The Cast

The Cast and Costumes

There are two main characters in our music video; a male protagonist and a female love interest. It is important that the actors are around the same age to make for a believable couple. It is also important that they have the right image (i.e. the appropriate clothes, hairstryles etc.) required for the genre of music. Since The New York Fund are an indie rock/ folk band, they have a distinct style of clothes which tends to be replicated by those listening to their music.

The Costumes

Below are pictures of The New York Fund and of Razorlight, another indie/ rock band:

The New York Fund

Razorlight

We can see that both bands share a similar image. Both wear dark skinny jeans, dark, open jackets/ cardigans, white t-shirts and checked shirts. The composition and stances are also very similar in the two pictures, as are the hairstyles also.

Topman is a very popular clothes shop and mainly sells clothes that fit into this genre, below is a link to the shop's website:

http://www.topman.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/TopCategoriesDisplay?storeId=12555&catalogId=17551

An outfit from Topman:

This is a very generic indie outfit and is a representation of a widespread current trend of popular culture. The skinny jeans and checked shirt are instantly recognisable as indie signifiers, initially a symbol of individuality and unconventionalism. The popularity of this style has increased vastly on account of the popularity of such indie bands. Our protagonist must therefore fit into this trend so that a) his image is consistent with that of the band's and b) the target audience of the single (teenage boys/ young men aged 15-24) can relate to him as part of the current trend/ popular culture, as they themselves may be.

As for our actress, in film and art a female love interest is typically wearing at least one item of red clothing, or is associated with the colour red in some way (e.g. in Munch's 'Madonna' she has a red halo, in the opening scene of Sin City (2005) The Customer (Marley Shelton) wears red lipstick and a red dress, Mena Suvari lies on a bed of red roses in American Beauty (1999)). Therefore, it is important that our actress is represented in a similar way, as loveable and vulnerable but also as a seductress.

Marley Shelton in Sin City (2005)

The Cast

We were quite unfortunate during our search for a male actor in the sense that our first choice actor (Guy Walker) pulled out. We had selected him for the part as he is a drama student and also does a lot of theatre work outside of school, therefore we felt his experience and confidence in front of an audience/ camera would serve well in our music video. However, he had to reconsider due to prior arrangements.

Guy Walker

We then had Johnny Lawrence lined-up as a replacement. We chose him due to his indie image and dress style. This would have caused less problems with regards to finding appropriate clothing, as his regular clothes would suffice. Furthermore, Johnny has a natural confidance and a general 'likable' factor, which would serve well as the target audience can relate to him easily. However, Johnny was also forced to reconsider due to a busy schedule of other commitments. Therefore, after an exhaustive search of possible and willing replacements, I myself was required to volunteer and play the part. In many ways, however, this will make the filming process much easier, as I already know what to expect from each shot and there would not be the usual difficulty of describing the shots and motions to the actor, as I would also be directing myself at the same time.

Me

On the other hand, we had more luck in our search for our actress, as our first choice has remained committed. We chose Isabel Davies to play our female part due to her attractiveness and sophisticated image, ensuring that she's believable as the highly sought-after love interest. Furthermore, she starred in one of our classmate's thriller opening sequence project, so she also has experience of the filming process, making her easier to work with.

Isabel Davies

Actress Withdrawal (12/10/09)

Unfortunately, Isabel Davies has also withdrawn from her part, due to a busy schedule and consequent unavailability.

With time running out, we decided on the simple option of having a second group member (Lucy Garstka) to play the part of our female alongside myself as the male protagonist. Although this is unfortunate, as Lucy doesn't have the acting experience of Isabel, at least we will never again have the problem of the actor/ actress being unavailable, as both parts are now played by group members.

Lucy Garstka

Locations

Location Scouting

We require several different locations for our music video. One type of location we are looking for in particular are streets, alleys and courtyards. These should be narrow and cobbled, creating themes of claustrophobia and angst. Since the themes we are exploring include lost love, paranoia and nightmare, it seems appropriate to include signifiers of film noir, with 'nightmarish reality' being one of the elemental themes of film noirs.

An example: claustrophobic alley in The Third Man (1949)

We went location scouting as a group in order to look for these types of locations, below are pictures that we took of potential locations:

Princes Street - This is a very picturesque street with old-fashioned buildings which are very close together, giving it the image we are looking for. Streets like these are perfect for the use of tilted shots, commonly used in the noir genre, connoting confusion and paranoia.

