Radiohead - Kid A Final

 

Actors

Matt Davies

Catherine Ruane

Cameraman/Cinematography

Yassin Shahid

Director

Nikki-Leigh Rogers

What have you learned from your audience feedback?

Our audience feedback overall was very positive having gained the response that we aimed for. We filmed our classmate who thought the general atmosphere of the video was unique and disturbing creating an almost ‘Saw’ feel. This influenced us in the creation of a print-based work creating different colour schemes to increase this eerie feeling to our video. We have used a red and black scheme to connote mystery and further the evil ‘fetish’ theme in our video that we focused on. However we have also made alternatives cd covers with a black a grey theme to subtly indicate the main characters silent anger that is provoked throughout the video. We asked various different people which cd covers they preferred and were better suited to our video. We had a constructive response from the audience, which helped us decide which themes were more appropriate for a successful print base. The red and black theme overall deemed more popular as they felt that it complimented the disturbing effect in the video and emphasised it further. Another positive response from the audience was that the red theme connoted the potential buyer that the music would not be controversial and mainstream and would give the audience an insight visually to what they will be listening too. We also got optimistic feedback about the grey and black themes and some did prefer this, as it wasn’t so ‘obvious’ and emphasised the mysterious effect. However we felt that the best thing to do was to go ahead with the overall response.

We aimed to make a music video that was not mainstream and that would not be featured in the charts. This is because we wanted an opportunity to be more creative and abstract with our work. After people had watched our video they mentioned that it was hard hitting and unsettling. In the planning process I had looked at certain bands like ‘Jedi Mind Tricks’ and ‘Army of the Pharaohs’ that are very controversial with their work. We studied their cd covers and asked a few people from our class if their outgoing artwork would be appropriate for our work. We decided from the feedback that the cd cover should be simple and suggestive focusing on the themes instead of also having a ‘in your face’ print base as well as a video.

In our group we are lucky enough to have two members who also do graphics. This means that Katherine and Yassin can imply different artists techniques into the work to continue that eerie edge that we found the audience were impressed with. This also gave our work a more professional look that our classmates had also commented on. This audience feedback helped us go all out with our print base in confidence and allowed us to achieve a successful cd case and advert that complimented our genre and themes of the video.

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

The 6 conventions Goodwin had, that music videos generally follow were

1. Music videos demonstrating genre characteristics

2. A relationship between lyrics and visuals, the lyrics representing the lyrics through images

3. A relationship between music and visuals, the tone and atmosphere suiting the music

4. Many close ups of the artist (to meet the demands of the record label)

5. Frequent reference to the notion of looking and particular voyeuristic treatment of the female body

6. Intertextual references to films, Tv programmes etc.

We followed the first three of the 6 Goodwin conventions however vaguely followed the latter three, our genre was an alternative rock/electronica genre, therefore we decided to come up with an idea that was unique, and really quite 'alternative' for a music video. The song really is quite a unique song therefore we had to think of an idea to fit the music and lyrics of this song, following convention 2 and 3. We believed the first three conventions to be the most important conventions as they really define a music video, and to emphasize the mood the song creates is what we believe music videos should do. However the latter 3 conventions we didn't find as important so we only followed those conventions if it was necessary to do so in order to fit the first 3 conventions.

We included close ups of the artist only to fit the slight narrative aspect of the music video, and we only focused on referencing the notion of looking to fit the atmosphere, for example with POV shots and with the shot of the main character appearing at the end of the bed, this is in the Point of view of the person sleeping, in order to fit the sinister mood of the song, and the lyrics of the song. We didn't include any intertextual references in the music video to any other films or TV programs with intention as that wasn't what we believed was important about the music video. The main reason why we chose not to use close ups in order to promote the artist, or used intertextual references to any media outside of the music video is for the reason that in doing a song like this one we chose to isolate ourselves from the real world, and from anything that seemed normal, as our full intention with this music video was to focus on the surrealistic and the delusive.

