Song Change

Due to the amount of work and the budget required to pull off a music video to the correct standard, it simply isn't possible for us to achieve.

The Michael Jackson/Fall Out Boy song idea, seemed good at the time, but now we are on our way into the planning process, we can see how many complications and issues there are.

We have therefore chosen a new song: 'Hey watch this' by The Auteur. They are of a similar genre to Fall Out Boy as so we do not need to change much when it comes to genre, mise-en-scene or mood boards.

This video will be narrative based with the band acting as characters. We will try to add in a few scenes of performance, because that is what the type of genre expects.

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.

Music Video Pitch

View more presentations from Jensonb.

Download it Here

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).

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

Props

• 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

Costumes & Makeup

• 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

Shots

• Closeups
• Wideshots of band
• Tracking shots (Particularly of "MJ")
• Low angle shots
• Over the shoulder shots
• POV Shot

Movements

• Track coin across room
• Pans with "MJ's" dancing
• Tracking band movements

Transitions

• Predominately Simple cuts
• Cross disolves
• Flash cut
• Fade to black at end

Colours & Lighting

• 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

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.

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

My Mood Boards

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

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.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=En-cHBv7UpA

Michael Jackson - 'Black or White'

The video starts in space, the camera falls through the stars, clouds, sky till we see city lights, and we follow the road up to a house where we enter a boy’s bedroom. Inside he is rocking out to loud music. The father gets angry and tells the child to stop listening to it. The boy finds huge amps and blasts the house to bits, causing his father’s chair to fly out of the house landing in the African desert.

A pride of lions is the next thing we see, with aborigines or native Africans creeping up to hunt it. Michael Jackson is of course amongst them. Once the music starts the group begin a choreographed dance. They run off into a different set where M.J is now with some women doing some form of Hindi/Eastern European dance. Again it changes, this time to Native Americans, jumping and dancing on a box/stage, the backdrop falls to reveal those on horseback.

The scene changes to the middle of a busy road with a Hindi/ Indian woman dancing with M.J. Their moves are linked though each with their own style. The weather begins to snow linking it in with the next scene which is in Russia. Once the men have danced around M.J the scene becomes a snow globe which is picked up by two babies; one of which is ‘white the other ‘black’.
The ending of this video is a series of people transforming into each other. It shows that there is a difference of race, culture and style of dancing though we are all the same inside. It doesn’t matter what we look like or as the song says ‘It doesn’t matter if you’re black or white’.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZI9OYMRwN1Q

Music Video Analysis: "Beat It" - Michael Jackson

Beat It is a 1982 song by legendary American Pop singer Michael Jackson. The video, which launched Jackson's stardom to international audiences, was directed by Bob Giraldi and set the tone for what would become Jackson's trademark style.

The video's visuals and narrative are tied directly to the lyrics of the song. Jackson sings advice about a confrontation - a person or group of people have angered another group (These groups are likely gangs, as depicted in the video). The angered group tells the other(s) not to show their face(s) around any more, and the song continues advising them not to antagonise the situation and to just "beat it".

The vide reflects this by showing two street gangs, apparently rival ones, marching through the city to have a fight. Acting upon the lyrical advice to avoid confrontation, Jackson himself eventually stands between the two gangs as thy are about to fight and convinces them to stand down.

The visuals are also tied directly to the music, in a style that would become known as the definitive Michael Jackson music video manner. Significant portions of the video involve highly choreographed dancing (Notably the gang's fight is really more of a dance number with weapons) to the rhythm and melody of the song. Even in shots where there is little call for dancing, we still frequently see actions in time with the music - such as Jackson shaking his arm for emphasis to the rhythm.

Furthermore, the video is edited in such a way that the majority of the cuts, particularly in the early scene in which word of the impending fight spreads through a pool hall, are at the change between bars.

Jackson himself is general shown either dancing, or in pose designed to suggest he will be dancing soon. This reflects his image as a heavily performance-oriented singer. As a result of videos like this and Thriller, Jackson would eventually become as well known for his over-the-top dance numbers as for his songs. Notably, this video create the Jackson-Trademark "mass dance number" which would be a frequent motif in subsequent iconic Jackson videos, such as the video to Smooth Criminal.

Overall then, this is a hugely influential music video - both for Michael Jackson himself and for the medium generally. One of the most significant and well-implemented efforts to marry stage musical class performance with a narrative in a music video of its day, it still stands up today as incredibly well produced.

Watch it here.