The pitch was a very useful process which allowed us to receive feedback from our teachers and other peers to find out what they liked and disliked so that we could think of alternative ideas. As well as this it enabled us to identify any holes in our concept where we needed to add in extra shots to our concept.
Feedback
Positive:
- Detailed reccies
- Good practice shots and creative shot ideas
- All of our work is linked back to our secondary and audience research
- Detailed and creative treatment
- Effective song
- Clear understanding of what we want to do and what we need to achieve
- Varied use of shots, movements and framing
Criticism:
- Its a long song so we will need to get enough shots
- Difficult to make it as stylish as we want
- Complex narrative
- Mental disability is a difficult topic to cover
- Hard to create verisimilitude in our narrative
- Costume would need to be planned
- The Tunbridge Wells precinct isnt a particularly good location choice
- Need more filler shots
- Based too much on performance of central character
NOTES
DAN: The Neighbourhood are an American alternative rock band
from California formed in August 2011. In early 2012, The Neighbourhood came
together to release "Female Robbery" and "Sweater Weather".
We liked the idea of creating an indie music video as it gave us the
opportunity to come up with some really conceptual ideas. We have also found
out from further research that there are no specific rules when it comes to
making a video making our ideas all the more exciting.
HARRY: For
the most part, the audience research showed that people were familiar with the
band and identified the colour scheme we are going to use - black and white.
Most also said that they envisage the band appearing in some way, which
supports our idea of having the slight bit of performance and perhaps including
a filler shot like the one of the band in the car (point).
ALEX: In
terms of actual narrative, we got some different opinions. One person said that
they thought of a relationship breaking up which, does actually make sense when
looking at the lyrics whilst someone else described the notion of time ticking
away.
DAN: There
was also a range of locations suggested, from sub-urban neighborhoods to
crowded hospital rooms – the sub-urban element is going to be included in our
video, but the idea of a busy room is something we may consider.
HARRY: One of our most influential videos was another video
by the neighbourhood, ‘sweater weather’. It uses lots of visually stylish
techniques and represents a vintage and sunny Californian landscape. It’s
obvious we can’t replicate the landscape or location however the reason we
liked the video is because of its creative and innovative camera techniques,
but we also really liked the black and white colour scheme which have decided
to use in our own production as we think it really amplifies the image and
music of the band but also makes the video look a lot more visually interesting
and professional.
DAN: I
really like this video mainly due to its generally aesthetic. It seems
desaturated, contrasting the bright lights and the bright fire that appears in
the video. The use of slow motion as well is very noticeable, for instance in
the car shot shown, the car is shot at ELS in slow motion, tracking it as it
turns the corners which evokes emotion that is anchored by the song itself. I
also like the framing; with no dialogue it is important to exploit non-verbal
language which is enhanced by the restricted close ups where the emotion is emphasized.
The way in which the film is cut to the music is also noticeable. Finally, the
shot of the fish bones is another I find interesting, the low angle and
positioning of the prop shows the colour of the sky - connoting moodiness and
sadness - alongside this unusual prop which is bold in itself.
ALEX: Most of my inspiration came from the artist Woodkid. I
like their use of black and white throughout the video as it adds to the minimalism
of the video. The camera movements and special affects make it incredibly
visually arresting and adds to the themes within the song. The fantasy style is
fitting to the indie genre. OneRepublic also use very conceptual ideas and
there is a lot of disjuncture in their video Counting Stars. They also use a
dark colour scheme but not black and white which still succeeded in creating a
‘moody’ effect.
DAN: It
opens with a white screen, on which the letters "NBHD" appear to show
the band’s name. This then fades over the top of a shot of a man, played by
Dan, lying on a bench, having slept rough for the night.
He then
walks out of the park and down towards his house. He gets out his keys and then
goes towards the door; he looks in the window and backs away surprised, to then
jog or run out of the frame. The door then opens and we see Dan walking out, looking
after who has just looked through the window.
Next, we
will have a combination of two filler shots, slow motion shot of Dan
screaming in a dark location
The
beginnings of a slow motion zoom out that will be completed throughout the
video; it will begin at an extreme close up of Dan's eye and, in this section,
will finish at a close up of his face.
