Music Video Pitch
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Wednesday, 21 October 2009
Music Video Pitch Presentation
This is our Music Video Pitch Presentation. It was designed by me, based on a rough version created by Amy and its content is the result of a collaboration between all three of us, as was the presentation itself.
Download it Here
Download it Here
Monday, 19 October 2009
My moodboard
The moodboard has dark images and some have an almost gothic feel. This is in reference to the darker "emo" side to Fall Out Boy, as opposed to the tounge in cheek pop punk styling. This is due to the way they dress and the way they are seen as people in the media. The reason I have used the darker images instead of the poppier style is to reference the way they will be dressed in the video. The bat-heart is a logo for both a clothing label owned by FOB bassist Pete Wentz and the record company to which FOB are signed. At the center of the moodboard I put an image of Michael Jackson's trademark glove, as our video will also reference Michael Jackson. I included images from Tim Burtons 'The Nightmare Before Christmas'. There are also reference to the "emo" fashion with the eyeliner, tattoos, fringes and the photos of the band, I included this as it is the sort of thing we will be wearing during the video.
The style of Michael Jackson which we use will be be created to make an obvious juxtaposition with Fall Out Boy's style, as this will add to the clash/confrontational theme of the lyrics/video as more than a clash of the artists, as it will be a clash of style and genre as well. Therefore we will dress MJ in exaggerated outfits with bright colours such as in his early 80's era, which will clash with Fall Out Boy's emo image. The video will create a bigger clash in terms of rock and pop, as both the style of each genre and the video conventions of the genres will clash, as the band are interrupted from their live performance (typical of a rock video) and the video will then become more narrative based (like in a pop video).
Thursday, 15 October 2009
Music Video Narrative Summary
This is a rough narrative outline of our video. Details are subject to change as the narrative is developed into a full script and storyboard.
As the video opens, "Fall Out Boy" are getting ready onstage to perform, even though the room is empty. They start up and their fans begin to file in as word of the apparently impromptu performance spreads. The crowd really starts to get into the performance and word eventually reaches the bar "MJ" is in.
Cut to "MJ" in the bar, dancing along in his signature style. He is interrupted by a member of his crew informing him of the "FOB" performance. He becomes angry and storms out of the bar, gesturing for his crew to follow him.
Back with "FOB", the band and crowd are really getting into the song and are jumping around quite a bit. The bassist, "Pete Wentz" suddenly stops and pulls out his phone. He has received a text signed "MJ". He looks at it confused, then tries to get back into the groove of the performance. Not long after though, the doors burst open and the music stops as the band turns its attention to the newcomers.
"MJ" and his crew walk in and stare the band down. There is a standoff reminiscent of the one at the start of the Smooth Criminal video, which ends in the same way - with "MJ" tossing a coin. In this case however, it doesn't land in a jukebox starting the music, it hits "Pete Wentz" in the head. The music starts back up and the band and their fans charge at "MJ" and the dancers.
A fight breaks out (Involving dancing and rocking out more than actual fighting) and eventually the fans and dancers spill out of the building. The band and MJ angrily sing at eachother to "Beat it", getting increasingly rowdy. As the song ends, "Pete Wentz" whacks MJ upside the head with his bass, drops it and the band walks out, leaving MJ on the floor struggling to get back up.
As the video opens, "Fall Out Boy" are getting ready onstage to perform, even though the room is empty. They start up and their fans begin to file in as word of the apparently impromptu performance spreads. The crowd really starts to get into the performance and word eventually reaches the bar "MJ" is in.
Cut to "MJ" in the bar, dancing along in his signature style. He is interrupted by a member of his crew informing him of the "FOB" performance. He becomes angry and storms out of the bar, gesturing for his crew to follow him.
Back with "FOB", the band and crowd are really getting into the song and are jumping around quite a bit. The bassist, "Pete Wentz" suddenly stops and pulls out his phone. He has received a text signed "MJ". He looks at it confused, then tries to get back into the groove of the performance. Not long after though, the doors burst open and the music stops as the band turns its attention to the newcomers.
