Photo's for our video..

Final Thoughts For The Video

After a lot of thought about incorporating filming in to our music video, we ahve decided not to. The reason for this is that the video has such a distinct look and feel to it, and we feel that video footage would not be suitable for our video and we would not be able to create the right feel for the video in film. We also think that having lip synch in the video would not look as effective as all animation would, and it wouldn't fit in the video. We feel that only using animation and not footage will evoke the true feeling of The Crookes.

Our FINAL idea...

The inspiration from the Maccabees music video 'Tooth Paste Kisses' inspired us by its poetic and fairytale like mood and theme. The Crookes are a very successful band and their main influeneces is due to their early studies of English Language and Literature. In their interview they continually quote that the lyrics and theme of their songs flow from the knowledge and passion that they have as English students.

What inspires you?
Musically.. the above, and i guess as all English Literature students we're pretty inspired by different types of literature.

What are the main themes or topics that arise in your music?
Daniel uses a lot of literary references in the lyrics, the songs are often about fictional people who become the basis for a story. The songs are normally stories opposed to self-indulagent love songs.

'Chrous of Fools' is one of the Crookes favourite songs this is due to the poet lyrics and beat which it consists of. This therefore has a massive influence of the band as a whole; lyrics, beat and look. The Crookes are also very family orientated and down to earth.

What’s the origin of your band name?
Well it was mine (Alex) and Daniel's idea really, we lived in Crookes in our first year of university and opposite the road from our accomidation was a sign for 'Crookes' so we went from there really.

Here you can see importance of their home ties and how much it has influenced the band- leading to the bands name. This is a big reason why we have chosen to include family photographs and images of the band and their home roots in our music video. We think that the band would love this idea as it gives background knowledge of the band to the audience.
'Toothpaste Kisses' is a unique video with very different ideas to a traditional music video, so we thought this sort of thing would be appropriate for the Crookes. The style and animation of our music video will evoke the poetic and lyrical vibe that the band has. The animations will enable us to play around with the images and create a music video which will give The Crookes justice. We will collect images and photographs from the 1950s and photographs of The Band members and their family. We want to keep the theme of the 1950s and we will add to this by having the video in the Sepia and Blakc&White Tones effect, but making sure we are keeping the true colour of the 1950s photographs which we have collected, to keep their authenticity. The vast majority of the photos are from my own family history. The pictures are mainly of my great grandparents and grandparents. This helps to put the emotion and passion in to the video as the pictures mean so much to me personally. I think it also helps to create the family feel that we seek to fit in with the band's home ties. In certain parts of the music video to again enhance the poetic and lyrical theme we will but emphasis on certain lyrics to make them speak out to the audience.

Conversations With The Band

We conducted all of our conversations and interviews with The Crookes via Email. This was the only realistic way we could do it as the band are extremely busy at the moment touring.

Emails with the band....

Hey, This is Abbi, Amy and Loren. For our A Level Media project we need to make a music video for an unsigned act. We were wondering if we could use one of your tracks? We are intersted in using 'A Colliers Wife' if that would be possible? Our media teacher is concerned about copyright as you have released it through Rough Trade. One of our main concerns is that the work would have to be posted on Youtube to be marked, so we want to make sure that this is okay. Do we need to contact your management to confirm? Also, if we cannot use 'A Colliers Wife' is there any others we could use, such as 'Backtreet Lovers'? Thankyou Abbi, Loren and Amy


Hey Abbi,
Thanks for using our tracks, you can use whichever one you want, Rough Trade only own the release not the songs themselves so we have all copyright of them which means we can allow whoever we want to use them. Any song is fine, do you need us to send any mp3s over? Let us know if you do
Alex

Interview....

What’s the origin of your band name?
Well it was mine (Alex) and Daniel's idea really, we lived in Crookes in our first year of university and opposite the road from our accomidation was a sign for 'Crookes' so we went from there really. It was a lazy name and we always meant to change it but I think the chance of a name change has gone now...

How did you come together as a group?
Me and Daniel first met in first year and then we met George and Russell through mutual friends and club nights etc and we went from there.

What genre of music do you consider your work to be?
Interesting question... I guess it would be wrong to call it anything else but pop. Although we're all inspired by a lot of different stuff, its always had a poppy element especially in the melodies.

How would you describe your band in 3 words?
Not Too Serious

What/who influences your musical style?
Erm.. 50's guitar pop like Buddy Holly/Little Richard, 60's motown/pop as in The Beatles, The Kinks and The Ronettes and modern stuff like Richard Hawley, Vampire Weekend and The Shins.

What inspires you?
Musically.. the above, and i guess as all English Literature students we're pretty inspired by different types of literature.

Who writes your songs and how does the writing process work?
Dan writes the lyrics and Alex writes a lot of the music, but it is a collaborative effort when it comes down to putting the song together whihc is arguablly the hardest part.

What are the main themes or topics that arise in your music?
Daniel uses a lot of literary references in the lyrics, the songs are often about fictional people who become the basis for a story. The songs are normally stories opposed to self-indulagent love songs.

How did you develop the unique look of the band?
We have a unique look?! Well if we do its down to having no money and shopping in the cheapest of shops.

Can you describe your gigs; visually and musically?
A lot of energy, lots of dancing, lots of head shaking. Musically, I'm not sure, I think a bit more full -on than many people would expect from a band that started as an acoustic band.

What key events have moulded the direction of the band?
Errr, there has been quite a few. Obviously meeting George was a massive step forward, but from there on in things like going to BBC Studios (Maida Vale) and Abbey Road really made us realise that we all wanted to play in the band as a serious thing.

