Michael Jackson - They Don't Care About Us - Directors Commentary

Michael Jackson - They Don't Care About Us - Audience Feedback

Michael Jackson - They Don't Care About Us (COMPLETED MUSIC VIDEO)

Question 2

The effectiveness of our main product relates to our magazine advert and CD cover as the power of the image reflects the emotions of the song. At the start of the video, we intended to create a mysterious effect to the song by hiding the performers face and we continued to use this concept throughout our magazine advert and CD cover. Within the video we used an effect to reveal the performers face which he then emerges into the energetic performance, this is continued throughout our video as it connects to our initial idea portrayed through the song. As we had many dance scenes in the video, we decided to use the scenes where only the silhouette of the performer can be seen, as this showed the image we wanted to create of the performer, which the pose reflected the power of the song. This idea was used within the album cover, the inside and back cover, as well as the magazine advert which includes a pose of the performer with his hand clenched, held high, which reflects the power symbol, and implies, that it is actually the people who have the power to change the world. The magazine advert and CD cover helps to sell the product as the black and white effect and the silhouette adds a mysterious effect the song, so would make people want to find out what the song is about, as the images are powerful. The idea that was used for the advert of the original ‘They Don’t Care About Us’ song was different, as Michael Jackson was already classed as the best entertainer of all time, people already knew who he was, however Michael Jackson intended to use his emotion to sell his product, as opposed to previous album covers and adverts, he looks angry, which he uses costume and a background from the prison version of the video ‘They Don’t Care About Us’. As in our music video the performer wouldn’t be known to the public, the power of the image would be enough to sell the product, as this relates to the theme of the music video. The title ‘They Don’t Care About Us’ has enough impact on itself to appeal to our target audience as ‘They’ could be anyone. It’s up to the audience to decide who is ‘They’ which the video questions who is responsible for some of the issues raised. By using a silhouette, this takes away the attention from the artist, to the title of the song which is the most important technique in advertising our product. This concept links to the conspiracy theory Michael Jackson raised in his versions, as some might suggest killuminati is responsible, whereas others may believe that government is. There are many situations within the music video when the performer is not clearly visible, which suggests the same idea as the magazine poster and the album front and back cover, which the power of these connotes anger and mystery.

Question 1

In our music video, we intended to draw attention to important aspects of people’s lives, which they would usually ignore. Our music video was inspired by the original concept created from Michael Jackson’s version of ‘They Don’t Care About Us’ by shooting extreme poverty in the streets of brazil, including a black civil rights campaign ‘Olodum’ and the energy of the aggressive performance from Michael Jackson himself. Our video was also inspired by other Michael Jackson songs and videos with the same purpose, such as ‘Bad’, ‘Human Nature’ and ‘Beat It’. We intended to address the same concept in our music video by similarly using an aggressive theme to the performance included in the singing and dancing, and using footage of former president of the United States: Franklin Delano Roosevelt as well as the black civil rights movement: Martin Luther King Jr. However we also wanted to capture the attention of the audience we would most likely attract by filming homeless people, cold, and begging in the dark which relates to the intention of the video, filming the performer singing and dancing in dark scenes around the Castlefield area located in Manchester, and shooting in remote areas which like the black and white effect in our video, connotes a dark and dull theme to the video. The originality of our music video comes from the dance style and the performance, as the guitar solo is the most powerful part of the video as this is when the performer expresses the meaning of the song using dance moves from the original video which is also included towards the end of the song. These ideas have been adopted from other Michael Jackson music videos previously mentioned in the blog as each video has a specific dance theme related to the genre of the music video, the lyrics, and time zone as Michael Jackson has a different dance theme for each video such as the difference between the image portrayed from the dance moves from ‘Billie Jean’, to the dance moves from ‘Bad’, as the dancing in both videos was an expression of the meaning to the song. Our music video broke the usual conventions of a music video from a similar genre as rather than using imagery to portray the meaning of the song, our performance was a key source in sending the message to our viewers by limiting the effects we would add to the music video. The video also breaks the conventions as the performance enhances the narrative of the song by building up the emotions of the viewers which are expressed through the dancing scenes in the song. The overall intention of our music video production is to create a more modern outlook to the current issues often raised in today’s society as the video relates to the problems, which the video addresses who is responsible for these problems and who’s actions have impacted on the world today in a negative or positive light in terms of the situations that commonly occur in today’s world.

