Artist Photoshoot: Olly Patriarca

Finalised Song Choice

'What We Started' by JR Aquino

After much discussion, we arrived at a finalised song choice - 'What We Started' by JR Aquino. Instead of choosing a song by a recognised and established artist/band, we decided to opt for a song by an unsigned solo artist who frequently posts original material on YouTube. Ultimately, this gives us the freedom to construct a unique self-representation (star image) for our artist (marketing through music video, digipack, website) since it seems almost impossible to escape from the already 'built-up' star image of a well-known artist. Furthermore, since the song doesn't possess a music video, it provides a 'blank canvas' onto which we can project a variety of creative ideas.

Musically, we chose this song because in terms of structure, texture and tempo, it is very minimalist and simplistic without being too dull, since the possible meanings behind the emotive lyrics shine out as the focal part of the song. Therefore, we can focus on the artist's emotions and lyrics which we can then channel into the visuals; either through direct narrative, lyrical references, thematically etc or alternatively, not at all - in turn providing the video with a strong link to the lyrics.

An additional factor which persuaded us to choose JRA's 'What We Started' was the data that we collected from a survey that we conducted in order to discover what the public thought was a better song.

Between a narrowed choice of Snow Patrol's 'Set The Fire To The Third Bar' and JR Aquino's 'What We Started', our results concluded that JRA's original composition was the favourable option with a victory of 8 votes to 2.  Our volunteers commented that 'Set The Fire To The Third Bar' was a 'predictable choice but diverse' (in the sense it features two lead vocalists on the track), whereas 'What We Started' was 'more heartfelt and emotional with a story behind the lyrics.'

Initial Storyboard

 

Pre-Planning: Shortlisted Song Choices

Today we began to consider possible song choices for our music video by scrolling through our iPods and browsing on YouTube. Whilst looking through our iPods, we noted down artists/bands that reflected our own individual music tastes and began to realise that deciding on a song was harder than we initially thought. As a result, we went onto YouTube to browse through fairly unknown and unsigned artists who showcase their material online. We began to contemplate that perhaps choosing an unsigned artist would give us the freedom to create a music video that wouldn't be compared to an existing one and we could construct an original star image, as if we opt for a well-known artist/band, there is the constant concern that we won't be able to escape from their already 'built-up' star image and how they market themselves etc. Therefore, our final song decision will stem from a combined shortlist of well-known artists and unsigned artists.

  

Revised Shortlist: