The Thinking Men – Elephant Man

Genre – Music Video, cross between early Chicago blues and country rock. On soundcloud they have tagged their taste as Alternative Rock.

Duration – 3:01, the length of the song itself

Target Audience – 20s+ and adults. Audiences of the specific genre, which have similar tastes to Tom Waits and Johnny Cash.

Outline – The band I am working with have a specific style; they have waxed moustaches and wear braces, giving them an old-fashioned country vibe. For this reason I am going to match the location for the music video with their fashion style and therefore set the video predominantly in the country side, but also involving several ‘old looking’ cobbled streets such as the Tombland area in Norwich.

The music video is going to be story based as it tells the story of ‘The Elephant Man’ and the realisation of the public that he isn’t a monster after all, but a human being. For this reason I have chosen to cast the band as characters themselves, and to include performances which are live and not live (?).

I have also decided to make this video quite theatrical in the sense to making it similar to films from the silent film era. In this I am looking for over-exaggerated movements like hands on the hips and scratching heads. I’m drawing a lot of this inspiration from still images of Charlie Chaplin. The exaggerated expressions and body language is what I am visioning in this music video.

The music video starts off quite quiet a muffled. About 6 seconds in it becomes much clearer just as the vocals make their first appearance. During the beginning 6 seconds will be the title of the film, in the same style as silent film. I believe that 6 seconds will be long enough for the audience to read the title and the artist. I will use the artists own logo for their band title. I am hoping for it to look similar to this.

The video will then move onto the main vocalist (Johnny) side on, with a close up on his mouth, singing the first set of vocals. The rest of the video will then follow another member of the band (preferably Ronnie) running through tracks/streets, jumping over several obstacles, being closely followed by the rest of the band. He’ll then get cornered after being refused entry into a building (cue dramatic expressions and body language). However, in conjunction with the lyrics, they realise that Ronnie isn’t a monster but a human being. He then joins the band that run through the streets and performs together on stages and also in country lanes. Throughout the video there will be cuts to the original shot position of Johnny singing, and several images of individuals of the band.

Character Breakdown – The characters include the band themselves, and Ronnie as the main ‘Elephant Man’. The band are:

Sarah Ronnie Johnny Duncan Matt

If needed, I will also use different people as background characters.

Visual Elements -

Lighting: be set in daytime so bright lighting apart from indoor stage/performance scenes where it will be dark lighting.

Camera movement: involve a few tracking shots and panning shots but mainly still shots from different and interesting angles.

Editing: Setting: Will be set in country lanes/tracks/fields. Also cobbled streets similar to those in

Tombland. Actors: The band themselves, and other background characters when needed. Props: The bands instruments will be needed to film the performance scenes. No other

props are needed as of yet. Costume: As previously mentioned, the band has their own style, which they will dress in,

and therefore they’ll supply themselves. Any background characters will also have to follow this style and will most likely have to supply clothes themselves.

Audio Elements – The soundtrack of course will be the track ‘Elephant Man’. There will be no other music or effects throughout the video.

Rationale – I have chosen to do this video as narrative and performance based. I have done this because the lyrics tell a story which needs to be highlighted and told through the video. I believe I can do this because of the skills I have learnt through previous media projects and my insight into the story. Also I am in contact with the bands manager so my ideas truly represent what they were feeling when they wrote the song.

Primary and Secondary Research – Specific research that backs up my ideas includes public surveys and thorough investigation. This can be seen in different posts on my blogs. I looked at the fans of The Thinking Men, and then their interests. And also the artist Tom Waites and his audience.

Requirement and Resources –

Cast: The band and any other background characters. Crew: Myself and most likely my cousin Caroline. Also the bands manager Lindsay.