Change in Idea

After drafting my first storyboard, my intentions were to film the band in a warehouse and possibly obtain some footage of the band performing and collate this footage along with the clips I had already recorded of the band in a warehouse performing (similar to the location in which Guns N' Roses recorded "Sweet Child O' Mine"). After contemplaiting this idea for a while, I decided to take a more pragmatic approach and use an actor who is more accessible rather than spend an inordinate amount of time organising sessions to film the band for numerous cuts each session when all members of the band may not be available, and so due to practicalities I have chosen to opt for a new idea. I will use a young female actor around the age of nine or ten roaming the streets to help connote/embody the metaphor of isolation that is evident in the song, and by using a much younger actor this notion can be portrayed much more sensitively when aided by a good choice of camera angles, Mise en Scene, sound and editing. Therein, I will be producing a new storyboard that chronicles each shot/scene in detail with annotations to suggest ideas for Mise en Scene, camera, sound and editing, in order to make it relevant to the song. By using an actor that will be available more of the time than the band (who will have a series of gigs to play) I will be able to shoot and re-shoot  my video quickly and can therefore make more adaptations to the product in a shorter space of time.

The idea centres on a young girl roaming aimlessly in secluded but open locations - mainly inspired by the lyrics: "Our youth you've strangled from us has brought me to this state" - which ensures that the narrative maintains relevance to the song; the video will be steeped in irony. The young girl will be the only character who features in the narrative as this will connote isolation, which is frequently alluded to in the song - which often makes reference to the desire of escapism with lyrics such as: "I've got to run away and get me back my rights", which is repeated throughout the song in the chorus which is why it is important that I successfully portray this through the camera, miss en scene, sound and editing. This idea will see the video incorporate elements of pastiche film making as I intend to take inspiration from Ed Sheeran's "The A Team" video that was directed, shot and edited by Ruskin Kyle, and I wish to emulate some of Kyle's work in tribute as I feel the same ideas can be applied to the song I am producing for. For example, I intend to use black and white effects and low-key to give a melancholy effect to the video. I also intend to use a lot of inter cutting in the video as I want the video to work on the basis of binary opposites, capturing different expressions subtly but using this editing technique more aggressively when the song eventually culminates during choruses. By using inter cutting to show binary opposites, I can build/connote meaning through my video and send messages to the audience not only through content alone, but also in the manner in which the footage has been composed.