Final Location

After sending emails to two establishments we recieved the following replies:

Although we could use both rooms, they both were inconvient for us, as days and times to film would have been hard to plan and we couldn't find anyone from the university who would be willing to book the room for us in their name. Because of this we decided to use the same fields that Sarah used in her AS coursework.

Shot Schedule

Shot Schedule

Star Image

Star Image

The audience will feel an emotional affinity with our artist, Oliver, as they will be able to relate to him making it easier for them to form an attachment. Oliver will act and dress like our audience making him easier to relate to as they will see some of themselves in the artists persona. This in turn will create a loose attachment between the audience and Oliver, because the likeness between both the parties makes the audience feel closer to the artist, allowing the emotional affinty to grow.

Self idenification will be possible to the audience in our music video, as the male audience members will be able to relate to the way Oliver acts. For example, Oliver plays the guitar in the music video, and those male audience members who can play the guitar would be able to imagine themselves playing the guitar in the same setting as Oliver. For the female audience they would be able to relate to one of our three female extras. The final female extra who recieves a rose from Oliver would be easy for the female audience to identify themselves with, as most teenage girls will have imaged being 'romanced' by a guy at some point, and this is what is depicted in the video. Consequently both genders in our audience will be able to idnetify themselves with our first female extra, the waitress. Those in our target audience who have a job that they don't like or are miserable in, will relate to the 'miserable waitress' who serves Oliver.

As we are generally keeping the same style throughout the music video for both the extras and Oliver, it would be easy for both genders of our audience to imitate the style, the males copying Oliver's style and the females imitating the last two extras dress. Oliver will come across as quite laid back in the music video, and this should help our audience to project his character from themselves.

Risk Assessment

Falls
Hazard: Falls of men and equipment
Severity: Medium
Likelihood: Medium
Persons at risk: Artist, 3 extras and crew (Liana and Sarah). Camera equipment.
Precautions: Keep floor clear and stabilise all equipment.

Props
Hazard: Damage to props and cast and crew
Severity: Medium
Likelihood: High
Persons at risk: Artist, 3 extras and crew (Liana and Sarah). Furniture, Instruments.
Precautions: Secure all props.

Tripping Hazards
Hazard: Falls of cast and crew
Severity: Medium
Likelihood: Medium
Persons at risk: Artist, 3 extras and crew (Liana and Sarah).
Precautions: Keep the floor clear.

Burns from Lighting
Hazard: Burns of cast and crew
Severity: Medium
Likelihood: Low
Persons at risk: Artist, 3 extras and crew (Liana and Sarah)
Precautions: Let the equipment cool down before touching.

Snow Patrol

Snow Partol's music video for their song Chasing Cars, includes the type of editing we wish to use for our own music video. Instead of using cuts like most music videos rely on, to have a close up of the artists face the camera zooms in, which is what we plan to do throughout the video. The camera also tracks the artist throughout the video, an element we have included in our own ideas as we think it fits better with the slower pace, such as Chasing Cars.

Representation

As we are doing an illustration video the main representation is of the lyrics. Most of the actions we have included such as dancing, a cafe and the coloured lights are drawn from the lyrics. Another main representaion is of our artist. He is portrayed as a stereotypical single 'lad', a bit of player. A behaviour great publicised through celebrities and the increasingly popular fake reality shows such as Made in Chelsea, which refers prefusely to 'the game'. This representation fits in with Laura Mulvey's theory of the male gaze as our artist is surrounded by attractive women and is interest in them all. However Oliver is also presented to be quite chivalrous and old fashioned with girls, create a binary opposite. Our setting of a field is in keeping with a stereotypical link between folk and acoustic indie and natural elements. This creates a well known representation of our genre, which will appeal to our audience.

Theorists

Our music video includes theorists such as Laura Mulvey, who is the theorist of the male gaze. The three female characters in our music video, alongside our male artist, portray different types of women. The first female shown in the video is the female waitress, who will appear quite miserable and down trodden. Although we are looking to make the character almost 'unattractive' and wear 'frumpy' clothes, she will still fit in with the male gaze, and appeal to the male audience. The next female in our video is the dancer, who will waltz with our artist. The dancer will be wearing a pretty and sophisticated dress, which will imply slight elegance. The female will inspire admiration in other women and will be judged as someone to aspire to be like. For males, the female will be shown as attractive, but not as a 'sexual object of desire', as will be projected for our final female character also.

Another theorist that will be relevant to our music video is Claude Levi-Strauss and the idea of binary opposites. Our artist in the video could be considered in two different ways; the old fashioned gentlemen, and the modern 'lad'. The actions that our artist takes, such as giving the girl a rose and waltzing, are stereotypically old fashioned ways of courting a woman. However, our artist moves through women quickly, as when he's finished dancing with one, he moves on and gives a rose to the next, which portrays him as a modern day guy, and the idea of dating more than one person. The two concepts are completely different to each other, making them binary opposites, but both are present in the character our artist plays.