We used simple, yet abstract ideas such as a small light brightening and a man stood in a city with the public fluttering past, along with the sky darkening for the sole reason to connect with the mind through the medium of music and moving image. This is something new if we are speaking in the terms of mainstream music videos as the mainstream music industry is a lot like a business, using music videos to promote the artist rather than to express the music and maintain the atmosphere of the song through image, we decided to break from the convention of promoting the artist to do something a little more unique.

How did you use media Technologies in the construction, research, planning and evaluation stages?

During our production we used technology in many different ways including Studio lights to create an eerie environment and a camera crane for interesting shots. We used a standard canon camera, the main ability this camera had was being able to manually focus and we used this in one of our scenes. It was also easy to use, and very versatile. The tripod we had along with it helped us to keep it still when filming, it also helped panning and tracking shots to be a lot smoother. We did have a problem with the camera once however when we attempted to film the doll breaking on the floor. We originally intended the doll to break in slow motion, however because of the low frames-per-second of the camera; we couldn’t slow the shot down as it appeared jittery.

We mainly used Final Cut Pro to do the video editing and Adobe Audition for audio editing, we used Final Cut Pro also for the visual effects, which we believed added to the atmosphere of the song. Final Cut Pro allowed us to speed up the timeline of the video to create the time-lapse effect.  Also to add to the dark, dreamlike, surreal atmosphere we used some other effects supplied by Final Cut Pro, Vignette was one effect, making the video de-saturated. Another effect used was blurring the corners to give the music video more of a cinematic feel. Bad Film was the final effect we used giving the overall mysterious, dreamlike effect. This effect also added to the hypnotic aspect of the music video we tried to create. Adobe Audition was used to edit the song, as we had the problem of the song being 4:30, so we had to cut out a minute of the song. We managed to do this in cutting the least important parts of the song while still trying to keep the song flowing and natural-sounding.

We used the studio in college with the aim of filming the scenes inside a dark room because that had all the studio lights and technology we needed along with blackout curtains to make sure the room was as dark as it can be. It also had a speaker that we used to play the song ‘Kid A’ through to make sure all our ideas fit the mood and atmosphere of the music. It also helped with the acting as then the music would have signalled our thought processes to match the music with acting.

For the CD Cover we used 2 programs, both Adobe packages, these were both illustrator and Photoshop. To achieve the 2 circles of text on the inner right side cover we used Illustrator. Photoshop was then used to create the cover art by collaborating different photos, typography and textures.

In order to research for our main project, we used safari on the Apple Mac’s, and from that we mainly looked at the website ‘Youtube’ for inspiration, looking at other music videos. This inspired our time-lapse idea mainly. Also to buy the dolls we used the website ‘Ebay’, these were then used as our main props.

Narrative analysis

The narrative in our music video is mainly linear however contains some non-linear features including parallel editing between past and present. The beginning of the main narrative running through the video is of the main character in a room pacing up and down and planning his move on his next victim with inanimate dolls. This includes the main character at a table 'playing' with these dolls, sitting on a chair, walking back and forth. The middle of the narrative is of the main character finding his victim in a city, this includes the time-lapse scene of the main character standing on a street along with the alleyway scene. The narrative then ends with the main character and the victim back in the room.

In the beginning of the music video there are non-linear features mainly to amplify the sound and mood of the music. For example with the hurried part at the beginning of the song once the chiming intro ends, we skipped to the present for the time-lapse scene of standing on a street with people fluttering past as it fit the mood of the music. This was the same with the scene of the main character sitting on a chair, which was actually a rewind in time from the time-lapse scene. We chose this scene because it fit with the part of the song. However after the alleyway scene the narrative of the music video is linear until the end. We decided not to use any performance in the music video as we believed it wouldn't fit the abstract nature and tone of the music.

Representations in our music video

Representations are always very subtle in music videos, however there is always a stereotypical representation of something, whether it be gender, race or age. We could not confirm or break any age stereotype in our music video as every character in the video is of the same age as another. We did confirm many gender stereotypes however, as the male gender in our music video is shown to be strong and dominant, whereas the female gender is shown as a weak victim. This is shown as the main character is the one hunting the female victim and tying her up. Also the main character is a white male which is very typical of the sort of gender and race who are known to listen to 'Radiohead'. Therefore it confirms stereotypes of both gender and race.