Elm Hill - This street has a distinct cobbled path providing a traditional image and the opportunity to create effective low-angled shots. The slight slope of the street further strengthens the effect of the low-angled and tilted shot.

Elm Hill - Again, we see the cobbled pavement and narrow, almost cramped together buildings; perfect for effective tilted shots.

Elm Hill

Bedford Street - This street is also slightly sloped and curved, providing good opportunities for low-angled shots up against the slope.

Old Post Office Court - This is perhaps not quite a narrow and scenic street which we originally set out to find, but the alley under the scaffolding provides an interesting location, giving good opportunities for interesting lighting effects as well as symbolic imagery such as entrapment.

This is a nice shot of the alley, promising to be a potentially very effective location.

This is another nice shot. Although the man is there by chance in this particular picture, it suggests a good option for an effective long-range shot of a silhouetted protagonist.

Quay Side - We spotted this charming row of Willows and realised it as a potentially very effective location. Willows are often used as signifiers of sadness and misery, emotions felt by the male protagonist, therefore this location can provide us with powerful symbolic imagery.

Fishergate - We really like the idea of having shots of the protagonist from inside and underneath the trees, suggesting that he is encircled by sadness, almost walking through a 'tunnel of misery'.

St. Georges Street - this bridge can provide a nice location, as the railing can suggest an 'entrapment' motif, whilst the reflections on the water and overhanging tree make it into a picturesque scene.

Norwich University College Of The Arts - We walked past this large arched entrance and noticed that, interestingly, there's a window of a similar shape visible straight through the centre of the entrance. This feature can provide an interesting backdrop as we will use the concept of reality merging with fantasy/ nightmare, with this location possibly acting as a symbolic piece of mise-en-scene.

Old Post Office Court -This is a building made interesting by the railings and spiral stairs. Furthermore, not only can these features provide interesting visual opportunities, but the stairs allow us to use high angled shots of the street, making it a useful location.

Old Post Office Court - Spiral stair-cases are often used in noirs, with high-angled shots peering over the railing to connote confusion and a general sense of unease.

Old Post Office Court -Motifs of railings and bars are also generic signifiers of noir, connoting themes of entrapment.

Old Post Office Court -The courtyard itself is an effective, unglamorous location which could prove to be a very successful location, especially through the use of tilted and low angled shots, making the buildings rise from the ground in an expressive manner.

Exploring Themes of the Song & Inspiration

Themes to Explore and Ispirations

Since the lyrics of the song suggest searching for a lost love, we will look to create a narrative predominantly exploring this theme. We have taken some of our ideas directly from the lyrics (e.g. early on in the song the lyrics say "I was walking down the street", we can have scenes of the protagonist walking along a street and searching for the girl) whilst others were inspired by seeminlgy unrelated sources. One elemental theme that we have decided on is to use recurring scenes of fantasy or dream, revealing both the male protagonist's love for the girl and his paranoia/ angst of losing her. This idea has partly been derived from the fantasy scenes in Sam Mendes' 'American Beauty' (1999), which portray male desire and yearning. Another, perhaps more unlikely, source of inspiration for this idea comes from Hector Berlioz's 'Symphonie Fantastique/An Episode in the Life of an Artist' (1830).

Dream scenes from American Beauty, with Kevin Spacey and Mena Suvari

Also, here is a link to the first dream scene from the movie, with further links to the others:

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

Another source of inspiration for our fantasy scenes was Edvard Munch's painting 'Madonna' (1895), an expressionist painting depicting the Virgin Mary in an uconventional way; her closed eyes and calm expression connoting modesty, whilst the light, red halo and sensual pose also signify her vibrance, love, pain and sexuality.

Edvard Munch's 'Madonna' (1895)

Berlioz and the Symphonie Fantastique

Hector Berlioz was a French composer of the Romantic Period, this is his most well-known piece and is acknowledged to be one of the most important and representative pieces of its time. The symphony itself has five movements, contrary to the traditional four, and is a programme piece with 'explanotary notes' for each movement. The symphony essentially tells the story of a young man falling in love and the way in which his emotions vary as he goes through both being in love and through life itself. One of the essential themes of the piece is that the protagonist fantasises positively about his love as well as feeling paranoia and fear of betrayal, untill his love is lost and the imagery of the music becomes bitter and vulgar.