Damien Rice

Damien Rice is an Irish musician of the indie rock and folk genre. His songs generally acoustic and have a slow temp, as you can see from the video below. The Blower's Daughter is taken from Rice's first album O. The video has very few cuts and the shots it has are all very slow pace with little movement, fitting perfectly with the tempo of the song. This is what we have done with our video, however with more movement as our song is slightly faster than this.

Animatic

Our Animatic has 30 shots, however our shots will focus more on movement of the artist rather than new shots and cutting. The pace and amount of shots we have fits with the tempo of Piledriver Waltz.

Storyboard

This is our storyboard in it's raw version, with the timings by Liana, the drawings by Sarah and we both worked together to produce the shot notes.

Camera Shot Practice

Liana and I have practised using my Canon 500D on record mode, which is the equipment we will be using to record our music video. We have carried out test shots for some of the angles and techniques we desire to have in our video. They were all filmed using the camera hand held, which will not necessarily be what we do with our actual video.




Firstly we have practiced two methods of 'following' our artist around, panning in a circle whilst our artist walks around us and tracking behind, or in front, of the artist.


I think the panning shot works best as it has a smoother flow and is almost easier to watch as the focal point is continuous. Also the shot is wider, allowing the location and the artist to have more detail.

Zooming is another technique we have practiced. As the camera was hand held the zoom became quite jumpy which is why we would need a tripod to help steady the camera.


We have also practised taking a high angled shot, a feature towards the end of our video plan. From this still we can see that the angle works well and the shot stays focused and even.

Reference to Original Media

From the Ritz to the Rubble is a song from Arctic Monkey's first album Whatever People Say I am That's What I'm Not. As the lead singer of the Arctic Monkey's we feel this is relevant to the Alex Turner song we have chosen, as any fans of the Arctic Monkey's would be interested in Alex Turner and vice versa. So we wanted to incorporate an idea of the Arctic Monkeys into our video. We chose the lyric 'you can swap jumpers and make another move' but in a different context to the song. The visual we have used to link the lyric to our video is to have our artist go from one girl change jacket and move onto to another.

Location Development

We want our location to be a spacious, plain room where we can have a minimalistic look and just the props that we want. The location we had original hoped to use became unavailable at the last minute. We are now looking at finding similar rooms in Leicester city, which as a last resort we may have to hire. We have contacted two establishments, Phoenix Square Cinema and De Montfort Universities Art and Design  department.

These are the actual emails we sent.

If we are unable to find a suitable room then our back up location is to use a field in Narborough area, probably the same field used in Sarah's AS photoshoot.

Oliver Quad

This is the actor we have chosen to feature in our video and portray our artist. We have chosen him for many reasons. First of all we think he would appeal to the female gaze, being attractive and having a stereotypical 'cute' look. He also follows the style we would like our artist to have. Another reason we have chosen him is because he has a genuine interest in music, specifically the Indie music genre and is infact in a band himself.

Initial Idea

Our set will hopefully be a large, plain room with all the different elements of our video in it. We want the video to have a continuos flow, as though we were following our artist, Oliver, around the room. In the instrumental introduction of Piledriver Waltz, Oliver will enter the room, sit on the floor and begin to play the acoustic guitar. He will stay there and lip sync the first verse and as the instrumental begins again, he will stand up and walk to a cafe style table and chair in the room. He will sit at the table just before the chorus starts, which he will lip sync in a very distant, almost bored way. At the line "your waitress was miserable, and so was your food" a waitress will bring him a traditional 'cafe breakfast'/ 'English breakfast', while Oliver will continue to stare blankly and ignore his surroundings. Half way through the last line of the chorus he will leave the table, walk a short way so that the 'cafe' setting is out of shot and then stop in front of the wall. There will be a close up shot of Oliver's face as he lip syncs to the lyrics "Mysteries flashing amber, go green when you answer, but the red on the rest of the questionnaire never changes". On the respective lines, a amber, green and red light will be shone onto his face and then go off for the next verse, where the camera will zoom out again in preperation for the next part of the song. During the first two lines of the next verse, Oliver will stay against the wall still lip syncing to the lyrics, but at the end of the line "I heard the piledriver waltz" he will turn to the side and begin to waltz with a dancer. This will continue until the end of the verse, through the instrumental that follows, and break away from the dance just before the beginning of the chorus. During the second chorus we will watch Oliver from behind walking away. He will change his jacket to one on a coat stand or the floor and will continue walking until he see a girl who he will give a rose to. He will continue to walk forward but looking back at the girl as he does. The video will end with a centred, mid shot of  a rather bored Oliver looking into the camera and letting a confetti cannon off.

