Locations for our Music Video

The studio location is at our school JFS. It is a good size studio which will enable us to cover it up in the ice white colour of an asylum which we have been planning for a while. The compact size of the studio will allow us to portray our star image effectively as they will be 'stuck' in the room until they have taken the pill which sends them into their fantasy world. By using this location as a mental asylum, it'll allow us to effectively sell our star image to the alienated youth. Within the location, we will adhere to generic music conventions by lip syncing and using close ups whilst filming in this location, this will promote the organic aesthetic of our band which will further enable us to reach out to the grunge rock fans. We also will use a graffiti tunnel in Mill Hill whereby we will show our lead singer running through it alongside his fantasy him running through it in a split screen. We think this will be allow the narrative to be understood clearer and sell our star image effectively to the alienated youth.

Timeline of our Music Video

After lots of discussion and consideration, we have finally decided the timeline for our music video. This is what we will be following when editing shots in our music video.

1. At first we see performance shots of the band playing the song, and the lead singer singing it in solo shots too. This is mixed in with close ups of the drums and bass playing. 
2. The Doctor enters and drugs the patient
3. The chorus kicks in and this is a mixture of running shots and band performance shots
4. During the chorus of the song we enter the shots of different coloured room which lasts until the end of the chorus
5. More band performance shots mixed in with the mental patient running
6. The next chorus kicks in with band performance shots and shots of the mental patients and lead singer acting crazy in the studio
7. At the end of the chorus the hook at the end kicks in with close ups of the lead singer and then the drums interchanging as the song goes
8. The end of the video is of the mental patient waking up

Analysis of Lithium Lyrics and how they Relate to our Music Video

The Lyrics of Lithium are very interesting to analyse as every line has contradictory emotions of sadness and depression contradicting those of happiness. These opposing emotions are perfect for our video as we show a man who is clearly trapped and struggling in a mental asylum portraying he is trapped in his mind and emotions, while also showing the man running through tunnels free of his thoughts and releasing his emotions. The strong messages throughout the song through the lyrics make us relatable to our target audience who may have experienced similar issues and as an organic rock band this will help attract a loyal fan base to our music. At the same time the chorus allows for a rock band to release their emotions and just go crazy which is common in rock bands especially at gigs or concerts, which is something rock fans want to see and experience.

An Example of this is the lyrics in the first verse:
'I'm so happy cause today
I found my friends
They're in my head
I'm so ugly
That's okay cause so are you
We broke our mirrors'

These lyrics highlight his contrasting and confused emotions claiming he has found friends but they are in his head portraying his loneliness and mental battle he is facing. Also saying he is ugly but so are you which shows his depression and self-doubt but getting joy that other people are ugly as well and that he isn't alone in his thoughts. As an organic up and coming band we want to appeal to the target audience by being relatable an highlighting that we have and go through ordinary problems that our fan base may have gone through. By expressing these mental issues through these lyrics we will build our fan base a lot quicker and have more loyal fans.

Verse two follows a similar trend to that of the first verse.
'I,m so lonely
That's okay, I shave my head
And I'm not sad
And just maybe
I'm to blame for all I've heard
'm not sure'

Again this is very contrasting he highlights his loneliness again but states that is ok maybe he has come to terms with it or he has something else that is keeping him going. For example maybe religion as there are lots of religious connotations throughout the song and that could be his comfort or his friend. The line 'I'm not sure' questioning if he himself is to blame clearly demonstrates his self doubt and confusion why he is the way he is and who is at fault.

The Chorus is very simple but effective:
'Yeah, Yeah
Yeah, Yeah
Yeah, Yeah
Yeah, Yeah
Yeah, Yeah
Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah'

Reading in to this chorus it could that theses lines are a release from his depression and confusion and he is just letting himself go during this part of the song. This is why during the chorus we wont see much of the man in the stray jacket but of the man running around London releasing his emotions and him in the band doing a similar thing. however, the chorus is simple and effective and common in the rock genre where the chorus is just a pure release of energy and at this point at a gig or in a video you will likely see a rock band just letting go and going mental.

