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.

The Purpose of Music Videos

Current Practices in Corporate Video Production

Group Corporate Video Presentation (Hyundai Corporation)

Corporate Production Companies

Curveball Media
Address: Jacquard House, Lower Ground Floor, Queen Street, Norwich NR2 4SX
Phone:01603 928370

Curveball media are an award winning corporate video production company, that specialise in creating engaging film and animation content that people want to watch and share.Below are some of the films they have produced for corporate video production.They have produced adverts for the likes of Volvo and created a UEA psychology advert to support training and information. Curveball Media have attracted over 18,000,000 views for clients by following a very specific process to achieve results. Curveball Media have created animations and films for a range of businesses and charities – from pharmaceutical companies and complex data driven pieces to emotive thought productions,

Brief Media
Address: 13 Granary View, Paper, Mill Cl, Norwich NR1 2GD
Phone:01603 527688
 Brief Media make video content for small businesses, multi-national corporations, not for profit organizations and public bodies. They also produce factual film and video content, multiplatform content and coverage of events, including live streaming

The Nature and Purposes of Research

Questions/Interview (Primary research)

Interview with Mrs L. Hood

I can’t recall the moment that my struggle began. It was a slow, all consuming malignancy enveloping me, leaving me unable to function as a normal human being. I had been introduced to the elephant and told I had to get it through the loft hatch...but no one told me how.

I remember I would often find myself crying uncontrollably, terrorised by an unknown enemy that was preying only on me. I gazed with envy at my friends, wishing I could find the peace of mind that they had, yet unable to vocalise my distress. If I didn’t understand it, how would anyone else? My family and friends knew things had changed for me, but similarly did not know how to approach the subject.

And so the elephant remained in the corner of the room.

For the next few months the unwelcome guest continued to taunt me, whispering its disgust, until finally it had taken everything, leaving just the empty shell of the woman I had once been.

I gave up the job that I loved and hid myself away. But the demon continued in its quest to completely destroy me. Eventually I succumbed, sinking into the black depths of despair.

As I faced The road to hell...I knew I was going to have to fight this psychological colossus with every part of me.

But my unwelcome guest was not going to leave easily. It was a formidable beast.

As I faced The road to hell...I knew I was going to have to fight this psychological colossus with every part of me.

But my unwelcome guest was not going to leave easily. It was a formidable beast.

After many trials on a variety of multi-coloured capsules, I gave up on this approach. I began to do research of my own.

Talking therapies were considered to be of value, and boy did I have a lot of stories to tell. After all wasn’t it those self - same events that had gotten me to this place. Perhaps if I unburdened myself to a stranger, I might feel better about the hand I had been dealt.   

I found it challenging. I was paying for an expert to tell me what I already knew, I had to single handedly discover how to get that elephant through the loft hatch and no amount of pills or potions or chit chat was going to change the outcomes. What had to change was how I viewed these events, not as melodramas to be replayed in the hope that the outcomes may improve, but as episodes that helped in making me the person that I had become.

I was eventually given the opportunity to try Cognitive Behavioural Therapy – a not just talk but do approach - I stopped running and started to confront the elephant. Nothing bad happened, in fact the experience was remarkably beneficial. It slowly allowed me to redefine myself. I remained left of centre, as I chose to call it, often out of kilter with the rest of my peers but determined that I would return to a life beyond depression. At no point did I believe I would ever return to being the person I had been before the elephant came into the room, but now it was safely ensconsed in the loft, I knew that I could continue on the  journey that was a part of how ultimately she would become I.   

*THIS INTERVIEW WILL ALSO BE USED IN THE DOCUMENTARY, WITH MRS HOOD SPEAKING THIS ON CAMERA.*

Stephen Fry BBC interview (Secondary research)

Dwayne Johnson interview on depression (Secondary research)

BBC news report on depression (Secondary research)

Research Articles (Secondary research)

This article discusses some of the main issues that arise within depression. It is a very useful article to help me when conducting research into depression as it talks about some of the main symptoms of depression and a study on depression. I found this site to be useful for research as it goes into quite a vast amount of detail on depression and some of the causes.
http://www.clinical-depression.co.uk/dlp/depression-information/teen-depression/

http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Depression/Pages/Vanessasstory.aspx

This is an article from the NHS, where a lady named Vanessa expresses her experiences with depression. As I will have an interview within my documentary this is the type of story I want to know about. It tells us how she overcome depression slowly and finally got back on her feet. There is also a short video linked into this article. In this video Vanessa talks about how she recovered after her breakdown. Sadly, since the making of the film, Vanessa died from cancer.

https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/a-to-z/d/depression

This is an article from the Mental Health Foundation, it explains to the reader all the potential symptoms of depression and has links to other sites that may be of use to those experiencing depression. It also states the different types of depression that some people may have and also haves information of medication that may help to overcome depression and how someone can seek help for their depression.

The Depression Project (Secondary research)

This is a 13 minute documentary on 'The Depression Project' by Guild TV.

Andrew Cripps - Depression & Anxiety Story (Secondary research)

This is a 4 minute documentary of a filmmaker explaining his experiences with depression. I really liked the way how it was very emotive and I felt as though I knew the person involved.