Mood Board

Once we had studied our song and the lyrics we began to brainstorm ideas about how it made us feel and what it made us see and imagine. From this we created a moodboard;

The Killers

The Killers are an American rock band from Las Vegas, Nevada that formed in 2001.

Initially, The Killers played at small clubs in Las Vegas, Nevada, where they often played at drag shows. They began to send demo tapes to major record labels in the US, all the record labels turned them down but the band caught the eye of Alex Gilbert, a British representative for Warner Bros. Though Warner did not like the band, Gilbert took the demo back with him, showing it to friend Ben Durling, who worked at UK indie label Lizard King Records. The Killers signed with the British label in July 2003.

The Killers have had huge success, the band has sold over 5 million albums in the United States, over 4.5 million albums in the United Kingdom and over 15 million worldwide. However, despite their success they have been involved in some controversy including disputes with bands, most notably; The Bravery and Fall Out Boy.

The Killers - Shadowplay

After listening to many songs we finally decided on The Killers Shadowplay; We liked the mood and pace of song which had a large scope for use of effective editing and cuts. The main lyrics evoked the feelings of loss, loneliness, confusion and regret that we wanted to achieve through our narrative video;

To the centre of the city where all roads meet, waiting for you

To the depths of the ocean where all hopes sank, searching for you

Moving through the silence without motion, waiting for you

In a room with a window in the corner I found truth

We listened to the track and analysed the lyrics as to what they made us think or feel

We then continued to further research our band and brainstorm story line ideas...

Indie Rock Music Video Conventions

After watching many conventions as a group we were able to identify the main conventions in videos of bands such as The Killers, Maccabees etc. Some of the things we found were;

• Often in Black and White
• Band is shown and promoted throughout
• Use of extreme close-ups are very common
• Dark, dreary locations used - makes it more realistic
• Special effects are used at some point in the video
• Performance shots of the band
• Illusion of watching or being watched is often used to some extent

Target Audience

According to UK Tribes (youth research) Youth can be categorized into personality types according to their, hobbies, music etc. These categories include Trendies, Townies, Emos etc.

After carrying out some research on this site we believe our target audience fits best into INDIE SCENESTERS, this group listen to bands in the same Indie Rock genre as our chosen band The Killers.

Some basic facts about our target audience;

• Age 15-25
• Trendy - up to date with both music and fashion trends
• Music is a big part of their lives!