ALEX: In the chorus we will have a layering of shots where
Dan is sitting on the bench he woke up on in a number of different ways, each
layered on top of each other. One version of Dan will be sat in the middle
looking down, until the last line of the chorus where he looks up and mimes it.
This is the pre-cursor to the next part of the narrative: it
will appear that Dan will be walking forwards down the Tunbridge Wells
Precinct, and everyone else is walking backwards - shot at a number of
different angles and frame sizing to assist the illusion.
In the second part of the narrative, Dan will be walking
down Tunbridge Wells Precinct; when he looks to his left, he sees himself, when
he looks to the right, he sees himself and when someone bumps in to him, he
turns around to see himself. He then runs out of shot.
The running will be picked up as he turns in to an alleyway
or down a more private road, in which he begins to scream again and get angry
at his surroundings, questioning why all of this is happening to him.
The slow zoom out continues from a close up to a mid-shot of
Dan who is holding a board of wood, although at this point you can't see what
is on the board.
HARRY: In this chorus we will have a layering of shots where
Dan is sitting on a different bench in a number of different ways, each layered
on top of each other. One version of Dan will be sat in the middle looking
down, until the last line of the chorus where he looks up and mimes it.
In the part of song where the pitch and general tone
becomes lighter, we will have a sequence of shots of Dan leaning
against a wall; he eventually sinks down on to the floor. Burying head in
hands, distressed and wanting all of this to be explained. Then, out of
focus, someone is walking towards him, contrast suddenly becomes very high and
all goes white. The camera adjusts and in focus is himself.
In this final chorus, the zoom will finish off from a mid-shot
to a medium long shot of Dan, the content of the board is revealed and it is
the band's logos. As the camera stops moving, Dan will say the final line of
the chorus.
Whole video gets played in reverse until the drumming
in the song stops, at which point the screen goes white and in black,
"Afraid" fades up and then fades out with the song.
ALEX: here we have identified 6 key shots which we would
like to capture. The ones which we think will be the most difficult in terms of
filming are the 3rd 4th and 6th shot shown
here.
DAN: As you
can kind of see, the picture shows the backwards shot idea we want to include.
The band on the left appear to be walking forwards whilst the public are
walking backwards. To do this, we will have to do the reverse. How they mask it
in the ‘Eleven Eyes’ by Heights video is, for a start, use lots of shots to make
up one movement, and also put it in slow motion. We attempted the shot in
Brighton and, whilst it looks okay, it will look better when we combine
multiple shots rather than two. We will also start at a CU of the shoe again.
Here is our attempt at it.
HARRY: One of our key A* shot ideas was to overlap or over
layer a number of pieces of footage on top of each other so that the man is in
the shot multiple times at once, this will work as an interesting and creative
shot that will keep the film visually compelling. There will be a continuous
shot of the man sitting in the middle of the bench staring at the camera which
will be the base shot; we will then layer other shots of the man walking past
the bench, sitting on and around it in a number of ways etc. The shot is
designed to show that the man has spent a lot of time at the bench in increased
paranoia and confusion, almost living like a homeless person. Once the chorus
and the shot reach its end, the man will mime the final lyrics of the chorus at
the camera.
ALEX: To film this shot, we will start off with the camera
at a low angle pointing up at Dan. This is to make sure that any members of the
public that walk past cannot be seen as this could affect continuity of the
shot. As Dan walks down the precinct in Tunbridge Wells, we see him turn his
head to the left, the camera then moves to a POV shot and continues to turn
left focusing on a figure walking past that we see is Dan in different
clothing. The camera returns to the low angle and continues to track backwards
as Dan walks forwards. As Dan turns his head to the right, the camera moves
again to a POV shot and turns to the right. Again he walks past in different
clothing through the crowd. Finally, still as a POV shot a figure walks
directly towards to the camera and bumps past Dan (the camera). The camera
turns around 180° and sees himself turning to walk away in slow motion.
