Response to our letter asking permission to use Nobody Home by New York Fund

What are your idea's for the music video?

Please contact me

This wasn't the best response we could have had, as they haven't given consent yet but we will email them our ideas and hopefully they will like them and give us permission to use Nobody home.

More Locations for Music Video

This street is of a good location near the shop "Just Add Water," and we liked the mise en scene of it because of the authentic looking street and older style buildings, which will look good for certain scenes in our music video.

This is another back street, which we liked because of the red building as it connotes passion, love and danger. We could also use this street for filming various shot while our actor is chasing our female protagonist.

We decided as a group to photograph this following street, mainly based on the colours and architect of the buildings, as we think they will stand out and look effective for the audience. Especially the yellow colour of the building above. We are also thinking about maybe including colour filters; such as blue in the music video, to signify a mood change of the single.

What really stood out to me in this photograph is the white and black old building to the side, which is perfect to use as a mise en scene for our music video, as me and my group decided that we wanted only older looking buildings and not modern ones.

This is just a photograph of the name of one of the streets we shall use to film, and we took a photo of it so we could remember the name of the street. A photo of a tunnel which is on the street is shown below.

In the photo above, we liked the way the photo has caught the light against the dark mise en scene, as again it looks like it would fir the mise en scene for a spooky music video. The shot also looks claustrophobic and you can visualize the image of masked extras crowding the ally way, which would look stunning shot in black and white, inspired by a film noir image.

The above picture is a photo of the tunnel in daylight, as we wanted an image which showed us a way in which we could use light effectively, as some of the lyrics in our song references light.

This is a photo of "Old Post Office Court," which we liked because of the tunnel at the end which has a claustrophobic feel to it, which we thought we could use when the faced masks are chasing our male protagonist, and he feels trapped as he has almost reached a dead end.

We shot this building because of the winding staircases, in which our male protagonist can run up in an attempt to run away from the masks ans chase after our female protagonist.

This is a high angle shot of the staircase, to give us an idea of the shot types we can use in our music video. For example high angle and low angle.

This a photo taken from the building with the staircase again, as we were experimenting with the variety of shots we can use in our music video, to make it not seem boring.


Both these buildings together look very authentic, and we liked the green colour of the building as it will make out music video look more interesting to watch if there are more colours involved.

This is another picture of the building, but obviously taken with more light, so we could experiment with what lighting would look best and more effective for our music video.

Overall, all these photo's show possible locations for our music video. We have so many as we are trying to include a variety of different locations so are music video will keep our adueicnes interest. We are also attempting to use locations which will make our music video contain a warped atmosphere about it, as the new theme of our music video is going to be scary, with recurring images of masks. Warped atmosphere means our group aspiring to make our msuic video contain a quirky yet sinister edge. For example, giving our music video the illusion of it not conveying normal life. We particuarly like the use of the stair case in the building above as we could use it as a mise en scene for our actor being cornered by the masks and he feels that there is no escape.

Inspiration for our Music Video

For the coming up of using the idea of switching between reality and dream scenes, this was partially inspired by the dream scene's used in the film American Beauty (1999) directed by Sam Mendes. In total on YouTube there are four different dream scenes, all using the recurring image of red rose petals, which of course connote love and sexuality. The first dream scene is of Lester Burnham (actor Kevin Spacey) lusting after the female protagonist Mena.



This first dream scene sees Mena conduct a very sexual dance in front of Lester, with Mena in a Cheer leading outfit. This image of Mena doesn't argue against the typical female stereotype that females are in fact strong minded and not only judged on by how they look, as Mena is clearly manipulating Lester and teasing him. However, this dream inspired us by the way that Lester is clearly idolizing Mena, which is how we want our actor to look in our music video about our female protagonist Izzy Davies. This lusting after Mena is portrayed in all four dream scenes, and what we particularly liked as a group in this first one is the recurring images of roses. As in our music video, we are planning on using a recurring image of masks throughout, to connote a warped sense of reality. What we also liked in this clip, is the way the female protagonist is shot against black, which looks very effective as it makes her features of the typical blonde hair, red lips stand out, making Mena resemble being on a pedestal, and Lester lusts after her. This video clip also inspired us for our opening beginning shot, of Izzy being dressed in vibrant red against black scenery, as we wanted to begin our music video of portraying an image that Izzy is strong and powerful.