CD Cover Finished

Our final magazine advert had very few minor changes.

Firstly, the quote was changed because within our group we agreed a more intellectual quote would be more effective. We also changed the name of the newspaper that quoted the song because The Guardian is stereotypically read by those more intellectual people.

Secondly, we changed the stars. We created our own star using a different application and then inserted and duplicated the star in order to make the rating more obvious to the viewer. The bold yellow colour which is used to fill the star is the only bright colour on the page, and for this reason makes the stars stand out to the viewer and the colour helps to catch the corner of their eye.

Thirdly, we added a link to the official Michael Jackson website. We made this text smaller as it is less important to advertise the CD but it informs the reader that they could find out more information by visiting the website.

Finally, a slight change in the position of the parental advisory image to the bottom right hand corner. We made this change because we felt that it was still necessary to have this image on the poster so that the listeners are aware of the explicit content but it shouldn't be next to the text as it could be misleading and viewers may think that the explicit content was on the poster.

Magazine Cover One

We had two attempts at our magazine advert and decided to choose the second one.

On our first attempt, we had a basic idea of how we wanted to promote the CD release, after researching other magazine adverts first to inspire our ideas. Large and colourful images and text are what catches the viewers attention. For us to do this and also make it fit in with the video and CD cover, we chose to use a greyscale image and white text because the white text on a dull background also makes the text stand out and catches the viewers attention. All the text on the poster is white in particular, and the stars are 'gold'. The white background on the stars is an image found off a search engine, which we inserted onto the advert. We agreed we needed to add a rating to the CD because this would help to promote it and thought rather than more text informing the reader, an image would be more appealing. Although in this case, this particular image doesn't suit the rest of the advert and therefore we changed it to make it look better and more eye-catching on our final advert.

We chose to title the advert 'M.Jackson' in a signature font to give the impression that Michael Jackson himself had signed the poster. This wasn't the main focus of the advert and therefore the font size used was relatively small.

We used Trebuchet MS for the title: 'They Don't Care About Us' and we used TW Cen MT for the title: 'CD OUT NOW' and bolded the font to make it stand out to the viewer.

We also used TW Cen MT for the quote and for the iTunes advertisement because of continuity. This particular font we felt looked professional.

By adding a rating of five stars, this appeals to the viewers over a two star rating because people are more likely to choose to listen to songs with a higher rating as they are enjoyed by a larger number and wider range of listeners.

It was necessary to inform the listeners that some of the content of the CD is explicit and therefore parental advisory should be taken into consideration.

The image we chose to use is of lucas during one of our filming shots which we also used in our music video. This particular image conveys with the idea of disguising the performer and keeping his identity a mystery. The street light in the top right hand corner of the poster brightens up the advert and also stands out on the dark background. Some may see this as Michael Jackson under a different light. This background image is effective in many ways. One of the ways in which it is effective is because Lucas is punching thin air, but you can imagine that it is Michael Jackson punching in anger.

Magazine Research

The three poster selected represent the different format in which posters can be advertised. They used different styles of font and imagery to promote the single. The “Leona Lewis” advert use large font sizes and an image of her as it focus points. On the right hand side is her posing as on the other side is large font “LEONA LEWIS”. The poster puts across a simple soft theme by using a beach and a clam blue sea. The beech represent then calm vibe we get as we associate the beach with relaxing peaceful time. So by using that as a back ground implies that the song has a soft element to it. They chose to put the release date at the bottom in medium font size plus other details about the single. The advert is very simple with not a lot of writing or images so that focus is not drawn away from their aim.

However the “La Roux” advert has lot more of writing in comparison to “Leona Lewis”. The writing in the advert has uses quote from various sources to promote the single. They use well known sources as it raises the profile of the artist. It is a simple advert as it only has one image with writing on the right hand side. This large image allows the audience to see who the artist is and attracting more fans that didn’t know her by name but was familiar with her face. The piece is promotional as it states the different songs provided giving the reader more to go off.

This advert has also got more detail for the reader, providing them with information on the release date and places here it can be purchased. This gives the reader more of an idea where they can get it and how making it that much easier for the reader. However if you notice in this one it doesn’t not have any images or a picture of the artist. I think it is because they are aim at their fans that are familiar with their name. Their showings they are not bothered about appealing to a boarder audience by not using their artist as a selling point. Their choices of colours are very vibrant and bright making up for the absent images drowning the audience in to reading it. The artist name was placed in the centre of the advert with a flash of bright orange behind.

