So what is as animatic? Well wikipedia define is as:
A graphic organizers such as a series of illustrations or images displayed in sequence for the purpose of pre-visualizing a motion picture, animation, motion graphic or interactive media sequence, including website interactivity.
As I earlier mentioned the purpose of creating an animatic of our music video is a means of planning and it will give a rough idea of what the video will look like. This allows us to see if certain elements of the video do not fit together allowing us to identify and solve the problem before filming it. It also allows us to fit the images in time with the music and to see if the cuts and images fit with the music.
We all created the anamatic as a group and carefully listened to the music making sure it was all in time.
We are using a website called www.vimeo.com which will host our animatic video. To do this we have saved the format of the video in quicktime in order to make it compatible with the website.
Now that we have decided on a rough idea we need to begin to story board our ideas to give our video direction. After this we will use our story board to create an anamatic on final cut. This will enable us to have a clear view of how our video will/should look. This will allow us to be organised on set as we will be able to devise a filming schedule and what props we will need etc. Firstly before drawing the final story board we did a rough draft so that we could fit what images we wanted to the timing of the music.After this Hulya went and drew the final storyboard at home. After she did this the pictures were scanned into the computer and we could edit them to fit in time with the music.
There were still a few blanks which we have not quite decided on yet but we are continuing to think of ideas and hope that once we begin filming we will have some inspiration. After the storyboard was scanned into the computer we uploaded it to the Apple Macs and imported the images and music to final cut where we began to create our anamatic.
In order to get started on our video and filming we first had to obtain approval from our teacher that our idea would work. Each group had to individually pitch their ideas to her and if she did not think it was suitable it was back to the drawing board. However we felt that we now had a solid idea with reasoning behind it which suited the music and lyrics of our chosen song. In our pitch we presented our moodboard to Mrs Mcluckie which gave an overall vision of what we had got from the song in the early stages; the things it made us feel and think and our reponse to certain lyrics. We also made a short powerpoint presenation explaining how we got to this point and how our ideas developed to give her a sense of what direction we were going in. (as seen below)
After this we also presented our mood board and then proposed our main narrative storyline idea.Once we had finished our pitch, our teacher gave us the go ahead for our ideas but also gave us some advice concerning past examiners remarks etc. She then advised us to go and watch our favourite music video and idenitfy things which make them memorable and things that we want to achieve in our own video.
After creating our huge mood board, we need to start developing a more directed idea for our story. Overall from our mood board the main theme we interpreted from the music were the ideas ofbeing trapped, feeling isolated, not in control, torture. After becoming clear that this was the theme we were going to be working with we began to jot down some inital ideas.
Idea 1: Our first idea centered around the main theme of fate. In this idea the main character of our story would have an event which will decide what happens in the rest of their life e.g missing or catching a train. In one story we would be showing if they catch the train the character will make it to their music gig and become famous and life will be good and he/she will be happy. If he misses the train he misses the gig and gets chucked out the band and becomes homeless with no money turning to drugs and his/her life begins to go in a downwards spiral. This idea was influenced by the film Sliding Doors (see video below:)
However after much group discussion we felt that this idea did not really suit our lyrics and we felt we were forcing some of the ideas to suit the music when in reality they did not fit. This would also be a very time comsuming idea as we would have to film both outcomes separately which would be extremely time consuming in such a limited time scale. We felt that overall this idea was not going to work and once again we were back to the drawing board.
Idea 2: Our second idea centralized around the theme of drug abuse as we felt some of the lyrics coincided with this theme. However we felt this was a sensitive, and hard subject to access and would be hard to make look realistic with a low budget. We therefore dropped this idea and went back to the drawing board
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Idea 3: This time we focused on the chorus and title of our song "Shadowplay" as we felt this could be a central theme to our idea. So what does shadowplay exactly mean? Well there is not just one definative answer and this is ambiguous. This was an idea we felt we wanted to play on and we decided the idea of our video would be ambiguous and could be interpreted in many different ways to different people. However as a group we decided that shadowplay is like when you are a child and you make shadows on the wall. This then became the focus of our idea and then in conjunction with the emotions we had drawn from the other lyrics and music of the song we began to develop this idea.
Development: As we wanted to portray the ideas of isolation, pain, torture etc. We decided to add a horror element to the simple shadow idea. This then led us to the idea of a puppet which is a symbol of childhood, but make it "evil" or a symbol of horror. The idea was now that the puppet tortures our main character who feels trapped in a world he does not understand.
The basic concept of our video is to convey the idea of an individual who is tormented by a figment of his imagination which has a presence in every aspect of his life. We are using our clown puppet to convey this figment of his imagination as it is symbolic of horror. The storyline is fairly basic in the fact there is no real "story" it is just about how the person is tormented and feels trapped and how he tries to overcome this. At the end of our video we also hope to achieve a cliff hanger ending which will keep to viewer in suspense and will also reiterate the idea of horror to our video. Overall to achieve this we have collectively decided that we will use low-key lighting to convey these feelings and also to give a nightmarish quality to the image of our video, which should contrast the end of the video which will become light symbolising freedom.