There could also be a representation of the mentally disabled in the music video assuming the main character has mental issues. This is represented negatively yet powerfully in the music video. It is negative as the main character causes damage and causes a death if interpreted in this way. Also it is represented very sinisterly. This connotes the fear of the surreal and unknown within everyone.

How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts (the magazine advert and CD digipak)?

Our music video as a whole has an avant-guard and unique quality about it. It doesn’t follow certain stereotypes of regular/mainstream videos. The style of the video reflects the music very well in a way, which the lyrics have been interpreted to show the viewer a hidden story beneath the lyrics. The CD cover and inside panels compliment the video in an expressive way. By using a limited amount of colours throughout the CD packaging gives it an understated look, but the colours used gives it a sense of vagueness and uncertainty. Like our video, our CD cover and inside panels don’t follow certain stereotypes the industry gives out. Like having the band members faces on the front of the cover, intriguing potential consumers of a mainstream interest. Also we didn’t use just a simple photograph on the front, we used filters and several other effects to give the cover a distinctive quality and style about it. With our magazine advert we tried to relate it to the CD cover and inside panels as much as we could, as it would be highly recognizable to the potential consumer if they both looked similar and both related to the video. Using the same image on both the CD cover and the advert makes it easy for potential consumers to familiarize them selves with the imagery. Also by using the same colour palette of a limited few colours adds to the familiarization the consumer will have with both the video, CD and advert. The output of the CD cover and inside panels will interest the public by looking different and having a uniqueness about it and it will also intrigue controversial consumers who are interested in things that are different. The similar advert will interest people who are not big fans of Radiohead its self but just seeing the advert could interest someone who likes the graphical look to it and the colours used which could intrigue anyone who are interested in the controversial art scene. The choice of text used throughout the digipak represents the style of music, the hands on and original style compliments the style trying to be portrayed throughout. Over all the 4 CD panels and the magazine advert compliment the video to a point where they all link and flow easily together and are all easily recognizable from one to the other.

Analysis of Music Video using Craig Davis' model

We decided to have a combination of illustration, amplification and disjuncture in our music video, we included a slight narrative within the video however the narrative was disjunct as it had no obvious link to the theme or lyrics of the song, mainly as the song actually has no obvious theme in it either. The narrative is mainly used as amplification to the music. Therefore the song is a mix of all music video categories. We used amplification with the idea of the dolls with the chiming sound in the beginning of the song as this part of the song has an innocent yet sinister feel, as with a doll. Then as the lower bass instruments begin in the song we decided to use a time-lapse as it fits the more hurried feel in the music. Also the brightening light idea was to fit the slower, expanding sound in the music.

The narrative in the music video we chose to fit the sound, and link our ideas together was of the main character being obsessed with dolls, and hunting out victims. The reason he is hunting these victims is open for interpretation, depending on what the audience thinks. It could be the more surreal reason of turning them into dolls, the main character could have a doll fetish or he could plainly just be doing it to kill them, and the dead victim could then be lifeless like a doll. In the video it is showing the main character planning and scheming back in his room with dolls, while he is hunting his victim and capturing her in an alleyway. The video then goes on to show the main character tying up this victim, dropping a doll, the doll smashing, ending with a shot of a doll in place of the victim. This is an abstract narrative as it doesn't link clearly to the theme of the song. This is as the song doesn't really have a narrative.

There are some scenes used in the music video to link with the lyrics of the song, for example with "Standing in the shadows at the end of your bed", in other lyrics such as "we've got heads on sticks" and "the rats and children follow me out of town". Our music video is really to amplify those ideas and for the listener to interpret them differently, for example 'head's on sticks' could reference the dolls, as sticks are inanimate objects and the main character could believe they are living objects, and head's are something that are alive. Also 'the rat's and children follow me out of town' could be a reference to the Pied Piper, which could represent the main character and the victim could be interpreted as following him back to the room this way, seduced by something surreal the main character has within him. For example we give an idea of surreality with the main character reappearing in a different place in the alleyway the victim is caught in.

