Idea's for the music video

Our final decision was to do Girls on TV. This is because we all had many ideas as we listened to the song. My idea was that we had a split screen of 4. The first image to appear in one of the screens would be the bass as it comes on in the music. The next image would be the drums as it comes on in the music. The next would be the guitar as it comes on the in the music, and the final image on one of the four screens would be the singers lips as she sings the first words. It would be a tricky thing to do and will take a lot of extra time on the college computers but my group and I seem keen on the idea. As the song gets into the verse/chorus/bridge, the camera will zoom into one of the four split screens and the action will go on in that scene, for example there will be some weird moments and shots that create a sense of eerieness - this would include a mime, or a band set up down a street, or the singer running away from something chasing her. When the action in that scene has finished, the camera will then zoom out again into the split shot. When on the split shot, the instruments and girls lips will still be going, and the chorus will be playing everytime the camera zooms out onto the split shot. When there is another verse, the camera will zoom into a different split shot, and another set of action will go on, whether its the band playing live or some other action packed scene. It will zoom out again, onto the split shot when the chorus is playing. When the last chorus says "Girls on TV", the camera will zoom into a shot from the split screen and it will show the singer singing on a TV. We hope to achieve this by using a security camera whilst the singer is singing into it, and recording the TV. We will then zoom out, and as the music fades to signal the end of the song, the images on the split screen dissapear one by one, until we are left with a blank screen.
This is just an idea, but after conferring with the group it seems as though we are set on it.

Foals - "Cassius"

To compare conventions with the ideas we have for our music video, I picked a youtube video with the same sort of indie feel to it. The video I have chosen is Foals "Cassius". The video is fast paced, with random yet quirky moments in it. These include the meat hanging from the ceiling on a string, the white aeroplane that one of the band members are playing with and one of the boys using a bunch of flowers as drumsticks.
The boys are all wearing skinny trousers with the same sort of look, whether its the big fringes or the shirts the main 3 boys are wearing.
The video itself is rather strange but is also edgy and unique. The white background means there is all focus on the band and there are no distractions. The random objects in the video, for example the flowers and the hanging meat, all show that the band wanted to be different with their video and wanted it to stand out. There isnt a connection between the narrative and the video, and this is blatent as the video is quite plain.
The props they used are minimal too. There are a few instruments on set but they are in the background and arent being played. This shows the band dont want too much credit of the fact that they play instruments. The only props used were the flowers, the meat, the aeroplans, the instruments (for show) and the string that the boys are fixing the aeroplanes on. None of these props have any relevance to eachother or the narrative/lyrics.
No effects have been in the video; the boys have kept it very much minimalist. This works well as it shows the rawness of the band and what they wanted their video to look like.
The band is an all male band but this does not stereotypically mean that there will be a dance routine, a love interest or sex symbol. The band have made sure they are shown to be different from the usual boy bands of today by not using any of the above boy band conventions. They have shown that although they are a boy band, the music means more than the image.
There are a few close ups but the boys aren't posing for the camera, they are just being casual. This shows they are relaxed about doing the video and are used to it, showing they are cool, and in this day and age, to teenagers, this is a massive factor of a band.
The album cover has been attached to this blog. The complicated design shows the complexity of the track, and the fact it has been drawn makes it look as if the band aren't into making it look all technical but have gone for a more personal approach. The colours are simple, not so much that it fades into the background unnoticed, but it makes the cover seem calming.

Youtube Videos

To help us accomplish our desired video, we have done some research into other indie videos with the same conventions we have for ours.
Our videos include:
Vampire Weekend - "A-Punk"
Foals - "Cassius"
OK Go - "Here it goes again"
The Gossip - "Standing in the way of control"

3 song choices

Our three song choices from the list of 12 were, 'Shark' by Ash, 'Girls On TV' by Be Your Own PET and 'Hey Girl' by Delays.

The reasons for these choices were that as soon as we heard those three songs we each had many ideas to compliment the music video.

Ideas for 'Shark':
Performance
-Live performance focus' on instruments.
-Lots of action happening aswell as the performance
-Filmed in different locations
-incorporate a chase scene, involving the band being seen down every street that is ran past
-make up to show bruising etc. (links to lyrics and narrative)
Props
-instruments typical to a band e.g. drums, guitar etc.
-make up and costumes, bruising, mime, typical indie band attire e.g. skinny jeans, shirts, long scruffy hair and edgy
Conventions
-indie-rock, skinny jeans, longish
-messy, edgy, unique style, ragged
-bruised, black eye etc
Narrative
-does follow story (lyrics)
-"had a run in with the law", when these lyrics are played the band member is running away from something/someone
-"bruised wrists and your body aches", "violent mind", we would use make up for this to show the bruises, which link with the "violent" lyrics
Effects
-cut away from action, cut from live performance to the narrative etc
-dusk setting
-street lamps on
-band are lit in non natural lighting
DVD and poster
-photo of the band performing
-edgy, not too colourful

Ideas for 'Girls on TV':
Performance
-live performance
-cutting from girl being on TV (we had the idea of using a security camera with a girl singing into it, then we film the TV), band would be watching her on the TV
-male figure-love interest
-not as heavily focused on the instruments - more on the band as a whole
-girl would always be the lead, always on camera, feisty, shouting and angry
-flashes to mimes on the street to show eeriness
Props
-instruments
-costumes
-make up, especially for mimes
Conventions
-indie, verging on rock
-indie looking girl and band
-angry love song - attitude
-doesn't smile much, jumping around with microphone
-band are in indie clothing - skinny jeans, shirts, grungy, edgy
Narrative
-anti love song - angry - shown in facial expressions and body language
-love interest, who is shown in the video
-"Girls on TV" - using a security camera to be literal
Effects
-black and white effects - if we use a security camera
-lots of multicoloured lights when performing to make it more realistic and performance like
-everything is sped up in forward mode
DVD and poster
-band on front cover, maybe with instruments
We will need
-people who can mime well

Ideas for 'Hey Girl'-
Performance
-boy on guitar singing and sitting
-singing to a girl
-don't see much of band, and if we do then its minimal
-meant to be personal to the singer
-at a gig, boy is performing live and girl in the audience is lit up - love interest
-boy could be upset - sad, slow paced song
Props
-guitar
Conventions
-normal looking, doesn't have a specific dress style
-nothing too extravagant
Narrative
-would fit lyrics as its a slow song so the video would also be slow paced and calm
Effects
-no special effects
-everything is very much realism
DVD and poster
-boy with guitar
-lyrics of song in the background
-not a colourful cover
-black and white