield with a ghost (after the war adapted by the 23rd Headquarter Special Troops).
‘Wolves hiding nearby, whispering do or die, around me’ (lyrics of ‘Last Goodbye’ by Eric Kinny)
Text on screen: “Of a world at war”
video changes to subway in Berlin, the view from a subway train leaving the station, next view from within the train, out in the open of the city.
View changes to birds-eye view of NY City
Text on screen: “you’ll find us in the shadows”
View changes to SOF soldiers approaching building at nighttime
Text on black screen: “at the tip of the spear”
view changes to military parade in Beijing honoring WWII (most forceful display of China military in many years)
Text on screen: “A threat rises in the east”
while soldiers march (first Chinese soldiers in Beijing, last clip of Soviet era soldiers, likely in Russian victory day parade in Moskow, hat tip J. Szeko), sound of boots, and singing starts again, same song:
Song: “You say your last goodnights”
View changes to news ticker (NYC again?) that shows “Russia invades Ukraine/Russia faces economic sanctions/ Russian convoy approaches…”
Text on black screen: “Warfare”
Song: “While I keep getting by”
View changes to 9th/10th century cavalry charging, windmill in background
Text on screen: “Warfare is evolving”
as view changes quickly to modern troops leaving APC, prisoner with hood over head being interrogated/filmed, person playing piano, night vision camera zooming in on armed patrol from above, a hacker (leather jacket over hoodie) behind screens but turns around and sticks hands in the air as if in surrender (hat tip J. Szeko), person holding up Molotov cocktail
(text fades, background music comes to crescendo) finger swiping on screen,
Text appears: “and all the world’s a stage”
as view fades back to the conductor.
Music comes to halt, screen black, changes to sound of lock opening, and old fashioned tape player is shown, hands inserting a tape, an old video projector, a view of a silhouette facing us (as if looking at us) with the projector behind the person’s head.
Narrated in old fashioned style, by different voices:
“There is another very important face of warfare. It has, as its target, not the body, but the mind of the enemy. The target of psychological warfare is to enter the enemy’s mind. It is words and ideas. Ammunition used by Psy War.”
Sound punctuation, view switched to hand holding microphone, and text on screen:
“Anything we touch,”
View of man behind sound studio equipment,
Same whistling begins again from beginning, view of brush writing on paper,
Text on screen: “is a weapon”
Sound of helicopter, view of coast line,
Text on Screen “We can”
Narrator: “Its mission is to influence the thoughts of the enemy soldiers.”
In quick succession the following views, text and narration:
View of body floating in water near coast, Soldier at night, African children sitting outside with ball in hands, Arab girls in classroom (Jerusalem? Palestine?), protestors at communist march (red flag, arm bands, ‘for revolution’ on sign), father with baby, woman in tunnel standing still looking at phone, mechanics of watch, woman in rain under umbrella looking up, Masai warrior with shield and spear,
Text on screen “Deceive” “persuade”, “change”, “influence”, “inspire”
Narrator: “And at the same time, is expected and is encouraged to study foreign languages and the social sciences such as history, economics and sociology. He must have a broad and sympathetic understanding of all phases of human experience.”
Black screen, singing resumes, same song.
“Gripping at my skin, the wolves of night close in, around me”
View: Similar woods are earlier, but now at least 6 figures in camouflage but with white masks are approaching.
Text on screen: “We come in many forms”
View changes to person in backroom in front of mirror applying face point (clown type).
View of hand moving knight in chess game, quick change of face of clown putting on make-up, but now frontal-side view, back to dancing clown from animation from beginning.
Narrator: “But the use of this force as an integral part of combat, has now taken on new forms.”
Sound punctuation, view of earth from space, with text “We are everywhere”
View of empty movie theater, Berlin subway station ‘Stadtmitte’ (closed during Berlin Wall time, as it was in the middle, between both sides, now open again), air view of statue of Liberty, back to animation where witch puts mirror over dancing clown who becomes a ghost.
Song starts again: “As I wait to say my last goodbye”
Black screen, with text “A feeling in the dark”
View of soldiers approaching, tactically, switches quickly to images of Ukrainian riot police behind shields, images of armored police cars burning after being hit with molotovs during violent Maidan protests in 2014 (used recently with miscaption of Ukrainians destroying Russian vehicles), Police with shield and batons and armored cars in background rushing forward in same Maidan protest.
Black screen, with text “A message in the stars”
View changes to hand turning dial (impossible to know what dial, or which device), images of protestors in Lebanon (Arabic, French and English slogans, 2011, the Intifada of Dignity, part of Arab Spring), back to hand moving chess piece, view from transport plane with soldiers throwing out box with pamphlets, view of protests in Hong-Kong (2019-2020), riot police in same protest firing projectile towards protestors from police shield line.
Switch back to forest, but now with single man in camouflage and white mask, with text: “Ghost” fading in but hard to read still, view switched to quick flashes of Lebanon protest, violent Maidan protests (2014), night view of Maidan protest,
back to woods, now with 3 people with camo and masks, “Ghosts” now clearly visible
View switches to burning TV with the animated ghost from before dancing, and text: “Ghosts in the machine”.
Flashes of WWII soldiers flipping over inflatable tank, to image of Tienanmen square tank and protester, to images of Iraqi people about to topple statue of Saddam, quick view of Arabs in trench in dessert with hands in the air,
Back to woods, now with 5 people in camouflage and masks,
black screen with word “What”
View to mass of prisoners of war in dessert being walked forward under guard (soldiers guarding have white-ish heads because of glare of sun on helmets, reminiscent of those in woods), statue of Saddam falling, clip of Arabs shouting in tense standoff with civilians and military,
Text on screen: “What, are we?”
Screen filling letters: PSYWAR.
Fades to shield of 4th Psy-Ops Group
Narrator: “These are the psywar soldiers.”
Then text on screen “verbum vincet” (same as on shield, meaning ‘The word will win’)
then: “goarmysof.com”
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Note:
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Brother!!
AGR, good idea to show outline of vid for swift reading of progression of messaging.
I recommend to all reading this first before AGR's thorough interpretation.