Photoshop Effects

To make the final CD Cover art I had to use a couple of effects to make it look the best it could.

CD Cover Typography

I wanted the CD Cover to have a rough look to it to go with the video so I used some Graphics equipment to get some typography using letter blocks.

Final Cut Pro Effects

During Production we added some effects to the video to make it more darker

We first added the Bad Film effect which added gitteryness

The we also added Vignette which made the corners darker and the video desaturated

Magazine Advert

Done by Catherine

To have continuity between the CD Cover and the Magazine advert Catherine used the colour scheme and elements of the CD Cover.

Analyzing CD covers:

Lady Gaga – Born This Way:

Lady Gaga is a mainstream artist who has obvious high demands off her record company to have close ups of her face on everything she does, including her CD covers. For her latest album Born This Way the shock factor was used to interest all different types of people, weather they liked the front cover or not, they were still talking about it, something that is necessary for a artist as big as her. Her reputation is kept in tact, as she is well known for her avant-garde style and appearance the cover followed this up. The image used on the front cover expresses the image she wants to portray to the world. The fact that only her face is on the cover shows that its was made to be eye catching and noticeable. The album name and artists name are secluded in the top corner to not distract from the image. The back of the album shows more of the image on the front cover, reveling a motorbike attached to Gaga, showing a deep meaning within the album. With the theme of the CD cover being black + white the white text stands out on the black background without distracting from the image. The text includes the track listing, the name of the company that made the album, the executive producers and manager. The barcode is also on the back of the album, something we will include in ours.

Analysis of magazine adverts in detail:

Radiohead – King of Limbs:

This advert is advertising and encouraging the download of this album, which shows the change in not just the recording industry but the new technology and high quality of this technology being upgraded on a day-to-day basis. The image used does not reflect the music that this band creates, their uniqueness and individuality is not expressed in the advert, which is almost disappointing and misleading for the potential consumer. The image includes all the band member that is important but I wouldn’t of expected this of such a individual, avant-garde band. The text is again bold and gets straight to the point. The most important things are not included in the advert, including where you can download it from and when it is available to download. Overall the advert is simple and straight to the point although a few things are missed out, it would catch the eye of potential consumers by the rainbow of colour’s and the encouraging words used.

Analysis of magazine adverts in detail:

Kings of Leon – Only by the night:

The designer of this advert has used the picture on the front of the CD cover for the advert; this is so it is easily recognizable to the reader/consumer. All the members of the band are in this picture although the designer has mixed in a bird and only used parts of each member’s faces, which gives the image a unique quality. The text is bold and straight to the point, it includes the name of the band, the name of the album, the hit songs that are included in the album that might intrigue consumers and where you can purchase it from, and most importantly when it is out. The overall advert has a quality about it that makes it not mainstream, not something that will interest a small audience but something in between, it is easily accessible to all. The colour’s used gives the advert a vintage/classic look which is an up to date trend surrounding all aspects of the arts.

Director's Commentary

Commentary done by Nikki-Leigh Rogers

CD Cover

Back

Front

Inside left

Inside right

Magazine/news paper adverts analysis

Whilst exploring and researching magazine and news paper adverts, we have found that the more mainstream and well know artists have a higher demand off the record company to make sure their face is on every thing they do, there face needs to be remembered and having there face on there cd cover and adverts leaves consumers with no doubt that its that certain artists cd/advert. Then there is the less established artists who appeal to a more niche market, who don’t have any particular demand to make them big and mainstream, they will get them selves remembered by there original and natural music and so they can have creative freedom with the cd cover and adverts. Their face doesn’t have to be on the advert; in many of them the text used is all that is needed to establish who the advert is advertising. A lot of the adverts are inspired by the lyrics in the song and so will be the music video.

Blog homework- comparing AS and A2 production work

When filming our A2 music video we noticed quite clearly the differences from the AS production work in the challenges we had to overcome, to create a successful imaginative music video. Last year as we were new students we had more guidance and stability through our work, we kept strictly to techniques used and needed, such as a variety of different shots. Even though, this year we still aimed for a wide range of shots also, the work has become a lot more independent encouraging us to stamp our own style onto the video. At the beginning of the planning process we studied Goodwin’s theory and how to apply it to our own work. We have worked around this theory and it has allowed us to explore a lot more this year, as the stimulus is broader so we can highlight our talents. Whereas, last year, we had to pick a genre of film and focus vividly on how to portray our ideas into that style.

