Actors and costume, props/objects, locations

Locations

The location we have chosen for our couple is to be shot at is Eaton park; this is because the scenery is peaceful and easily portrays happiness and tranquility. This does somewhat vary from our genre, however the overall effect will be firmly within it. The other locations we will use are the Drama rooms (for band performance)this is because of the lighting capability's; meaning we will be able to achieve a variety of effects that can be altered depending on the current mood of the song, this is co-dependant on the time scale of the song and current position within that. The city at night will also be used, this is because the city will appear very ominous and imposing creating a very dark effect, as well as this the city square has coloured lighting, the lights shine from within the floor and will create a dream like effect, casting massive shadows and illuminating the couple from below, the overall effect will look almost satanic.

The couple, acted by (josh Parker and Rebeca bealey) will be shot at these three locations within Eaton park. The shots will be taken in twilight to achieve an overall romantic effect, utilising the reflective water to amplify this effect.

This location is significant in that it shows how long the road of a relationship can be, it connotes how imposing the journey can be as well as suggesting that the path is not rigid; although it is laid out in front of them they could walk off it at any time. however the beauty of the shot does display how rewarding it could be, the barren trees show potential for growth and improvement. In the context of our couple this shot will display that they are drifting apart, the barrenness of life besides the trees (they themselves barren) will signify that the relationship has passed its prime and is now beginning to decay.

In this shot the couple will be place in the center, obviously connoting how they are the center of each others worlds. The seats surrounding them will be empty, this could suggest that they are a couple that likes to be in the lime light but have lost their audience, and are not happy unless they are the centre of attention. The surrounding buildings are extremely imposing, connoting that the relationship is almost like a prison that they are trapped inside. This location will represent a relationship more than happiness, the couple will appear happy when shown inside it, but this should be considered as a false impression. At the end of the music video the couple will be positioned outside this location, showing that the relationship has ended.

Actors

We are using myself (Danny turner) as an actor because; my hair can be straightened to fit into the genre we are aiming for, i will be dressed (along with most of the band) in dark trousers and dark jacket. I will be playing lead guitar, we are going for a casual but dark look. we have references from the foals and elbow who have similar music styles to influence our dress choices. The dark styling can also be attributed to the nature of the song, the song is that of a breakup; light clothing would not enhance the feel of sadness.
Rebeca bealey is one half of our couple, she will be wearing light blue clothing to show innocence and a peaceful nature. throughout the piece she will gradually become lighter, she will start wearing white clothing and eventually a white dress. This white appearance is not designed to signify purity or innocence, but of her ever growing clarity regarding her relationship with her partner.





Josh Parker is the second half of our couple and lead sing within the band. Once again his hair style and dress will be easily tailored to conform to our genre. His clothing will gradually become darker, starting from greys and shallow blues and retreating into black. This transformation is to signify his growing doubts and concerns within the relationship, that will ultimately lead to the break down of the partnership. He will be wearing white within the performance shots mixed with dark trousers, showing inner confusion.




Callum stroude is our drummer. He can be made to look as one of the group, but the main reason we have chosen him is because he is a drum player, meaning we will be able to capture many realistic looking shots that simply would not be achievable with a novice. He will be wearing a black buttoned shirt, and dark jeans .







Tom Marshal is being used as a character because he fits the profile of the band, his clothing style can be slightly altered; by darkening the top half of his outfit and adding a jacket. He is tall and works well within groups and is trained as an actor so can give professional performances.








Props

- Electric Guitars x2
- Drum kit
- Microphone and stand
- suitable seating
- TV/PC - The TV or PC monitor will be used to create the psychedelic effect of flying through the monitor into new locations
- Earning

All of the performance props used are classic styled rock instruments, this will help the audience in establishing the genre of our band.

