Steal-o-matic

We made a steal-o-matic to act as a visual explanation of our ideas for the music video:

The aim of the steal-o-matic was to put together our influences and references we wanted to include to our chosen track. After finalising our ideas discussed in production meetings, we decided on what specific clips to include based on influential music videos, such as San Cisco's "Awkward" and "Fred Astaire", McFly's "Love is Easy" and "Love is on the Radio" and Meghan Trainor's "All About That Bass". These were based mostly on set design and camera angles:

Example of influential set design: "Love is on the Radio" by McFly

Example of influence - lead singer close-up: "Fred Astaire" by San Cisco

Because our music video idea is based on spanning across different eras, we included clips from sources outside the music industry that influence our choice of costume and style, such as the films Grease (50s), The Breakfast Club (80s) and How to Train Your Dragon 2 (Vikings).

We all contributed by suggesting different specific influences we could include and editing them together. 

This was our teacher feedback:

We were happy to find out that a microphone similar to the one used in San Cisco's "Fred Astaire" video (shown in the screenshot above) will possibly be available for us to use, which would look better for our video than a regular microphone.

It was suggested that Brandon act as the lead role in the video. We decided we would carry out a screen test to see if Brandon or an actor outside our group would be most suitable for the part. 

It was also explained that to include both older historical periods and more modern eras defined by pop culture would be too complicated for the audience. I don't think it would be complicated, but I understand that it might look contradictory and it might be difficult to make the video flow as easily or seem to make sense. 

We took this feedback on board and decided we are going to reference the 50s, 70s, 80s, 90s and modern eras instead. It was pointed out that these eras would be more recognisable to our audience. I was disappointed because Vikings were the part of the video I was most excited about, but I agree this is a good idea for practical reasons - the costumes are going to be much easier to find and cheaper than the older periods. 

I still have mixed feelings about it because our idea of the eras fitting in with the lyrics - they're "bound to be together", reflected through showing them throughout all of time - doesn't make sense anymore. Also I disagree that the periods would be more recognisable - you would have to be very out of touch with the world to be unable to identify a Viking helmet. But I also think that the new choice of eras allows for a more fluid and focused video, so I think overall it is a good idea.