After finalising our idea we were required to pitch our ideas to the rest of our A Level group by telling them a brief version of the synopsis and treatment as well as playing them our song. It seemed that most of the group were not great fans of the song as it was "too happy and upbeat" which suggests that this section of our age group prefers a darker and more sombre melody to a typical Noah and the Whale tune. They did however express positive feedback for our narrative which involves the end of a relationship possibly because of the death of the girl involved. Although some of the group did express slight concerns that the song was not appropiate for the story and that the melancholic undertones would be subdued by the 'jolly' nature of the song but we countered this by saying that we are aiming for a 'bittersweet' tone which highlights the contrast between the good times and the bad in the relationship hence showing clearly the tragedy of these snippets of a broken heart. Our tutor meanwhile indicated support for our idea and was passionate about the themes we were looking to explore. Finally one problem we may have is that as we are using an established band our audience may already have prejudices which could dissuade them from liking our pop promo which would not be a problem for other groups who are using local bands that they know personally who are unknown to the vast majority of people.
Me: (This is the exact feedback, jotted down when spoken by other students):
- Maybe try to have the narrative in relation to the lyrics, not a sad story for a happy cheerful song, but could add sadder bits (car crashes etc.) near to end.
- Don’t bother with Action Man & Barbie dolls in the video - maybe just one shot (photograph) of them together, then not at all after this!
- May need a Hollywood ending, but the video itself needs more of a conclusion.
- The song is too literal, so maybe having a sad dark story with happy flashbacks may contradict the song/video relationship.
