Monday 23/3/20 - The Ideas

Throughout the project so far I have thought of multiple ideas for the final video, these are some of the most prominent that I will be planning on using.

The main premise behind the music video is to be a darker look at life, a dystopian yet still very real take on everything. Nearly everyone in the video will be masked, sorta like a huge government movement of control and uniformity among people. The masks lack identity yet are the identity of everyone, they show no emotions yet plaster a wide smile upon the faces of those who wear them.

The first prominent shot idea is having a lone TV in a dark room, the TV will be playing a black and white news report with the news anchorman wearing a mask. More specifically the mask design I used in my previous project. This will be followed by the camera slowly zooming into the TV until the screen is the entire video, where it will transition into colour and be the actual camera recording the news report instead of being from a TV broadcast. This is where I plan on having the music kick in. During the new report there will also be quick cuts and overlays of the masked man in various darker and unusual poses, some making reference to suicide (such as hanging by a noose or the hand gesture of pointing a gun to their head) but others will simply be their head shaking as an example. All in time to the music and acting almost like a dance. The purpose behind this is to create a very unsettling start to the video and to have a subtle context. The reason it is a news broadcast is meant to be a nod in the idea that the news almost controls us, there have been multiple cases of fearmongering and bias (a recent one being the entire COVID-19 pandemic). This video is trying to portray it like a dystopian society seen commonly in film and books. The unsettling poses cutting in and out are there to act like the darker secrets being hidden.

The next is a shot that focuses more on the mental health side of things, this one however is more difficult to do due to the amount of people needed. It is to have a group of friends together however, one is wearing a happy face mask. They are completely ignored by everyone present and they ignore everything else, to them they are a ghost. This will cut between a shot of the masked person completely alone in the same place and position though now it will be at night. The mask will be still smiling but now cracked with bloodstains. This idea is to attempt at being a visual representation of how you can feel, even with friends you feel alone. You can feel like you're hiding yourself from them behind a mask.

Building on further than this is one I took from the final part of Childish Gambino's sweatpants. The shot of everyone in a diner staring at him, all with his face. I want to twist this to have everyone masked staring at the person from earlier. For this shot I could either have everyone simply masked or I could use advance video editing to overlay multiple takes of the same person in various positions to act like all the people. The point of this shot is to visually replicate the themes of self depreciation, the best way I can describe it is the feeling when you keep reminding yourself of past mistakes.

One shot I particular wanted to include is inspired by this:

This issue is that it is beyond my technical ability at the moment, I would need access to a pool and video equipment that works under water. I wanted this because the theme of drowning in your fears and anxieties is something I know many people have struggle through.

I also have thought carefully over every theme I want to look at with this, originally I had only focused on mental health however I want to also take a look at many issues most people face throughout life. This includes the feeling of lack of identity, freedom and creativity. An example of this is street art and the mixed response. Whilst some view it as works of art, others see it as vandalism and have it removed. Or how people can be mocked or belittled for being themselves, wearing something they feel is apart of them or having a different appearence. People are discriminated for their appearance and their expression of identity.

Another is the idea of censorship and bias among the media, large corporations and government. Throughout history there have been many cases of the people being lied to by all three, with information being hidden away from them and lies being spread as propaganda. It is done with their own interests in mind and not the interests of the people, of us. This also includes the rights to privacy and freedom of information. It can feel like they want to know everything of us but remain a secret themselves.

Then of course there's mental health. Everyone deals with mental health problems, just unfortunately everyone has it in a different way and it can vary as to how bad it is for them. One being anxiety and depression, these tend to take normal problems and worries but escalate it for the person suffering from either. The normal feeling of angst or worry feels worse, it can cause panic attacks and breakdowns. All of this makes people struggle to live normal lives. There are multiple triggers and reasons behind this too. For some it is the lack of control and consistency, when the schedule is disrupted and things change drastically it can make even simple tasks ardueous.

The final major shot I have thought over is the one inspired by the video workshop. It is one of my favourite ideas so far but is more complicated to pull off. It will involve two people both dressed identically and masked, however one with a more cracked and broken mask. One will be sitting with the other, wearing the broken mask, standing behind them raising a gun. All of this whilst the camera slowly pans to their face taking both the gun and other person out of from. Here the music would cut out leaving only the piercing sound of a gunshot and panicked breathing. As the camera pans out the gun and other person is gone, leaving this person alone in an empty room. This alludes to the very big topic of suicide in a grim way. I wanted to include this both as a test of my technical skill but also for the shocking nature. About 1.5% of all people die by suicide, whilst this may not seem big when applied to actual numbers it is a lot worse. In 2015 there were 828,000 global deaths from suicide, compared to the entire population still not many but even 1 should be considered too many. It is a very important topic that I personally feel should never be ignored, that's why I feel the need to include this as a theme in the video.

When it comes to music for this, I initially wanted to either compose a piece or use some songs from Dark side of the Moon. The issue with composing is it takes time and is something difficult to do with limited resources. Despite my musical ability and previous experience, I would want the song to be perfect. I also decided against the album by Pink Floyd because whilst it is one of my favourites and really reflects this theme near perfectly, it is too slow. I want a faster paced and more upbeat sounding song for this, almost to be ironic. A very serious and dark theme with an upbeat sounding song to accompany it. This is why I have chosen the song Time is Running out by Muse, the themes cover the feeling of being trapped and cornered. This can relate to many things such as relationships (especially those that are toxic), society and other issues). I feel like this song is perfect as the writer wanted it to relate to multiple life issues, much like this project and it follows a more upbeat and fast sound.