How does a day in the life of ‘The Crookes’ unravel?
A fair few trips to Co-op, a heafty amount of caffiene, listening to records in the front room and practising in the basement for as long as we can without getting ricketts.

What is the storyline behind the song ‘A Colliers Wife’?
Its a story about a depressed housewife who needs to lament her feelings (I think)

What do you think are the most important aspects of a music video?
The editing, I think that even if the content of a video is a bit naff, the editing in line with the music is the most important thing.

Do your lyrics present reality or are they of a fictional nature?
A fictional nature, we all think that writing too many personal songs is a bit arrogant.

What are your aspirations for the future?
Hopefully release an album, and just continue writing and touring really.

Any last words?
Apologies for the late response!

Location Ideas..

We have looked into Britannia Pier as a possible location in great detail and have decided that it is probably not suitable. Originally we thought Brittania Pier was unspoilt and unmodernised. We have looked into this and it has been modernised alot, therefore not suiting the bands image or the ideas we had for the video.
We have looked at many alternative locations including:

- Elm Hill, Norwich and
- Wroxham Broads (pictures above)

The main problem we are facing in filming outside is obviously the weather. Ideally our video would be set outdoors as we think this would work will and really tell the story, but if the lighting isn't right, it could spoil it. The only other option is to film it in the studio. The main idea for a studio video would have to be as if the band are performing, but we could possibly add some extra footage in with the band at different locations.

Inspiration..

The Maccabees and The Crookes

Another influence of The Maccabees, however this consists much more of imagery and movement opposed to the previous video from The Maccabees. As former students of English Literature The Crookes, are also know for their "wry lyrical turns" further reinforcing their ties with Sheffield's musical legacy. Noel Gallagher said of the band, 'they've got good lyrics. All bands from Sheffield have good lyrics.' This major influence of the lyrics brought us to the idea of imagery and movement.



The strong link The Crookes have with their home town and family is obvious. We can also see this in The Maccabees 'Toothpaste Kisses' video. Throughout the video we can see, what looks like, family photos and places which seem special to the band. Each picture and place obviously has a special meaning to Maccabees. We think this would be good to include in The Crookes video as they have such hometown and family ties.

The editing in The Maccabees video is amazing. It is sleek and stylistic, innovative and creative. The motifs in the video emphasises their poetic flare and personality, which ties in with The Crookes as we think this would be inportant to show their personality in the video. We would also include 1950's motifs in The Crookes video as it reflects their personality and creates a theme.

Idea 2..

Our second ideas is much more modern in time and is much more fresh opposed to our first idea of Charlie Chaplin. The second idea is much more minimilistic. We were influenced greatly by a British Band, The Maccabees. The Maccabees are an English indie band, based in Brighton and originally from south London. They have released two albums so far, Colour It In, with a follow-up, Wall of Arms, released on 4th May 2009.

Here is the video that inspired us.

The Maccabees - First Love

Smernicki | MySpace Video

The video consists of little movement and lots of still shots. This minimilistic movement adds emphasis on the lyrics opposed to the imagery. The shots also consist on minimaln props and surroundings. Due to the Maccabees being a British indie band they like to use objects and surroundings of their home country/city. The use cars, televisions and other props that are very 'old school'. The video consists of close-up shots and there is very clear lip-sync between the voice-over and the main singer. The apparence of the Maccabees is also very 'old school' and normal. Just like The Crookes their style is an important way of portraying the correct image and style of thier music.

The Crookes style has been described as influenced by "old-time" pop-music, with elements of 50's and 60's songwriting, this in turn would influence our music video. Just like The Maccabees video we would like to also keep it very minimilistic in movement and props to emphasis the poetic lyrics that The Crookes evoke. However, we would like to include elements of the 1950s style and influence as this is a major part of The Crookes, both their music and image. We would carry through the tone of the Sepia effect to make their music video unique and apparent to the style of the band.

Idea One..

Our first idea for our music video for The Crookes was mainly inspired by the work of Charlie Chaplin, the use of black and white tones and 1930s style and influence. Modern Times is a 1936 comedy film by Charlie Chaplin that has his iconic Little Tramp character struggling to survive in the modern, industrialized world. The film is a comment on the desperate employment and fiscal conditions many people faced during the Great Depression, conditions created, in Chaplin's view, by the efficiencies of modern industrialization. When we first saw this video we immidiatly thought of the Crookes and how much of an influence Charlie Chaplin and his work, in particular Modern Times, has on our work. When we first heard The Crookes we thought of black and white theme and an old 30s/50s style video to compliment their work.

We initially liked the idea of using fast paced movement in a 'slapstick' kind of way. In 'Modern Times' most of the film was shot at "silent speed", 18 frames per second, which when projected at "sound speed", 24 frames per second, which makes the slapstick action appear even more frenetic.





We also liked that The Crookes seemed to push the barriers in the music world. The are very original and unique and do not like to conform to the norm. In 'Modern Times' the reference to drugs seen in the prison sequence is somewhat daring for the time, which reflects The Crookes behaviour too.

Inspiration..

Sir Charles Spencer "Charlie" Chaplin, (16 April 1889 – 25 December 1977) was an English comedic actor and film director. Chaplin became one of the most famous actors as well as a notable filmmaker, composer and musician in the early to mid Classical Hollywood era of American cinema. What brought us to look at Charlie Chaplen is the style in which he uses in his productions. The effects of his work are similar to the effects and moods that we what to create with our band, The Crookes. We also love the way in which they move and the techniques to do this. At times the movements change in speed which adds drama and effect to his work. Therefore this ties in greatly with our initial ideas for our music video.