Recce

Storyboard and Shot lists

Here are the storyboard and the shot lists.

The storyboard contains six shots per a page, and we did 12 pages. This means that there are 69 shots overall that we planned to get for our music video. We have yet to choose what photos we want to use for our music video, so therefore we drew blank squares where the photos would be in each of the shots we take.

As for the shot lists (which are the bottom two photos), we have mentioned most of the shots we plan on taking and have made sure we included what will be in the shot so that it is clear.

Our Ideas

Our idea is an acoustic song, being played by the artist, with pictures hanging from tree's and on the floor, with the pictures being the narrative to the song. It will take place in the kings Norton cycle path. The guitarist will start playing, and there will be cuts to the pictures, which will be provocative images of war, famine, revolution and mans influence, on other men and the world, and pictures of revolution, as one of the main themes for the music video is peace and revolution.

The Axolotls

Our group consists of me and Jonathan Currinn;

i will be performing in the video, edit the video, record the song, produce the storyboard and help write the video

Jon will be directing and filmign the video, produce the animatic and write the video

Jons blog address is: jonathancurrinna2media.blogspot.com

Initial Ideas for Video

To get some ideas started, we both individually printed off the lyrics and annotated them. I used black ink to show the different parts of the lyrics and what they represent each. Such as "There's a sun up ahead", which highlights the sun, but could also mean that there is always something good to come out of something bad.

In the first verse it says: "keep on tryin'", this suggests that you are to keep your head up, and as long as you're still alive, you can live the life you want to live. "You start a revolution or start a band", this basically means you can make an impact on the world. Music is such a big thing worldwide, that it becomes memorable and can change things, such as charity singles. Therefore starting a band could also be the start of a revolution.

In the second verse it's all about turning around and becoming confident, and forgetting all about the problems you have. "Raise up our glasses", suggests drinking, people drink to 'drown out one's sorrows', therefore people can relate to it and drinking helps to forget about people's problems, allowing them to "forget about the hate".

In the bridge, it mentions: "if you want we'll take a stand", this again links in with the revolution and that it only takes one person's thoughts to influence millions of others. This "stand" could be against anything, from war to racism, from being bullied to crime in general. It shows that people can make a change or revolution just by acting on what they believe.

The last bit is an add-on to the chorus as it has the same structure, but different lyrics. "Can't the whole world love one another", this is formed as a question, and one of life's answers. People never find out the answer there is so many conflicts in the world that it would be impossible for the whole world to love one another. But it doesn't stop people from trying. "Throw down your weapons, fix all the hunger", suggests world peace, which again relates to the whole world loving one another. But also talks directly about the war, which suggests that they don't like what is happening in the world.

After annotating the lyrics closely, I formed three different ideas, which are written in blue ink. They all are pretty similar since there is not a lot of things we could do with the video. Anyway here were my ideas:

Idea 1: Start off with a person playing (probably the guitarist since the guitar is the main instrument in the song), and people hear and start to come around the person, listening to the song. Not long after it becomes a crowd, and the message of the song has been received by them and they are holding up banners and posters about world peace, and slowly it becomes a protest so big that it appears on the news and that little gathering becomes a revolution and changes something big.

I liked this idea, however it seems really big, and really difficult to make since we'd have to have many different shots and angles of the crowd, and get them to protest, we'd have to film our own news channel and try and film something that will show that it made a difference.

Idea 2: Takes place in the Lickey Hills Country Park. The guitarist starts playing, he told all his friends about this, and set up an online event. A crowd develops not long after, and people are singing a long. The crowd know the chorus and sing-a-long to it. They also have actions, such as making hearts with their hands, in the last chorus.

I think this is a good idea, and doesn't sound too difficult, but it wouldn't be easy either. Trying to find a quiet spot in the Lickey Hills will be difficult, and also trying to get enough people to be available at the same time and them all to be singing a long to the chorus, along with them know when to do which actions. However it is definitely an idea we are considering.