What particularly stands out in this second dream scene is the first close up shot of the red rose petal falling down from we learn to be the ceiling. As the bright red stands out boldly against the black mise en scene, and the petal is made to look delicate and picturesque. Again, Mena is made to resemble a sex object in which Lester is clearly idolizing after her petite and "perfect" body, which represents an idea that males do really look at women like sex objects. However, the whole scene is shot very artistically, which is the type of angle which we want to use when shooting our music video, as we want to portray Izzy in a tasteful way, and not dirty or ------. Whats also good about this clip is the way Lester is portrayed to look completely infatuated by Mena and obviously can't take his eyes of her, which is achieved by using a birds eye view shot of Lester and his bed, which exchanges throughout the clip to another birds eye view shot of Mena on the ceiling coated with rose petals. Ideally, in our music video we would like our actor to wear the same expression of infatuation, as it looks effective to the audience.



This third dream scene is again shot very artistically, as the whole scene is shot through a close up of Kevin and Mena's kiss that they share, as the camera pans round them, engaging the audience into the intensity of the moment. Like all the previous dream scenes, the mise en scene is jet black, making Mena's stereotypical blonde hair and red lips stand out. If we do decided to include a kissing scene in our music video, we would use this as inspiration; thereby having the camera panning round them, and the kiss being portrayed as delicate, yet intimate. At the end of the scene, again the image of the red rose is used, as we see Kevin draw just one out of his mouth. By watching all the previous scenes, you now begin to link the symbol and beauty of the red rose with Mena, as clearly this is how Kevin thinks of Mena throughout this film; beautiful, strong, bold, and delicate.



This scene is by far my favourite, as what particularly stood out to me and my group is the powerful lighting used in this clip. For example, the light streaming in through the window allowing the audience to focus purely focus on Mena in the bath tub, is very effective as it connotes an idea of Mena being perceived as a shining angel by Lester. The way that Mena is sexually spread out in the bath tub and her intense expression adds to the idea of Mena portraying the image of a beautiful angel. By the fourth scene, Lester is clearly filled with sexual frustration as he is lusting after her. The ending of this clip where she beckons him into the bath tub and his hand is drawing near her, is made very intense for the audience at home as we are left with the experience of watching the intense build up finalise into a climax. The idea of the shining light has inspired us to perhaps use some sort of lighting system for the beginning of our music video, as the lyrics at the beginning of the song reference shining light.

Overall, there are very strong debates associated with the idea of the female protagonist in American Beauty being portrayed as simply a sex object. In our own music video, we shall employ voyeuristic shots in order to represent our female protagonist as very attractive and being desired by our male actor, exactly like it is in American Beauty. The debates associated with this theory is whether or not females should be objectified, and whether it is demeaning to portray females in such ways. However, stereotypically, females are always a object in males imaginations.

Developments of Music Video Idea's

After much discussion, me and my group have decided that our idea of using a narrative of a guy chasing a girl is a cliche, and over used. As a result, we have decided upon tweaking the narrative and developing upon the idea of using a spookier theme that haunts the actor in our music video as he searches for the girl.


