Music Video Idea 3

Nara

The idea in this instance is that a moving narrative can be equally as powerful as an uplifting narrative or an empowering narrative etc. This story driven concept is aimed at quite literally anybody who has been affected by bullying in their school careers, which is most people. The aim of the music video and the corresponding campaign would be to spread awareness for bullying as it is a problem at every educational environment in some form or another. Similar to Idea 2 this idea will not cut back and forth between the artist/band and the narrative, this is mainly due to the fact that the vocals in this particular song are not only abstract but quite frankly undecipherable. I chose this song because after listening to countless singers that vocalise how bad their life is or how badly they want to kill themselves etc they never really encapsulated the right feel or atmosphere in their music - which is by no doubt the defining feature of this idea - atmosphere. This song in my opinion will move the audience of this idea and is a perfect companion to this concept. 

The song is by a band called Alt-J which you could say fall into the alternative genre. They are famed for their visually impressive and greatly intelligent music videos, again never focusing on the band, but solely on the storyline, which follows my philosophy of being distracted from the music video by the artist. One of their most famous music videos -  "Breezeblocks" follows a reverse linear narrative, following a story of domestic abusive from the end to the beginning. The subject matter is not too distant from that of my concept for Nara, unlike other music videos that confront domestic abuse Breezblocks shows the grit of it, that's what makes it so powerful. I intend to do the same.

The idea is not to focus on glorifying the band, but to focus on the anti-bullying campaign.

Concept:

In periodical order

• The video opens with a small boy skimming stones by a lake with his older sibling (gender undecided) The boy is visibly a social outsider, interacting with his siblings in noticeably reserved and shy fashion. It should also be apparent that there is a deep level of trust in the sibling and that he desires their approval.
• The older sibling gives the boy a symbolic object of some kind )could be a badge, or a keyring, or a toy - something that represents innocence) The boy is happy with the gift - the two head home.
• The boy admires the object back at his house - I feel that by having a small scene where the boy is called to dinner or is put to bed by his mother would bring the audience evermore into the life of the boy and can develop a stronger connection with him by seeing him interact with his parents.
• In the morning the boy picks up his backpack and walks to school, he plays with the object on his way in, a group of boys are at the school gate, they jeer at him, the boy gives it a glance and continues into school. This should be a subtle first sign of bullying.
• The kid is sat in class, a group of older boys point and laugh at him (or something like that) from outside the classroom through a window - the boy is now visibly sad/worried/afraid - Perhaps the boy are in the class with him and they take his books or pencil case or something, his abuse must be evident throughout.
• When the boy gets out of class the older boys follow him, the boy runs, they chase. They catch him and pin him up against a wall, emptying his backpack and stealing the gift from his sibling, destroying it in some form or another. The boy is distraught.
• He picks up the gift and runs to the lake, he is crying and panicked. Upon arrival he looks at the gift, both angry and devastated. It is getting dark - we cut back to his parents and sibling who are at his house, they are frantically calling people and maybe the mother is crying or visibly very worried. The sibling runs to the lake.
• As the boy becomes more determined and committed to his decision he walks slowly into the lake - this action of him walking from the shore to being submerged by the water will be intercut with shots depicting his life, showing him as a baby with his parents, playing with his siblings - growing up. Emphasis must be placed on the total innocence of the boy, and that his period of torment was unprovoked. This sequence will also be cut together with shots of the sibling running to the lake.
• The sibling reaches the lake to find nothing but the gift, broken. he/she picks it up and looks around for a short time, calling desperately, before looking out to the lake and realising what's happened.
• The final shot will beef the boy floating in the lake from underneath him looking up at the surface of the water and the moonlight rays (flood light) refracting around him.

Unfortunately at this point in time there are as of yet aren't really any noticeably influential  artists or bands that campaign through their music to spread awareness for bullying. There are a plenty that preach for equal rights and equality in general but I could only find a couple professionally made anti-bullying music videos, they are as follows:

What's even more tragic than the fact that no big artists have released anti-bullying campaigns or music videos is that the few who have released music videos have done a poor job of it.

Firstly we have some Amir guy doing a cover of P!nk's "Perfect" which out of vast amount of songs which preach self worth and believing in one's self, is not in my opinion the best of song choices if you want to be taken seriously on the matter. Following the disappointment in song choice, the filming of the music video is dull and visually unappealing to watch, this is not helped by the abysmal attempts at trying to act like bullies or victims by no doubt kids that were found on the street by the casting director. As a viewer I didn't buy into the three largely under explained stories of bullying. Lastly the reason why I wasn't able to buy into the stories and feel sympathy toward the victims was because Amir and his crew of stale faced associates took up more than half of the video, swinging their arms back and forth and gesturing and giving soulful gazes to the camera, let alone glorifying themselves by being portrayed as irrelevant saviours of the victims. The point to this rant is that despite the flaccid attempt at an ant-bullying campaign, the only real goal was to represent the artist as a saviour, supporting Dyer's start theory of appearing godlike in order to sell records.

This music video by a duo called "Bars and Melody" again TRIES to confront the issue of bullying in schools but fails miserably. If I was unaware of what exactly bullying is in the education system or what it's consequences are and I watched this music video, I would be very confused. The school children shown in the video aren't being hurt, they're not being challenged offensively and there's no visible signs of upset, trauma or depression in the entire music video, except for perhaps the forged "I care about this" look given by the artists at the end of the video. Instead the viewer is shown an array of school kids nodding in unison and breaking out into spontaneous interpretive dance. On top of this the small english boy putting on a heavy Brooklyn accent "Raps" about having trouble with bullies at school, and how he's afraid and helpless which IS what should be preached, but yet you don't buy it because he's dancing around like a younger and slightly more irritating harry styles alongside his quaffed haired companion. It's extremely easy for an audience to tell if you do, or don't really care about what you're lip syncing to, and if you don't, and the viewer can see that then there's no chance they're going to be moved, inspired or educated by the video. Similarly to the first video these kids are being glorified and the whole concept of anti-bullying is being used as a facade to cover up the ulterior motive of the video which is to promote a brand identity for these kids. 

For this reason I wish to cut the artist out of the song and focus solely on the story of the kid being bullied, there must be not deviation from the story and no distractions - it is about the heartbreak and struggle of the victimised child, not about the artist.  

Audiences NEED to see something that's going to make them feel a little uncomfortable and guilty, and obviously moved in one way or another. Viewers need to see the nitty gritty truth behind bullying and they need to see the brutal consequences, not the sunshine and rainbows that was presented by Bars and Melody or the odd bitchy glance and teary eyed response presented by Amir. I want my music video to move people.

As for the website and digipak I imagine something darkly coloured and orientated around the anti-bullying campaign that the music video emulates. Stylistically they should be less aimed at the younger kids, with brightly coloured flowery signs - which in my opinion demean those that are bullied rather than support them. Instead the website and digipak will be look more professional, using stylised photography instead of amateurish animation. 

 The website needs to be easily accessible to those who have fallen victim to bullying or are aware of a case of bullying, there should be a helpline displayed on the webpage and advice for those that have been bullied or know of someone who is being bullied, what they can do to deal with it etc. There should also be links to anti-bullying charity websites.