"MJ" and his crew walk in and stare the band down. There is a standoff reminiscent of the one at the start of the Smooth Criminal video, which ends in the same way - with "MJ" tossing a coin. In this case however, it doesn't land in a jukebox starting the music, it hits "Pete Wentz" in the head. The music starts back up and the band and their fans charge at "MJ" and the dancers.
A fight breaks out (Involving dancing and rocking out more than actual fighting) and eventually the fans and dancers spill out of the building. The band and MJ angrily sing at eachother to "Beat it", getting increasingly rowdy. As the song ends, "Pete Wentz" whacks MJ upside the head with his bass, drops it and the band walks out, leaving MJ on the floor struggling to get back up.
Mise-en-Scène Etc.
Locations
- Stage "FOB" are performing on, with back drop featuring the words "Beat It"
- Dingy Bar with a Pool Table in which "Michael" is dancing
- Instruments (Dark colours, modern stylings) - Drum Kit, 2 Electric Guitars, 1 Bass Guitar, 3 Microphones + stands
- Stunt-Instrument: soft and light bass guitar engineered to break at the join between body and neck
- Cell phone (LG KS360 Landscape Slider)
- American Coin eg. a Quarter
- Tatto Transfers
- Trilbies (2 Black, 1 white)
- Black Eyeliner
- Mascara
- Dark Eye Shadow, possibly black
- Skinny Jeans, dark colours
- Dark-coloured belts with metal detailing
- Dark T-Shirts
- Dark Shirts
- One white glove, covered in rhinestones
- Reddy-orange 80s faux-leather Jacket
- White trousers
- Black loafers (Shiny leather)
- White socks
- Black hair dye
- Closeups
- Wideshots of band
- Tracking shots (Particularly of "MJ")
- Low angle shots
- Over the shoulder shots
- POV Shot
- Track coin across room
- Pans with "MJ's" dancing
- Tracking band movements
- Predominately Simple cuts
- Cross disolves
- Flash cut
- Fade to black at end
- Blacks ("FOB's" Emo stylings)
- Whites ("MJ's" styles)
- Dark purples (Again, "FOB's" styles)
- Reds ("MJ's" Jacket)
- Dull diffused light in bar
- Stage lighting in stage scene
- (Strobe effect)
- Twilight outdoors
Wednesday, 14 October 2009
Smooth Criminal Videos: Comparison
Beat it is not the only Michael Jackson song which has been covered by a more modern rock group. In 2001, Riverside-based Alternative Rock Band Alien Ant Farm released a cover of Jackson's 1988 hit "Smooth Criminal". The original video was the centrepiece of Jackson's 1988 motion picture "Moonwalker" and, like the videos to "Beat it" & "Thriller", is generally recognised as one of the best music videos of all time (And is the originator of one of Jackson's most famous dance moves - the Anti-Gravity Lean) and won the 1989 Best Music Video Award at the Brit Awards.
The original video is fairly typical of Micael Jackson's distinctive style, a largely performance-based video but shown through the lens of a strong narrative. This style, also seen in the videos for "Beat It", "Bad" and "Thriller" has been highly influential on music video in general, particularly in pop music.
This video is a direct evolution of the style originated in the Beat It video (Read more about that here), so we feel it is significant to our research even in its own right. However, the existence of the Alien Ant Farm cover doubles the significance.
The Alien Ant Farm cover's video is significantly different to the original. Although it too is largely performance based, the majority of this performance is the band playing rather than the dancing seen in the original, this is indicative of the difference between rock music videos and pop music videos. Pop audiences, particularly Michael Jackson's target audience, are most interested in seeing the artist and seeing the dancing. Rock audiences care more about the music, so it is almost always wise to show the band playing in rock videos.
Aside from that, the Alien Ant Farm video has a significantly different tone from the Michael Jackson original, taking a much more irreverent and lighthearted approach than the moody and arthouse feel of the original. This reflects the Alien Ant Farm image, which is of a rebellious and fun-loving band. Like Fall Out Boy, they do not take themselves too seriously.