The bridge in the song could be the most telling part of the whole song:
'I like it i'm not gonna crack
I miss you, i'm not gonna crack
I love you, I'm not gonna crack
I killed you, i'm not gonna crack
I like it i'm not gonna crack
I miss you, i'm not gonna crack
I love you, I'm not gonna crack
I killed you, i'm not gonna crack'

This suggests a mental breakdown and that his struggle has reached a climax. He has to repeat 'I'm not gonna crack every line' he has to remind himself constantly as he feels as if he has no other option. Lastly, the end of the song is very important message to the audience that whatever struggles you have and that we have them as well to be strong and not to crack as it will get better. By expressing these emotions and that we have the same issues the fanbase and target audience will relate to us and see us as ordinary but as we make music they like they will be more likely to be big fans as not only do they enjoy the music but appreciate the message and relate to the themes of the band.

Lithium - Nirvana Lyrics

I'm so happy because today

I've found my friends
They're in my head
I'm so ugly, but that's okay, 'cause so are you
We've broken our mirrors
Sunday morning is everyday for all I care
And I'm not scared
Light my candles in a daze
'Cause I've found god
Hey, hey, hey

I'm so lonely but that's okay I shaved my head
And I'm not sad
And just maybe I'm to blame for all I've heard
But I'm not sure
I'm so excited, I can't wait to meet you there
But I don't care
I'm so horny but that's okay
My will is good
Hey, hey, hey

I like it, I'm not gonna crack
I miss you, I'm not gonna crack
I love you, I'm not gonna crack
I killed you, I'm not gonna crack

I like it, I'm not gonna crack
I miss you, I'm not gonna crack
I love you, I'm not gonna crack
I killed you, I'm not gonna crack

I'm so happy 'cause today
I've found my friends,
They're in my head
I'm so ugly, that's okay, 'cause so are you,
Broke our mirrors
Sunday morning is everyday for all I care,
And I'm not scared
Light my candles in a daze
'Cause I've found god

Yeah, yeah,
Yeah, yeah,
Yeah, yeah,
Yeah, yeah,
Yeah, yeah,
Yeah, yeah, yeah

I like it, I'm not gonna crack
I miss you, I'm not gonna crack
I love you, I'm not gonna crack
I killed you, I'm not gonna crack

I like it, I'm not gonna crack
I miss you, I'm not gonna crack
I love you, I'm not gonna crack
I killed you, I'm not gonna crack

Email to Record Company

Props List

White bed sheets

Why? - We need lots of white bed sheets to cover the studio we will be filming in to make it look like a medial asylum.

Pills

Why? - We need lots of different shaped and colour pills to emphasise the life of someone stuck in an institution and to signify how mental patients are pacified.

Straight Jacket

Why? - We want to portray that the actor is a danger to himself therefore by showing that his arms and movement is constricted it connotes this.

Guitar/Base/Drums/Microphone

Why? - Because its a music video and we decided to use a diverse range of instruments to make our video more unique and unpredictable. 

Glass Box/Stool

Why? - We need a stool to put the glass box on as in the scene with the different colour rooms it will stand in the centre of the room and we will need a stool to place it at body height so we can put an object in the box to connote the patient being trapped inside a box.

Colour Filters

Why? - We need to portray that the patient is in multiple different rooms, so by using colour filters the different coloured rooms will show that the patient is in a different place at a different time, however all the rooms look the same which emphasises the boring and uneventful life of a patient in a mental institution.

Medical Tool

Why? - Medical tools will be seen in the room to further emphasise the asylum life to the audience.

Computer Screen/VCR Machine

Why? - We were able to obtain old computer screen monitors to smash as well as a VCR machine to smash when the patient gets angry in the asylum.

Wooden Chair

Why? - The patient will be sitting in the white room in their straight jacket an later on in the video the patient will smash the chair.

Baseball Bat

Why? - Baseball bat for the patient to smash the computer screen and VCR machine.

Most of these props can be found at home such as the chair and musical instruments however some need to be sourced elsewhere. In the special case of the glass box, it is coincidental that one of the group members has something similar at home, therefore obtaining it  would not be as challenging as it would seem.

Straight Jacket - None of us has this costume at home therefore we have to buy it online. Amazon would probably be the easiest and cheapest way to get it.

Medical Tools - Since one of the locations of the music video is in the studio room of our school, we will borrow medical equipment from the science department

Colour Filters - This can be acquired when we enquire for the camera equipment

Development of our Lighting Plan

Initial Lighting Idea: Initially all the asylum scenes were going to have the same lighting scheme which was going to be a bright ice white to make it look strictly like a mental institution. 

New Lighting Idea: We decided to develop the initial idea by adding the use of colour filters. The core of the asylum scenes will still be the bright ice white room, however the nature of the patients mind will be shown through the room in different colours which will symbolise the uncertain and unorganised state of his psyche.To do this we decided to add colour filters. We will put each filter over a light for different scenes representing different aspects of his mind to create a better insight into the patient for the audience. 

Lighting for Our Music Video

As our music video is set in an asylum we will aim to have the room as white and bright as possible. We will be able to enhance the rooms ice white colour through techniques acquired in research on different 'lighting' techniques.

  

As you can see from the video the cameraman is able to enhance the white background (we will have white curtains) to make it is a white and sharp as possible to connote that crazy/trapped feeling to the audience that our character will be portraying.

Furthermore, the movie 'One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest' relates to our music video as the story line is similar. Therefore we can take inspiration from the movie and the lighting they used and insert those ideas effectively into our music video.



As you can see from the clip the lighting and colour scheme is very basic. It is all white to emphasise the basic lifestyle one has when they live inside a mental asylum. Furthermore, you can see that the patients are all wearing simple one piece clothing with plain colours to further connote the simple and hopeless lifestyle of a patient in the asylum. We look forward to attempting to implement aspects of this movie into our music video to help create the asylum feel to the audience as well as helping to create the character that the audience will relate to.

In relation to the five key areas: (Genre, target audience, star image, synthetic or organic audience and conventions of a music video)

Genre: grunge rock - this usually means dark and gloomy lighting, however we subvert conventions of a music video as we are telling a story of a man trapped in an asylum who is let loose through music. The best way this is portrayed is through bright white lighting in the studio to convey an asylum in which the band will also perform in as their 'studio.'

Target Audience: disengaged youth/ rebellious teenagers - as we target the disengaged youth and rebellious youth, their is a good chance that our audience can relate to being isolated and different which our main artist portrays in the music video.

Star Image: Our bands star image is similar to that of Biffy Clyro, Nirvana and Kurt Cobain, the most accurate fit is Biffy Clyro, as we are building a unique image over time however we are different due to the stories we tell through our music so we subvert conventions.

Synthetic or Organic: organic artists as the band plays different instruments and care about building a genuine fan base through reality story telling through their music. Negus argues, not appealing to mainstream media and building fan base over time is essential to organic artists building a healthy fan base.

Conventions of a music video: Keith Negus argues, not appealing to mainstream media and building fan base over time is essential to organic artists building a healthy fan base.

Costumes and Where We Would Buy Them

We got all three band members to wear similar clothes. We told them to wear jeans with a shirt and a t-shirt underneath as this had the rock look to it. We let them bring in their own clothes to see their style, then we re-distributed the clothes to make the outfits that we liked. As our genre is grunge rock we needed to have clothes that resembled this like funky shirts, denim jackets and ripped jeans, this gave the look that would appeal to our target audience of the disengaged youth. Furthermore, we were trying to build our star image by having a fashionable modern rock band so it was important their clothes resembled rock, but were still modern and funky so they would be clothes worn by our target audience. Moreover, as our band is organic the clothes our band wear is vital in the image we build in front of our fans, therefore these clothes would need to be seen on us in everyday life which they would be so the clothes fit the music video and are not out of character to wear by any band member. Lastly, we definitely match conventions of a music video as we are converging to conventions of the rock genre by wearing clothes only rock artists would wear, therefore screaming out to the world we are 'The Roaches' a band of rock.