CD Cover

CD Inside Back Cover

Another of our ideas was to organize the images in an unorganized way as we thought this would be more eye catching. The images appear more appealing when they are tilted and it means the viewer has to focus and possibly tilt their head to get a clear view of the image. In this particular case, the images are too large and they overlap too much which results in very little of one of the images being exposed.

CD Cover Attempts

CD Inside Front Cover
First Attempt

Our first idea for the inside of our CD cover was to collect images of Lucas dancing, and collaborate these to look like professional photographs. As a group we thought improvements could be made, but before this, we gathered several students and asked for their feedback. Overall, the results were that the white border was too thick and therefore the white was more eye catching than the images.

As a group, we considered this feedback and also criticised our own work. We evaluated that six images in such a small space is not as effective as fewer, larger images would be. By looking closely at the first finished piece, we noticed that some of the white borders were uneven and some images were slightly larger. The reptitiveness of the carefully aligned images was repetitive and we agreed that the viewers may find this boring.


Second Attempt


After considering the criticism from ourselves and others, we decided to continue with the idea of capturing the dance images and still tried to use images which disguised Lucas as much as possible to ensure the performer remained mysterious.

We experimented with a black border on the photos but after adding this effect to all the images, we realised it made the cover look dull and boring. We wanted this inside to be just as eye-catching as the front cover and this didn't work. Also, we layered the images to remove the repetitive effect from our previous attempt, and resized some of the images so they size of each image was varied, but this meant that some of the images were overpowering others.

CD Research

Before starting to produce the cd cover, we firstly researched other cd cover's which helped to inspire us. We looked at hundreds of different cd covers, including Michael Jackson album covers, using the search engine, Google.

Michael Buble CD Cover

The white background on this CD cover works well with the image because it makes the artist stand out as he is wearing a black suit and tie.

The black, white and grey effect gives the impression of the 1950s before colour images were introduced and the contrast of these colours works well together.

Although the CD cover is simple and very basic, it is very effective. It still informs the viewer of the album title, artist's name and a picture of the artist so you can put a face to a name.

Elton John CD Cover
This CD cover also used a white background and the same black font for the album title and artist name. The black font stands out on the white background and to emphasize the artist's name, a larger font has been used.
The main focus of the cover is the collage of images of the artist over many years. The largest image being him most recently. This allows the viewer to recognize that the artist has been around for a while and is continuing to still do well.

Michael Jackson CD Cover

Again, this CD cover also uses a white background and black text. Although, the artist's name is on an angle, rather than the usual horizontal lining of the text, they have rotated it so it is read vertically down the right hand side. This means the reader has to look longer at the image as the artist's name isn't as clear, although a large, bold text is still used.

The black clothing the artist is wearing also makes him stand out on the white background. This image takes up two thirds of the CD cover and therefore is the main focus expected to grab the viewers attention.

The title of the album cover is in red to make it stand out and is in a spray paint font to give the impression that he is 'bad' to be spray painting as it is seen as wrong.

Location Shots

Lyrics Annotation

Shooting Schedule

Monday 11th October

· Take pictures of locations/ Look for locations to use for filming.

Thursday 14th October

· Plan filming times in lesson

Shooting:

Castlefields: (Night Time/Dark)
· Sky tilting down to performer
· Zoom into performer for first verse
· Film 2nd verse (in tunnel)
· Film 4th verse
· Film 6th verse (with spin for explosion)
· Film dances for guitar solo
· Film last verse of the song
· Take picture for side slide/moonwalk
· (take pictures for CD cover/poster)
· (film shooting with digital camera)

Arndale Car Park: (Night Time/Dark)
· Film 3rd verse
· Film 5th verse
· Film dances for guitar solo
· Film 7th verse
· Film a dance move for the end of the song
· Film voice over’s
· Take picture for side slide/moonwalk
· (take pictures for CD cover/poster)
· (film shooting with digital camera)

Market street: (Night Time/Dark)
· Film shots of remote areas
· Film homeless people

Monday 18th October

Shooting:

