Actors and props

When thinking about the main actor for our music video, we wanted someone who looked older than their age and someone who had acting skills. I asked one of my friends Chris Biddle as he is a drama student and would take the video seriously. Also he would fit in with the looks as we wante someone tall, and medium build with dark hair. As he would be wearing a suit, he would be able look older than he is.

Costume Ideas

Here is a brainstorm of ideas that we thought of for costume:



We decided that a suit would be appropriate for our main character to show that he works in an office and is a serious man. We chose a red tie to symbolise danger as he is on the edge and distressed.

Initial Ideas

We thought of a number of ideas for the narrative of the video.

1- There are 3 stories within the video, one of a businessman who is depressed and is avoiding going home to his wife. The second of a woman who is getting abused by her boyfriend at home but trying to hide it. And the last one of a child that has run away from home because of his parents. We wanted to create a video that reflects the stories of many lives these days and pass a message on to our audience of what is happening.

2- An actor is miming the words of the song as the singer and is in a field on a hill. The video shows him going through some woods and finding parts of his life there as objects on the way.

3- A crime scene starts with the police gathered around the body and the video reverses and goes backwards to show how the murder took place creating a mystery for the audience.

4- A person trapped in an empty room, showing how they are trapped in society. The person walking around the streets and not feeling safe. A projector is used in the empty room to project things on the person and the wall, maybe lyrics and photos of other people like them.

We have chosen to pursue the first idea, however we will only chose one narrative within the idea as we wont have time to film all of them and we have found that it is hard to find actors to play all of the roles. We have chosen the businessman story.

Thom Yorke's Record Label

Thom Yorke, released his first solo record, The Eraser, on the label XL recordings in July 2006. While not reaching Number One in any specific country (#2 in the US, #3 in the UK and #2 in Canada), it was Number One for worldwide sales during its initial week of release. In October 2007, Radiohead completed negotiations to sign with XL for physical release of their seventh studio album, In Rainbows.



XL Recordings is a British independent record label which was launched by Tim Palmer, Nick Halkes and Richard Russell with Beggars Banquet Records in 1989 to release its rave and dance music. Today, the label has grown into one of the most commercially successful and influential independent record labels in the world.

Since the late 1990s expanded into other genres such as freak-folk, alternative rock and hip-hop and UK Garage. They are now the home to a range of artists including:

Adele
Badly Drawn Boy
Basement Jaxx
be your own PET
Beck
Blue Roses
Cajun Dance Party
The Cool Kids
Damon Albarn
Devendra Banhart
Dizzee Rascal
Discovery
Elvis Perkins
Friendly Fires
Jack Peñate
Giggs
Gil Scott-Heron
Golden Silvers
Gotan Project
Holly Miranda
The Horrors
Jai Paul
Kicks Like a Mule
Kid Harpoon
Lemon Jelly
M.I.A.
Magistrates
Peaches
The Prodigy
Radiohead
The Raconteurs
Ratatat
RJD2
Sigur Rós
SL2
Tapes 'n Tapes
Thom Yorke
Titus Andronicus
To My Boy
Tyler, The Creator
Vampire Weekend
Various
The White Stripes
The xx
Weezer

Thome Yorke and his star Image.

His Relationship with celebrities and the media.

Thome yorke has had some positive labels about him in the media, he has been involved in numerous charity events, one being his charity single he got involved in, in 2010, this was for the royal british legion , Mark Ronson also accompanied him. It was released on the 7th November on itunes and was priced at 99p The Royal British Legion's Director General Chris Simpkins said: "Rather than record a song, we felt the UK public would recognise the poignancy of silence and its clear association with remembrance.”



Yorke has had an uneasy relationship with other celebrities and the media. Following Radiohead's 1993 Pablo Honey tour of America, Yorke became disenchanted at being "right at the sharp end of the sexy, sassy, MTV eye-candy lifestyle" he felt he was helping to sell to the world.The 1998 documentary film Meeting People is Easy portrays Yorke's disaffection with the music industry and press during the 1997-8 "Against Demons" world tour.
A number of celebrities have been upset by Yorke's public persona. In 2001, Kelly Jones, the lead singer of the Welsh band Stereophonics, referred to Thom Yorke as a "miserable twat" (a comment he later retracted). In 2002, Jack Black claimed to have approached Yorke to congratulate him on his solo show at the Bridge School Benefit concert in San Francisco, only for Yorke to ignore him and walk away. Referring to the incident, Black stated in an interview: "I heard later that he's famously cold, and it wasn't just me that he despises, but the whole world." After completing a trek of Kilimanjaro in 2009, Ronan Keating was asked by an interviewer which celebrity he would most like to throw off a mountain. Keating named Yorke, and referred to him as a "muppet", stating that Yorke was once rude to him, although he did admit to still liking his music. In the same year, Miley Cyrus and Kanye West also complained about Yorke's alleged rudeness. In a response to these complaints, Yorke wrote on Radiohead's Dead Air Space website, "wish us all a safe journey if you still like us and you're not one of those people I have managed to offend by doing nothing."

Radiohead's Music Videos

Radiohead are known for their strange and artistic videos which usually have Thom Yorke in them as the main person.

