Storyboard

These are my rough storyboards for my music video. I found it helpful getting my ideas onto paper and in a more visual format.

When it came to shooting and editing my video, obviously i added many other shots inbetween the scenes shown above, and used repetition and special effects on some shots also.

Development & Finalised Idea

Initially, my idea was to create a youthful happy video using a group of friends as the main focus point. I wanted to create different scenes, such as them in the park, trying on different clothes in a shop, and also going to a nearby city to create a feel good scene of giving out "free hugs" to strangers and filming the reactions they got. I felt that all these ideas would create a modern version of the original video, with brightly coloured clothing, and the idea that these friends were "on their way" in the sense they were at that stage where they would be leaving home to go on to university and other adventures. I got the free hugs idea from a clip i had seen on Youtube a while back, and now since it was first seen, many groups of people have made videos doing it all around the world. It creates that warm feeling because usually you wouldn't even look twice at a stranger, but this movement is bringing you closer to everyone around you, whether you know them or not. Below is the original video that started this movement off, with over 68 million views, it had a huge response around the globe.




Unfortunately, I was unable to get a group of people available to travel to our nearest city when needed, so my ideas had to be revised slightly as i felt this concept wouldn't work as effectively in a small town. I did take some of the ideas from what i had thought up initially; for example, i decided to still use shots at the park. I decided to take some inspiration from the film "Matilda" as my chosen song was a soundtrack for that movie. Bike riding and hula-hooping were then finalised ideas. I decided to also film some cakes being made, and for them to spell out the song title "send me on my way" at the end. I also wanted their to be some form of recognition for the music playing, so i decided i would get a guitarist in my video also.  I planned to use artistic and varying camera shots for all these ideas to make them fun and interesting.

Rusted Root album covers

I decided to have a look at some of the album covers Rusted Root had created as i expected them to represent the bands image and personality. It also helped me start to think about ideas for my digipack. As expected, their album covers matched up to everything i'd previously seen about them. Bright colours like their clothes on the video, artistic and interesting elements, and they also appear rustic, nature-based and welcoming. All of these aspects shown on the covers could tell me a lot about the band and their music, even if i hadn't heard of them before. An album cover is crucial for a band, it could make or break sales as it is the first thing the customer will see on the shelf, and people will always make an initial judgement on something. The cover has to not only represent the band, but the music and their desired audience. Also as expected, the majority of their covers did not have the band themselves featured, but an artistic concept. There are arguments both for and against having the artists profile appear on the cover.  For example, people may not recognise it so quickly if the band is not on the cover. Therefore, they will have to go the extra mile to look at the titles on the albums which could potentially minimise their audience as some may only know what the band look like and not what their name is. 

Band Website

This is the bands official website that appears first when you search them on Google :

http://www.rustedroot.com/

This colour scheme of this website links well with the image and feel of the band as the background has brown bohemian tones which sets effectively against the bold black foreground.

There are many useful links across the top of the site, making it quick and easy for fans to direct themselves around the site and get to the parts they want to view most. There is also a section which proves that the band are allowing fans to keep in touch in a modern way. Through social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. This is a great example of media changing to keep up with both the modern times and with its audience. Media convergence is demonstrated as within the "Media" link, is a videos section, that when clicked on automatically takes you to their Youtube site and all of their official vidoes.

For new fans or ones that just want to know the history of the band and their history, the site has a detailed biography. This allows a greater connection with the audience as it has quotes of things members of the band have said also.

They also go further to create that all important connection with their fans, by having a feedback/blog section where fans can actually post their views, opinions and questions and have them discussed.

A popular aspect fans expect to see on band websites now is an online store where they can access all the music, merchandise, vip tickets and more at the click of a button. Rusted Root provide this facility on their site with a desirable variety of choice and an organised format to access it all easily.

Packed full with many other features such as tour dates, recent press the band have had, a photo gallery and a method of contacting their management, their website is definately a good one. Time and effort have evidently been put in to keep the site up to date and ripe with recent information for its fans. Bands with online sites like this will notice the positive effect it has, as it provides a homebase for their audience to go to and all the information they may wish to know all in one place.

Lyric Analysis

Below are the lyrics for my chosen song Rusted Root - "Send Me On My Way" :

On my way, on my way (X 6)

I would like to reach out my hands
I may see you, I may tell you to run
(On my way)
(On my way)
You know what they say about the young

Well, pick me up with golden hand
I may see you, I may tell you to run
(On my way)
(On my way)
You know what they say about the young

I would like to hold my little hand
How we will run we will, how we will crawl we will?
I would like to hold my little hand
How we will run we will, how we will crawl?

Send me on my way
(On my way)
Send me on my way
(On my way)
Send me on my way
(On my way)
Send me on my way
(On my way)

(X2)

I would like to reach out my hand
I may see you, I may tell you to run
(On my way)
(On my way)
You know what they say about the young

Well, pick me up with golden hand
I may see you, I may tell you to run
(On my way)
(On my way)
You know what they say about the young

I would like to hold my little hand
How we will run away, we will crawl away we will?
I would like to hold my little hand
How we will run away, how we will crawl ?

