My 1 Minute 'Weapon of choice' music video remake

Weapon of choice 1 minute remake from Tom palmer on Vimeo.

This task to re-create the first minute of our chosen music video was a tricky task, in order for it to include continuity a similar location had to be found in order to re-create the camera shots, angles and movements that were present in the original video. Although the original was filmed in a closed down Hilton hotel I managed to find a location, AKA my friends house/conservatory which included parts of the video that needed to be included for example a chair to sit down in but then enough room in front of it so then the dance routine could take place, another is the corridor Christopher Walken dances down and the double door he then jumps in front of and they simultaneously open. All these features had to be included within the video and after some research and asking around my friends house seem to fit the narrative of the music video very well.

When making the music video I had already made a short animatic so I was aware of the shots needed and the timing throughout the 1 minute extract.

When filming the video it went very smoothly the lighting looked good and the dancing after multiple takes and practice fit perfectly with the music and all was looking well.

Then was time to edit and make sure everything timed perfectly with the original, although this was a lengthy process I enjoyed it thoroughly but whilst editing there was some footage that didn't match the music so I had to substitute it for some re-worked footage that in the end looked quite good, although there is a mistake in the beginning of the video were there is one less jump-cut than in the original the video looks good and times well considering the rendering process made the soundtrack time ever so slightly different to the video in certain parts.

Overall for the first piece of live action for our A2 year, the summer continuity task went well and was defiantly a learning process.

A special thank you is in order to Blaine Kenneally who gave up his time and hospitality for me to film my music video and I wish him all the success in the future for his dancing carrier. Just stick to the cha cha slide yer.

My 1 minute Animatic

We have been given the task to re-create a 1 minute section of our chosen music video, our reconstruction has to exhibite the exact same camera angles, shots and transitions to show that we can follow a plan aswell as using camera skills to perform the same shots but adding our own inovative skills to the narrative of the video. In order to do this we had to deconstruct the 1 minute section and construct storyboards to then plan our reconstruction. Instead of drawing out many different storyboads our teacher introduced us to a new exhibiton technique, Animatics. An animatic is produced by photographing storyboard sketches on a film strip or video with the audio portion synchronised on tape, it can be used to produce TV advertisments, music videos, short films and is frequently used for testing purposes.
Bellow is my 1 minute animatic for the section of my chosen music video that I will reconstruct.
Hope you enjoy my animatic, just like I did learning and implimenting new skills.

My 1 minute Animatic 'Weapon of choice' Fatboy slim from Tom palmer on Vimeo.

'Weapon of choice' lyrics

Break, eject
Eject, eject
Break, eject
Eject, eject

Break, eject
Eject, eject
Break, eject
Eject, eject

'For they catch ya Chainsmokin' (Word)
'For they catch ya Chainsmokin' (Word)
'For they catch ya Chainsmokin' (Word)
'For they catch ya Chainsmokin' (Word)

'For they catch ya Chainsmokin' (Word)
'For they catch ya Chainsmokin' (Word)
'For they catch ya Chainsmokin' (Word)
'For they catch ya Chainsmokin' (Word)

'For they catch ya, 'For they catch ya,
'For they catch ya, 'For they catch ya,
'For they catch ya, 'For they catch ya,
'For they catch ya, 'For they catch ya,

Don't be shocked by tone of my voice
Check out my new weapon, weapon of choice
Don't be shocked by tone of my voice
Check out my new weapon, weapon of choice, yeah

Listen to the sound of my voice (aah...)
You can check it on out, it's the weapon of choice, yeah

Don't be shocked by the tone of my voice (aah...)
It's the new weapon, the weapon of choice

You can blow with this
Or you can blow with that
You can blow with this
Or you can blow with that
Or you can blow with this
Or you can blow with that
Or you can blow with us

You can blow with this
Or you can blow with that
You can blow with this
Or you can blow with that
You can blow with...