This year we don’t have to focus on pleasing a genre or style but instead were allowed to be inspired by the actual song. We listened to the lyrics and brainstormed our ideas that fitted really well together. We don’t have to make the narrative so clear for the audience to understand and follow. In some ways this has been more challenging, as having a slightly abstract video can be harder to edit and put together. Furthermore jerky handheld movements with a camera last year could suggest and provoke many different things, however this year, it is not appropriate so all filming must be done in detail and precision. We have the same technology as last year so the quality of the filming cannot be improved, however more equipment is available (such as the crane) in order to create a more music video and professional essence.

In the editing process the most challenging thing we have found which we did not have last year, is matching the footage to the music video. Other than that we have more experience in ‘Final Cut Pro’ and do not need as much guidance. Making not just our jobs but also our teachers jobs easier!

This year I feel that managing the blog and filming has been a bit more demanding. This is because there is more footage to film for the video in order to fill the full song and have a creative narrative. However, in the editing process we have found time to keep up with the blog and update what we have been doing in the planning process. This year we have more of an idea of what examiners are looking for when it comes to the blog so more pressure has hit us because this year they have to be much more advanced.

Filming Day 5

Today we finished our final shoots from our storyboard, all we had to do was smash the doll's face on the floor. In order for us to catch this intense moment we used two cameras from different angles so not only we were definite we got a shot but also we have a choice and an option to cut between the two. This will hopefully look effective in the editing as our original plan is too slow the footage down and have it at the end as the song fades out.

Filming: Day Four

For this day of filming I had already taken some footage of the sky whilst walking home from college one day, this footage didn't turn out the way I wanted it to be as I wanted to have the clouds moving through the sky so we could speed it up with time lapse. That day there weren't any clouds, as the sky was mainly just plain grey. However I saw the footage and noticed that the trees I walk past whilst walking home are towering above the camera and are being quite intimidating, giving a sense of vulnerability and fear. This isn't the same tone we were looking for however we kept the footage as we believed it could still work in the music video.

During this day we spent most of the day in the editing suite uploading the footage we currently had onto the computer hard drive, although at the end of this day we went into the city of Manchester to film the alleyway scene. Here we found a very small and secluded alleyway that worked perfectly. We had a few ideas for how the filming should go therefore we tried them all, one idea was for the victim to walk through the alleyway with the main character following her, and for her to turn round and see this main character. And the other idea was for her to turn round and see nothing, then turn her head back round and notice the main character at the end of the alleyway giving more of a supernatural feel to it. We will see which idea works better in the editing process. We finished this day off with some footage of the big wheel in Manchester, just for a time-lapse idea to cut to a few times in the music video.

Filming: Day Three

For this lesson two more porcelain dolls had arrived, one of them being a large one with a head we can cut off and place on the end of a stick. Which was an idea we had for the music video, linking directly to the lyrics 'We've got heads on sticks'. This was another doll we could drop and it would break in the way we imagined the break to look like. Before this lesson also I took the camera home to film myself standing at the end of my bed to directly link to the lyric 'standing in the shadows at the end of your bed'. It was quite hard to get the right angle in this shot as I'm quite tall and it's hard to fit my entire body in a shot at the end of the bed. I managed to fix this by filming different shots of me standing at the end of the bed using different angles we could cut between however which worked better. At home I also filmed the lights in my bedroom fading in and out that could be used in the montage of lights near to the end of the music video.

During day three of filming we focused on the scene of the main character dressing his victim as a doll. We did this by dressing Catherine in the doll costume and having the main character use a wire to tie her to a chair, we focused on having many panning shots of this scene, to do this we used the crane to use shots panning from the ground upwards or the ceiling downwards. We also used the rule of thirds in a shot of the main character playing with the dolls while the victim is tied to a chair in the other half of the shot. To take the victim out of focus we used depth of field. We also had a mid-shot of the main character rubbing lipstick on the victims face and applying mascara in an aggressive fashion.