Radiohead - Street Spirit (Fade Out)



This song is from Raidohead's second album 'The Bends' which was released in 1995. The music video was directed by Jonathan Glazer and premiered in february 1996. The whole video is in black and white and involves a number of characters. Parts of the video are in slow motion where one character is slow and the other is at normal speed. This technique is interesting and quite unique as the audience is left intrigued and interested. Close up shots of Thom Yorke's face are used and they fade fade into one another (fade transitions) symbolising thoughts and dreams fading out. Overall, I really like this music video as it's unique and original and it also matches the mood and atmosphere of the music perfectly.

Radiohead - Pyramid Song



This song was their first single from their 2001 album 'Amnesiac'. The video was directed by a group of collective artists called Shynola. It features a combination of computer 3D and hand-drawn animation. The narrative is of someone who seems to be the last person in the world and has survived a flood. This was based on a dream that Thom Yorke had. The video has won several awards, including NME Carling's best video of the year. I really like this video as at first it seems strange and don't know what's happening but when he finds the city and the people dead, it's quite hard hitting.

Radiohead - Karma Police



This music video was directed by Jonathan Glazer, previously responsible for Radiohead's 'Street Spirit (Fade Out)'. The video premiered in August 1997 and featured Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke as well as Hungarian actor Lajos Kovács. Glazer won MTV's Director of the Year award in 1997 for his work on this. This video is very interesting as it puts the audience in the driver's perspective using point of view shots and it is filmed mostly through the windscreen. It shows a figure running in front of the car trying not to get run over, then the camera turns to the back seat of the car where Thom Yorke is sitting lip syncing the lyrics. It shows how people run away from things that they have done in the past and represents the idea of Karma. However, towards the end, the man collapses on the floor and the car reverses as if it is getting ready for a 'run up'. The man then realises that there is petrol leaking form the car and get out some matches. He manages to light a match and sets the car on fire as it frantically reverses. The camera suggests that the driver is trapped alone in the car.

Radiohead - Go To Sleep



This was directed by Alex Rutterford, the CGI-animated video shows a full-blossom red rose swaying in the wind, and proceeds to show Yorke sitting on a park bench singing the song while around him men and women in business suits walk by rapidly. In the middle of the video, the buildings, in classical architecture style, spontaneously crumble into pieces, while the people keep walking, unaware, and moments later they reassemble themselves, only to have become modern buildings such as offices. The shot returns to the rose shown in the beginning, which is now closed in a bud. In my opinion, this video symbolises how man-kind is changing a lot of the world without realising how drastic the change is. The rose closing at the end could mean that perhaps things used to be better in the past.



Radiohead - No Surprises



The music video for 'No Surprises' was directed by Grant Gee. The video consists solely of a single close-up shot of Thom Yorke's head inside an astronaut-style dome helmet. The lyrics are shown throughout the entire song slowly scrolling upwards but mirrored, as they are being reflected off of the dome. After the first verse, the helmet begins to fill with water. Yorke continues singing as he attempts to lift his head above the rising water. Once the bubble completely fills, Yorke is motionless for over a minute, after which the water is released and he resumes singing. For Yorke's safety, the video was filmed at high-speed and played back in slow-motion. These type of videos break typical conventions of music videos such as having a story-line.

Director Research- Chel White

Chel White is an American film director, music video director, animator, screenwriter, and visual effects supervisor on feature films. He is the co-founder of an international production company called Bent Image Lab. He is known for his first person narratives and stylized use of images. Chel white's films explore love, obsession, memories, and dreams. There are usually hidden meanings and black humor within his films which portray stories of the human experience. Narratives are used to shows views of an individual.
The 2006 music video of Thom Yorke's Harrowdown Hill won the award for Best Music Video at the 2006 SXSW(South by Southwest) Festival.

Feature films- Fever Dreams and Heavenly Nightmares: The Short Films of Chel White (2005)

Short films- Wind (2007)
A Painful Glimpse Into My Writing Process in Less Than 60 Seconds (2005)
Magda (2004)
Eclipse (2003)
Passage (2001)
Soulmate (2000)
Dirt (1998)
Choreography for Copy Machine (or Photocopy Cha Cha) (1991)
Machine Song (1987)
Metal Dogs of India (1985)

Videography- Thom Yorke - Harrowdown Hill (2006)
Cottonmouth, Texas - Hoops, Ugly People, Me and My Last 4 Bucks (1997)
Season to Risk - Blood Ugly (1994)
Melvins - Hooch (1993)

Commercials- Lux - Provocateur (2006)
Washington State Department of Health - Park and Rec Room (2005)
OfficeMax - Santa's Helper (2005)
Fila - Mashburn (1994)

A Painful Glimpse Into My Writing Process [In Less Than 60 Seconds]
by Chel White-

A Painful Glimpse Into My Writing Process [In Less Than 60 Seconds] from chel white on Vimeo.

This short film is narrated and is very fast paced. It tells a story of a man who's having writers block and is finding it difficult to find inspiration. I really like how fast it is which makes the viewers engaged and attentive.

Choreography for Copy Machine [Photocopy Cha Cha] (excerpt)
by Chel White

Choreography for Copy Machine [Photocopy Cha Cha] (excerpt) from chel white on Vimeo.

This is a kind of experimental film which was made using scanners. This is also quite fast paced and very interesting to look at. He has used different colours and objects to make the video look more abstract. The people's face's are also very distorted which makes them look scary, however, with the combination of the music, the viewers will most likely laugh it at and find it humorous.

The Wind by Chel White


This video is different to the two above as it is much slower. It uses time lapse footage as 'Harrowdown Hill' does as well. It contains a message showing the human impact on the world and how we are destroying it.