For example, we have come up with an idea of using face masks, (which are print of our actress's Izzy's face) and placing them on around 10 extras. Then these extras will haunt our actor and they will be recurring images which keep appearing throughout our music video; basically an idea of the man dreaming and entering a bizarre world. Furthermore, this idea of a warped and spooky image will be mixed in with an idea of reality, which is where the masks shall fade away, leaving Izzy just standing there, and our actor will continue to try and find her. We have also decided upon not using Norwich Train station anymore, yet instead we shall use these following locations:

• Elm Hill - The cobbled streets shall give a feeling of wariness and shall enhance a spooky atmosphere, as Elm Hill is very traditional and has a very authentic aura. Elm Hill will juxtapose the idea of illusion and reality, which is what our group mean by wariness. For example, Elm Hill is a perfect location to mix up the idea of what normal really is, and whether or not it is just an illusion.



• Colgate Street - Again, this street in Norwich is very old, and has the ability to draw our audience into the atmosphere of a spooky theme, as using any modern street in Norwich will look out of place.



• Mulbarton Ally - A member of my group live in Mulbarton, and this ally is particularly nasty, with a really thin pathway big enough for just one person to walk down at a time, with grime brick walls either side, giving the appearance of being rather shoddy. As a result, filming in the dark will increase this warped atmosphere.

More locations will be added as we go along, as we are planning more trips for location scouting. However, we have decided that the ultimate theme we are basing our music video around is the switching between "dream scenes" and reality of the man chasing after the woman; with recurring images of masks with Izzy's face on them, as a way of showing how Izzy taunts him permanently. In another blog post I will be showing clips of Dream scenes from American Beauty as that is what influenced our idea of defining the difference between reality and dreaming.

Casting for Music Video

With much discussion with my group, we have decided with a female and male actress and actor for our video; with the narrative of the male protagonist chasing after his "girlfriend." However, we have certain profiles for our cast. For example, the female protagonist has to be of course pretty, preferably with longer hair and a slender figure. We have found an actress for our female, Izzy Davies. She fitted our profile perfectly, as she was tall and pretty, also she has had previous experience with acting, as she played a female protagonist in a previous thriller for another group in year 12, therefore we know that she would be up to the task. Izzy is also reliable, so we know that she will turn up for shooting.

For our male actor we have found Guy Walker. We had a certain profile for the male, for example we need a strong male protagonist who is handsome, but also has the ability to act out a part in chasing after a female. Although, with both our actor's we have to make sure that they don't look to young, and too much like sixth form students. However, Guy comes from a background of acting as he has been part of a Drama group for many years and has acted in various plays, therefore he knows how to act in a mature manor which will be perfect for a love story.

Overall, we are happy with our two main protagonist, and now all we need to find is extras to play the part of the "masked creatures" which will follow and haunt Guy Walker. We have decided that we need around 10 extras, and they will have to be dressed in pure black to leave there real identity hidden and left as a mystery to the audience. Therefore we can have both males and females.

Possible Locations

Me and my group have been discussing possible locations for our music video. One of our idea's so far is Norwich Train Station which is where we decided we could use as our ending scene, where the man finally finds the woman yet she is running away on a train without him, leaving the music video as a cliff hanger. The reasoning for choosing Norwich Train Station is that we think it looks authentic and the actual building is very attractive. In black and white the building would look impressive, and once inside Norwich Train Station and through the barriers, the building continues to look authentic, therefore an idea would be that the girl could run away on the train and we could film the train going away. The train is also a location which is often portrayed in certain music videos and films, as it's a good setting to use for a love story which ends in tragedy.

So far, our main idea of filming locations is using Elm Hill, as we feel it is an idea location to use for the man chasing the woman. Especially as Elm Hill contains an authentic feel, perfect for Film Noir inspired music video. Below is a picture of Elm Hill to show the location of our film:

A particular feature of Elm Hill which stood out to us as a key location is the cobbled streets, which is perfect for our music video, and the buildings look older which would look stylish in black and white. The buildings also look very British, which is obviously a key element for our music video. We are thinking of using Elm Street for the man looking for the women, and we will use a range of shots to film him, such as pan, track and close ups. However the shots we will use shall be planned fully and displayed in our storyboards.