DAN: These
are the locations, alongside the drama studio and outside Harry’s house that we
are going to use. Tunbridge Wells Precinct, benches in Grosvenor Park and an
alleyway by Dan’s house. The benches shall be used for the chorus’ that Harry
described earlier due to the surrounding scenery being, nothing special but not
boring at the same time. The precinct for the walking backwards shot and the
seeing self-sequence - the reason for choosing here is because of the amount of
extras that will naturally be in the shot and therefore making the backwards
shot in particular more effective. The alleyway will be used in the second
pre-chorus where the character is running away in anger and confusion etc. The
single lamp post restricts the lighting here heavily, and will make the
sequence more emotive; it’s rather secluded to so it’s likely to be empty at
the time of filming.
ALEX: In
terms of casting and props we are only using Dan for the music video so we do
not need to rely on any people outside of our group to be available for filming
etcetera. As well as this the only prop we need is a large piece of wood which
we can spray paint the slogan onto and a rucksack which Dan will carry around
with him for the duration of the video. Both of these items will be very easy
to come by.
HARRY:
Before we had fully developed our concept, we had quite a few filler shots we
wanted to include; these included: drumming, shots hitting a bin in time with
the snare drum, looking in to a mirror and seeing nothing/someone else,
landscape shots and so on, Now we have come up with a substantial concept,
being able to fit these filler shots in could be difficult. However, we will
most likely film them just in case the content we have in mind isn’t enough to
fill the time, or we want to replace something.
ALEX: Also,
the complexity of our concept is also worth considering as the idea of the character
seeing himself everywhere, despite being easy to explain, is quite hard to
construct and think about without actually filming. Having said that, trying
out the sequence Alex discussed earlier, has given us some confidence as the
way we had mentally mapped it out worked - despite looking rushed.
ALEX: The band
heavily relies on black and white to promote themselves. They almost drain the
colour out of everything in order to reveal its true meaning or the reasoning
behind it. Any time the band is in shot, there is nothing but a bland stare off
in to the distance or in to the camera thus at the audience, complying to
Dyer’s present and absent paradox.
HARRY: The
use of the upside down house as well is common, perhaps turning society on its
head. Also, the three symbols that appear on the album cover of ‘I Love You’,
actually spells out I Love You (point at the eye, the heart and then the U
shaped house.)
DAN: Having taken all of the previous in to
consideration, we came up with this. Here is a rough idea of our album cover;
the image on the back cover will also be used as the advert design, but set in
front of a field - as that image will be but due to the fact it is drawn, it
wouldn't have been clear with the song names over the top of it. The shot on
the main cover will also be the final shot of the video, which is built up to
over its course. The idea is to be minimalistic, but emotive, capturing audience’s
attention but not overtly.
This is Tunbridge Wells Precinct, the location we have in mind for the 'Seeing Self' and 'Walking Backwards and Forwards' sequences. We chose this location because of the amount of people that walk down it - adding to the illusion - alongside the fact that it has some greenery. The shops themselves could be a bit of an issue as they are out of contact with the mise-en-scene, but if shot how we intend, we will be able to mask them. It's a convenient location as well, being more-or-less central to where we all live. 
This is the location we want to use for the second pre-chorus, first part - from the lyric, "you're too mean.." to "from the top of my lungs" where the character is running in slow motion down the alleyway, frustrated and confused about what is going on. We thought this alleyway was apt because its east to locate - right by Dan's house - and its claustrophobic. The general mise-en-scene is dark and gloomy and derelict, lit only by one street lamp the lighting is also restricted which will look good in black and white and connotes confinement and seclusion.
This is the first bench that we looked at. We intend to use this one for the first chorus where we overlap shots of Dan walking past and sitting next to himself on a bench. We liked this location because of the style of the bench, the tree, and the full green grass; all of which contradict the sombre mood we aim to incorporate in this sequence. The shot with Dan in, is roughly the framing we want to use, but it needs to be straighter and perhaps a little bit further out. In black and white, this will be the closest we get to emulating the 'Sweater Weather' aesthetic with all the luscious Californian surroundings.
