Narrative Locations

Scene-by-Scene
Child's bedroom My bedroom
Staircase and Living Room My house
Street outside house Lincoln Close
Park School Field
Bar The Magpie pub
Walking the streets Stapleford

Recce Shots














Permission
Filming in The Magpie pub permitted by verbal agreement over phone call with owner.

Mockup of CD Cover

I wanted my CD cover to utilise imagery from the music video to create a relationship, however I didn't want to simply take a frame from the video and slap it on the front. I decided to plan to capture a specific photograph for the CD cover. I wanted to capture the main character lying down on the floor to represent his loneliness and poor lifestyle once he lives by himself, in an apartment with no furniture. In addition, I added photographs of him with his family on the wall behind him. These would actually be in the set for the child's family's house, but for the cover I felt it was necessary to create a somewhat abstract and artistic image, so I transplanted the photo frames to this set to create a convergence of the two narrative destinations; the child's childhood, and the child's adulthood.

Track Decision

I decided to use the song "Wake Up" by Arcade Fire because of its rich lyrical ties to my treatment. A common interpretation of the song is a telling of the story of growing up and learning, as a child, to be an adult. Lines such as "children, wake up, hold your mistake up / before they turn the summer into dust" tell a vivid warning to children to be honest. The line "if the children don't grow up, our bodies get bigger but our hearts get torn up" also strongly connotes the process of growing up and seeing the world for what it really is. The narrative section of my video treatment is about a child leaving home and seeing the dangers of the world; depression, alcoholism and drug abuse. I felt that "Wake Up" was a perfect lyrical match for my treatment. Musically, the song's arrangement is very orchestral and contemplative, which also fit my criteria.

Audience Questionnaire

In order to understand what my audience wanted, I conducted a questionnaire amongst the age group:

1. How old are you?
14 (0)
15 (0)
16 (0)
17 (10)
18 (0)
19+ (0)

2. Do you watch music video TV channels?
All the time (2)
Sometimes (7)
Rarely (1)
Never (0)

3. Which style of music video do you prefer?
Wholly Narrative (2)
Wholly Performance (2)
Contains Both (6)

4. Do you prefer music videos to be...
Conventional (0)
Artistic / creative (9)
Unsure (1)

5. Would you like a music video which doesn't feature the artist?
Sure (5)
I Don't Think So (5)

6. Do you think music videos can tell good narrative stories?
Yes (10)
No (0)
Unsure (0)

My results showed me that most seventeen year-old teenagers only watch music video TV channels sometimes, prefer music videos with both a narrative section and a performance, prefer creative and artistic videos to paint-by-colours music videos, definitely think videos can tell good narrative stories but are undecided on if they'd watch a music video that doesn't feature the artist.

This affected my video because I was wondering how heavily the narrative section of my video should be featured. The consensus from my questionnaire was that the narrative story was more interesting than the performance, though it should not exclude the performance. This helped me in my editing process to determine the balance between the two.

Props Planning

Scenes exc. Opening Sequence in House
All narrative scenes following the character's running away from home will require the main character to be carrying a heavy backpack which, in the narrative, contains clothes and possessions. Because of this it should give the appearance of being full and heavy.

Bar Scene
I will need a liquid which looks similar to alcohol (Apple juice eventually used), and a glass for the main character to drink this out of.

Drinking in Street
An empty Vodka bottle filled with water to give the illusion of the liquid.

Target Audience

The target audience for my video is the young 16-24 age group. I decided to target my video towards this group because of their enthusiasm for music videos and intelligent creativity. My audience research later showed that this group were yearning for more creative, artistic and different videos that I was hoping to achieve.

