Worksop's Got Talent Charity Event (unit 2- 1.1)

Introduction to the Task

We have been asked to create a music video using the track 'Rockstar' by Nickelback for the charity event, Worksop's Got Talent (http://www.worksopsgottalent.co.uk/index.php)

Worksop's Got Talent will be raising money for a charity called 'RP Fighting Blindness'. RP stands for retinitis pigmentosa, and this is a disease within the eye in which could lead to blindness or loss of vision. RP Fighting Blindness needs to raise money so they can fund cutting edge research in order to find a cure or treatment so this charity event could highly benefit.

Donate Now: https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/rpfightingblindness

The RP Fighting Blindness website: http://www.rpfightingblindness.org.uk/home.php?home=yes

Initial thoughts on the 'Rockstar' music video:

I had already listened to the song and seen the music video, but after I had recapped myself I feel that the simplicity of the video is what makes it so rememberable. I can see how they came up with the video as the lyrics link with the video. As this video was released in the early 2000s, technology developed a lot from the 90s, so for Nickelback to do a standard video when they could've done a lot more to make it more interesting, such as doing something so simple like changing the camera shots or angles. I also don't like the lyrics, (http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/nickelback/rockstar.html) particularly the lyrics in the chorus. The way he generalises that everyone wants to be a rock star and have girls and drugs come easy to them angers me. The music video and the song has received a mixture of responses, as it was awarded 'Record of the Year' in 2005 and 'Juno Award for Songwriter of the Year', in which I personally am confused about and could strongly argue against. However, what I do agree with is that 'Rockstar' received overwhelming amount of negative reviews from music critics and is considered to be one of the worst songs of all time, even though it shockingly reached number 2 in the UK and it lead to being certified Platinum. It has also sold 4.5 million copies in the United States. A lot of people and celebrities took place in the music video and it resulted in over 100 people participating. Some of the celebrities that participated were Eliza Dushku, Paul Wall, Wayne Gretzky, Gene Simmons, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Kid Rock and Nelly Furtado.

• Chad Kroeger told musicomh.com: "We had a lot of fun with that one. Just crazy nonsensical things that help paint this picture of someone dreaming about being a Rock Star. It's what you would also do if you won the lottery. I hope it comes across as us having a lot of fun and even to some degree, making fun of ourselves."
  (http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=9333)

Ideas:

From the presentation and discussion we have from the creator of the Worksop's Got Talent charity event, James Clarke, we decided to use the general format of the 'Rockstar' music video but embed video footage from the auditions, props that link to the lyrics and possibly involve green screen.
Using the idea for the green screen, I thought it would be interesting for teachers and students to hold a green piece of paper and while in post-production, a video from the auditions could be projected onto it, and then transition to full screen of an audition as the main purpose of the music video is to promote and to entertain. The next task I'm going to set myself is to print out the lyrics, and look at each individual line and make notes next to it about what we could record. For example, 'I'll need a credit card that's got no limit' - either a student or teacher can be filmed miming the lyrics whilst holding a credit card.

Skills needed:

In order to create this music video I'll need to develop:

• my skills with a camera
• editing
• green screens
• use of props

Creative exploration that I need to carry out:

Similarly to the skills I need, I'll develop my knowledge of cameras, editing/post-production, how green screens work and how to use props effectively by researching about them and using the supplies around college.

The camcorder that the group is going to use is the Panasonic AG-HMC151E and it earned 'Trusted Reviews' interest because it "marks another crossover between consumer and professional domains" and they believe it's "most definitely a pro-grade model"