Initial Ideas for the Music Video and Digipak

When I first heard this track my initial ideas were that of a relationship gone wrong - perhaps physical and alcoholic abuse. I pictured the types of shots I planned to use. After creating the deconstruction of lyrics it came to my attention that the song's lyrics had nothing to do with an abusive relationship, but instead focused on depression, unemployment and the slow mental decline of a singer/songwriter and his former partner who didn't receive the same opportunities as he did over time.

After this I began to change my focus from a relationship issue to the two character: how one was rich and famous and the other lived in poverty, unable to hold down a job. Many of the metaphors used in the song have given me clear visuals as to how I would like my video to turn out, such as these two men sharing a conversation that is quite clearly tense and stressful, and moving on to focus on the one who has no job and that he now must take medicine to prevent his depression from becoming any worse.

I plan to use a dark filter on my shots, perhaps a dull grey to emphasise the misery this character feels, portraying the world from his perspective as being bleak and pointless. I can picture close ups of these men talking, focussing on tense jaws and perhaps their eyes as scowling and displaying dissatisfaction towards one another. Another idea I plan to incorporate into my video is the richer of the two offering the other one of his cigarettes, since he can afford to waste money on the habit whereas the character who has nothing cannot even afford his own and is reduced to receiving charity.

For the digipak, I plan to use a bleak photo of a coffee shop or the house that will end up being the main location for filming. The photo will be edited to look dull, grey and maybe blue to signify misery and depression. The band's logo will be placed in the centre of the picture as this will follow the themes of the rest of The Neighbourhood's albums and shall have the song title printed in bold text at the bottom. I think the font size I will use will be small so that the main focus is on the picture used. This is to draw attention to the picture and create intrigue, and not only that but it will also take a close look to discover the track's title which will further create a sense of interest in this song.