Filming: Day Two

For this lesson we received three porcelain dolls therefore we decided to film the scenes in which they were of use. For example we filmed a few clips planned in our storyboard of close-up shots of these dolls faces. The heads of the dolls were moveable also, so for a few of the shots we placed our fingers out of the mis-en-scene - behind the head of the doll for example - and moved the dolls head to be looking at the camera for a very sinister feel. We also filmed scenes of the main character playing with these dolls at a table, using close-ups of the main character's hands along with his face. We bought some candles for this lesson too, in which we used as props to stand on the table and to burn the dolls, the melted wax of these candles was dripped onto the dolls face for one shot in addition.

Before this day of filming Catherine took the camera home to film footage from a car window driving through a city for half an hour. This is something we will be using for a time-lapse scene to cut to throughout the music video. This will add a very hazy and hypnotizing tone to see the lights of other vehicles and lampposts shine in the dark. In the studio on the day we also experimented with shadows to create some unnerving shots of the main characters shadow along with others.

After filming in the studio that day we decided to go into the city of Manchester to film more scenes. The scene where the main character is standing in the middle of a street while other passers-by flutter past him was filmed in this day, I had to stand on a street in manchester in my costume for twenty minutes while others walked past me, this scene will have a time-lapse effect used on it to give a sense of isolation for the main character as I stand in the same position while others are moving hurried around me. We also filmed the main character standing by a church looking at a tomb in a curious fashion this day along with an attempt at filming the scene where the victim is caught by the main character at an alleyway, however we did not have enough time for this scene, so we decided we should film it another day.

Filming: Day One

For our first day of filming we decided to use the production room in the college for a dark atmosphere to film the main character in his setting. We wanted the atmosphere in the room to be dark and smoky so we managed this by closing all the curtains, shining one light on the main character and spraying deodorant into the shot to give it a smoky look. We hadn't received any porcelain dolls for this lesson therefore we had to make the most of what we already had, this meant we were filming the main character walking around the dark room and sitting on a chair in the room, looking paranoid and slightly insane.

We wanted to use this room to film the scene in our music video where there is a light becoming slightly larger in a shot, as if it is protruding from the darkness. We managed to film that with one of the spotlights in the room, using the fader. We filmed the light head on and faded it in, this gives the sense of a natural light expanding in the room. This day we thought of a few ideas for our album cover also and took a few pictures for it, mainly of the main character with a light shining on his face.

In order to look for some more locations Nikki-Leigh came up with the idea of an abandoned mansion which she had seen before near her house. We decided to walk to that abandoned mansion to see if it would suit our music video. We went inside when we got there to find that it was completely empty and derelict. Anything in the house was rubble, it was perfect for our music video, especially one of the rooms we found which could have been the living room, it was empty and the only light in the room would come from a window in the corner which was broken.

Props used during production

Technology

We are currently in the process of experimenting with our filming and creating our own effects so we can magnify them through editing. For example, to create a smoking effect on our main character, we used a sharp spotlight to highlight his stance and then sprayed deodorant. We did this in the studio where we created not only the area of focus but also an eerie disturbing atmosphere. The lights we used were dedolights, which are normally used for a professional music video or theatre performances. We also added to the more professional ‘look’ to the video as we used a crane to film most of our footage. This gave our shots a more smooth approach and allowed us to move around our set more freely so we did not have any jolty shaky footage (which wasn’t meant to be like that!) So, in result of this when putting our footage together it made it a lot easier for different shots to fit together and make a soft flow giving it more of a music video essence.

Even though we did use the crane we also used a tripod for when we filmed the time lapsing technique and the entrance into the abandoned mansion. This again gave it a steady look that made the video focused. We used a normal digital camera to film our footage, as it was easier to connect the camera to the tripod and crane.

Using these techniques have really improved the quality of our filming and have given us a lot more opportunities to experiment with different shots and angles. For example the crane allowed us to follow Matt around the room while having the camera come up from under the table. This gave the video an unusual effect, which matched our aim for a disturbing unsettling atmosphere.

