Research and Planning

Track: Not Out of Line

Artist: Ruth Johansson ft. Azza Lambert

Album: Unplugged

Record Company: EQ Music UK

The track that I have selected to produce my music video upon is a song entitled ‘Not Out of Line.’ This is a song produced and sung by local singer-songwriter Ruth Johansson and features Aaron ‘Azza’ Lambert, the lead member of the ever growing in popularity band, AJQJ. The track was released 20^th August 2016 as part of the local album ‘Unplugged,’ produced by EQ Music UK, which was formed by Lowestoft Sixth Form College students. The album and record label has its own website and Facebook page that can be viewed. The album features a wide variety of student’s own songs and is available to download and purchase. Although Ruth has not released any other music and has not had a music video available for her work, I believe this is a good starting point that will benefit the both of us. Aaron Lambert’s band AJQJ has released some music videos and lyric videos, so inspiration can be used from the band’s music videos. The song itself lasts for 2 minutes 27 seconds, has very meaningful lyrics, and are as followed:

I woke up tired

So uninspired

Can I just stay asleep?

I couldn’t tell you

But their about to

Please don’t wake me up

So you can call me your names

Kill me with words

Forget about me, cause it’s what I deserve

And I’ll be okay

If that’s what you, want me to say

And I’ll be just fine

Please I’m not out of line

I’m so confused

Been misused

And I’m so emotional

I can’t sleep

I’m in too deep

Can I just run away?

So you can call me your names

Kill me with words

Forget about me, cause it’s what I deserve

And I’ll be okay

If that’s what you, want me to say

And I’ll be just fine

Please I’m not out of line

And I’ll be okay

If that’s what you, want me to say

And I’ll be just fine

Please I’m not out of line

I spoke to Ruth about the meaning of the song and she stated, “It’s just about being weighed down by mental health, being tired and having no effort, strength or motivation to do anything. Hearing the voices in your head constantly putting you down but still saying that you’ll be fine to other people because you don’t want to admit things aren’t okay.” The overall look of the music video will be dramatic and dark. In the lyrics it constantly refers back to forgetting about that person “forget about, cause it’s what I deserve” so the offering of a dark setting will emphasise this. I have decided that we will use a sofa as the starting point for the music video, this symbolises the later lyrics, “I woke up tired so uninspired,” this will start with the actress lying still on the sofa and waking up. The genre of this video will be an emotional drama, due to the nature of the song and the meaning behind the lyrics. The pace of the music video will be slowed down and I am considering using slow motion through certain sections of the video, and I am considering having the footage in black and white to add a moody/depressive feel to the video. The duration of the music lasts for 2 minutes 27 seconds, in regards to matching this up to the music video, I will make the music video last slightly longer as the screen starts black and the stage lights up revealing the main actress. The beginning will also feature opening titles stating the actors name and the song title.

When researching into Ruth as an artist I discovered she did not have any previous music videos to promote her work. This made it difficult to research how she would normally have her music videos and the style she prefers; it would have to be word to mouth communication between director and artiste. Although despite not having any previous music videos, Ruth does have an Instagram page where she shares videos of her singing covers and original music. In regards to costume and make up, as Ruth will not be featuring in the music video this is not a major concern, these two items will need to be based around the narrative of the music video. As Ruth is regarded as an indie artist this will also be something I can base the costume and make up upon.

 From Ruth’s Instagram page I was able to look at some of her singing videos she has done and the images she has put on there to promote herself as an artist. Although this is not exactly helpful in the way I needed to see previous videos and her style but I am still successfully able to generate an idea from the song and both Ruth’s Instagram page and her song.