Reference to Original Media

The song that we have chosen to create our music video to, Piledriver Waltz by Alex Turner, was specifically recorded for the film Submarine, directed by Richard Ayoade. The main character in the film, played by actor Craig Roberts, is called Oliver Tate. This ties in well with our own artist, who similarly is called Oliver Quad, creating a stronger link between the film and our music video. This will also help with our target audience, as they are more likely to watch films such as Submarine, and will consequently understand the link between the song, our artist and the film.

Arctic Monkeys- Brick By Brick

This Arctic Monkey's video is epitomises vintage cool focusing, for the majority of the video, on a vinyl record.

Styling

The current definition of male indie style was made popular by bands such as The Vaccines, The Drums and Two Door Cinema Club. The style has become available to all by large, international high street shops such as Topman and River Island. This style includes clothes such as skinny jeans, buttoned up shirts, vests, cardigans, jumpers and tweed, denim and military jackets. The image here of Two Door Cinema Club is the perfect demonstration of the style we want. Another reason this look has become so popular recently is because of the constant revival of British heritage making 'vintage' items cool and bringing them into the forefront of fashion, resulting in a huge amount of vintage shops. This is the look we would like Oliver to have in our video. Although it is very mainstream it will clearly display an indie rather than having a very obscure, hipster style. This will also relate more to the audience we specified in the profile.

This smart, yet casual style was first made popular by The Beatles in their early years. Demonstaring just how influencial music, and a specific band, can be on all elements of culture.

The three female extras we intend to have will all have a stereotypical outfit for their role.

The waitress will look quite bland and be styled in plain, dark coloured clothes. They would be wearing minimal make up, and generally look quite scruffy and miserable to help reflect the lyrics.

The girl who will waltz with Oliver will not have ballroom elegance but rather a youthful, sophisticated look wearing a pretty, pastel dress which will float well whilst dancing.
The girl who receives the rose from Oliver will wear casual dress again fitting into the mainstream idea of indie, wearing jeans, leather shoes and a jacket.

Video Ideas Development

In our pitch we stated that we would be doing an amplification video of Piledriver Waltz. However as we have developed our ideas and decided on the visuals for our video it has become more of an illustration video with the large majority of our visuals representing lyrics from the song.

Props

These are the props that we need to create our music video:

• acoustic guitar
• table, plate, chair, table cloth
• food
• torch
• red, orange and green plastic
• jacket
• rose
• party popper

Pitch Feedback

The positive feedback we have received is that our artist name is good and the editing ideas we have come up are good and will fit with the genre of the song we have chosen. The images we have used in the pitch are to demonstrate our genre and the style of our artist and rather than it being 'incredibly indie', it is 'stereotypically indie' which we and some others feel is clearly reflected. Two people said our age range of 16-19 is too low and in hindsight we do agree and have decided to change it to 16 - 30, which will be adjusted on our audience profile.

Pitch

Music video pitch

View more presentations from Sarah Daniels.

Franz Ferdinand- Take Me Out

I love the use of animation and the incorporation of pop culture, vintage items.

The Naked and Famous- Young Blood

I love the simplicity of this video. The desaturised colours and sun glare filters create a beautiful and almost vintage look. The visuals in the video of the band just having fun and enjoying being young are  really effective, it represents not only the song which is about being in love when young but the band as a whole, portraying them to be happy and carefree. This idea of just having fun in a video rather creating an act almost is something I think we could incorporate into our video.

The Stranglers - Golden Brown

I like how the video shows almost two different lifestyles that are happening in the same place, on one hand you have the rich, quite austere gentlemen, who perform the song, and also the explorers, who create a sort of narrative for the video. The video also uses different clips, to show how the 'natives' lives are lived, and to contrast with the gentlemen and explorers. It makes the music video more diverse and exoctic, making it more interesting as the song is quite slow paced and calm.

Moodboard

In our moodboard we have included images that reflect the style of our genre, indie, and so the general look we would like our artist to have. These images will be a good reference when we come to picking clothes, etc., for our artist. They can also be used to help to choose a setting and other visual effects for our video. As well as style inspirations we have included images of musical inspirations in the indie genre, which we can use as another reference when creating our video and artist's look.

The Naked and Famous- Girls Like You

In the section of the video I have selected we see the visual, of the lights going on and off in a building, reflect the rhythm created through the beat of the percussion. This is good because it clearly represents the music in a simple, yet effective way.

Original Piledriver Waltz Video

This is the official video for Alex Turner's Piledriver Waltz, because the song is taken from a film soundtrack the main focus in the video is the film's main characters. This use of purely extras rather than a band is a good idea as it retains the focus on the music rather than the image of the band. The filter and the home movie style editing give the video a vintage feel, which is representing the time the film is set but also is a main interest with stereotypical indie fans. The filter, along with the slow movements in the clips also fits with the slow music. However the quick editing between the clips goes against these as it doesn't fit the beat, although it does amplify the idea of it being an ammeter video.

