Locations

Reepham Road - scenes with the band performing on bikes. Due to this being quite a busy road I will have to be selective about filming times. Luckily shooting at night time allows me to film safely and fits in with the song lyrics "Oh what a night to be alive". To film I could get someone to drive in a car down the road and I could either sit in the back seats and safely lean over to film or safely sit in the boot and ensure that the car is traveling at a slow-ish speed. I feel that this would work well in keeping the camera shot steady and would be effective in terms of positioning (i.e. middle of the road). To ensure that the 'band' is well lit I could either source some large powerful torches or attempt to use another car's headlights either behind the subjects or, if possible, in front.
The 'band' would bike down the road in a triangle formation with the lead singer at the front point and the other two members cycling slightly behind. If possible I can get the musicians to be holding a guitar etc so they're cycling without holding on. However, for safety reasons this might not be feasible. If this is too unsafe I can use part of Marriotts Way as it will have the same effect with the trees and the long path as the road and I will be able to ensure that nobody is in the way of me filming. I got this idea from Bat For Lashes' video to "What's a Girl To Do".

Castle Meadow - final scene of Rory as a 'homeless person'. I feel that the location of this would work well due to the concrete being fairly grey and dirty - symbolizing how his life has spiraled out of control. The bench that is seen in the photo could be the place that Rory wakes up as this is directly opposite the bus stops and it would be easy to create a shot of him looking over at the female character (who would be stood waiting for a bus). Again, in terms of shooting time I would have to be selective due to the city being very busy at certain points. I feel that shooting very early in the morning before the buses run (6am or sooner) would work well because I wouldn't have people standing in the way of the shot. Also, it would imply to the audience that this is Rory's permanent home.
Rory could be positioned laying down on the bench when he awakens, this allows me to experiment with a wide range of shots (POV, extreme close up, panning, tracking etc). He could be wrapped in a sleeping bag or just a few pieces of newspaper. I feel that as this will be the last shot of the music video it must make an impact on the audience and finalize the narrative well; thus the greater impact I can create the better.

London Street - scenes of drug purchasing/criminal activity. I made a moving image of this location as I wanted to show its full dimensions to discuss fully my ideas. This part of the street has three different entrance ways. I thought it could be interesting to film Rory purchasing drugs etc from a dealer. This could be shot in more of a conceptual way as both Rory and the dealer walk to the centre of the triangle from two different entrances. I could do tracking and close ups of them walking, meeting, exchanging drugs for money and then walking in the opposite direction from where they originally came. 

Similar to the other two shots I'd have to think about when I film this as I don't want people getting in the way of the shot and I also don't want to create a cause for concern with surrounding people actually thinking something is going on. Therefore, a morning shot would probably be best as it will be light enough to film and the city is still usually busy late at night. 

OTHER LOCATIONS:

- 'Night Club' - dark-ish room with lights and lots of people. Could be filmed in a range of places - school drama studio, my house or an actual night club (during the day but filmed as if it was at night). 

- House setting - to convey the arguments that Rory and the female character have. My house or someone else's house would be fine as there's not many shots of the house. 

- Restaurant - "So get out". Development in the relationship - this is built up so that when Rory becomes drug-dependent it's made more shocking and conveys the narrative better.

Unusual Video Concept Inspiration / Contingency Plan

Lavie's music video to 'Her Morning Elegance' really intrigued me as it was one of the first professionally made stop motion videos I had ever seen. I loved the narrative that the video ran along and I felt that it mirrored the song's rhythm and meaning well. It would be interesting to experiment with stop motion, however I feel that with stop motion the whole video has to be done in the same style (not part picture and part video) for it to be effective. 

I found The Black Keys' music video to Lonely Boy to be very abstract and unusual. The concept of a lone man dancing and miming along to the track is unique and risque. The fact that they have chosen not to show the band and make an abstract video makes me wonder whether it would be a concept that I could try. Although the production difficulty and ideas would be simplistic and basic, it could work as being a more conceptual music video. 

Much like the previous video, this was a one take video however the concept differed massively. The narrative and scenarios that occurred during the video were intriguing and made the audience want to continue watching. It could be worth experimenting with one take videos also. 

After much research I stumbled across this music video for the song "Rabbit in Your Headlights". Obviously the concept would be impractical with the equipment and editing software that's available to me but I liked the filming location of the tunnel. This made me think more about the possible locations that I could film in. 

I loved Bat For Lashes' music video to "What's a Girl To Do" as the idea to have a mixture of performance and concept was really effective. I thought the people on the bikes was interesting and it prompted me to think about possibly having my 'band' performing an action when the performance parts are happening rather than just having them stand and play instruments. 

