Prelim

Chosen genre and Artist

Artist description-

FUN     Indie/Pop genre.
The band is based in New York city and reached number one in the US charts Billboard Hot 100.
 It was the first alternative band to reach number one in this chart since Coldplay's "Viva La Vida" back in 2008.

 Why Did We Chose This Band?

The song "We Are Young" was in the top 10 of the UK top 40 for many weeks, and played continuously on multiple radio stations. Not only did this make us very familiar with the song, but we were also able to recognise the individual instruments involved. The band is easily recognised through their individuality and they are popular within our student age group. The melody of the song is reasonably slow, therefore it being easier to edit in order to fit together, making the task less complicated. We wanted to produce a prelim of a high standard as we were unfamiliar of filming a music video before. 

What We Wanted Our Prelim To Show

 Due to doing a Thriller opening last year as our media product, we discussed our familiarity between our AS creation and the narrative of a video. We realised the one aspect of a Music Promo we had never practiced before, was the performance side. We needed to practice fitting visuals of instruments with the beats of our chosen song, making it look believable. 

How Can We Achieve This Believable Look In Our Prelim?

Actors- We needed to ensure that the actors in our prelim were musicians, or could display a musical understanding, such as recognising different notes in order to fake playing the song to a high standard.

Location- Similar to the original video, we wanted the location of our prelim to have a clear distinction between artist and background. A plain black background with back and front lighting will show the musicians in the clearest possible light.

Lighting- No gels needed for our prelim, we want the band to look clear under white lighting, producing a strong image of black and white conflicting one another. 

 Costume- Shirts and ties with formal trousers/skirts. We chose to differ from the band by including a female keyboard player. This was due to her having a background in playing the keyboard, and us having limited options with other experienced musicians. Adding a female also breaks the idea of the band being a standard boy band and adds a modern flavour. This groomed but clear costume code shows the formality of the band, and sticks to the idea of clear monochrome colours. The sophisticated clothing goes against the song title "We Are Young" as it stops the youthful band show their own identity and conform to a business like state.

 Camera Shots- When filming the lead singer, we wanted the camera to be eye level with him for most of the shots. This will give the audience the impression of an equal level, making the lyrics feel personal to them when he says "WE are young." This creates direct speech to the audience through original lyrics. 

 

 

 For the guitar solo, the idea of the camera being below the actor shows the guitarists passion within the song, demanding our attention and making us feel inferior to his musical skills.

 

 

 

 

For the drummer, we wanted a range of shots. This is because it is a large instrument and difficult to set the camera so all of it can be seen. Close up's of the bass drum show the speed of the bass notes and introduce the song giving a mysterious atmosphere as you are shown the artists feet rather than his face. This creates a detached element, allowing the band to attach the audience throughout the song.

 

 

Close up's of the keyboard show the notes the player touches at each point in the song. It makes the audience recognise how the song is constructed and keeps them interested as the change of instruments and shots appear throughout in order to keep an entertained audience.

 

 

 

 

Our Prelim On Youtube