The earning are the only notable prop that will be used outside of the performance elements, they will represent the couples relationship. The lead male (Josh) will give the earning to the lead female (Rebeca), at the beginning of the narrative elements. They will then be given back as the couple breaks up; as there is no opportunity for dialogue, we are relying on the earrings to signify the strength of the relationship, when they are returned it should be a clear indicator that the relationship is over.

"Find your tribe" - results and evaluation

My result is townie. Although some elements of this tribe does fit me as a person the entire concept of dividing up youth culture into tribes is flawed. The results given would match me in some ways as i have entered personal information about myself, the outputs available are far too stereotypical to match any person into a group entirely accurately. This does not mean i do not believe in "youth tribes" however i do think that individuality is present no matter how much you fit the profile of a "tribe". This "test" only shows the shell of a person and gives no diversity to them as an individual.

In saying this i have not been assigned to evaluate the issues of stereotyping and the impact this has on society. The tribe i have been designated is "townie", as i have already stated this does match some of my character traits. I do not think Chris moyles is a comedy genius, I'm not in the heart of mainstream culture, I'm not saving for a holiday, i disagree with the statement "where people are normal like you" as i believe normality is an impossibility as everyone is completely individual. In fact the only reason i fit into this category at all is because the other category's are completely void of all similarities to myself.

I am however aware that my opinion and beliefs will be influencing how i see myself and other people. This is a paradox in itself as i will forever say I'm not a townie without question when in fact this might be a key characteristic of townies.

The questions within the quiz or questionnaire were limited in their construction and forced answers for the sake of answers, this kind of liner questioning is conducive of false, incorrect or inaccurate results. I would say the nature of this quiz is not to be taken as a conclusive statement about your personal identity as a whole but rather a general outlook of what your particular media tastes are related to in terms of "youth tribes".

Music video treatment - "I wasn't ready" by "rarestspun"

The concept is based around the TV and colour keying to create a Psychedelic affect and confuse the audience to some degree. The video is heavily influence by the musics genre (Psychedelic-indie-rock). The video as an end product should be around the idea of "bedazzled" meets "back to the future" i.e confusing to say the least, a little funny with a lot of heartbreak.

We will shoot the performance elements of the video in the drama rooms at CNS school. We will have to obtain multiple cameras as an image of the band performing needs to be displayed on a television to create the desired effect. The flickering and changes of the TV to display a couple and the merging of that footage of the TV to look as though the user is now at that scene and they have traveled through the TV will be created in post production using adobe after effects. The footage of the couple will be shot in 3-4 locations: a park, the city, a walkway/path with trees and possibly a beach. The couples clothes will change with every scene.

The hook within the music video will undoubtedly be the post production effects and the shots of the couple that are incoherent. The video will hopefully be able to be watched multiple times; watch time the audience should notice more detail within the shots.

Concept board

The ideas on my concept board are as follows.

The main concept is based around a television, the television is displaying the band playing; this is being recorded onto tape. Whilst the recording is in progress the television will flicker and display images of a "couple". As the music video progresses it will be clear that the "couple" started out happy but gradually the relationship breaks down.

The next concept is designed to pull focus of the images on screen. The concept is to have only 1 object in colour at a time to clearly display its importance.

the genre of our band is psychedelic-indie-rock. The conventions within this genre aims to replicate the mind altering experience within psychedelic culture. We aim to replicate this effect in our video. we will achieve this affect by using the concepts above(colour keying) and using the TV to transport the viewer from one place in space and time to another.

Foals - Audience Profile

The “Foals” seem to be a typical college or uni band. There music style, group ethics, and dress code all point to that of out of work teenagers or young adults; thus appealing to that audience.

To begin their music likes to challenge conventions, the music itself does not have a regular sense of rhythm but more changes seemingly at random. It is a statement almost near rebellion and could be seen to be appealing to a demographic of 16 - 25 year olds (higher education). I have found an amazing picture to support this.
As you can see it clearly shows the group in a hall with very littler furnishings. This could easily be taken as the group reaching out to its audience, the picture looks as though they could be a band setting up for a school talent show or something of that nature.