Again, the concept of this one shot music video was really interesting. The performance aspect is unique and the use of treadmills to create movement and allow the performers to move to the beat of the  song is unusual. 

Final Narrative Idea

I have decided to take the inferred meaning of the lyrics to my music video and produce a video based around drug abuse. The video will have a narrative structure and will follow the life of one main male character (Rory). The narrative will convey his interest in a female character and how them splitting up left him believing he was only "dreaming of love".  During the lyrics "So get out, Sing and shout, I got high as the ceiling only on the feeling of love" I could convey them arguing and Rory's further drug use. I'd like to end the video by showing the Rory slowly slipping in and out of consciousness and then him waking up at the lyric "I was only dreaming of -" and appearing as a homeless person. Thus, his drug addiction has gotten him homeless. After this I'd like to experiment with a shot of an elderly man (future Rory) closing an old scrap book (with the video embedded on top of it). This is indicative of the notion of looking and ends the narrative well.
Throughout the music video I will cut to clips of the "band" performing to make the video partially performance based.

Below are some quick sketches to help begin to plan possible shots that I might use:

The first sketch depicts Rory when he is homeless. This will be one of the last shots but one of the most complicated to film due to timing of the day. I want the shot to either be at night time or in the morning.

This will be the argument scene.

This is a sketch of the band playing. I want the shot to be at night preferably with headlights for a light source.

Idea Development

Casting Advertising

In order to create my music video I needed to get together a small cast of actors and actresses to appear. I couldn't think of anyone I knew personally that would play the male roles within my music video and I was prompted to advertise for the positions that I required.

I decided to use social media sites such as Facebook to attempt to get volunteer actors for my shoot. Although I felt this would be effective as my Facebook friends are mostly of the target age that I need for my music video, I didn't get any responders due to the lack of people willing to give up their time.

I then decided to post flyers around another local college which has a specialist performing arts department. I'm hoping to receive a few replies within a week so I can make the appropriate decisions before my filming date. 

Chosen Band: The 99s

I have chosen to make a music video to The 99s' "(What a Night) To Be Alive". When I first heard this song a music video concept popped into my head and I feel it'll allow me to be more experimental with the video. The 99s are a band of three members: Johnny West, James Loughlin and Adam Quigley. After much success they realised that their songs needed a larger sound and three instruments weren't enough anymore; this is when Jay Moran (multi-instrumentalist) began to help them. Both of their albums: 'Run Of The Mill' and 'The 99s' demonstrate their talent in creating catchy 60's style pop music. They've featured in Hollyoaks in October 2011 and northern artist Chris Cyprus painted the artwork for their album.

Permission:

To get in touch with them to ask for permission to use the song I decided to email them as their social networking sites don't have many recent updates so might be unreliable when it comes to contacting them. My email read:

Jimmy replied the same day to my email giving me permission to use their song:

Song Lyrics:

Well I know

You went out

On the town

And you danced and you act like a clown

Til the morn

Early dawn

You were up for the big come down

Oh what a night to be alive-ee

Oh what a night to be alive-ee

Woah-hh

So get out

Sing and shout

I got high as the ceiling only on the feeling of love

Now we go

But you left me believing I was only dreaming of love

And it’s time

For one more

It’s on me

And we’ll talk of all the things we could be

And then three to the four

And now we’re all spaced out on the floor

Oh what a night to be alive-ee

Oh what a night to be alive-ee

Woah-hh

So get out

Sing and shout

I got high as the ceiling only on the feeling of love

Now we go

But you left me believing I was only dreaming of love

[Instrumental]

Oh what a night to be alive-ee

Oh what a night to be alive-ee

Woah-hh

So get out

Sing and shout

I got high as the ceiling only on the feeling of love

Now we go

But you left me believing I was only dreaming of love

I was only dreaming of love

I was only dreaming of love - oo

I was only dreaming of

Initial Ideas/Concepts:

My initial interpretation of this song was a first person narrative who went to/is at a party. The lyrics "Well I know, You went out, On the town" suggest that the person is looking back on someone else going out the morning after. However the chorus "Oh what a night to be alive-ee" suggests that they've gone back in time and are imagining being out with the person the night before and having a good time. My idea is to have 2 main characters - a male and a female - the male is infatuated by the female and dreams of going to a party with her. By the end of the song it shows the male waking up - really he is homeless and is imagining going to a party with the female who he sees every morning when he wakes up. I feel that a variety of shots can be used to narrate this video and many editing techniques can be experimented with to portray the story from many angles. Additionally, a lot can be done in terms of mis-en-scene (props, costume, composition) to save the twist of the man actually being homeless for the closing lines of the song.