Research into Arcade Fire

I researched the band itself, Arcade Fire:

Arcade Fire

• Based in Montreal, Canada
• Active between 2003 to present
• Signed to labels Merge Records, Rough Trade and City Slang.
• Two studio albums and one EP

More information on one of the band's labels:

Merge Records

• Founded in 1989 by Mac McCaughan and Laura Ballance
• Based in Durham, North Carolina
• Primarily signs indie rock artists

Information on another record label the band has been signed to:

Rough Trade

• Founded in 1978 by Geoff Travis
• Based in London, England

The third record label that Arcade Fire have signed to:

City Slang

• Founded in 1990 by Christof Ellinghaus
• Based in Berlin, Germany

Camera Angle Positions for Performance

Original Performance Shot
I decided to film the performance section of my video in a vocal booth. I wanted to reflect the independent nature of the band through the video, so I didn't shoot in an exotic location which would require a big budget. Filming in the booth gave a grounded, natural, organic feel to my video. I shot several takes from both inside the booth and from outside, looking through the glass of the door. I wanted to get shots through the glass so that I could get reflections in front of the actor. These reflections felt similar to bokeh or lens flares, they added more interesting layers to the shot which prevented it from appearing flat and boring.

I also shot from a low angle on the actor, with the light in the ceiling of the booth casting a large lens flare over his head. I wanted to film this shot because it obscured the face of the actor. This made the shot more interesting and would lead the audience to want to see behind the glow of the light. This ties back to the theory of stardom, how a star must be simultaneously present and absent from the viewer. By obscuring their face, they are unreachable by the audience.

Performance by Narrative Actor
In my final cut I decided to re-shoot the performance section of my video using the same actor from the narrative in order to simplify the video and provide emotional resonance between the child's story and the lyrics. I shot the actor sitting against the floral wallpaper of his character's bedroom and mixed close-ups of the face and extreme close-ups, changing framing for different parts of the song. I had the actor lip sync looking directly into the camera, creating a strong connection between his character and the audience and bringing gravity to the lyrics he sung.

Draft Website Copy

News
Funeral wins Best International Album at the BRIT Awards
We would like to thank the BRIT Awards for honouring us with this award. We hope to win again next year with our upcoming album, let's hope!

Debut Album Funeral Released
The long-anticipated debut album from Arcade Fire, Funeral, is now available in stores. The stunning debut from this up-and-coming band is one not to miss. Download it online today from our partners, Amazon MP3 or iTunes.

Videos
You can watch the music video for our first single, Wake Up, right here. We hope you guys like it, let us know what you think!

Discography
Funeral
1. Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)
2. Neighborhood #2 (Laïka)
3. Une année sans lumière
4. Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)
5. Neighborhood #4 (7 Kettles)
6. Crown of Love
7. Wake Up
8. Haïti
9. Rebellion (Lies)
10. In the Backseat

Biography
Arcade Fire met four years ago when lead singer Win Butler posted an ad in his local paper. He wanted to start a band, but didn't know any musically talented friends. Régine Chassagne was the first to answer the ad and Win was so blown away by her violin skills that he asked her to join almost immediately. Soon after, fellow members Richard Reed Parry, Tim Kingsbury, Sarah Neufeld and Jeremy Gara came on board. They got to work on developing their style and two short years later, their debut album Funeral was released to the world. It has since gone on to become a massive critical success, bagging seven music awards and sixteen nominations. The band have now gone back to the drawing board, working on their second album, hoping to top the success of Funeral.

When asked how they achieved such success, Win Butler said "I don't really know. It's kind of confusing. It still doesn't make sense to me how we got it so right on our first album, because as I was working on it I wasn't sure if anybody was going to like it at all. It was kind of a new sound that not many people had heard before, so it could easily have been a huge flop. Fortunately, we developed a strong fan base and the response we've had has been fantastic. I'm happy we can keep making music, because that's all I've wanted to do."

Brainstorming

I had several ideas at the beginning of this process. My best idea was originally narrative-based and told the story of students receiving exam results, finding that they have all failed, and leaping for joy as they are free from the pressure of continued education. However, the story seemed too thin, so I tried to come up with a new idea that had more depth. My second idea was a spontaneous food fight breaking out in a school lunch hall, however this concept was deemed impractical to shoot as the head of my school rejected my request to film in our hall. The idea later evolved to taking place on a park, then switched from a food fight to a water fight. Following this, I came up with a new idea which I got really enthusiastic about, and it became my final treatment in the same form as the original idea.