Another crucial element of understanding the "indie rock" music market is also understanding the band we are creating our video from; The Killers. The Killers are an American rock band from Las Vegas, Nevada that was formed in 2001. The band consistsof Brandon Flowers Dave Keuning, Mark Stoermer and Ronnie Vannucci Jr.As an alternative rock band, The Killers draw some of their influences from the music styles of the 1980s. They have been described as Sin City pretty boys with a new-romantic streak.
In order to get to know the band better and the way in which they perceive their own music and style I have included an interview with the band with Neil Howie from Left Lion.com. (see below)
How does it feel to be part of this tour?"It feels really great. It's so cool that we're on this tour and the fact we're the headlining band makes it even cooler. We're really looking forward to it and we're going to make it a show to remember!."
What should people expect from a Killers performance?"I think we are a whole different thing live than on record. We bring a whole load of energy and we definitely try to make every performance something special. We're getting better and better right now, we've had a year of touring and it gets really exciting playing these shows. We're more raw, more brutal on stage. When we connect with the audience and they connect with us amazing things happen."
How have you developed or changed as a band over the last twelve months?"In the live shows as much as anything. Through all the touring we've done we've learnt how to make a live show that really works. At first we were a little nervous and had to concentrate on what we were playing - now those songs are second nature and that means we can concentrate on making a great show. We've been thrown in front of huge crowds a few times now and it's always worked out so we're more able to relax on stage and that's made us a better live band. We've seen the ups and downs of this whole rock and roll thing too. The ups are really great, being able to do this as a career is fantastic, doing what one in a million want, what everyone who plays their guitar in a garage dream of. Being able to play your own music for people and meeting your heroes, we've met Bono, Elton John and David Bowie, is just awesome." "That's surreal, two years ago these people were only in our fantasies! Now they actually know who we are and appreciate our music. But the downs can be bad - up until a couple of months ago we were still in a van. You hardly ever sleep, you hardly ever go home, in some way it's a mad way to live- most nights I sleep in a little coffin bunk on the floor of the bus - but it really is all worth it. I'm not complaining, you understand!"
What are the other bands on the tour like?"They're great, I'm really looking forward to seeing Bloc Party and I really like that Futureheads record. It's gonna be great."
Franz Ferdinand were in a similar position to you last year and they've gone on to be hugely successful, does that put the pressure on you?"Sort of. But in America we're pretty equal. They've been selling a lot of records in the States, but we're catching up. We're doing really well in the UK, so, independent of their success, we always thought we'd be successful anyway. But it's great to see bands even close to what we're doing being successful. It's a positive sign."
What do you want people to take away with them from a Killer's show?"We want them to come out of a show knowing they felt something and they were moved by the songs. We want them to feel good and to know they got something different than just what they would hear on the record. I guess it's a connection, a musical and personal one. But most of all, we want them to have a good night!"
You'll be stuck on a tourbus for almost a month, what will be the most difficult part?"Sleeping on the floor, the bus jerking around, nine other guys around you at all times, the lack of privacy, everytime you look up seeing someone's ass sticking out of a bunk, so many things. But you get used to it."
You're going to thirteen cities on the tour, do you have particular favourites?"I love London, of course! But that's easy. Nottingham is fantastic too, every time we go there it's amazing. All the audiences in Scotland are insane, Glasgow in particular, but we've not had a bad show in England yet, so we're really looking forward to this tour."
Do you have a secret, pre-gig ritual?"Kind of a little one. We have a huddle and sometimes we'll talk about things that might have gone wrong the night before. We talk about what to do, what not to do, how important the show is. Other than that we just hang out and do our thing!"
This interview has given us a real insight to what the band is like and how they feel and perceive their music and themselves as a band. It is important for us to discover this, as the song is targeted at the same audience as us.
As web definition from wikipedia copyright is a set of exclusive rights granted by the law of a jurisdiction to the author or creator of an original work, including the right to copy, distribute and adapt the work. As a result of this in order to be legally allowed to use the killers track for our music video we will need to obtain permission from the record label. The track "Shadow Play" is the second song from the album "sawdust" which was produced by Island Records. In order to gain permission we have written an email to Island Records requesting their permission. (see below)
As a group we constructed a letter which Aisha sent on behalf of the group.Below is a copy of what was written in this letter.
Dear Copyright Holder,
I am an A level student and I am writing to request your permission to use one track by the artist; The Killers, entitled ‘Shadow play’ (Joy Division cover). The track 'Shadow Play' is the second track in The Killers' album; 'Sawdust'
With your permission, this track would be used in my current A-level Media Studies project, which involves creating a music video for a popular music track, as well as producing an album and a magazine advert for the artist.
If I received your permission, this track would ONLY be used in an educational context and be viewed by my media class, my teacher and the OCR exam board moderator. It would NOT be released to a large audience or uploaded to any public video websites.
The artist and your company would of course be fully recognized throughout pre-production and the final video itself. A copyright notice, with wording supplied by you can be included in the records of the project. If this is required, please send full details.
The Prodigy's song "Omen" has been a particular inspiration to us as it also tries to convey a similar message that we are also trying to. Not only this but the pace of the music is extremely fast and their video consists of a huge array of fast, snappy cuts and is edited also to suit this.
The idea of torment and horror is conveyed in a variety of ways including the editing and transitions. Elements from this video have proved a huge influence to us and have also displayed to us the importance of the editing and how this must reflect the pace of the music. This not only makes the video look like it belongs with the music but will also be particularly effective for us in conveying the mania of our character.
