The document outlines Elliot Scarlett-Abbott's A2 Media coursework, which requires the creation of a music video, a six-panel digipak, and a magazine advertisement linked cohesively. The author has selected 'White Knuckles' by OK Go as the song for the video due to its upbeat nature, strong rhythm, and potential for a vague storyline. Filming will primarily take place in York, utilizing public spaces and a college studio, while ensuring proper permissions for song use to avoid legal issues.

1. INITIAL BRIEF
RESPONSE
ELLIOT SCARLETT-ABBOTT A2
MEDIA COURSEWORK

2. THE BRIEF
The brief dictates that we must produce:
- A full length music video
- A six-panel digipak for the album’s release and distribution
And EITHER:
- A website homepage for the band
OR
- A magazine advertisement for the digipak
These components should all be linked and relate to each other in a cohesive
fashion to create a fully convincing set of release materials.
I am choosing to do the magazine advertisement, rather than the website homepage
as I feel I can easier incorporate my artistic skills into it. The website would require
me to learn a whole new web design program, but I already have the necessary
knowledge of Photoshop, InDesign, etc. from last year’s coursework to create a
convincing magazine advert.

3. SONG IDEAS – LONGLIST
The following are a list of preliminary ideas for the songs I might like to use in my video. I have tried to choose upbeat songs
with a good, distinct rhythm to edit to towards the end of production. I have also tried to pick songs with at least some story
element to their lyrics, which could lay out a basic story to follow in the video if I choose to make it story-led.
I am also in contact with a friend in a semi-professional band who has said he would like a video making for actual use, but
needs to confirm with other members whether or not they’ll let us do it.
-London Calling – London Calling – The Clash
-Going Underground – Setting Sons – The Jam
-Blue Orchid – Get Behind Me Satan– The White
Stripes
-Trainwreck 1979 – The Physical World – Death
From Above 1979
-Mr Brightside – Hot Fuss – The Killers
-Take Me Out – Franz Ferdinand – Franz
Ferdinand
-Household Goods – Trouble - TEED
-Kangaroo Court – In a Tidal Wave of Mystery -
Capital Cities
-Gooey (Gilligan Moss Remix) – Gooey – Glass
Animals
-Without You – Without You – Dillon Francis and
TEED
-Genius – Tetra – C2C
-Baby I’m Yours – Baby I’m Yours – Breakbot ft.
Irfane
-Take A Walk – Gossamer – Passion Pit
-Violent Love – The Bird and the Beat – Munk
-Little Numbers – Little Numbers – BOY
-Ghost – Ghost – Mystery Skulls
-Move Your Feet – Junior Senior
-Are You Gonne Be My Girl – Get Born – Jet
-Friday I’m In Love – The Cure
-Boys Don’t Cry – The Cure
-Age Of Consent – New Order

4. SONG IDEAS - SHORTLIST
 Without You – Dillon Francis and TEED
 Little Numbers – BOY
 Friday I’m in Love – The Cure
 Age Of Consent – New Order
 Dancing With Myself – Billy Idol
 Here It Goes Again – OK GO
 White Knuckles – OK GO

5. FIRST VIDEO IDEAS
 Without You – Dillon Francis and TEED – Dance centred video
 Little Numbers – BOY – Boy “chases” girl around city in the evening, following the warm
aesthetic of the album cover
 Friday I’m in Love – The Cure – Playing with ideas of calendars, dates and teenage love
 Age Of Consent – New Order – Coming of Age story, lots of implied meanings etc.
 Dancing With Myself – Billy Idol – Dance centred again but with an older setting, costumes,
feel
 Here It Goes Again – OK GO – Much more open subject availability, good beat but the band
are already famous for their videos and I think it may be a struggle to outdo them.
 White Knuckles – OK GO

6. FINAL SONG CHOICE
My final personal song choice is White Knuckles by OK GO for the following reasons:
- Upbeat: A major, happy song will likely be more widely enjoyable by a wider
audience. A more minor song could still be palatable, but I want my audience to
be in a happy mood when they see my work.
- Strong rhythm: This will help when editing, as I can sync the clear audio rhythm
to my visual cuts. This will help adhere the song to the video and make them feel
as if they fit together/were designed for each other
- Current: The song is fairly new, so will appeal to a wide modern audience which
will help with my audience research. The sort of people I interview will be the sort
of people who already listen to music similar to this. My shortlist included some
songs which would not apply to the majority of the current audience, which would
in turn be bad for research.
- Vague storyline: The song revolves around the ideas of anger and frustration at
love, but very few details are explicitly stated. This will allow us to shoot a video
that fits with whatever ideas we, as a group, decide will make the most
compelling video whilst still adhering to the lyrics.

7. SHOOTING
 Most music videos are either shot in very interesting, often bespoke made
interiors or outside. Due to our lack (complete absence) of funding, I will opt
for the latter and use the outside world for the story elements of the video.
Luckily, all members of our group live around the city of York so we will most
likely shoot there. It has very picturesque streets with varying types of
environments and feelings surrounding them, which we can utilise in our
video.
 If we are shooting on public streets, there is a pretty solid chance the public
will get in our way. We will have to find places busy enough to seem lively but
not so busy that we lose our subjects whilst filming. These details can be
chosen whilst storyboarding and even during the shoot, but we need to think
of them as early as we can.
 I would like our video to be broken up by shots of “the band” performing in a
studio or small concert environment. For these shots, I will book out a
recording studio at our college and enlist the help of music students to make
it convincingly look as if they are playing the music (correct chords, rhythm
etc.).

8. EDITING
 My video idea does not include any special effects, but I may want
to perform things such as colour correction and light balancing in
order to convincingly create a sense that the video spans a few
minutes, rather than several shoots each of which could be
several hours long. I don’t want to jump from one shot of broad
daylight to one of sunset if the story does not dictate such a time
change.
 I feel the main issue with editing is going to be the struggle to
pace the video well enough that we can create a cohesive
storyline, as well as an exciting video. This is where market
research will come in handy as we can watch other videos to see
how they are paced.

9. SONG PERMISSION
 Before plans and shooting begin, we will need to ensure we have
proper permission from the band’s production company to use the
song at all. It is unlikely, but still possible that minor legal
implications could occur if this video was used for profit via
advertising at any point. There is also an aspect of creative
ownership to consider as, without permission, we are essentially
plagiarising someone else’s work to liven up our video.