Furthermore, we got the clothes from each of our houses and brought in 2 outfits each giving a total of 10 outfits, which was plenty to mix and match from to find a perfect costume for our band member which most suited them.

Shot by Shot List

1. Far Wide Shot from outside the studio shooting room looking into the studio from the window
2. Wide Shot of the entire studio with the mental patient in a straight jacket, sitting on a chair in the middle of the room
3. Wide Shot of the entire studio with the band in the centre of the room
4. Wide Shot of the entire studio with the lead singer walking around himself as the mental patient
5. Wide Shot of the entire studio with the lead singer singing alone in the centre of the room
6. Wide Shot of the entire studio with the mental patient in a straight jacket, sitting on a chair in the middle of the room
7. Quad Shot of all four wide shots playing simultaneously
8. Close Up of lead singer singing 
9. Close Up of Guitarist singing
10. Close Up of drummer
11. Close Up of guitar
12. Close Up of drums
13. Close Up of Bass
14. Quad Shot of all four wide shots playing simultaneously
15. Wide Shot of the entire studio with the mental patient in a straight jacket, sitting on a chair in the middle of the room
16. Wide Shot of the entire studio with the lead singer walking around himself as the mental patient
17. Over the Shoulder of the nurse, Close Up of the pills on the tray moving along 
18. Wide Shot of the nurse walking in the studio and giving the mental patient the sedative/hallucinogenic drugs
19. Close Up of mental patients face while he swallows the drug, then zoom in to his eyes as they close slowly
20. Side Wide Shot of the mental patient running in the tunnel 
21. Side Wide Shot of the mental patient running along the shoreline
22. Behind the Back/Over the Shoulder Shot of the lead singer and the mental patient running towards the centre of a hallway
23. Mid Shot of the lead singer and the mental patient merging together into one person, still wearing the mental patients costume
24. Medium Wide Shot of the studio wth a box in the middle of the room with a projected red background
25. Medium Wide Shot of the studio wth a box in the middle of the room with a projected green background
26. Medium Wide Shot of the studio wth a box in the middle of the room with a projected blue background
27. Medium Wide Shot of the studio wth a box in the middle of the room with a projected orange background
28. Quad Shot of the colour rooms
29. Mid Shot of the Mental patient running out the room with him emerging from a closed door
30. Side Wide Shot of the Mental Patient Running in the other direction, giving the impression he is running back
31. Wide Shot of the Band playing while the mental patient is standing confused to the right of them with backdrop 1
32. Wide Shot of the Band playing while the mental patient is standing confused to the right of them with backdrop 2
33. Wide Shot of the Band playing while the mental patient is standing confused to the right of them with backdrop 3
34. Wide Shot of the mental patient in the white room with several duplicates each acting out a certain symptom of schizophrenia
35. Wide Shot of the mental patient acting as if all the duplicates have just vanished and he is standing alone in the white room
36. Over the Shoulder Shot of the mental patient looking at the box in the centre of the coloured room
37. Low Angle Mid Shot of the mental patient picking up the brain from inside the box and then dropping it into the box out of fear
38. Mid Shot of the Mental patient running out the room with him emerging from a closed door 
39. Wide Shot of the Band playing while the mental patient is standing confused to the right of them with backdrop 2
40. Mid Shot of the mental patient running onto a bridge with his hands on his head acting as if he can't take his mental disorder anymore
41. Mid Side Shot the mental patient running across the bridge with his hands on his head
42. Mid Shot of the lead singer leaning against the bridge with arms out wide
43. Mid Shot of the the lead singer on the bridge with guitar and mic singing the song
44. Track/Pan Shot of the mental patient in slow motion with his hands on his head
45. Side Wide Shot of mental patient running in a tunnel and he runs past himself as homeless
46. Side Wide Shot of mental patient running in a tunnel and he runs past the lead singer singing the song
47. Wide Shot of the lead singer smashing up a machine
48. Close Up of the machine smashing
49. Close Up of the bat smashing a machine
50. Close Up of the bat smashing the brain
51. Wide Shot of the Band playing while the mental patient is acting crazy with his hands on his head to the right of them with backdrop 1
52. Wide Shot of the Band playing while the mental patient is acting crazy with his hands on his head to the right of them with backdrop 2
53. Wide Shot of the Band playing while the mental patient is acting crazy with his hands on his head to the right of them with backdrop 3 
54. Mid Side Shot the mental patient sprinting across the bridge
55. Close up of lead singer singing the song
56. Quick Cut to the Close Up of guitar being played
57. Close up of lead singer singing the song
58. Quick Cut to the Close Up of drums being played
59. Close up of lead singer singing the song
60. Track/Pan Shot of the mental patient in slow motion with his hands on his head, then speeding up
61. Wide Shot of the mental patient in the chair acting crazy
62. Mid Shot of the the lead singer on the bridge with guitar and mic singing the song
63. Wide Shot of the lead singer smashing the guitar on the ground in slow motion
64. Over the Shoulder Shot of the scientist looking through the window into the mental patient sleeping
65. Close Up of the mental patient 