Clothing and make-up:

Doll character:

We have decided on an old/vintage frilled collared shirt and a spotted black sheer dress. We looked closely at what clothes the porcelain dolls wore and got our inspiration from that. With the make up, again we looked carefully at how we could recreate the make-up from a porcelain doll. We are going to have the doll characters face a pail colour with blusher that complements the pail face, then red lipstick and long eye lashes. Throughout the video the doll character gets more outrageous make-up put on her by the obsessed man character, red lipstick is smeared on her cheeks and mascara is rubbed round her eye’s, her hair also gets increasingly big and messy.

Obsessed man character:

Throughout the video he wears a black top and black pants, almost understated but dark and sinister at the same time. Intimidating and overpowering this character is best suited in all black.

Inspiration

Our inspirations for the video came from sources such as horror films, for example with the doll theme, which is used in the modern horror film 'child's play'. The main inspiration for the music video was our thoughts while listening to the song. By listening to the song itself the haunting feel, along with some child-like undertones helped us decide on the theme of the video. The atmosphere of the song is quite dark and that was one of the main inspirations towards our idea. Our idea of time-lapse came from many different sources and other music videos in which the time-lapse has been used. For example Ed Sheeran's song 'A Team'.

The happy persona of the main character despite the fact of him murdering victims comes from the influence of the Aphex Twin video 'Come To Daddy' where there are a variety of smiling characters causing mayhem. The costume of a full black costume came from our own idea of keeping the main character within the dark atmosphere of the song. Also that was the same with a doll costume on a human, that was due to us developing that idea about the main character's doll obssession .

Locations used

Location Shots

Locations used during production

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Radiohead - Background information

Radiohead are a 5-piece alternative rock band from Abingdon, Oxford, consisting of Thom Yorke (Vocals, Guitar, Keyboard), Jonny Greenwood (Guitar, Keyboard, Other instruments), Ed O'Brien (Guitar, Backing Vocals), Colin Greenwood (Bass, Synthesizers) and Phil Selway (Drums, Percussion). The band have released eight albums in their career with albums such as 'The Bends', 'OK Computer', 'Kid A' and 'In Rainbows' reaching high commercial success. Their early work was influenced mainly by British alternative rock and pop music such as 'R.E.M', 'Sonic Youth' and 'Pixies', however later on in their career, from the release of 'Kid A' they became influenced by more of a variety of artists. Examples of these are 'Can', 'Aphex Twin', 'Charles Mingus' and 20th Century classical music. This was shown in the more minimalistic and experimental style, mixing genres such as electronic and orchestral music in the albums from 'Kid A' and onwards. Their album 'Kid A' was released after Thom Yorke had gone through a stage of depression therefore it was a much darker and abstract album.

Costume Ideas

Main Character Dress Code

We have chosen this costume to add to the dark mood of the song, and to contrast with other people when the main character is standing on a street isolated. It is also so that all focus isn't on the clothing of the main character, it is on his actions in the music video

Radiohead - Background information

Radiohead are a 5-piece alternative rock band from Abingdon, Oxford, consisting of Thom Yorke (Vocals, Guitar, Keyboard), Jonny Greenwood (Guitar, Keyboard, Other instruments), Ed O'Brien (Guitar, Backing Vocals), Colin Greenwood (Bass, Synthesizers) and Phil Selway (Drums, Percussion). The band have released eight albums in their career with albums such as 'The Bends', 'OK Computer', 'Kid A' and 'In Rainbows' reaching high commercial success. Their early work was influenced mainly by British alternative rock and pop music such as 'R.E.M', 'Sonic Youth' and 'Pixies', however later on in their career, from the release of 'Kid A' they became influenced by more of a variety of artists. Examples of these are 'Can', 'Aphex Twin', 'Charles Mingus' and 20th Century classical music. This was shown in the more minimalistic and experimental style, mixing genres such as electronic and orchestral music in the albums from 'Kid A' and onwards. Their album 'Kid A' was released after Thom Yorke had gone through a stage of depression therefore it was a much darker and abstract album.