Victoria Station: (Early Morning)
· Film business people coming off train

Initial Ideas

The intention of our video is to spread the message to our viewers and the government 'They Don't Care About Us. ''They'' refers to the same people Michael Jackson talks about in his video in which our concept is to pass on the same message. We have decided that to do this, we will use a contrast of shots from homeless people on the streets with nothing to do, to business people rushing to work. Filming in the dark will add to the isolated effect that some of the unfortunate people people in the country feel when everyone else is at home, and who is left in the streets at night, with noone to care for them. Using different locations adds to the narrative of the song which is following Lucas around the city expressing the anger and fustration through the aggressive performance and the mise en scene of the city centre with the Manchester wheel, showing it occurs in the most industrial city's in the country, as in this case, in Manchester. The video will show remote areas of the city centre at night time including Market Street showing the homeless people left there when everyone is gone. We have also planned, as mentioned before, that we will be highlighting some the words used in the lyrics which emphasizes the meaning of the song, we will either use green screen to prtray this, or add titles to the editing. We also had an idea of using one of Michael Jackon's techniques of using children at the start of the video, however we have changed our minds and have decided to start with titles for the dialogue at the beginning. Through editing, we will use sharp transitions which will match the upbeat theme to the song as each verse will begin. We decided to use Castlefields and the Arndale car park as these are examples of remote areas which we can use these locations to express the meaning of the song. Using Michael Jackson style dance moves will create the same effect as the original video as well as the upeat mood to the song. During the guitar solo, we will use a variety of camera angles and editing to show the different dance moves occuring from the different locations within the video. The added footage of Martin Luther King and Franklin Delano Roosevelt through editing will link with the lyrics 'If Roosevelt was livin, he wouldn't let this be' and 'If Martin Luther was livin, he wouldn't let this be'.

The making of 'They Don't Care About Us'

Lyrics - They Don't Care About Us

Skin head, dead head

Everybody gone bad

Situation, aggravation

Everybody, allegation

In the suite, on the news

Everybody, dogfood

Bang bang, shot dead

Everybody gone mad

All I wanna say is that

They don't really care about us

All I wanna say is that

They don't really care about us

Beat me, hate me

You can never break me

Will me, thrill me

You can never kill me

Jew me, sue me

Everybody do me

Kick me, kike me

Don't you black or white me

All I wanna say is that

They don't really care about us

All I wanna say is that

They don't really care about us

Tell me what has become of my life

I have a wife and two children who love me

I am the victim of police brutality, no

I'm tired of bein a victim of hate

You're rapin me of my pride

Oh for God's sake

I look to heaven to fulfil this prophecy

Set me free

Skin head, dead head

Everybody gone bad

Trepidation, speculation

Everybody, allegation

In the suite, on the news

Everybody, dogfood

Black man, black mail

Throw your brother in jail

All I wanna say is that

They don't really care about us

All I wanna say is that

They don't really care about us

Tell me what has become of my rights

Am I invisible cause you ignore me

Your proclamation promised me free liberty, no

I'm tired of bein a victim of shame

You're throwin me in a class with a bad name

I can't believe this is the land from which I came

You know I really do hate to say it

The government don't wanna see

But if Roosevelt was livin

He wouldn't let this be, no no

Skin head, dead head

Everybody gone bad

Situation, speculation

Everybody, litigation

Beat me, bash me

You can never trash me

Hit me, kick me

You can never get me

All I wanna say is that

They don't really care about us

All I wanna say is that

They don't really care about us

(Guitar solo)