Idea 3: We follow four different people, who all have different problems, maybe one is getting bullied, where another's family is poor and he/she isn't looking healthy. Then they hear about an event going on, and as they have nothing better to do they decide to turn up, and they relax, forgetting all about their problems as they sing-a-long with the rest of the crowd. in the final scenes, we see how much the song has helped these four people to change the way they act and manage to resolve their problems

I like this idea, but it seems really difficult to film. As well as having an event to film, we're going to have to do four times as much filming trying to show each of the four people with their different problems and then somehow show that they have been resolved. I am even finding it difficult to come up with four different problems that they all relate to the song. This is definitely a good idea, however I could see this being a disaster after we've filmed it.

Things My Father Said by Black Stone Cherry

i enjoyed this video because its a great song thats a tribute to the singers father who died, and the video is a tribute not only to his father but all fathers out there and how each and every one not matter how have an effect upon everyones life, the narrative follows the band as they return to there hometown, to the place where they used to practice when they were younger and how they spend time amongst there loved ones, it also shows the effects of fathers upon people and how much they each miss them, with shots of people who have lossed there fathers holding pictures of the fathers up or have an object that they hold dear to them because it was there fathers, they also show shots of the band interacting with there fathers, some performing peices of music with them, an indicator of how there fathers encouraged them to play music, the use of pictures of peoples fathers in the video of them holding the pictures or haveing the pictures laid out is very effective, and the use of the band with there fathers or with there friends is very good, the song is a tribute to there fathers and how people should stay with the people they love and care about and i think its shows this perfectly, the video is made using simple camera shots, with little effects apart from the camera effect where it appears to be shot on an old camera like a super 8, the target audience is for people who have lost there fathers which can range to any age, this is a beautiful video, it is heartfelt and a great tribute to all fathers out there.

Save Me by Remy Zero

i enjoyed in the video how during the narrative the singer is walking around normally but everyone else is in reverse, and how during the performance there are clips projected behind the band of disastors and animals fight and eating but they are all in reverse as well, as if the bands are the only ones who are normal, or possibly the weird people who are in reverse, but during some parts it is obvious that the lead singer is acting in reverse its being filmed and then played backwards, the singer acting in some parts just doesn't flow right, feels blocky and awkward, especially when he has the children follow him, the narrative follow the song lyrics, the lead singer needs saving, he is in a world where everything is in reverse, but one the other hand the world in reverse means that all the disasters are reversed so the people that it affects are brought back to life or saved, i thought bringing the children into the narrative was effective as the children are the future and will have to save the world effectively the lead singer is almost crying out for them to save everyone, the video is not massively adept as its simply shot and then reversed, the narrative very effectively amplifys the lyrics, they aren't literal but the idea of needing to be saved is very much amplified, the target is teenager about 14-20, to encourage them to work at saving the world, showing what a state and disarray the planet is in and how we need someone to step up and save not just the individual but the needs of the many.

The Past Recedes by John Frusciante

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i enjoy how the video is half performance and half narrative, the song itself is about the artists life and mostly the past and how it is gone and but not forgotten, the whole music video is filmed in the artists home, with him performing the peice in his living room surrounded by his guitars with his most iconic guitar sitting just to his left just in reach, through the video the narrative side has the camera following him around his house, showing a glimpse into his lifestyle, to everyday things like sleeping and tlaking on the phone to shots of his swimming pool and the view form his house in the hills above LA to his recording studio, at some points during the video the audio and visuals aren't matched up so the lips and vocals are out of sync and some shots are blurry and hard to comprehend, the themes throughout the song are about his past and how he is moving onward and forward to a better future, so the image of his iconic guitar next to him, the one he performs and records with when playing for the red hot chili peppers, and just the fact that it follows his everyday routine offers the image of a man living each day as its own, past froma life of drugs abuse, the location and the fact that his guitar are all his own and how is informally dressed, as if he has just got out of bed all add to the music video and the themes, the video isn't massively technically adept there are no blinding special effects are weird camera angles from a helicopter circling his house, the music video is like the song minimalistic, the shots are simple but very effective, and illustrate how in this instance how less is more, the video simultaneously contradict and illustrate the lyrics, the song itself is about his past and how he is moving onwards, there are no shot illustrating his past, even though the song is largely about his past, but they augment the parts about moving forward and how the past is exactly that, the intended audience is for fans of the red hot chili peppers, the older fans mainly who would be around 35-40 who know about the artists past and drug abuse, and the intense fans of the chili peppers who have read up about the band, all in all i think this is an extremely good music video which is paired wonderfully with the song.