Costume Planning

For the main character in the narrative section of my music video, I have decided to dress the actor in a range of colourful t-shirts and jeans. I wanted to personify the childlike innocence through their costume, so their clothes are vibrant and visually appealing. This contrasts sharply with the environment once the child enters the twisted reality, becoming an alcoholic, a drug addict, etc.

For the performer in the performance section of my piece, I dressed the actor in a black shirt and faded jeans. I felt this smart appearance would reflect the indie nature of the song and artist.

Risk Assessment

During the filming of my sequence, there were a number of things that could go wrong that could affect my cast, myself or my equipment. I took the time to outline these in a Risk Assessment and ensure that I was prepared and safe for whatever may happen.

Risk to Equipment
If it were to rain on the day of the filming, my camera would be at risk of getting damaged. Rain would be effective for the cinematography of some of my scenes, so I would continue to film and use an umbrella to protect my equipment.

In case of our equipment being stolen, I would keep my phone with me to quickly alert police.

Risk to Actors
In order to prevent the actor from drinking alcohol I would need to find suitable non-alcoholic replacements to double. It is also possible, walking on the pavement alongside a main road, that the actor could be run over by a car while crossing. If such a rare scenario were to occur, I would have communication equipment on me such as my mobile phone in order to quickly call for medical assistance.

Casting

I was unable to film the original artist of my song as they were unavailable, so I cast a double for the lead singer. I decided to cast a man a similar age to the original artist to give the impression of a believable singer when portrayed against the music.

Will Rogers
After a lengthy casting process in the lower years of my school's drama classes, I cast teenager Will Rogers as the main character in the narrative section of my video. Mr Rogers had a very strong background in acting, going to theatre summer schools and performing in many school plays. He was the oldest candidate for the role, but I felt that his look and his established acting experience were perfect fits.

During test filming I was initially concerned about Mr Rogers' musical theatre acting habits that seeped into his performance. We worked together on this and for the actual shoot, his performance was naturalistic, subtle and grounded. His ability to convey a range of emotions from fear to rejection and isolation was captivating. I was very impressed by his performance and proud of the end result.

Mr Rogers' costume consisted of vibrant colours; a green and yellow hoodie, zebra striped scarf, blue jeans and a black polo. I wanted his character's clothing to be very colourful and layered in order to convey a childlike innocence and happiness that is stripped away throughout the narrative.

Geoff Ramsey
I cast 34 year-old Texan Geoff Ramsey as the lead singer in my performance section. Mr Ramsey had a past career of being a roadie for a touring band and is now a voiceover artist, so he was familiar with recording soundbooth and miming.

During shooting I was incredibly impressed by his acting ability, especially as he was miming to a song at 200% of its original speed (in order to slow the video down in post-production). He was incredibly professional and easy to work with.

I dressed Mr Ramsey in a black shirt and faded jeans for his costume. I felt this smart appearance would reflect the indie nature of the song and artist.

Mr Ramsey's performance was not included in the final cut, not due to his acting ability, but the requirement to simplify the video and more closely tie the musical performance into the narrative.

Filming Schedule

Dates for Filming

• Austin, TX 28th of August, 2009


• Nottingham, England 2nd of October, 2009 (screen test) and 13th of November, 2009 (principal photography)

Actors Needed

• Austin, TX Geoff Ramsey


• Nottingham, England Will Rogers

Equipment Needed

• Austin, TX Canon 5D Mark II camera


• Nottingham, England Canon HG10 camera (screen test), Canon 7D camera (principal photography)

Weather Requirements

• Austin, TX N/A (interior shots).


• Nottingham, England Exterior shots require sunshine or cloudy skys - not rain.

Performance
I shot the performance section of my piece on the 28th of August, 2009 in Austin, TX. I cast Geoff Ramsey as the performer in lieu of the original artist as they were unavailable. It was shot on a Canon 5D Mark II in 1080p. As I shot in a soundbooth interior, I did not have any weather requirements.

Narrative and Re-shot Performance
The narrative section of my piece was shot on the 13th of November, 2009. Prior to this, some scenes were shot in a screen test on the 2nd of October. Will Rogers was cast as the main character for the narrative section. The scenes were shot on a Canon 7D camera in 720p in a mix of 24p and 60p for slow motion. Mr Rogers also performed the song for the re-shoot of the performance section.