Some things in life they just don't wanna see

But if Martin Luther was livin

He wouldn't let this be, no no

Skin head, dead head

Everybody gone bad

Situation, segregation

Everybody, allegation

In the suite, on the news

Everybody dogfood

Kick me, kike me

Don't you wrong or right me

All I wanna say is that

They don't really care about us

All I wanna say is that

They don't really care about us

All I wanna say is that

They don't really care about us

All I wanna say is that

They don't really care about

All I wanna say is that

They don't really care about

All I wanna say is that

They don't really care about us

Video Plan Drawn 1

Video Plan Drawn 2

Video Plan Drawn 3

Shotlist

• mid close up and long shot of children speaking
• camera tilts up leading it into a low angle of the sky
• zooms in to a cloud
• zooms out of cloud and tracks down
• a high angle shot will come down on Lucas
• camera follows him as he walks
• mid shot of Lucas as people are walking past him
• mid shot of the people sped up
• long short of the homeless people
• close ups of their faces
• mid shot of Lucas singing the first verse
• medium shot of Lucas in green screen
• long shot of homeless people
• medium shot of Lucas singing second verse
• long shot of Lucas dancing in green screen
• panning medium shot of Lucas as he dances
• low angle shot tracking up of Lucas looking up at the sky
• long shot of Lucas singing
• panning low angle shot of Lucas side-sliding in green screen
• low angle shot of lucas singing
• long shot of lucas dancing
• medium shot of lucas singing
• extreme long shot zooming into a long shot showing Roosevelt on billboard
• medium shot of lucas singing
• long shot of spin in green screen
• low angle shots, high angle shots, medium shots panning for Lucas dancing
• extreme long shot zooming into a long shot showing Martin Luther on billboard
• long shot of Lucas singing her last verse
• long shot of Lucas in green screen
• high angle shot of Lucas dancing towards end

They Don't Care About Us - Lyrics Analysis

In the first verse, Michael Jackson informs the audience about how the world is becoming as he says 'Skin head', which is a term used to describe racists who were around during the 1980's in the UK and America, and 'Dead head' refers to the ways people die in today's world. 'Everybody gone bad' is the direction the world is turning which Michael then says 'Situation', how anything is turned into a situation such as the allegations made against him, 'Aggravation', how the media has made Michael feel aggravated and 'Everybody allegation' again with reference to the bad allegations made against him. He also says 'In the suite on the news' as everything bad said against him is put in the suite and on the news for the world, and his fans to see. 'Everybody dog food' means how people such as himself are treated as waste. Michael also talks about the rise in gun crime statistics 'Bang bang shot dead' as well as legends such as Martin Luther King, Tupac, and Notorious B.I.G, who were all shot dead. The final line in the verse 'Everybody gone mad' is how the world has became a mad world to live in.

The chorus 'all i wanna say is that they don't really care about us' refers to the title of the song how indirectly the government don't care about them.

'Beat me, hate me, you can never break me' is Michael telling the media that as much as they try to attack him, it doesn't affect him 'Will me, thrill me, you can never kill me'. 'Jew me, sew me, everybody do me, kick me, kike me, don't you black or white me' is Michael as the Jewish man, the black man, and the white man being abused.

The next verse is Michael pleading to the media and the government to help save his face for the sake of his family and fans 'Tell me what has become of my life, I have a wife and two children who love me, I am a victim of police brutality' in which he also says 'I'm tired of bein' a victim of hate, you're rapin me of my pride oh for God's sake' and 'I look to heaven to fulfil this prophecy set me free' is Michael asking for God's help, as he feels the media are asking him for too much.

The following verse is similar to the first verse however the word 'Trepidation' is used to emphasize Michael Jackson's fear towards the news about him in the media. 'Black men, black mail, throw your brother in jail' is Michael as the black man, being blackmailed by his brothers and being thrown in jail as the victim.

Michael again pleads to the media, asking them to stop damaging his reputation and invading his privacy 'Tell me what has become of my rights, am I invisible cause you ignore me, your proclamation promised me free liberty', and how he is now seen 'I'm tired of being a victim of shame, your throwin' me in a class with a bad name, I can't believe this is the land from which I came'. The next line is one of the most powerful lines in the song as he says 'You know I really do hate to say it, the government don't wanna see, but if Roosevelt was livin, he wouldn't let this be, no no'.

This next verse is similar to the first again however says 'Litigation' as he has been held in trial for many allegations including the infringement of copyright as well as child abuse allegations which he has never been found guilty to any of them. He brings up the abuse he's received again 'Beat me, bash me, you can never trash me, hit me, kick me, you can never get me' again insisting he won't be beaten by the media.

In this verse the phrase is repeated however the person is changed 'Some things in life they just don't wanna see, but if Martin Luther was livin, he wouldn't let this be, no no', again using a powerful person, which emphasizes the power and meaning to the song.

The last verse again is almost equivalent to the first, however 'Segregation is' used to show how the world is segregated in many different ways and 'Kick me, kike me, don't you wrong or right me' is Michael playing the victim again, which he is tired of being told whats right and whats wrong.