Walk without rhythm, it won't attract the worm
Walk without rhythm, and it won't attract the worm
Walk without rhythm, and it won't attract the worm
if you walk without rhythm (uh), you never learn, yeah

Don't be shocked by the tone of my voice
Check out my new weapon, weapon of choice

Don't be shocked by the tone of my voice
Check out my new weapon, weapon of choice

(Can't forget to load it)
Before they catch ya Chainsmokin'
(Can't forget to load it)
Before they catch ya Chainsmokin'
(Can't forget to load it)
Before they catch ya Chainsmokin'
(Can't forget to load it)
Before they catch ya Chainsmokin'

You can go with this
You can go with that
You can go with this
Or you can go with that
Or you can go with this
Or you can go with that
Or you can go with us

You can go with this
You can go with that
You can go with this
Or you can go with that
Or you can go with...

Organically grown
Through the hemisphere I roam
To make love to the angels of light, yeah
and my girl
I guess you just don't understand
It's gone beyond bein' a man
As I drift off into the night
I'm in flight


Break, eject
Eject, eject
Break, eject
Eject, eject

Break, eject
Eject, eject
Eject, eject
Eject, eject

Break, eject
Eject, eject
Break, eject
Eject, eject

Eje,Eje,Eje,Eje,Eje,Eje,Eje,Eje,Eje,Eje,Eje,...

If you want to watch the amazing video I have posted it bellow for you all to enjoy.

Weapon of choice music video from Tom palmer on Vimeo.

Spike Jonze, famous Director, Writer and Producer

The music video was directed by a well known producer, director and writer Spike Jonze. In 2009 Spike Jonze was the lead screen play writer of the famous children’s novel ‘Where the wild things are’ turning it into a great IMAX experience, he has also written and directed many other great films such as the Oscar worthy ‘Being John Malkovich’ which was his first ever film and is still a great piece of post-modernism work to date. Spike Jonze was also writer and director for a well known song and music video for the ‘Beastie boys, Sabotage’.
The video weapon of choice features a well known actor Christopher Walken, who was trained as a dancer in musical theatre prior to his acting career. Who would have thought that he would be dancing and flying around in an empty Los Angeles Marriott hotel to the music of Fat boy slim?
I wanted to find out why Christopher was used within the video? Was it celebrity endorsement? Was it because he plays many antagonist roles within films, many of them including psychological narratives and a crazy killer A.K.A him? I tried to find reasons for his involvement, but could only find an interview where the topic was briefly mentioned.

Question: What's the story behind the “Weapon of Choice” video?

Walken: The director, Spike Jonze called and asked me to do that. Sent me a tape of the music.

Question: Was it based on his knowledge of your dancing?

Walken: I think he must have, you know, I did a picture called Pennies of Heaven, a musical movie. He must have seen something. You never know how you get these things. But the choreographer was Mickey Rooney's son.

In my opinion I think he was used because of the psycho killer roles that he plays, as the lyrics of the song offers a substitute solution to violence and then ironically he is used to emphasise this. Another reason could be that he uses words to deceive, control, subject people to violence and this powerful weapon is used to get into the minds of people both within his films and the novel dune.

The song was released in September 2001 and got to 10 in the chart. The "Weapon of Choice" video won six MTV awards in 2001 for best choreography, choreographer, best editing, best art direction, best cinematography and best directing.
The video was also cited as the best video of all time in April 2002, in a list of the top 100 videos of all time that was compiled from a music industry survey by VH1.

My favorite music video 'Weapon of choice, Fat boy slim'

We were given the chance to choose our favorite music video; to then show it to the class and educate them about the video and present reasons for my choice. My choice was the video 'Weapon of choice' by a well known artist that goes by the name of Fat boy Slim but his real name is Norman cook.

After listening to the song and trying to make sense of the cryptic lyrics, I began to make some connections after extensive research to a very popular and historical science fiction novel ‘Dune’ "Don't be shocked by the tone of my voice. Check out my new weapon, weapon of choice." This seems to refer to the voice that the ‘Bene Gesserit use who are a key social, religious, and political force used in the book and they use this voice as a weapon to control others, incite them to violence and overall to get them to do what they want. This lyric also gives a whole new crazy weird angle to the meaning of Weapon of Choice and the video Weapon of Choice gives a crazy weird angle to Dune. Consequently synergy is created.
The genre of music is know as ‘Big Beat’ which is typically driven by heavy break beats and synthesizer-generated loops and patterns in common with established forms of electronic dance music such as techno and acid house. The Brighton based dance music record label, ‘Skint records’ has been a leader in the ‘Big Beat’ music scene since the late 1990’s and has become well known due to the success of their collaboration with Norman cook (Fat boy slim).