Hannah Roll's BTEC Media Blog: Research and Planning (Pre-Production)

Part 1 & 2: The track
The track I have chosen is called 'River' by Japanese band named FOLKS, and they formed in 2013 in Hokkaido, Japan. They were all in previous bands before they decided to join together, with two of them also being brothers. They all have previous experience in music making and each of them have moved on from previous bands. Their inspiration is from a range of artists over the globe, including British and French. Their main style is Indie-Rock and they have currently released one self-produced CD and one released under the label of Ki/oon Music.

It's hard to understand the full emotion of the song after translating, but I believe that the basic meaning has been shown in the translation. The meaning of the song contains a lot of words that link to life itself and/or travelling and somehow 'moving forward in life'. Therefore, the overall meaning of the song is rather positive, or in other words, has inspiring and encouraging lyrics. I don't think there's a specific narrative to the lyrics however there are many meaning and concepts, such as 'taking three steps forward, and two steps back'. I also think that the song could link to doing your best and getting the most of life, and perhaps forgetting the past by moving forward and stopping worrying. The song is also named 'River' and there are some lyrics that make me think that the song relates to 'moving forward' like the current of a river does. The song is actually unclear on whether he is just singing about himself, but I believe that he is singing to someone, as I mentioned that he sings a lot of inspiring lyrics.

To me, I think that the first verse means that even though you can practically be free in life however you shouldn't think to much about it and just carry on, hence the line "...and just carried on walking." The next couple of lines may mean that the future is unclear and you can do anything. I think it generally means "if you like life the way it is, then the future is unclear".
Then it moves onto the chorus, saying that you will "ride a boat with a broken rudder" which means that the boat would then take you anywhere and there is no chosen path. However, at the end of the chorus it says "I was dropped in darkness again" meaning that this is the way that the singer shows that he's scared or worried.
I think from here, with the next verse, it is slowly showing that he or the person is slowly growing more positive- saying that it's alright to be a little selfish and to just keep holding up your head as you proceed. The next verse again says that there will be downfalls in life, for example, problems with love and money however he says "nevertheless live and live on", and instead of falling into the darkness, head for the light. In my opinion, this could also link to death as in the person is just carrying on in life until they reach that point in time of 'reaching the light'.
The final verse is saying that each person is unique and individual, and each person will work at their own pace and some may have more problems than others, shown by the line "you may lose your way and stumble". The final two lines are repeated lines from earlier, but this time they are brought together to make some sort of sentence. "Today I was dropped in the darkness again, but tomorrow I'll head for the light" which I believe summarises the whole song.

As mentioned earlier their genre is Indie-Rock and their music includes elements of guitar, bass and also many synthesisers and programming- which I think makes their music unique.
The duration of the song I have chosen is just over 4 minutes. There are actually 2 versions of the song, one being from their self-produced CD and one from the official CD.
I done some research and the song was created by the main singers brother (the guitarist in the band) before they all came together. After the singer and the other members heard the song, that was when they decided that they should all join together. The song itself is heavily inspired by 90s UK Rock music.

Part 3: The Artist

www.folks-eniwa.com
www.facebook.com/FOLKSeniwa
www.twitter.com/FOLKS_ENIWA

The band's clothing/costumes in both their photographs and only music video is rather casual but also in a style of pastel colours. They show off that they are normal, general people compared to people who dress up and use lots of make-up and costumes. Since this was their first music video, it probably wasn't very high budget hence most of the video seeming casual.

This is their first and only current music video from their song 'Everything is Alone'. Again, just like the song I have chosen, the lyrics are positive in the way that they are inspiring. I have done some research and I have found that they have shot this video in their home town area, meaning that some of the footage could have been shot in their houses too linking to the fact that it probably wasn't very high budget. There is a mixture between dark shots which were filmed in what seems to be an empty room and also, in contrast, there are shots filmed with lots of colour. The beginning of the video shows them all individually and then they all gradually come together. I think this links to how they all joined together as a band, as they weren't all in the same band originally.

Clothing:

Locations:

Part 4: Planning

I have been inspired heavily by three music videos, because of their style and range of shots and the way that they have been filmed. I would like to be experimental with my shots like they have done, and use the camera to it's full potential.

To make sure that my video doesn't stray too far from the bands style, I want to try and do some similar shots. Such as the panning shots and shots with slow motion effects. Just like they have done, I want to try and make people feel the positive atmosphere at the end of the video.

Synopsis:
A man is being constantly reminded of his past by various objects. The story begins with a slightly surreal setting which involve memories of his past. He then 'wakes up' however his is also part of a dream. This is an overall story of his journey to move on and forget his past.

Timeline: