Synopsis and planning of chosen music video

Indie rock is usually noted for it's unique style in the videos. They usually have an alternative style, and in particular, The Vaccines videos vary in style and content given the mood.

The song I've chosen is the album track "Wolf Pack" which mostly has an upbeat tune. Whereas some (Post Break-Up Sex) have a strong narrative, others (Wreckin' Bar, If You Wanna) are random, abstract and entertaining. The catchy tune of the song I have chosen inspired me to choose a buddy-style feel to it. I want it to be surreal and often spontaneous, alternative and typical of the genre conventions. The characters jumping around in different locations, the light-hearted lip-syncing, the focus on bright nature, and the quick raw cuts, add to the feel of the video.

Most of the video will appear improvised and spontaneous, though there are some points I want and plan to include:

• An outside, nature-filled location. Like a public park or wooded area
• Unchoreographed dancing, as indie doesn't focus on that element, unlike pop videos
• Alternating lines, despite it being just one vocallist throughout, to keep the entertainment factor, and add to the spontaneity.
• Natural, untampered feel. Many other genres use effects, and set their videos in strange locations (for example, Britney choosing to shoot her video in a space station) whereas this genre, much like rock, has a raw, thrown together feel to it, but trying to cut to the beat.

The Vaccines are shown here in a naturalistic location, and the feel of their music, specifically the track I'd chosen, has a summery, outdoor feel to it.


A screenshot from their music video for their singe 'Norgaard', a humourous and alternative take on their genre, something I'm trying to achieve with my spontaneous video.

Pre-Production

Production Schedule - I found the production schedule a little difficult to follow, due to the sheer amount of work in one task, and the short spaces of time I'd given myself. It's a mistake I'd be able to correct the next time round. In future, I should make these more effective and realistic targets.

Treatment Package - Despite their not being a strong narrative in my final video, a synopsis was helpful in remembering the placing of the shots in the video. It's definitely one of the essentials

Storyboard - The storyboard was difficult to complete, but it helped visualise the details of the video so that there aren't any blank spots in the song.

Risk Assessment - This was difficult in terms of finding all the possible hazards, as well as trying to figure out how to solve them. However, it was a particularly important part of pre-production, as the production could be affected if there isn't a clear risk assessment.

Release Forms - These were essentials in ensuring that the performers in the video agreed to take part. It was a simple part of the process, possibly the easiest.

Call Sheets - These were often difficult, as there were clear things that needed to be included that were hard to find. For example, the full 11-digit number for the local hospital and police station.

Location Reckie - This was also a difficult part of the pre-production, but essential. Of course, without a location, the video simply cannot be shot. Figuring a suitable location was difficult for my particular video, but eventually another member of my course inspired me to use that location.

In summary, much of the pre-production was essential, and depending on the schedule and the demands of the particular, it ranged from simple to difficult. The most difficult parts were probably the storyboard, location reckie, call sheets and the risk assessment. The simpler tasks often depended on the more difficult tasks to work.

Research for music video

The Vaccines are an alternative indie rock band, who are based in Britain. They rose to prominence in late 2010 and throughout 2011, becoming one of the most popular new rock bands. Their debut album was a success, both critically and commercially, and they released five singles as part of the album. The majority of their singles have conventional indie music videos, and the songs are pretty much always short, between 1 and 3 minutes long.

Their videos contain a large amount of performance, mixed in with some narrative. Their song "Post Break-Up Sex" is heavily narrative based, the music video accompanying it mixes performance with storyline.



Most of their other videos are fairly abstract and performance based. Their single Wreckin' Bar is done entirely through the view of a spinning golden ball, with shots of the band playing in the reflection of the ball. This is a fairly different and unique video, but it does keep to indie rock conventions.

Summary of Pre-Production

In preparation for producing the music video, I had to do a list of tasks to ensure that the production goes ahead smoothly. Amongst these tasks, I had to create a storyboard,  write out a risk assessment, crew my video, choose appropriate locations, fill out a media equipment booking form, devise call sheets for the relevant people involved in the production, write up a synopis. And, ultimately, create a schedule for when to complete all these tasks in time for the deadline.

Unfortumately, the schedule went awry and I wasn't able to reach the deadline, thus falling behind in production. This taught me to be more prepared when working with a schedule, otherwise there could be consequences if I attempt to disengage from it. In the end, several things ended up changing, including location, storyboard, video synopsis etc. As a result, the deadline was delayed and I fell behind.

There is a large amount of work to do in preparation for a shoot of this kind, more than I was aware of. Now that I know what needs to be done, and have made mistakes that I can see the solutions of, I'll probably be more able to complete my next pre-production tasks well and to the deadline. As the course goes on, I hope to be organised and prompt with completing the pre-production stage.