The original video is fairly typical of Micael Jackson's distinctive style, a largely performance-based video but shown through the lens of a strong narrative. This style, also seen in the videos for "Beat It", "Bad" and "Thriller" has been highly influential on music video in general, particularly in pop music.
The video is essentially a largely inconsequential scene in Moonwalker, other than a sequence in which Jackson's pursuers in the movie appear with guns, forcing a standoff late in the video. Within itself, it has a meta-narrative (Which is how it is able to stand alone as a music video) involving Jackson trying to impress and placate the people in the bar through his dancing, in an effort to avoid an all-out fight.
The dancing itself is very similar to the kind of group, synchronised dancing seen in other Jackson videos like "Thriller" - lines of people performing dance moves as led by Jackson. Amongst the moves shown is, as noted above, the Anti-Gravity Lean, one of the most famous Michael Jackson dance moves ever seen (Along with, for example, the Moonwalk). This move would become so iconic, Jackson and his people would eventually patent a way to perform the move live onstage so as to better replicate the feel of the video when the song was performed live.
As can be expected, there is a lot of focus on Michael and his image. He is shown frequently in closeup, and is almost always the focus of the camera's attention. His costume is very distinctively Michael Jackson too, showing that the video's (And the movie's) producers were very aware of the strength and importance of MJ's image.
This video is a direct evolution of the style originated in the Beat It video (Read more about that here), so we feel it is significant to our research even in its own right. However, the existence of the Alien Ant Farm cover doubles the significance.
The Alien Ant Farm cover's video is significantly different to the original. Although it too is largely performance based, the majority of this performance is the band playing rather than the dancing seen in the original, this is indicative of the difference between rock music videos and pop music videos. Pop audiences, particularly Michael Jackson's target audience, are most interested in seeing the artist and seeing the dancing. Rock audiences care more about the music, so it is almost always wise to show the band playing in rock videos.
Aside from that, the Alien Ant Farm video has a significantly different tone from the Michael Jackson original, taking a much more irreverent and lighthearted approach than the moody and arthouse feel of the original. This reflects the Alien Ant Farm image, which is of a rebellious and fun-loving band. Like Fall Out Boy, they do not take themselves too seriously.
There are some elements of the original in the Alien Ant Farm video however. Just like in our video concept, these are generally there in the form of parody - whether it is the band performing Anti-Gravity Leans and appearing totally unimpressed with themselves, or a young boy dancing in Jackson's distinctive style, the Alien Ant Farm video borrows almost entirely in order to provoke amusement in the audience.
See the original here
See the Alien Ant Farm version here
See the original here
See the Alien Ant Farm version here
Song Lyrics
They told him don't you ever come around here
Don't wanna see your face, you better disappear
The fire's in their eyes and their words are really clear
So beat it, just beat it
You better run, you better do what you can
Don't wanna see no blood, don't be a macho man
You wanna be tough, better do what you can
So beat it, but you wanna be bad
Just beat it, beat it, beat it, beat it
No one wants to be defeated
Showin' how funky strong is your fight
It doesn't matter who's wrong or right
Just beat it, beat it
Just beat it, beat it
Just beat it, beat it
Just beat it, beat it
They're out to get you, better leave while you can
Don't wanna be a boy, you wanna be a man
You wanna stay alive, better do what you can
So beat it, just beat it
You have to show them that you're really not scared
You're playin' with your life, this ain't no truth or dare
They'll kick you, then they beat you,
Then they'll tell you it's fair
So beat it, but you wanna be bad
Just beat it, beat it, beat it, beat it
No one wants to be defeated
Showin' how funky strong is your fight
It doesn't matter who's wrong or right
Just beat it, beat it, beat it, beat it
No one wants to be defeated
Showin' how funky strong is your fight
It doesn't matter who's wrong or right
Just beat it, beat it, beat it, beat it, beat it
Beat it, beat it, beat it, beat it
No one wants to be defeated
Showin' how funky strong is your fight
It doesn't matter who's wrong or right
Just beat it, beat it, beat it, beat it
No one wants to be defeated
Showin' how funky strong is your fight
It doesn't matter who's wrong or who's right
Just beat it, beat it, beat it, beat it
No one wants to be defeated
Showin' how funky strong is your fight
It doesn't matter who's wrong or right
Just beat it, beat it, beat it, beat it
No one wants to be defeated
Showin' how funky strong is your fight
It doesn't matter who's wrong or right
Just beat it, beat it
Beat it, beat it, beat it
Don't wanna see your face, you better disappear
The fire's in their eyes and their words are really clear
So beat it, just beat it
You better run, you better do what you can
Don't wanna see no blood, don't be a macho man
You wanna be tough, better do what you can
So beat it, but you wanna be bad
Just beat it, beat it, beat it, beat it
No one wants to be defeated
Showin' how funky strong is your fight
It doesn't matter who's wrong or right
Just beat it, beat it
Just beat it, beat it
Just beat it, beat it
Just beat it, beat it
They're out to get you, better leave while you can
Don't wanna be a boy, you wanna be a man
You wanna stay alive, better do what you can
So beat it, just beat it
You have to show them that you're really not scared
You're playin' with your life, this ain't no truth or dare
They'll kick you, then they beat you,
Then they'll tell you it's fair
So beat it, but you wanna be bad
Just beat it, beat it, beat it, beat it
No one wants to be defeated
Showin' how funky strong is your fight
It doesn't matter who's wrong or right
Just beat it, beat it, beat it, beat it
No one wants to be defeated
Showin' how funky strong is your fight
It doesn't matter who's wrong or right
Just beat it, beat it, beat it, beat it, beat it
Beat it, beat it, beat it, beat it
No one wants to be defeated
Showin' how funky strong is your fight
It doesn't matter who's wrong or right
Just beat it, beat it, beat it, beat it
No one wants to be defeated
Showin' how funky strong is your fight
It doesn't matter who's wrong or who's right
Just beat it, beat it, beat it, beat it
No one wants to be defeated
Showin' how funky strong is your fight
It doesn't matter who's wrong or right
Just beat it, beat it, beat it, beat it
No one wants to be defeated
Showin' how funky strong is your fight
It doesn't matter who's wrong or right
Just beat it, beat it
Beat it, beat it, beat it
Mood Board
This is my mood board for our music video of the 'Beat It' cover by Fall Out Boy. I have included magazine covers, clothing labels, relative clipart, cd covers, genre images and pictures of the band.Thursday, 1 October 2009
Billie Jean-Michael Jackson
Billie Jean was a single from Michael Jackson's 1982 Thriller, the greatest selling album of all time. Typical of 80's pop and especially Michael Jackson (whose videos were revolutionary at the time) it is a narrative based video with Jackson playing the lead.
It opens with a shot like an old movie, it is black and white and has a border round it as well as a grainy image. However Jackson emerges in colour and leaves light on whatever he touches/wherever he steps, and even transforms, the tramp who gets a suit and the tiger (which is seen on the cover of the Thriller album). This references the line "she says that I am the one" as he lights things up or transforms things for 'Billie Jean'.
Throughout the video there is a large reference to voyeurism or looking as a man is skulking around with a camera trying to photograph Michael. During the narrative Michael is singing and dancing, which is a huge part of his performances especially in his videos which often feature hugely choreographed dances. The verse also features split screens and freeze frames, as well as brief moments of slow motion another theme occurant in old movies.
At the end of the video Michael disapears and his steps are retraced by the lights going backwards. The villain who had been trying to photograph him is caught by the police, after a neighbour of the house Jackson enters (suggested to be the house of 'Billie Jean') reports him. She is looking out of her window and sees Jackson, another reference to the notion of looking.
It opens with a shot like an old movie, it is black and white and has a border round it as well as a grainy image. However Jackson emerges in colour and leaves light on whatever he touches/wherever he steps, and even transforms, the tramp who gets a suit and the tiger (which is seen on the cover of the Thriller album). This references the line "she says that I am the one" as he lights things up or transforms things for 'Billie Jean'.