Again relating to the image. Their dress sense is abundantly clear to be that of students. They are wearing hoodies, jeans and predominately student like clothing, the image is completed by the trainers they are all wearing. Further more, their hair styles all conform to that of a large group of the student body. Even the manner of which they are arranged connotes student, they are sitting on the flaw, standing, jumping and perched on seats. Most of the physical appearance would appeal to the average student of today. The way they present themselves could also show that they are predominately aiming for a male gender within the currently established demographic.

I have found sources that describe their band as “Math rock”. There music style is intellectual, near 90’s style and arty, their website (http://www.foals.co.uk/entry/) confirms this, it has a calming melody playing whilst displaying many photographs of various scenic objects and landscapes. Even one of their songs is called “Mathletics”. They originated in oxford and I believe them to be greatly made up of university drop outs apart from jimmy smith; who was the only member of the band to complete his degree , Walter and jimmy were even part of a small oxford band called “face meets grill”. There backgrounds and musical tastes and influences such as: minimal techno, Arthur Russell, Kraut rock bands such as Harmonia, Talking Heads and marijuana and the genres they fit into indie rock, dance-punk, math rock, post-punk and techno, would all suggest that they are aiming for a demographic of older teenagers to young adults.

I would like to add however that after all this information the “Foals” themselves, I believe, would like to consider themselves disassociated with demographics. However the evidence that I have brought forward does suggest a demographic of 16-25 year old males, who are in some for of higher education.

Complete song lyrics and initial concept

These are the complete lyrics of our song “I Wasn’t Ready” by “RarestSpun”. Our music videos basic idea follows the principle that the band is recording over a tape to record their music video; every now and then the video flickers and we see clips of a couple on the tape that is being recorded over.

// silence – the tape is put into the reorder and the record button is pressed
// guitar solo - shot of lead guitarist
i always thought you'd stay // pulls back so the tv is in view
i always thought you'd be here// tv starts to flicker
now you're gone // tv displays brief image of a couple
now you've gone // tv displays another image of a couple
away

there's nothing you can say// camera appears to move inside the tv
no-one left to tell me// couple kissing
now you're gone // running
now you've gone // laughing
away

i never thought you'd go // pulls back out from tv
i never thought you'd leave me // tv continues to flicker
this time // relationship starts to fall apart
this time
you're gone

i feel you next to me // into the tv one last time
put your arms around me // more couple stuff
but you're gone // picture of a card
but you've gone // tv blanks
away

Contacting potential bands - reply - lyrics

To: rarestspun

To the members of rarestspun, we have sampled your music and wish to create a music video as part of our media studies A level. The song we are interested in is "I Wasn't Ready". It would be a great help to us if you would allow us to use your music. The music video will be posted on you tube and on two seperat blogs. If it is not to much to ask, would you agree to send us the lyrics to this song if you agree to us using it? awaiting your reply. Yours faithfully Danny Turner and Sara Disborough

Re: Artist Message for RarestSpun: Music Video
Note Message yeh no problem, please put a link to our myspace on there at some point www.myspace.com/rarestspun. Send us a link when you're done. cheers.

lyrics

i always thought you'd stay
i always thought you'd be here
now you're gone
now you've gone
away

there's nothing you can say
no-one left to tell me
now you're gone
now you've gone
away

i never thought you'd go
i never thought you'd leave me
this time
this time
you're gone

i feel you next to me
put your arms around me
but you're gone
but you've gone
away

The song we have chosen is " I wasn't Ready " :





VISIT
RarestSpun

Sara then contacted them again to gather further information from the band.

extra info

Note Message Hi if it is possible could you give me some information about the band. e.g;
What inspired you to make the band?
What bands inspired you music?
How many members you have?
What made you pick the name RarestSpun?
How long you been a band?
What are your names?
Who are your main audience?
What would you say your genre was?