Market Research

Chosen Song

Piledriver Waltz by Alex Turner from the album Submarine.

Lyrics
I etched the face of a stopwatch on the back of a raindrop
And did a swap for the sand in an hourglass
I heard an unhappy ending
It sorta sounds like you're leaving
I heard the piledriver waltz
It woke me up this morning 

You look like you've been for breakfast at the heartbreak hotel
And sat in the back booth by the pamphlets and the literature on how to lose
Your waitress was miserable and so was your food
If you're gonna try and walk on water make sure you wear your comfortable shoes

Mysteries flashing amber
Go green when you answer
But the red on the rest of the questionnaire never changes

I heard the news that you're planning
To shoot me out of a cannon
I heard the piledriver waltz
It woke me up this morning 

You look like you've been for breakfast at the heartbreak hotel
And sat in the back booth by the pamphlets and the literature on how to lose
Your waitress was miserable and so was your food
If you're gonna try and walk on water make sure you wear your comfortable shoes

Aaah, piledriver 

Audience Profile

Age: 16-30 years

Gender: predominately female, but also male teenagers, who define themselves as 'indie'

Occupation: students, may possibly have a full/part time job

Background: predominately middle class teenagers, from suburban and city centre areas.

Likes:

• Festivals
• Acoustic/alternative music
• Unknown bands
• Abstract or knitted clothing
• Urban Outfitters
• Vintage items
• Cats

Dislikes:

• Most pop music
• Pessimistic people

Ambitions: to become artists themselves, or to work in another creative job, or in media.

Musical preferences: Arcade Fire, Miles Kane, The Stranglers, The Vaccines, Arctic Monkeys, The Beatles, These Furrows, Blur, The Coral, The Horrors.

Looks up to/idolizes: Alex Turner, John Lennon, Alexa Chung, Daisy Lowe, Nick Grimshaw, Stephen Fry.

Media consumer habits: watches British and independent films. Watches Never Mind the Buzzcocks, The Mighty Boosh, IT Crowd, music and world documentaries. Takes interest in current affairs. Reads magazines like NME, Vice and Clash. Buys the physical copy of an album in either CD or vinyl format.

Artist Profile

Oliver Quad

Oliver is an 18 solo indie artist from rural Leicestershire. He has always had a great love of music, having been influence by his parent's tastes in classic bands such as The Beatles, The Who, Queen and The Kinks, from a very young age. When he was 7 Oliver began to learn to play the piano but quickly progressed to guitar as well to allow him to begin to follow his dream of becoming a musician.

He completed his A levels this year and has left school with 2 As in Music and Media, and B in English. However rather than carry onto further education Oliver wanted to focus on his music career and his greatest passion. Whilst at college Oliver played shows at local venues and pubs, largely in Leicester City to reach a larger, more diverse audience. These shows were well accepted and rapidly increased in popularity when word of Oliver's vocal, and musical talent got out.

The two greatest influences to Oliver are Kasabian and Arctic Monkeys, with Alex Turner being his hero. Kasabian are particularly influential because they are also from Leicestershire and to see that they have come from so little to being internationally known is always promising. Other influences include Blur, Alex James, Klaxons, Pulp, The Libertines and The Killers.

Oliver Quad's forthcoming debut single and accompanying video is set to be a new indie classic.

Final Name Decision and Twitter

We have decided that from the original list of first names we suggested for our artist Oliver is the one we will use. Although it's a popular name this can actually be an advantage as it will reflect a more genuine artist that is just passionate about music rather than a fake artist only concerned with an image or show. For the surname we chose the word 'Quad' at random and we felt it created quite a catchy name when paired with Oliver. The artist's full name is Oliver Quad, which has four syllables following our theory that most artist's names have 3/4 syllables.

We have created a twitter page called OliverQuad, which we will update on a regular basis.

Name Ideas

We decided that our male solo artist should have a name that consists of 3 or 4 syllables overall following a common trend seen with artists such as Miles Kane, Jamie T, Lady Gaga, Ellie Goulding, Ray Davis and Alex Turner. This is becomes it is more catchy and memorable. We also think the name should also have an eccentric/unusual feature because again it will allow it to be more memorable, and it is common for our chosen genre.

Some of our original first name ideas are :
Harry,
Theo,
Oliver,
Jamie,
Ethan.

For our artist's last name we have decided we'll just pick a random object.

Music Video Analysis - Mumford & Sons

Music Video Analysis - Plan B

Music Video Analysis - Arctic Monkeys

Music Video Analysis - Panic! At The Disco

Music Video Analysis - Ok Go

Music Video Analysis - Plan B

A2 Coursework Schedule

G325 Advanced Portfolio Cw Schedule Sept - Dec11 Lutterworth College