The London Eye

During our time up London on the 30th November we decided that filming the London Eye for a whole 360 degree movement then speeding the film up would be effective. We took some photos of the eye itself from two different angles to see which would look more effective for the video.

Once the photos were taken we then thought we could have our artist standing in-front of the eye singing in normal time, with the eye itself moving faster as we would have sped the footage up. This idea however proved difficult to create in reality, so we thought again amongst ourselves as we still wanted to film the London Eye. After discussion we thought filming the Eye from across the River Thames would be ideal, as this could show pedestrians walking by, thus emphasizing the idea of time going quickly as they too would be under-cranked. The lyric to this visual is "Some say you might lose your mind", the idea of the Eye being under-cranked would therefore illustrate the concept of someone losing their mind as time is going by much faster than normal.

Filming the Eye from this angle would portray a sense of loss of control as the movement of the wheel would be easily distinguished, the cloud movement shown in the footage could also create the idea as the clouds would be moving faster across the shot. Using this location to film the shot would be ideal as the shot would solely show the Eye's movement along with the clouds. A second idea would be to shoot the Eye from a bench which is a few meters from the side of the pavement which could include pedestrians walking past to, this may however over-crowd the shot.

This is the second possible angle we could film the Eye from, it is located on the bridge by the Royal Festival Hall which therefore gives a higher angle to view the Eye. Filming from this angle could show the movement of the Eye as well as the cloud movement, we did however think the Big Ben clock tower in the background of the Eye was an effective shot, as it illustrates another famous landmark of London. This photo was taken at around 4pm which in Winter means the sun is setting, under-cranking this shot would therefore show the sunlight disappearing which could reference time in the song, as the time of day is moving on as would the song.

Leake Street

On Wednesday 30th November the group and I went to London to find some ideal places to film our video. We planned to go to Leake Street which is near Waterloo East train station, this street is dedicated to street art and it therefore holds some very creative work on the walls.

We took some photos of the location which are seen below:

Leake Street will therefore be evident in our video as we all decided it portrayed some of London's finest street art, as well as it being relatively busy which could prove to be an ideal place for a busker. It also follows our idea of the artist coming in from one end of a tunnel, and walking out the other at the end of the song. The tunnel itself portrays a range of cultures, with the street art representing a younger generation of people, and because the tunnel is near Waterloo East many business workers use the tunnel which could show the higher class people of London. There is also a car wash company near by the tunnel and therefore more working class people are seen there, thus showing a varied amount of people use Leake Street.

Possible Locations

Wembley Way, Leading to Wembley Stadium

The walkway leading up to the stadium could show as an effective area to film part of our music video, this is because the crowded area will portray many types of person as watching football is done by a varied group. If we go before an England match at night we could also catch the arch in the background as a shot, this will help show one of many landmarks in London which can show the different ethnicities and social groups of London.

Leake Street, Near Waterloo Station

Leake Street is a dedicated street art tunnel which is sometimes known as 'The Banksy Tunnel', the street was used for the 2008 Cans Festival which is primarly for street artists to show their work. This area would help show the varied culture in London as it differs greatly to the more upper class areas of London such as Westminster and Chelsea, as our main idea is to film a vast amount of cultures within London to show many types of life.

Southbank, Opposite The Houses of Parliament

Southbank offers a whole host of landmarks such as Big Ben, The Houses of Parliament and The London Eye. Showing these famous landmarks will hopefully connote the idea of having a range of culture, religion and social class across London and thus portraying the varied lives people experience in the city. The Southbank also has many street performers which may help with some shots as a street performer's daily life will differ to the tourists surrounding them.

Wellington Square, Chelsea

The area of Chelsea is a well known high class area of London, using this location will definitely help evoke the sense of varied cultures in the music video. This place will differ greatly to other areas we plan to visit as poorer regions such as East London will have a completely different culture to those in Chelsea, this could be heavily influenced by the variety of ethnicity in East London, where as West London is mainly white and of high social classes dominate as the area is expensive to live in. Having our artist in these areas will also be a clear way of showing how he has traveled London and experienced all the cultures and religions in those areas, thus showing a range of people's lives.

Piccadilly Circus Tube Station

Filming within a tube station may prove difficult due to certain regulations, however if we are allowed to do so we may use tube stations such as Piccadilly Circus at busy times to film. Using a tube station to film will guarantee too show a diverse range of people as London's tube network is used by thousands daily, as we want to create an image of the variety of lives people live in London so go with the song 'AKA...What A Life'. Using the tube stations and filming the tube itself will also help show the areas of London and the famous attractions to London, as the tube network is widely known across the world.

What A Life lyrics

Lyrics Noel Gallagher lyrics - AKA... What A Life lyrics


The lyrics to the song of 'What A Life' have enabled us to create ideas of potential shots, as the song uses basic equipment such as an acoustic guitar and Noel's voice we can have shots with our artist with a guitar miming to the song.

The lyrics "chasing down that rainbow" and "take this tiger out for a ride" have given us ideas for shots such as the hustle and bustle of London streets, with people commuting to and from work. This may prove difficult as some places such as Rail Stations may not allow us to film inside, due to security reasons. However we will ask for permission and if we can take some shots in a rail station it may be a possibility for the video.

The chorus of the song could possibly sho

w people of London going about their daily routes and work. As the line "what a life" could show other peoples lives in relation to our performers life or just what he witnesses during his time in the city. This could range from the shoppers in Oxford Street to people living on the streets. We have not yet decided what time of day to film the shots, however we all like the idea of starting the video at dawn and ending the video at dusk, this will therefore show continuity and have a simple flow to go with the lyrics.

Another shot when "what a life" is sung could be part performance, with our artist miming the words within the streets or other location we choose. The image we may portray of our artist could be a busker, as we feel a busker in London will see many different people and experience different types of life as London is full of unique people. The shots could include Point Of View shots from passers-by who are watching the busker, this could create a sense of voyeurism.

Other lyrics to the song such as "maybe you dream" could show people with a facial expression

showing they are thinking about their life, and maybe how they want a more fulfilling life. This

could include someone after work or on a lunch break at a cafe or bar, thus portraying an idea of regret or sorrow during the song. A person with their face in their hands I feel would be an affective shot for this lyric as it easily shows despair or a high level of stress.