The voiceovers towards the end of the song illustrate how the world has turned out as he repeats the lines 'We're deeply in fire' and 'I'm her to remind you'. Also as Michael Jackson is famous for his voice overs with expressions such as 'hee hee', at this point of the song, Michael is the instrument by expressing his anger and fustration.

Michael Jackson - ''Scream''

''Scream'' is another track which features in Michael Jackson's album HIStory: Past, Present and Future. In the video Michael sings with his younger sister Janet Jackson which they dance on one of Michael Jackson's most expensive sets used as the mise en scene. The video shows an extreme long shot of a space-craft at the beginning of the video which implies Michael and Janet are living outside the earth. We also see close-up shots of both of their faces showing negative expressions of anger and hate towards the tabloid responsible for damaging their reputation. A medium shot shows Janet holding her body whilst in a bikini, symbolising her pain alongside Michael who stares at the camera. Also a low angle shot shows Janet Jackson impersonating a male urinating whilst other low angle shots and high angle shots show Michael Jackson dancing, such as a backwards motion of the side-slide, and other dance moves throughout the video. In our video, we intend to use some of the same camera work to emphasize dance moves, and to create some of the same illusion created from the dances in the video. Several angled shots are edited which emphasizes the space and gravity elements in the video, as the illusion of the camera work and editing makes Michael and Janet look like they're walking on walls. In the lyrics of the song, Michael tells his fans and the media 'I'm tired of injustice. I'm tired of this scheme. You're lies are disgusting. What does it mean?'. Like his other songs aimed towards the media 'They Don't Care About Us', 'Leave Me Alone', and 'Tabloid Junkie', Michael Jackson screams out to the media in defence of his recent child abuse allegations in this video 'I'm tired of you telling, the story your way. It's causing confusion. They think it's okay'. Michael also directs lyrics to his father Joseph Jackson, with reference to the abuse he received as a child 'You find your pleasure scandalising every lie, oh father please have mercy cause I just can't take this'. Most of the lyrics talk about how the media abuse Michael, and how he feels victimised by the press 'With such confusion don't it make you wanna scream. You're bash abusing victimise within the scheme. You try to cope with every lie they scrutinise'.

Detailed Analysis Comparison: Michael Jackson - Will You Be There

The song ''Will You Be There'' features in Michael Jackson’s 4^th solo album ''Dangerous''. The title of the song is directed to his fans, asking them ‘Will You Be There?’ The song includes one of Michael Jackson’s most touching speeches which was played at Michael Jackson’s memorial service: ‘In our darkest hour, in my deepest despair, will you still care? Will you be there? In my trials and my tribulations, through our doubts and frustrations. In my violence and my turbulence. Through my fear and my confessions. In my anguish and my pain. Through my joy and my sorrow, and the promise of another tomorrow. I’ll never let you part, for you’re always in my heart.’ In this speech, Michael emphasizes his commitment to his fans by saying ‘I’ll never let you part, for you’re always in my heart’, and also asking for his fans to be faithful to him through his ‘darkest hours’, and his ‘deepest despairs’, and asks his fans the question ‘Will you still care? Will you be there?’ Also in the song Michael Jackson screams out ‘But they told me a man should be faithful, and walk when not able and fight to the end, but I’m only human’. This is a powerful quote which is followed by ‘Everyone’s taking control of me. Seems like this worlds got a role for me. I’m so confused will you show to me you’ll be there for me and care enough to bare me.’ These two verses are the base for the narrative of the song and music video as he uses a choir of children from the live performances of the song, long shots and extreme shots of Michael performing using sign language and dancing, and women dressed with angel wings which at the end of the video, a low angle shot is used showing the wings wrapped around Michael Jackson. The editing cut shots of Michael dancing, to him singing, to him using sign language which the mise en scene was Michael mostly on stage, puposely showing cuts of the amount of fans who attend his concerts, showing the role he has in the world which reflects his lyrics 'Seems like this worlds got a role for me'. The symbolic images in the video reflect the message Michael Jackson is portraying which in our video, we are using the same concept. There is also footage from the film ‘Free Willy’ which the song features in the films soundtrack. In the full version of the song, the Cleveland Orchestra appears at the start performing a well-known Beethoven symphony in the album version. Michael Jackson said the song was written in his Neverland ranch in a tree he often climbed, which he also wrote the song ‘Heal the World’ in. The video of the song is similar to ‘They Don’t Care About Us’ in the purpose of getting a message sent across to his fans however in a more peaceful approach, using children from choirs and children using sign language which adds to a more broad audience for the video.