- The movements:

1. Rêveries/ Passions

Berlioz wrote in his program notes (1845):

The author imagines that a young vibrant musician, afflicted by the sickness of spirit which a famous writer has called the wave of passions (la vague des passions), sees for the first time a woman who unites all the charms of the ideal person his imagination was dreaming of, and falls desperately in love with her. By a strange anomaly, the beloved image never presents itself to the artist’s mind without being associated with a musical idea, in which he recognises a certain quality of passion, but endowed with the nobility and shyness which he credits to the object of his love.

This melodic image and its model keep haunting him ceaselessly like a double idée fixe. This explains the constant recurrence in all the movements of the symphony of the melody which launches the first allegro. The transitions from this state of dreamy melancholy, interrupted by occasional upsurges of aimless joy, to delirious passion, with its outbursts of fury and jealousy, its returns of tenderness, its tears, its religious consolations – all this forms the subject of the first movement

2. Un Bal/ A Ball

Berlioz wrote:

The artist finds himself in the most diverse situations in life, in the tumult of a festive party, in the peaceful contemplation of the beautiful sights of nature, yet everywhere, whether in town or in the countryside, the beloved image keeps haunting him and throws his spirit into confusion.

3. Scène aux champs/ Scene in the Fields

Berlioz wrote:

One evening in the countryside he hears two shepherds in the distance dialoguing with their 'ranz des vaches'; this pastoral duet, the setting, the gentle rustling of the trees in the wind, some causes for hope that he has recently conceived, all conspire to restore to his heart an unaccustomed feeling of calm and to give to his thoughts a happier colouring. He broods on his loneliness, and hopes that soon he will no longer be on his own… But what if she betrayed him!… This mingled hope and fear, these ideas of happiness, disturbed by dark premonitions, form the subject of the adagio. At the end one of the shepherds resumes his ‘ranz des vaches’; the other one no longer answers. Distant sound of thunder… solitude… silence...

4. Marche au supplice/ March to the Scaffold

Berlioz wrote:

Convinced that his love is spurned, the artist poisons himself with opium. The dose of narcotic, while too weak to cause his death, plunges him into a heavy sleep accompanied by the strangest of visions. He dreams that he has killed his beloved, that he is condemned, led to the scaffold and is witnessing his own execution. The procession advances to the sound of a march that is sometimes sombre and wild, and sometimes brilliant and solemn, in which a dull sound of heavy footsteps follows without transition the loudest outbursts. At the end of the march, the first four bars of the idée fixe reappear like a final thought of love interrupted by the fatal blow.

5. Songe d'une nuit de sabbat/ Dreams of a Witch's Sabbath

Berlioz wrote:

He sees himself at a witches’ sabbath, in the midst of a hideous gathering of shades, sorcerers and monsters of every kind who have come together for his funeral. Strange sounds, groans, outbursts of laughter; distant shouts which seem to be answered by more shouts. The beloved melody appears once more, but has now lost its noble and shy character; it is now no more than a vulgar dance tune, trivial and grotesque: it is she who is coming to the sabbath… Roar of delight at her arrival… She joins the diabolical orgy… The funeral knell tolls, burlesque parody of the Dies irae, the dance of the witches. The dance of the witches combined with the Dies irae.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symphonie_fantastique

The key feature of the piece is the concept of the 'idée fixe', a recurring melody within the music that always represents the protagonist's emotions regarding the girl, at first the 'passion endowed with the nobility and shyness' and finally it becomes 'vulgar... trival, trivial and grotesque'. This range of emotions is what we want to convey in our music video, as they all form the complex emotion that is love. One possible way that we will lok to explore this is with the use of masks. Actors could wear masks of the face of the girl. At first, the protagonist is shocked and afraid, but they are harmless fragments of his imagination, but then his imagination spirals and the masked 'characters' appear in greater number, mock him, taunt him, perhaps corner him in a narrow street.

Song Choice

Song Choice

As a group, we have spent a lot of time discussing our choice of song. After what seemed to be several minor disagreements, we finally agreed upon The New York Fund's "Nobody Home". The song is indie/ country rock and tells the story of a man looking for a woman, presumably an ex-girlfriend/ wife. We ultimately chose this song over others we were considering (e.g. "The Shining" by The Alps and "Living To Get By", also by The New York Fund) because, more so than the others, the song provides opportunities to create scenes both consistent with the lyrics and those which include unrealistic imagery/ fantasy, allowing us to explore the meaning of the song in a deeper way. This was an important factor in our decision as, according to Goodwin (1992), music videos should have a relationship between lyrics and visuals.

Regarding permission to use the song, we have e-mailed the band letting them know we would like to use their song and have asked them if they would allow it, below are a series of print screens of the exchange of e-mails: