My final statement of intent

I have chosen to use ‘Another Brick in the Wall’ by Pink Floyd as I have seen ‘The Wall’, the film that accompanies it. ‘The Wall’ provides a narrative to the fictional character ‘Pink’ and his life, fabricated by Barrett and Water, two band members. 

 

Some of Barrett’s tough life experiences have been portrayed in the film, including his mental breakdown, due to psychedelic drugs and substance abuse leading him to leave the band. This caused him to become erratic and develop schizophrenia and contributed to pancreatic cancer and other events. These events make up the metaphorical “bricks” (events in life that shape our future) in “the wall”.

 

The first “brick” refers to Pink’s father leaving the family for war, and the second, marks his school experiences, of being mocked and ridiculed by his teacher.

 

Having heard the full album, I have chosen to focus on “Another Brick in The Wall – Pt 2”, as it seems most relevant to the 16-25 target audience as the original message of the video is protesting bullying and maltreatment in the education system. I felt this song would also appeal to the socially conscious, middle to upmarket demographic as it is a very popular current movement advocating mental illnesses such as anxiety, depression and lack of support in the education system. Therefore, this would be a narrative that I could emulate through my video.

 

Although it’s not all biographical, some events are factual, and may be indirectly pointing out small events in one’s life can may have long lasting mental affects. Which is something that people are more understanding of in 2020. I believe that there is not necessarily more mental illness now than before, but there is more support and understanding for it now and there is more help for people who are suffering, as opposed to the past where mental illness and support weren’t seen as the norm. Mental illness was a very taboo subject as it conflicted with social norms and expectations, especially for men as it was seen as too emotional and effeminate to be depressed. This is part of the reason I would like to represent the social groups that have mental illnesses, and especially in school systems where there is a lot of pressure of teens in the educational system.

 

On the other hand, some audience members may interpret it as a protest against exams and the education system itself. The emphasis on learning a syllabus and mark scheme inside out instead of learning creatively may make students enjoy school less. This is evident in the lyrics “we don’t need no thought control”. This is further emphasised as children chant ‘no dark sarcasm in the classroom”, referring to the teachers that don’t help them, but instead mock them, and make them less confident to learn.

 

In my video I would like to use a range of settings, backgrounds and classrooms within the school to incorporate intertextuality of “the wall” referencing the artist’s original video. I have also made the aesthetic decision to experiment with chiaroscuro lighting to fit with the psychedelic/rock genre to create atmospheric lighting in the school. Using props and uniform to fit the song lyrics being about school and emphasise that school is “just another brick in the wall”.

 

At the end of the ‘Another Brick in the Wall’ movie, the protagonist (Pink) is shown to have developed mental illnesses as a result of past events. As previously mentioned, these topics would have relevancy to the target audience, with some in education having experienced bullying or unfair treatment. 

 

To portray children in a position of power, eye-level shots will be used, to give the sense of child’s perspective. High angle shots will challenge the audience as it normally conveys inferiority, weakness and vulnerability. I would like it to be clear to the audience, the camera angles show children collectively ganging up on teachers to become a powerful force. It will also show empowerment of young teen social groups against adults and teachers. Empowerment will also be illustrated through lip syncing of the students’ lips, as they lip sync the lyrics of the chorus as they protest against the education system.

I hope to represent different groups of society, possibly adult vs teenagers, both male and female students and if possible, different ethnicities depending on the availability of actors for the music video.

 

To create synergy between the band, their website and their music video, I will include their logo, at the beginning of the music video. Also, I will include the placement of custom badges that have the bands logo in various places e.g., on school bags and jumpers. 

 

As for my website, I will use four or more of my own original images and also an audio-visual element as well as my music video prototype. The song will be presented in a way that allows the audience to stream music on their computers now due to digital convergence. The band’s logo will also be used as a link on all my webpages. This means that when on my website, fans can press the band’s logo and it will automatically take them back to the homepage.