Track Pitch to Group - White Knuckles

White Knuckles - OK Go

There are several reasons that I chose this song as a potential track to make a music video for but the seven main reasons are:

1. I like the track because it's so unlike most music I've already heard and I like alternative music. Also, I really OK Go's music in general.
2. On 7 September, the band announced a contest to remix this track, as part of this, they released a collection of the components of the track (e.g. vocals, drums, guitar, etc.) which means it should be very easy to lip-sync to this track and edit it slightly if necessary.
3. As I confirmed with the band's publicity manager, copyright is not an issue at all since the album's record label, "Paracadute" is owned by the band.
4. The track is not very well known as it was not released as a single but instead was on the album, "Of The Blue Colour Of The Sky".
5. The genre is easily recognisable as alternative rock with sub genres of electronic and indie.
6. The lyrics are very unusual and interpretive e.g. "Cause nothin' ever doesn't change but nothin' changes much" which should inspire the group and force us to think creatively of how to make a music video that works with the track.
7. There is nothing in the lyrics that makes this inappropriate for a school project.

OK Go are an American alternative / indie-rock band. They are now known for making upbeat dance music and low budget, abstract and sometimes one-take music videos featuring themselves performing the track or dancing to it. Going from top to bottom, left to right, are screenshots from OK Go's latest music videos for "Do What You Want", "Invincible", "Here It Goes Again", "WTF?", "This Too Shall Pass" and "End Love" respectively.



Stills from "Do What You Want", "Invincible", "Here It Goes Again", "WTF", "This Too Shall Pass" and "End Love"

 OK Go's target audience is mainly made up of young adults who listen to indie pop / alternative rock bands such as The Fratellis, We Are Scientists and Vampire Weekend.

As for the treatment for this track, I have some vague ideas though nothing definite:

• From the lyrics of the song (specifically the chorus about "white knuckles"), perhaps the music video could be made using hands as a theme for displaying the lyrics perhaps or as a way to mime instruments or even using hand puppets.
• Inspired slightly by the music video for "Invincible", I think that we could show each band member in a corner of the screen singing or playing their instrument individually.
• Inspired by the music videos from OK Go's 2005 album, "Oh No", I would consider to use dance choreography as a major part of the video though not the one-take aspect.
• Based on the quirky, electronic echoing aspects of the music, I thought about something with a "spacey" feel by using slow motion with elements (like paint perhaps) being dropped to create a sense of weightlessness.



Ice being dropped into water, photographed at 1/1000 of a second



EDIT:

Due to the unforeseen circumstances of OK Go releasing a music video of their own for this track on September 20th, I don't think we should make a music video for this track because the track itself will probably get popular again and because our group may be tempted to copy elements from the music video.