:P

to start thinking up some ideas for the music video we printed off the lyrics to the song and then annotated them, the song is about peace and freedom and the evils of war and hatred so we wanted to include these images within our music video as part of the narrative, especially the images of "keep your head up" and "keep on trying" and emphasize the power of the human will how people can push forward and keep fighting against hatred no matter what.

Idea 1;
our first idea was to start with a shot of the perfomer which probably would have been the guitarist as its intro is played on guitar, then people start to congregate around the performer listening to the song, and they start to hold up posters and banners about peace, so the music video eventually transforms into a protest group against war and hatred almost as if a revolution starts which would tie in with the lyrics "And if you feel the urge to raise your hand You can start a revolution or start a band".

i like this idea but its going to be hard to do, as we would need to organise a lot of people make sure they don't change there costume or position between the different shots.

Idea 2;
this is very similar to idea 1 but this one would be shot in the lickey hills, but instead of people just randomly walking up, there would be shots to show that an online protest had been set up and that this one song is a small part of a big revolution, where it has been organised that people would come along for a "sing-along".

but again this seems like a challenge to acheive, with additional problems with the use of computers and properly portraying an online revolution and it may be difficult as not alot of people live near the lickey hills and transport there is limited for many people.

Idea 3;
in this video we would follow 4 different people, who each have unique problems, like bullying, poverty, health issues, and each of the individuals as they hear of an event, or a "gig" and they all decide to go to this event, which would be the performer onstage, this would be the performance side of the video but there wouldn't be many shots of the performer ad they would all be from the audience, like a first person of one of the individuals, so the video would be centred more on the narrative, which would be a cumulative of each of the individuals, and it would end with them singing along to the song forgetting there problems and the problems of the world, almost as if it was a safe haven for people without the attrocities of modern life.

this is my favorite idea so far, but it will require alot of time to film, and may people, not just the four central individuals but the bullys, there family and doctors, then the crowd at the gig, a hall would have to be booked for the performance part of the video, then editing all 4 together into a video that makes sense and flows smoothly and transitions well between the individuals.

Song Choice

song choice: Peace Is Free (acoustic)

Artist: Black Stone Cherry

Genre: Hard Rock

Black Stone Cherry is an American rock band formed in 2001 in Edmonton, Kentucky. They are signed to Roadrunner Records. The band consists of Chris Robertson (lead vocals, lead guitar), Ben Wells (rhythm guitar, backing vocals), Jon Lawhon (bass guitar, backing vocals), and John Fred Young (drums, backing vocals). Black Stone Cherry has released three studio albums and three EPs, and has charted six singles on the U.S. Mainstream Rock Tracks charts.

Lyrics:

Everybody feels blue sometimes
You gotta keep your head up, and keep on tryin'
And if you feel the urge to raise your hand
You can start a revolution or start a band
You better sing your song and sing it loud
But you better do it here and you better do it now
Cus' this is one short life that we live
listen people, Cus'this is what my song says

Don't you bring your sadness down on me
When peace is free
There's a sun up ahead brother, waitin' on me
Can't you see

I know times can get a little tough
You gotta lean on me brother, you can't give up
Forget about your problems, forget about your pain
Raise up our glasses and forget about our hate

Don't you bring your sadness down on me
When peace is free
There's a sun up ahead brother, waitin' on me
Can't you see

I know, I know it sounds so bad
But if you want we'll take a stand

Don't you bring your sadness down on me
When peace is free
There's a sun up ahead brother, waitin' on me
Can't you see

Can't the whole world love one another
Throw down your weapons, Fix all the hunger
Don't you bring your sadness down on me
When peace is free

When peace is free