Production Treatment

The Music Video: Michael Jackson – They Don’t Care About Us

Duration: 4mins 45secs

Audience:

The song is aimed towards all classes as the aim is to raise awareness to all classes including working class, middle class and upper class. Middle class people may also have a concern for the narrative of the song as it is most of the video and lyrics are directed at them. It is also directed to the government, as the purpose of the track is protesting against those responsible for most of the injustices which occur within the world. However, the audience is broad as most of Michael Jackson's songs have been aimed at a wide audience which our video will have the same intention.

Resume:

The outline of the pop song is a complaint towards the government and higher-class people whose policies have no care or consideration for lower classes. The main scene in our video will be of Lucas Adekoya performing; this will be cutting to shots of contrasting situations from homeless people to business people, and children which implies who they don't care for. Being that Michael Jackson has been a major pop icon for many years, it is likely that older people will find this appealing, however the video involves a broad audience as his music does have a widespread fan base ranging from all ages and genders. The audience can expect to see a powerful performance from our dancer, an interesting variety of settings shown, and moving scenes relating to the purpose of the lyrics. Hopefully the powerful performance will emphasize the meaning of the lyrics and the song, the variety of settings will denote the contrast of lifestyles and the moving scenes shown through green screen will connote the negativity felt, created by the government and the media.

Suggested Elements:

· The main aim of our costume is to portray the same theme as the original video. As there will only be one person performing, the concept of using a Michael Jackson shirt for the costume, indicates the message is being carried on, and who the message is from.

· We have chosen to use the green screen for Lucas’s dance performance. We have also decided to use the green screen to illustrate specific words within the lyrics which are relevant to the purpose of the song, as well as the illusion of the dance moves.

· Our locations will be based in different parts of the City Centre, such as the Gardens, Alleyways, and Market Street, Castlefields etc. We aim to use a range of locations which match the theme to the music video.

Recording Days:

We will roughly begin filming by the 11^th of October. In total we have 9 weeks of production time as the deadline is on the 17^th of December. This means that we intend on using 5 weeks of this time in filming, and the therefore the rest on post-production (editing, insertion of transitions, sound and possible refilling). Also towards the last 2 weeks some of us will work on completing our CD cover and poster.

Michael Jackson - ''Leave Me Alone''

''Leave Me Alone'' is another one of Michael Jackson's 'cry outs' to the media which is from one of Michael Jackson's most successful albums ''Bad'', which features five of his number one hits including ''Bad'', ''The Way You Make Me Feel'', ''Dirty Diana'', ''Smooth Criminal'' and ''Man In The Mirror''. However, ''Leave Me Alone'' was released outside the US and Canada showing Michael perceived the effect it would have on the media in the United States. The video of the song surrounds some of the ''false'' rumours made about him in the media including the nickname given to him ''Wacko Jacko'', which implied Michael Jackson was becoming more and more detached from society which Michael stated the name deeply offends him and added his name is Michael Jackson, and not ''Wacko Jacko'', the video also shows Michael's pet chimp ''Bubbles'', showing a newspaper article with the headline 'Michael confides to chimp' which emphasized Michael's close relationship with the animal. At the beginning of the video, a high angle shot was used to show several more headlines referring to some of the rumours said about him including Michael's diet 'Michael's space-age diet', his close friendships with actresses Elizabeth Taylor, Brooke Shields and singer Diana Ross 'Michael proposes to Liz', 'Michael to marry Brooke' and 'Michael and Diana same person', the cosmetic surgery he recently had 'Michael's cosmetic nose surgery', and references to Michael's ''alien'' side of him 'Jackson's third eye starts sunglass fad' and 'Michael weds alien'. The video also talks about the widely spread rumour of how Michael Jackson slept in a hyperbaric oxygen chamber in his home in the Neverlands to slow down his ageing process. The rumour started after a picture was took by an unknown person while Michael was testing out the chamber in a hospital he visited. The worst rumour which was made was how people believed that Michael offered to buy Joseph Merrick's (The Elephant Man) bones, after visiting the London School for Doctors viewing the remains of Joseph Merrick's bones and having watched the film about him saying that The Elephant Man reminded him of himself after in the film, in one scene he shouts out 'Leave me alone, I'm not an animal, I'm a human being', also Michael Jackson mimics this by dancing with bones in the music video. The music video exaggerates the rumours by the mise en scene turning Michael Jackson’s life into an amusement park, which towards the end, a long shot was used to reveal a giant version of Michael breaking free, implying he’s had enough. Also medium shots were used alongside long shots showing Elizabeth Taylor, Bubbles, and several other things evolving around the allegations made against him. The editing used shots following Michael around the amusement park revealing different things in relation to Michael Jackson's life. The song ‘They Don’t Care About Us’ is a more direct attack on the government rather than the media as he talks about a former president: Roosevelt, and a leader from the African American civil rights movement: Martin Luther King.

