IdeaMaker Treatment

7/28/2019 IdeaMaker Treatment

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MUSIC VIDEO TREATMENTLadycop Idea Maker

Submi ed by Charred Oak Films

August 12, 2010

313 Smith Street, 3rd FloorBrooklyn, NY 11231

(347) 725-3034sco @charredoak lms.com


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It's what you say you saw A girl, in a eld

Salt and wary love Of a pioneer

And you don't know why But I'm taking it back

My dear A souvenir

Like her

If you crawl inside e way you know

ere like it all, time bends In one-way reruns

Wishing you were Wishing you were

Like him

I'm taking it back My dear A souvenir

I know it Like you knew their names,

Tommy

I'm taking it back My dear

A souvenir


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TREATMENTis video is a tour de force single-take tracking shot of Ladyc

mysterious, confusing, and beautifully moody interior space. e uidcamera will capture a series of subtly bizarre images taking place aand outside a window. A disjointed story revealed by the camera rhythmic momentum of the song. Sudden, surprising changes in dramatize the clear tonal shi in the songs la er half. roughout th

continues to play or try to play, wryly aloof, with a detached, unlikelfeature Ladycop performing in a richly cinematic context, creacompellingly evoke a unique mood to support the songs spirit andtheir upcoming tour and album release.

As the song begins, the camera tracks slow and steady across a harfrom a series of shadowy, clustered doors. e camera pans and soosome pedals, the bo om of the drum kit. As the vocal begins, we boperforming in what is clearly an apartment, although its not a typica

e band is arranged with their instruments, addressing the camerHowever, this is not a realistic concert or recording set-up: Cliff sits chair; Anne stands next to him, just over his shoulder; Kolby is at th

kit, facing the center; Derek is leaning against the wall between themixture of actual music equipment and domestic furniture, and althofew key accessories, there are no microphones or stands, mixing boawith this real-but-not-real mood, as weird things start happening mstop playing or lipsyncing, and pick back up again at will.

Something is weird, dream-like, about this place. e furniture is sparroom, and strange objects that suggest meaning without revealing anpyramid of cloved oranges in a fancy bowl, an ancient oval-shapecontraption on a shelf, a gothic candelabra, an ominous grandfathefashioned light bulbs hang at various levels from the ceiling, creating


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During this rst, nearly 30-second-long tracking pass we begin to notice other odd details, particularlythe fact that Cliff s right ankle is bound to the leg of his chair, near the oor. It is tightly tied in an ornate,almost ceremonial knot of red rope. Cliff does not seem to notice or much care, nor does anyone else.

As the camera glides past, its revealed that so , colorless midday light streams through a set of windowson one side of the room, which leaves the opposite side in various grades of murky shadow. As thecamera curves around Kolbys back, we begin to pan over to the window to see an unremarkable urbanstreet scene: Sidewalk, green trees, and parked cars, all blown out and ringed in midday sun. But then, just as the camera reverses course and pulls back to move in the opposite direction, the frame is brokenby a mass of oating objects moving just past the window...its a pack of black balloonsoating up intothe sky. Just as weve had a chance to register them, the camera pans back on its reverse journeythrough the room.

As soon as we see the band, its clear that something has happened in the brief moment the cameralooked away. ey have all been bound with ceremonial knots and ties. Although their bonds make itdifficult or impossible to play, they all continue to try to do so with li le concern. Kolbys wrists are tiedtogether, Derek is tightly blindfolded, and Annes forearm has been tied to the neck of her guitar. Cliff still sits, singing, ankle tied to his chair. He now holds a single black balloon.

As the camera turns back to the cluster of doorways at the far end of the room, we see a dark gurelooming just past the frame of one door. Is it a gure, or just a shadow? It is motionless, and we cant besure.

Never resting, the camera reverses course again to repeat the same track. As the band comes back intoview, all but Cliff have been released from their bonds. However, Anne now bleeds from the head, justa li le, a wound far up inside her hairline and dripping down her forehead slightly. Kolby is missingentirely. As Anne casually wipes some blood away from her face and returns to playing, Colbysuddenly rushes in from off camera and sits back behind the drums, picking up the sync. What hashappened here?

e camera continues its inexorable path to the window. As we reach the frame this time, we can justspot a gure in distress down the street. Although the gure is distant and not completely in focus, wecan just make out that its a person in a full bee suit (white coveralls, white boots, giant need helmet).He is stumbling towards the camera, waving his arms frantically.ere are no bees.