Send me on my way
(On my way)
Send me on my way
(On my way)
Send me on my way
(On my way)
Send me on my way
(On my way)

(X2)

Well I would like to hold my little hand
How we will run we will, how we will crawl we will?
I would like to hold my little hand
How we will run we will, how we will crawl?

Send me on my way
(On my way)
Send me on my way
(On my way)
Send me on my way

On my way
(On my way)
Send me on my way
(On my way)
Send me on my way

Way
On my way
Way
On my way

I would like to reach out my hand
I may see you, I may tell you to run
(On my way)
(On my way)
You know what they say about the young

In my opinion, these lyrics are all about growing up and being sent off into the world to live your life. I interpret it this way because of the repetition of "send me on my way". It sends the message that your loved ones are building you up to be ready for the world when they have to let you go. It also shows support, "i would like to reach out my hand". This implies that you are not alone in your journey and that you will be helped if needed. The lyrics "i may see you, i may tell you to run" are also repeated several times in the song. I believe this portrays that someone will be guiding you wherever you go in life, and warning you if theres and danger. "You know what they say about the young", this line follows afterwards, perhaps suggesting that when young, you do get into trouble and will need guiding. Regarding lyrics, this song is very simple as a lot of the lines are repeated or expressed in a similar way throughout. I think this was done purposefully, to get one clear message across to the audience, and i think it succeeded in doing this.

Original Video & Artists Background

To begin with, i knew i had to do some background research on the song i was wishing to shoot a video for and also a bit about the band themselves. This helped me understand the foundations of my project better and also gave me an insight into how the band interpreted the song for themselves when shooting the original video.

Below is the original video by Rusted Root for their song "Send me on my way" :



This video definately lives up to the liveliness of the song and embraces the genre of feel good indie. The band are wearing bright colours and bohemian style of dress, which not only shows off the personality of themselves and the band as a whole, but stands out against the mountain scenery in the background. This makes the band and their instruments the main focus throughout the video making it more of a performance rather than a narrative or particular concept. Although it is mostly a performance, there are quick shots slotted into the video which suggest a narrative also. The lyrics portray finding your way, and almost going on a journey to find yourself with the help of others. This is shown by the little boy in the video opening doors and walking around open spaces by himself, with what appears to be a native helping him on his way. I think the video is effective, tells a story and reaches out to the audience in a desirable manner.


I decided to find out a little more about the band themselves solely for general research and interest. This helped me understand the artists better and therefore assisted my project. The band Rusted Root are from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and are known for their style of indie, bluegrass rock with inspiration and percussion drawn from African, latin American, Native American and Indian influences. Rusted Root formed in 1988 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and made its indie record debut in 1992 with Cruel Sun, which was rereleased in 2002. The group's major-label debut album was 1994's When I Woke, a hit on college radio and a platinum record. The album hit the top 40 in early 1995, peaking at No. 33. Along with their live shows, Rusted Root began working on contributions to the movies Twister and Home for the Holidays. They were successful with several albums after also. Their album Welcome to My Party (2002) was criticized by fans, who are affectionately known as Rootheads. Many felt the band's departure from tribal grooves to a poppier feel was an attempt to sell out. Rusted Root's "Send Me On My Way", which hit No. 72 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1995  is its most commercially popular song. It was used on the soundtracks of Matilda; Ice Age; the 1996 film Pie in the Sky; the film Race the Sun; YTV Canada's Are We There Yet?: World Adventure; and the Boy Scouts of America, Order of the Arrow Philmont Trail Crew promotional video that was released in the late 1990s. Although the band continues to tour, its hard-touring days appear to be over as the group is devoting more time apart to pursue solo projects.

Choosing an audio track

When deciding on a track for my music video, i considered several genres including rock, dance and RnB. I studied examples of each type of music video and discovered the typical forms and conventions of each. I struggled to find inspiration and ideas when looking at these genres, and found flaws in the ideas i thought up. I forced myself to become more realistic in what i could acheive working individually for the first time. After going through many songs, the idea of a feel good video to an indie genre of music came to me and i quickly conjured up several ideas for what i could shoot.


I then had to choose the perfect "feel good" song for the video. Again, I looked at several options for this including "Hey Ya" by Outkast and "Island in the sun" by Weezer. Eventually i came across a classic that i believe never fails to put a smile on your face, and this was "Send me on my way" by Rusted Root. This song is filled with upbeat rhythms and uplifting lyrics and although it is an old song (released in the 1990's), it is still well-known and popular today. This is thanks to the film industry as both "Matilda" and "Ice Age" used the track as the sountrack for their blockbuster mainstream films. This alone speaks for how the song "Send me on my way" can never age as there is a noticed time difference between "Matilda" which was released in 1996, and "Ice Age" which was a 2002 film. I believe I have chosen the ideal song for the music video i am trying to acheive, and that the visual aspect of this project will do the audio justice.