Costume Ideas

Main Character Dress Code

We have chosen this costume to add to the dark mood of the song, and to contrast with other people when the main character is standing on a street isolated. It is also so that all focus isn't on the clothing of the main character, it is on his actions in the music video

Costume Ideas

These are the ideas we have chosen for the type of costume for the victim after the main character dresses her up as a doll.

Research into musical genres

Musical genres influencing Radiohead's 'Kid A'

Electronic music

Electronic music is a type of music making use of electronic musical instruments and technology in it's performance and production, examples of such instruments and technology mainly used in electronic music are the telharmonium, Hammond organ, electric guitar, Theremin, sound synthesizer, and certain softwares on the computer. Electronic music is an expanding style of music in this age, becoming increasingly popular with more and more artists, either in the experimental art music industry and popular music industry such as dance music.

Krautrock

This music genre is created from a mix of psychadelia, moody progressive rock, 20th century classical music along with free jazz of the 60's and 70's. The structure of Krautrock songs often stray from the conventional structure of standard rock music, driving the music to have a more electronic, mechanical structure. The reason the word 'rock' is part of the genre 'Krautrock' is mainly because of the rock energy shown by the music. The reason the music strayed from convention was because in the 1960's and 70's it was after the second world war and music was made for escapism, they rejected this culture to make their own innovative, experimental style.

Jazz

Jazz originated from many different genres coming out of African American communities in the United States, It originated from a mix of African American traditions and popular music traditions. It is characterized by it's use of blue notes, swung rhythms, swung notes, improvisation, polyrhythms, syncopation and call-response. Sub-genres of jazz are Dixieland style from the early 1910's, Big Band, Swing and Be-Bop from the 1930's and 40's. Free jazz and a variety of Latin Jazz fusion, such as Afro-Cuban jazz from the 1950's and 60's. Jazz fusion from the 1970's, acid jazz from the 1980's combining funk and hip-hop. Also Nu-Jazz from the 1990's and onwards.

Experimental Rock

Often also called 'avant-garde rock', this genre of music is a rock-based genre experimenting with the basic forms of the genre such as time-signatures, instrumental tuning, harmony, key signatures, compositional styles, lyrical techniques, conventions of the genre, singing styles, instrumental effects and instruments themselves. For example they may use their own custom-made instruments. The song 'Kid A' uses almost all of these techniques.

Alternative Rock

A broad term used for any rock music without the standard conventions of the genre, such as a loud distorted guitar sound. It is often a term given to an underground rock band when gaining mainstream recognition. The band often doesn't stick to the conventions of rock music, often writing their own independent songs with a D.I.Y. ethos, brought on by punk rock of the 1970's. These alternative rock bands are usually known to be signed to independent record labels also. Examples of successful Alternative rock bands are R.E.M., The Smiths, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Nirvana, Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam, Oasis, The Smashing Pumpkins, The Flaming Lips, Foo Fighters, Green Day, Weezer, The Strokes, The Killers, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Modest Mouse, The White Stripes, Muse and The Black Keys.

Shot List - main shots

1. Panning shot of doll's face in dark room - spotlight on face
2. Close up of main character's face
3. Mid-shot of room with lamp in middle
4. Another close up of doll's face
5. Long shot of main character on street - Time-lapse
6. Lower long shot of feet walking past while main character's feet are still
7. Close up of main character's face in room
8. Series of close ups of doll's heads being cut off and put on sticks
9. POV shot in bed in dark room with figure standing in the shot
10. Close up of figure/main character
11. Tracking shot out of car window with time-lapsed scenery moving past
12. Tracking shot of another character walking through an alleyway with figure in the distance
13. Close up of figure/main character at the end of the alleyway
14. Long shot of sky and clouds, time-lapse
15. Mid-shot of candles in a dark room
16. Series of mid-shots and close ups of main character dressing victim up as doll in a chair in the dark room
17. Mid-shot of a light bursting into the dark room
18. Close up of main character
19. High-angle shot of a porcelain doll smashing in slow motion on the floor

Storyboard