Voice recording group brainstorming

Whilst brainstorming, we decided to use a more media-esque approach and use some voice recording. As the discussions were so long, we had to split them into four parts, which can be found below. In these videos, me, Louise & Bradley discuss our ideas for the music video as we see it in our minds eye, and share ideas as each section of the music plays.

Treatment/Pitch

• The music video will, most likely, include a narrative intertwined with footage of the band performing live, assuming we will get the rights for this. Therefore, most ideas will be about the narrative.
• The majority of ska/reggae music videos are low budget and home made, which will allow us to be able to fit in perfectly.
• Linking to the lyrics of the song, an idea for the video would be a character traveling to the Skints gig, so then the narrative and the live performance then link together at the end.
• Juxtaposing the narrative with the live performance would emphasize the music stronger, and would also make people pay attention to the originality of the video. This would be a way of gaining attention via the music video. An example of this is Twisted Transistor -  Korn, however this idea may be difficult if we are using the live performance. If the performance idea does fall through, however, this may become a good idea.
• We are currently story-boarding our ideas using post-it notes. This way, we can change our shots and ideas around if we decide otherwise.

Our most likely idea currently will be using a narrative of a group of teenagers on their journey to the gig, intertwined with clips of the gig itself. The gig and the people then come together at the end, linking the narrative and the live performance.

Choosing a band and track

Choosing the track for our project is extremely important. Considering absolutely everything about our task will be based the song, this was to be the most important decision of the project. The song and band must be one which we can all brainstorm ideas for, and a band which have a style which is realistically achievable. As a group, we also needed to have enthusiasm for our track and band. By listing various favourite songs of ours, we narrowed down the genres of tracks and bands that we would all be happy to use. Due to the various music tastes of the group, it was a relatively difficult process to whittle through the many genres of music we collectively enjoyed.

We decided that the best genre would be the upbeat style of ska. As an avid gig-goer myself, I had a large collective of names of local ska/reggae bands from East London whom play local gigs frequently. Through playing various bands and tracks to the group, we decided on the band‘ The Skints’. This was for various reasons – The Skints were original in terms of their lyrics and recognisable sound, the band members themselves (who I have been in contact with multiple times) are extremely friendly and could be willing, if necessary, to help us with the project, I have strong links with the producer of their first music video “Mindless”, and the style of the band was feasible in terms of the filming locations and style.

The track above is the chosen track for our project, "Up Against The Wall". As well as this being a very catchy song, this is The Skint's new single. The lyrics are very down to earth, about a regular guy going to an East London club. Considering all of the group live on the edge of London, finding a setting for the video should be an easy task.

As The Skints are a local band, we have an idea of using a live performance of the band for the video, intertwined with a narrative. The band are playing on December 11^th at Camden Underworld in Camden. The venue is generally quite lenient on what happens at the venue, and it should be no trouble to use this performance as part of our video. My last post showed the messages I have sent out to various contacts to make sure that this will be allowed.

The band's official website