Music Video Narrative Synopsis

The music video will follow the story told in the lyrics as a visual representation:
A girl meets one of the members of the group and he wants to take her home. Rumour has it that the girl has been seen on street corners, implying that she "gets around." When he tries to take him home, he the cab driver recognises the girl because he has had sex with her. Some time advances in the narrative and another member of the group meets the same girl as before while he is buying a hot dog. She approaches him and sweet talks him into going to his place. Two of the members of the band who know about her warn rech each other to "hide your gold" because they do not trust her. They sleep through into the afternoon, only to find that the girl has stolen all of the possessions from their room.  

Initial Ideas For The Video

For my video I am thinking of having three men play the role of the Beastie Boys and make a narrative video based on the story in the lyrics. This will be mixed with a performance element as they will be rapping and dressing the viewer directly while interacting with the diegesis.

Lyrics Analysis.

She's Crafty Lyrics and Timings

Beastie Boys – She’s Crafty

Ad Rock, MCA, Mike D, Ad + D All

0:23 Well this girl came up to me, she said she's new in town 0:27
0:27 But the crew been said they seen her around 0:29
0:30 I thought they were right, but I didn't wanna know
The girlie was Def and she wanted to go 0:35

0:35 I think her name is Lucy but they all call her, "Loose" 0:37
0:37 I think I thought I seen her on eighth and forty-deuce
The next thing she said, "My place or yours? 0:41
0:41 Let's kick some bass behind closed doors" 0:45

0:45 We got into the cab, the cab driver said
He recognized my girlie from the back of her head 0:49
0:49 He said a little something about tip to base 0:51
0:51 So I made him stop the cab to get out of the place 0:54

0:54 Shouldn't have looked back, man, I'll always regret it 0:57
0:57 Something's going on and I'll probably never get it 0:59
1:00 She was crying like a baby, stupid dumb 1:02
1:02 It's just too bad that girl's a bum 1:04

1:04 She's crafty, she's gets around 1:06
1:07 She's crafty, she's always down 1:09
1:09 She's crafty, you know she's got a gripe 1:11
1:11 She's crafty and she's just my type 1:14
1:14 She's crafty 1:15

1:33 I spent my last dollar to buy a Sabrett
When I seen this girl I could never forget 1:38
1:38 Now, I like nothing better than a pretty-girl smile 1:41
1:41 And I haven't seen a smile that pretty in a while 1:44

1:44 The girl came up to me she said she loved the show
I asked her to come home and she couldn't say no
We got the crib and there's Adam and D
We didn't say a word, they just stared at me 1:53

1:53 I said, "I don't know her I just met her tonight" 1:56
1:56 And Ad Rock started hiding everything in sight 1:58
1:58 D pulled me over said, "Hide your gold
The girl is crafty like ice is cold" 2:04

2:04 The girl is crafty, she knows all the moves 2:06
2:06 I started playing records, she knew all the grooves 2:08
2:08 He thought she was a thief and D was right 2:11
2:11 But I just figured she'd spend the night 2:13

2:13 When I woke up late in the afternoon 2:16
2:16 She had taken all the things from inside his room 2:18
2:18 I found myself naked in the middle of the floor 2:21
2:21 She had taken the bed and the chest of drawers 2:23

2:23 The mirror, the TV, the new guitar cord 2:26
2:26 My remote control and my old skateboard 2:28
2:28 She robbed us blind, she took all we owned 2:31
2:31 And the boys blamed me for bringing her home 2:33

2:33 She's crafty, she's gets around 2:35

2:36 She's crafty, she's always down 2:38
2:38 She's crafty, she's got a gripe 2:41
2:41 She's crafty and she's just my type 2:44
2:44 She's crafty 2:45
2:47 Ah, yeah 2:48

3:14 She's crafty, she's gets around 3:16
3:16 She's crafty, she's always down 3:18
3:18 She's crafty, she's got a gripe 3:21
3:21 She's crafty and she's just my type 3:23

3:23 She's crafty, she's gets around 3:25

3:26 She's crafty, she's always down 3:28
3:28 She's crafty, she's got a gripe 3:31
3:31 She's crafty and she's just my type 3:33
3:33 She's crafty 3:35

Chosen Song: Beastie Boys - She's Crafty

I chose this video because it doesn't have it's own pre-existing music video. Having a pre-existing video might make it hard to make an original product without taking on influences from the original. Secondly, I chose this video because the lyrics are strong enough to create a good narrative video. The Lyrics tell the story of a girl who uses her charm to manipulate and deceive men to steal their belongings.

This song could be technically challenging because there are three people who rap across the song. whoever I cast, must know the whole song in order for the lip syncing to work well. However, I can reduce the amount of lip syncing needed by having areas the vocals more as a narration of a story.

Narrative/Performance Video Beastie Boys - Make Some Noise

This video by the Beastie Boys is a good example of a narrative music video mixed with some abstract elements. The narrative for this video takes place the morning after a party (the one featured in '(You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party)'  and the three B-Boys' quest to keep the party going. In the end, they run into future versions of themselves and have to battle them through break-dancing. The use of cast in the video is interesting for this video as the Beastie Boys don't actually feature in this cut of the song.* Instead, Ad Rock is played by Elijah Wood, MCA is played by Danny McBride and Mike D is played by Seth Rogen. Other features are Jack Black, Will Ferrell, Orlando Bloom, Steve Buscemi and Kirsten Dunst. The use of slow motion reflects the feelings of being hung over from a night out. The section from 3:20-4:15 is quite good because it used slow motion, jump cuts and a boosted colour saturation to visualize the effects of hallucinogenic drugs.

  

*this section is an edited version of their 30 minute long video 'Fight For Your Right Revisited.'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evA-R9OS-Vo

Grimes - Go ft. Blood Diamonds

I Chose this video as a good example of an abstract music video. The art house style is considered to be an element of iconography for Grimes and her music. I like the use of slow motion footage that is combined with sped up footage. This combination works especially well with the use of a fisheye lens as it distorts the image. I like the use of a back light, mixed in with neon paint because it brings out different features. Another strong point I like is the use of reversed footage and the way water and Grimes' hair moves when reversed. The mix between the long shots in the desert and the fisheye shots in the chorus represent the transition of the song by slowly combining the two locations.

I feel the video is let down by the lip sync as in the opening shot, her vocals and lips don't quite match. The vocals aren't that much out of sync but I feel it is noticeable enough. I feel like the mirror shots at the end are thrown in at last minute just to add some more visual appeal, but I feel that even in the style of this abstract video, they are out of place.