Throughout the video there is a large reference to voyeurism or looking as a man is skulking around with a camera trying to photograph Michael. During the narrative Michael is singing and dancing, which is a huge part of his performances especially in his videos which often feature hugely choreographed dances. The verse also features split screens and freeze frames, as well as brief moments of slow motion another theme occurant in old movies.
At the end of the video Michael disapears and his steps are retraced by the lights going backwards. The villain who had been trying to photograph him is caught by the police, after a neighbour of the house Jackson enters (suggested to be the house of 'Billie Jean') reports him. She is looking out of her window and sees Jackson, another reference to the notion of looking.
Saturday-Fall Out Boy
Saturday is the 3rd single from Chicago pop-punk band Fall Out Boy's 2003 album 'Take This To Your Grave'. the charecteristics of this genre are videos which focus on live performance, however Fall Out Boy are known for making their videos more narrative based, often with tongue-in-cheek humour or parodies of films.
The video opens with the shot of the Queen of Hearts playing card and cuts to show singer Patrick Stump staring at the card in a suit, he is playing a detective. The video then cuts on the beat to a live performance section, while in the performance part the camera is unsteady and makes rapid zooms and pans across band and audience. The venue the band are playing is a gritty underground club with graffiti all over the walls, the crowd are right up close to the band like in the Hardcore clubs famous in New York for their chaotic live shows, this is shown when guitarist Joe Trohman makes a hole in the roof with his guitar. The narrative is a crime story, shot in the streets of an American city, where Patrick Stump plays a detective while bassist Pete Wentz is a murder who kills people using the Queen of Hearts. The playing card is used as a symbol of mystery like in poker.
Murder victims (including the other members of the band) are found with the Queen of Hearts on their body, and Patrick Stump is clearlygetting stressed by the mystery surrounding their deaths. During the bridge of the song both Pete and Patrick are shown sitting in the same position surrounded by polaroids of the victims, it is hinted that they are the same person, a reference to the movie Fight Club.
The breakdown after the bridge is shown in the live performance and both the band and the crowd are going mental, another reference to the hardcore shows of the late 80's. At the end of it Patrick uncovers loads of playing cards in his car, another suggestion that they are the same person. Patrick discovers Petes phone and goes to look at it but Pete runs at himand kills him with another playingcard, however when he looks in his jacket pocket and finds a card he drops dead on the last beat. This shows they were the same person throughout the video which is influenced by Fight Club.
The video opens with the shot of the Queen of Hearts playing card and cuts to show singer Patrick Stump staring at the card in a suit, he is playing a detective. The video then cuts on the beat to a live performance section, while in the performance part the camera is unsteady and makes rapid zooms and pans across band and audience. The venue the band are playing is a gritty underground club with graffiti all over the walls, the crowd are right up close to the band like in the Hardcore clubs famous in New York for their chaotic live shows, this is shown when guitarist Joe Trohman makes a hole in the roof with his guitar. The narrative is a crime story, shot in the streets of an American city, where Patrick Stump plays a detective while bassist Pete Wentz is a murder who kills people using the Queen of Hearts. The playing card is used as a symbol of mystery like in poker.
Murder victims (including the other members of the band) are found with the Queen of Hearts on their body, and Patrick Stump is clearlygetting stressed by the mystery surrounding their deaths. During the bridge of the song both Pete and Patrick are shown sitting in the same position surrounded by polaroids of the victims, it is hinted that they are the same person, a reference to the movie Fight Club.
The breakdown after the bridge is shown in the live performance and both the band and the crowd are going mental, another reference to the hardcore shows of the late 80's. At the end of it Patrick uncovers loads of playing cards in his car, another suggestion that they are the same person. Patrick discovers Petes phone and goes to look at it but Pete runs at himand kills him with another playingcard, however when he looks in his jacket pocket and finds a card he drops dead on the last beat. This shows they were the same person throughout the video which is influenced by Fight Club.
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