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Never pausing for long, the camera reverses course again to pan back around to the band, justas the song becomes a bit more intense and new guitar lines break through. As the room isrevealed, were shocked to see it crowded with 15 to 20 new people. Dressed in streetclothes, a few of these people sway and pogo in the background, giving a rough sense of aparty or concert. However, as we observe more closely it becomes clear that most of thesepeople are actually making a concerted eff ort to prevent the band from playing: ey puttheir hands rmly over Cliff s mouth, they crowd about and press down the strings on the neck

of Annes guitar, they place their hands over Kolbys drums. Derek, bizarrely, holds a freshhoneycomb up above his head; as it slowly drips honey, the few people crowded around him jump and reach for it in vain. It is a mass of movement, but not crazed or even particularlyaggressive, just purposeful. Tormentors and tormented both calmly play their part, and theband members patiently swat the obstructions away and try to play...to no avail.

Amongst all this action, a lone gure comes into view, an adolescent boy dressed in a dark suit.He stands still and looks directly at the camera as it passes; hes the only one doing so. Justbefore he leaves the frame, he reaches into his pocket and carefully lights a single match...as itares alight, he holds it out toward the camera.

Panning back to the cluster of doorways, we see the same dark gure. is time, its clearly aperson because we see it turn and ma er-of-factly walk away into the shadows.

e camera reverses course yet again, gliding back over to the main area. Everyone, includingthe band, has vanished. All of the instruments and furniture have been le behind. Only theboy remains, his burned-out match still held alo . As the shot continues, we see the largebowl of oranges has been overturned and the bright fruit has rolled across the oor in a widepa ern; the last few pieces are just rolling to a stop in the far corner.

Once again we reach the window, and this time we see...the band down the block. Distant, inso focus, but clearly its them. Cliff faces us, holding a signaling mirror that catches the sun.He ashes unintelligible signals directly into the lens from afar.


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As the song launches into its climactic coda, the camera slowly begins itsnal reverse track...more slowly this time. Cliff , Anne, Derek, and Kolby are nownot play, and do not sing. Cliff stands in front of the chair; his ankle knot is gone. e others stand near their instruments. Each band member is wearacross their shoulders. is totem is freighted with meaning that we cant possibly discern; a few exoticowers of deep, rich, oily colors are set in a dappears as if it could be human hair.

ey all stand, eyes closed. Slowly, their eyes open and they look uninchingly into the camera, rst one, then another, then everyone. As the song becloseups of each band members eyes very slowly crossfade on, superimposed over the main image. Simultaneously, an incredibly slow fade to grayAs the camera slowly glides to a stop, the layers of crossfading closeups and fade to gray begin to confuse and obscure the image, as if its receding intonally lose clear sight of the band, but sense theyre still peering at us, wearing their wreaths of dark blooms.


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TECHNIQUE AND PRODUCTION DETAIAlthough there are challenging limits imposed by the budget for this videclearly important. Annes apartment is an ideal location for this shoot; layout, wall colors, textures, pre-existing props, and lighting conditionsfurniture, household knickknacks, and band members clothes with carefuproduction and wardrobe design with muted colors, boldly mixed pa ernsa few bizarre touches. is will allow key items such as the ties that bandfrom the scene, and will overall create an aesthetic that is creepy antique

Ladycop is the star of the video. However, two key casting needs are thdoubles for the band. For the lone gure, we imagine an 11- or 12-year-oaccomplish the band appearing on the street below, we would cast for fcolor, and get all the way there with framing, wardrobe, and hair. e 15-20people, although we would require roughly 20s-30s-40s age range anddirections well. Dancers and actors would be ideal, given the demands allow for proper casting, we must depend on the extended circle of bofriends and acquaintances who might be convinced to spend a day and a hno pay.

Charred Oak Films will shoot this music video on a Canon 5D Mark II wuid stabilization, and a very small lighting package. e 5D has a chara

crisp detail, and rich color, while also shooting with exceptional senconditions. e photography for Idea Maker will utilize deep interpractical sources to create a natural yet rich look, slightly desaturated with

On-set audio playback via a laptop will be provided for lipsync and instruplayback track sample rate and camera frame rate will be carefully mHowever, due to the long, song-length takes and the native encoding schsync challenges in post. For safety, we will record the playback track dirso that performance and playback are locked in the raw les. No live aureasons stated above and the large amount of verbal on-set direction neede

In order to minimize equipment rental costs, we propose shooting over adressing, pre-l ight, and camera rehearsal. Following that, we propose a with the band and other talent at the end of the day. Sunday would be early a ernoon the ideal lighting condit ions. We imagine a 10-hour shooload-out to follow. Our intention would be to roll a new takes at least evewe will need to capture as many full takes of the performance as we

signi cant amount of time to re-set and adjust a er each take.


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REFERENCE : Color, Textures, Light Quality


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REFERENCES : Lighting & Mood


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MORE REFERENCES

Band arrangement / mood / muted colors

Overexposed window / underexposed interior; mood

Performance Mood / Blocking

Framing / soft focus for activity outside the window


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THANK YOU.

Were extremely excited for the opportunity to work with you on this project, and to help launch Ladycops upcoming record

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