Feedback on Animatic

Written feedback from classmates:

• "The shots are not always cut to the beat."
• "Sometimes the instruments come in at points after we hear them in the song."
• "Close ups are good."
• "Theres a nice range of shots which capture the narrative."
• "Narrative makes sense and is easy to follow, helps to sell the star image successfully."

Areas to Develop:

• When shooting the music video film wide shots, mid shots and close ups of all the band so that theres more to cut to.
• More emphasis on close ups when running through the sheets
• Make sure at the end of each filming session that we pan left or right so that we can cut from one sequence to another

What We'll Do

• Take the tripod out so that we can film the singer from different angles while he's running
• Have different back drops in the studio to emphasise the different states in his mind as it doesn't come across clearly in the animatic
• Pan across so theres more to cut to.

How I Made the Animatic

One thing that I had to keep in mind when creating the animatic was to make sure that while cutting each shot to the beat, I would always convey the timeline of the narrative. This meant that when in post-production of our music video I would know the exact shots to put where in the video, and also what parts of the narrative would show as well. One problem I faced at the start was deciding when to repeat shots and when to implement new shots that developed the narrative. This was because in music videos there has to be a perfect balance between narrative shots and performance shots in order for the audience to remain entertained while also portray the star image of the artist as a band or a solo singer. The method I used was to take a picture of each of the storyboard boxes and crop them to fit the whole frame of a screen, then I imported them all into iMovie. Next I placed the song, edited to how we wanted, into the timeline of iMovie and placed each shot we wanted into the timeline and started placing them in order. This was more complicated than a film sequence as it included repeating shots and cutting between narrative shots and band performance shots. Therefore it was made easier by uploading the pictures onto a computer as it allowed me to manipulate which pictures I wanted in the order of the music video.

Animatic

How I Storyboarded

One important factor that I had to keep in mind when creating the storyboard was to incorporate the locations we had decided to shoot our music video in, into my drawings. This however made it easier as it allowed me to create an image in my mind which meant I only had to draw it.

It was difficult at first to come up with ideas for the music video, however once the narrative was decided it meant that the images all related to it in a certain way and the song helped to associate the narrative with shots. The method I used was to create shots in the mental asylum at the beginning of the song, then as the chorus kicked in I created shots of the main actor running and entering the 'Brain Box Room' and also shots of the band performing in different locations.

To complete the storyboard i took a picture of each box and then placed them in order of how I wanted the video to be cut to. This was more complicated than a film sequence as it included repeating shots and cutting between narrative shots and band performance shots. Therefore it was made easier by uploading the pictures onto a computer as it allowed me to manipulate which pictures I wanted in the order of the music video

Storyboard

Direction = Left to right then down (repeat for each row)