Sara Disborough

The band replied (after a few more messages explaining why this information was important, our identities being verified by the band; giving them our blog addresses to confirm we are media students.)

.What inspired you to make the band?
Couple of us were pissed one night and it seemed like a good idea. We had a few .sessions and enjoyed it and it's gone from there.
.What bands inspired you music?
Loads, too many to mention
.How many members you have?
5
.What made you pick the name RarestSpun?
It's from A Clockwork Orange
.How long you been a band?
5 months with the current line up
.What are your names?
Kev, Ste, Farrell, Cookie, Luc
.Who are your main audience?
No idea, we've only played a few gigs round Manchester.
.What would you say your genre was?
psychedelic indie-rock

We have obtained their "cover" images through "my space". I believe the city scape has the most potential. However we may have to create our own cover to fit into the narrativ structure of our music video.

Concepts of music Videos

There are Three main concepts available in the production of music videos.

The First concept: Performance
A performacne based music video consists of the artist or "band" playing there song whilst being recorded. This often gives the impression that the audience is watching the band live, this techniche can often be very voyeuristic in that the band often appears un-aware of the camera.

The second Concept: Narrative
A narrative based music video follows a plot line. The artist or "band" are not
present in the conventional sense (They are not playing there music) however they may be involved within the narrative structure of the video. The narrative structure is usually but not always based around the song.

The third Concept: Concept
A concept based music video is the most varied. The music video often tries to convey a deeper message, but this is not a must. Concept music videos do not have to follow a story line, they can be a sequance of numbers, pictures, shapes or anything else they dont have to fit the music but they often do. An example of a concept music video could be fottage played backwards.

It is important to note that not all music videos fit exactly into these three categories. Music videos can fit into all three. An example of this is
"Elbow - Grounds For Divorce "

Leftfield - Africa shox essay

The music video for leftfields - Africa shox depicts a social dystopia, however it is also suggestive that this is the current state of social affairs. The video follows a black man who appears to be homeless around a city, the man meets many people as he walks whom all seem to disregard his presence. They are unsympathetic to his (literal) deteriorating condition and poor health. The man eventually completely deteriorates from existence.

The genre of the music is electronic with elements of house and electro. The video conforms to many of the elements/ generic signifiers of these genres. The video uses a grey pallet which is a common generic signifier in electronic music. Urban settings and neon style lights conform to the house style of music video as well as some elements of the electro conventions although electro videos tend to be more vibrant.

The video is concept based with a narrative structure. The narrative simply follows a mean through a city without any clear goal. The ideological concept behind it is to send a message about the state of the world.

The video has clear inter-textual references to dystopian visions of the future such as blade runner and perhaps some of the terminator films, such connotations of dystopian visions are used to further emphasis the content of the video itself.

The video is set in new York city, it uses many of the underground systems to conform to the house style. However the main purpose of the video is to raise awareness of the current state of the world and is commenting on how slavery and the western world has fundamental altered corrupted and befouled near an entire race of people. As the man walks through the city he begins to fall apart and is not aided by anyone except a tribal looking (black) man, this could be interpreted either as how the western world is ignoring the needs of the east although they have the means to help them, this point is backed up by the fact that the man appears to have cataracts disease which is treatable but will leave the sufferer blind if not treated; many people in Africa do not receive treatment for this illness. Or it could be interpreted as how the slave trade slowly took away the cultural identity of Africans, whilst using them as slaves, eventually leading to their complete lose of all connection to their heritage. This is also backed up by the “shaman” offering to help the man whop is slowly deteriorating, a reference of how many black people decided to return to the safety of Africa after they were liberated from slavery.

The break dancers conform to the house style, but are also used to address the reversal of influences that took place during the time of slavery. This is because all modern “western” music and dance stems from African slaves who brought their up beat songs to America.

The video also represents a world that is heavily male dominated. This shows a clear opinion that the western world is in great need of a social reform and must undergo these changes quickly.