NW Responding to a Track - 'Give Yourself Away', by Jack Peñate

Posted by Nick

1.) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvbdSt5RKQA

2.) The genre of the track would be classified as ‘indie’ or ‘alternative’ as it is unlike anything mainstream in the charts, showing no connotations of ‘pop’ beats or any other tendencies toward any other genre. The song is very different to mainstream ‘indie’ as it uses a variety of instruments in wind and brass, whereas traditional ‘indie’ music comprises mainly of drums, guitar and keyboard.

Whilst having an ‘indie’ feel, with the lyrics and sound, the artist has chosen to incorporate a variety of instruments and other effects created on a computer in order to make his music different and thus perhaps more interesting and exciting, to attract a wider audience, thus classifying the song as ‘alternative’.

3.) I would argue that the video represent a high-fi type of video as, whilst the song starts off slowly, it builds to a combination of instruments all joining together to give a lively and energetic feel to the song.

The complex combinations of vocals and sound, either instrument or computer based, gives the feel of a powerful and well structured song with guitar and drum solos intertwined within to maintain the high energetic feel, and thus, I feel, gives the opportunity to have a high-fi video to partner the high level of musical complexity.

4.) Other videos that could be comparable to this song, with similarities to Peñate’s skill of using multifaceted layers within his song to maintain the liveliness of the music from beginning to end would be ‘Backlash’ by The Scarlet Harlots, which uses stop motion animation and bright colours and patterns to connote a lively atmosphere, which plays in tune with the songs lively beat, and thus making it a concept based video.

Another song would be ‘Brianstorm’ by The Arctic Monkeys which uses very fast cuts with a performance based narrative to connote the song being from the rock or indie genre, whilst also having tendencies towards a concept based narrative as there are a variety of people doing different things at once, again highlighting the music’s energy with the visuals.

5.) The Arctic Monkeys song ‘Brianstorm’ was directed by Huse Monfaradi, and features the band playing in a sparse warehouse, intertwined with images of female dancers against a neon light background. There are also images which amplify the lyrics, with pictures of Jacuzzis and lightning being shown in the video when mentioned in the song. The music video cost roughly £100,000 to produce.

6.) When listening to Peñate’s song, you can truly understand the passion and energy that has gone into producing the song and thus it should be given an energetic and lively video to amplify the songs lyrics and emotions.

I would make the video as concept-based, intertwined with a performance of the artist himself to give a ‘star image motif’. As the beginning of the song is quite slow, I would have a few establishing shots of the location and the artist, as well as a variety of different shots of the instruments involved shot from different angles, such as low angle shots of a drum kit and guitarist.

As the music builds to its lively opening, I would use stop motion animation of the artist dancing, cut to the time of every beat, with perhaps three of four frames a second. As I would like the video to be concept based, I would incorporate a variety of different locations in the opening, as well as loud, vibrant costumes and make up. For the verses, I would draw emphasis on the performance based concept of the video, with shots of the artist singing in a variety of different locations, interior and exterior, with his band performing with him.

For the later verses where the music slows down marginally, I would focus primarily on the singer himself, perhaps stripped of all other surroundings, no instruments or band mates, using green screen to focus on his emptiness, with a variety of backgrounds coming into and out of focus, ranging from images of large open wasteland to thriving parties.

As the music builds to its final crescendo after the slower last verse, I would have a shot of the artist getting back in the energetic mindset, with him, in slow motion jumping into water. As the last chorus is played out, I would recreate the beginning chorus, using stop motion animation to highlight the energy of the song, and have the artist once again dressed in a variety of costumes in a variety of strange settings.

I would finish with the final shot being a tracking shot back as we see the artist against the green screen background with other technical equipment used to film a video, and other band members surrounding him.

7.) As, described in my treatment, I would like to have the artist shown in a variety of situations and locations, it is important to have a lot of diversity which will thus connote a sense that everything is changing constantly, and very quickly, and will be in keeping with the songs up beat and vigorous sound. I would use a variety of exterior and interior shots, interiors being a cluttered bedroom, perhaps a nightclub, a desolate train station and somewhere which gives the appearance of an abandoned warehouse. For the exterior shots, I would use shots of a high street in the night-time, a field, woodland, and other famous locations from across the world (perhaps in front of famous monuments, such as the Grand Canyon and the Taj Mahal), which will be added in post-production through use of a green screen.

8.) The grain of his voice is slightly screechy as though he has to be shrill in order to be heard over the commotion of the other sounds used in the song, whether from the large array of instruments or the backing singers. Peñate also sings as if he has certain breathiness to his voice suggesting he is out of breath from frantic dancing, and connoting an energetic and fuelled song. When the chorus is sung by the ensemble it conjures up images of revellers, and the beat of the song, with emphasis on the drums, suggests Brazilian /Rio-de-Janeiro revellers performing a high octane musical number.

Using stop motion animation in the two choruses, perhaps shot against the green screen background, with a thriving street being employed in post production. I would use carnival revellers at night, with Peñate performing in costume amongst the revellers, frantically dancing, beating a single drum.

9.) Pro filmic effects that could be used in the production of the music video would be shooting against a green screen background in order to display the artist in a variety of locations created in post production. The videos structure would be made in post production, using fast cuts in time with the lyrics and beats, highlighting the songs speed and energy.

I would use stop motion animation for two of the choruses, using still images taken on a camera, shown quickly one after the other to give the look of someone moving at a very slow, staggered pace.

I would also use old still images of people and objects, perhaps like those used in the ‘Brianstorm’ video, making the video seem dated, using old school animation and graphics. I would also like to incorporate text into the video, amplifying certain lyrics, and this would come up either on its own or whilst a sequence of the artist performing is playing out.

I would also change the colour of certain shots, with sepia and black and white being used.

10.) As I would predominantly be behind the camera for the whole of the shoot I would need to incorporate actors to play Peñate and his band mates. This would be roughly between three to five people.

For some sequences, where the singer is in an over-the-top costume with full makeup, I would have a variety of other actors behind him in costume, using perhaps ten to fifteen people. I would do the editing of the production as well as filming, but it would be useful to have an extra helping hand at ones hand, behind the camera, to make sure that the actors are doing the correct thing, as well controlling lighting and being in charge of music so the musicians correctly lip-synch in time with the music.