Permission for Usage of Song

I contacted the label for clarification on the name of the publisher for the song, however they did not have it in their records. Further research also yielded no results, so I could not find the publisher to contact.

Storyboard Animatic

Director's Commentary


Song Only

Music Video Treatment

The video is a series of vignettes in a child's quest at growing up and living alone. There is an element of surrealism as he essentially lives as an adult, though on screen he has the appearance of a child. To others in the universe he appears old.

A) An only child, about 10 years old, is assaulted by his father. In anger he packs a bag of clothes and runs away from home...
B) Getting a desk job answering phones...
C) Getting a tiny, cramped flat with no furniture and sleeping on the floor...
D) Sitting on a park watching kids play - he is no longer connected to them...
E) Getting his first car, driving around town, waiting for something to happen... (This scene was cut during the storyboarding process to improve shooting practicality.)
F) Turning to alcohol, drinking in a bar...
G) Falling asleep in the gutter, alcohol bottle in his hand...
H) Turning to heroin, shoots himself up in his apartment...
I) Throws up on the floor of his apartment and cries...
J) Eventually realising that he doesn't want to grow up, and that adult life is horrible, he leaves adult life behind and walks out into the night...
K) He arrives at his old house and sees his worried parents through the window... He decides to stay a child for as long as he can, and returns through the front door.

Analysis of Website for Florence and the Machine

The main image on the official website for Florence and the Machine, recording name of artist Florence Welsh, is a photo of the artist herself. It is placed in the centre, above the fold, so that it is the first thing that a visitor to the website sees. This reinforces her star image and allows her to connect with her audience by putting a face to the music. A pair of lungs, similar to those found in the CD Cover for the album Lungs, are used as the background for the navigation menu, which highlights them and makes them recognisable, establishing a recurring motif for the artist.

The website makes use of an audio player and video player, which are both placed above the fold. The video player autoplays upon load, which massively increases view counts and engrosses the viewer. Autoplaying the video attracts attention to it and increases the visibility of the artist and her music.

The navigation menu links to sections for News, a Blog, about the artist, Media, Video, Photo Gallery, information on the live tour and community features such as a forum and membership system. These allow for great interactivity with the artist and allow for fans to be closely connected to the goings-on of Florence and the Machine, staying up-to-date and the first to know about new singles, albums, tours, etc. This improves record sales and the financial viability of the artist to the record company.

Analysis of Website for Feist

The website for artist Feist uses a large image as its centrepiece advertising the artist's newest album, The Reminder. The artist is featured in a close-up shot next to the album to establish the relationship. Below the fold, fan photos of the artist's live performances on tour advertise the tour itself and also her skills as a live performer.

The main navigation bar links to the artist's news, tour details, news articles, photos, videos, albums and online store. These pages use rich media such as audio and video to create a vivid image of the artist to intrigue the viewer and draw them into her star image.

The key image of Feist's silhouette is used four times on the landing page, once as the favicon, and also above the header image, tour archive sidebar link and the album cover itself featured in the header image. The 'rule of 3' in marketing says that you must present a key image to a viewer three times before they remember it. The use of the silhouette three times on the page and once in the favicon is consistent with this and helps create a recognisable logo for the artist.

Analysis of CD Cover for Lungs by Florence and the Machine

The main image in the CD Cover for Lungs depicts the artist, Florence Welch, standing in a forest, surrounded by birds and flowers. She wears a see-through dress and a plastic representation of two lungs hang from her neck as if replacing a necklace. The lungs, representative of the album title, cover her outside body where the lungs would appear inside her body. The choice of lungs as both the album's namesake and the visual image on the CD Cover could suggest connotations of life, as breath is needed for life, or singing, as her powerful voice comes from her lungs.

The artists' recording name, Florence and the Machine, is represented in logo form in a sans-serif, hand-written font. The cursiveness of this font suggests a hand-drawn, personal touch which allows the artist to connect with the audience on a higher level.