Michael Jackson - ''Bad''

The ‘Bad’ song is one of Michael Jackson’s highest selling video’s from his 3rd solo album ‘Bad’. In the video of the song, Michael Jackson recreates a true story from which he read from a newspaper. The story was about a young teenager living in America who grew up in the ‘ghetto’. After high school, he was lucky with the grades he achieved, to go to one of the best colleges in the country, in which had the chance to move out of the ‘ghetto’, which he did. During the summer break, the boy returned home to his single mother and his three best friends who were also gang members. As his friends were jealous due to his academic success, his friends shot him dead. In the ‘Bad’ video, the boy ends up surviving in which Michael plays the young boy, he was peer pressured into mugging an innocent old man by his three friends which one of them was played by Wesley Snipes. Michael lets the man run away in the video and is approached by one of his friends, whom is played by Wesley Snipes which Michael Jackson screams ‘You ain’t bad! You aint nothin’! I’ll show you whose bad!’. Michael then emerges into the trademark ‘Bad’ leather outfit which is based on a Rock ‘n’ Roll theme shown by a low angle shot, as he intended to use a mixture of rock elements and R ‘n’ B. In the video, Michael Jackson’s intention was to show young people who’s bad, he shows this by including dance moves from street dance, to ballet, to body pop and more. This was shown by the use of high angle shots, long shots and medium shots. There were also shots tracking back, following Michael's movement during dance routines. The editing cut shots to match Michael Jackson's dancing, following him around the subway, showing off his different dancing styles. The mise en scene of the underground subway emphasized the unknown talent around the country. Michael requested Prince to star alongside him in the video but Prince refused due to disagreement of ideas, this was to emphasize the rock theme of the video. The question ‘who’s bad’ is aimed at young gang members who think they’re ‘bad’, which Michael tries to change the meaning by saying ‘I’m bad’ referring to the talent young people have, to which they’re the ones who are really ‘bad’. At the end of the song, Michael Jackson goes acapella which he repeats the lines ‘Who’s bad’ and ‘You’re doin’ it wrong’ with his back up dancers including Daniel Jefferson, an artist who is most famous for his song ‘Shalamar Nights’ who was the first music artist to publicly do the moonwalk on television, adding to the talent involved in the video. After this, Michael then shakes hands with the boy who is played by Wesley Snipes which denotes his success of getting his point across to his friends to 'who's bad'. Our intention is to put across an important point through our media production that ‘They Don’t Care About Us’, however, in a different approach than the ‘Bad' video.

Michael Jackson - ''They Don't Care About Us''

We are recreating one of Michael Jackson's most controversial videos and songs: 'They Don't Care About Us' which is from his 5th solo album HIStory:Past, Present and Future. He created two versions of the video, the first version was banned due to footage of violence as it was seen to damage the government’s reputation, which Michael then decided to shoot the video in Rio de Janeiro, where he filmed shots of poverty in the streets of Brazil. The government attempted to ban the second version but was unsuccessful as there was no violence screened. Both videos aimed to indirectly blame the government for the injustices served within the world as he refers to two iconic legends: Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Martin Luther King, as he states that if they were both living, they wouldn't let it be. Michael also uses two words which are seen to be offensive to the Jewish Community: 'Jew me' and 'Kike me', this resulted in Michael Jackson having to write apologies within his album material but later stated in his defence that he refers to himself as the person being called the ‘Jew’ and the ‘Kike’ as some of his closest friends including Uri Geller and David Gest are Jewish. Our main aim is to interpret Michael Jackson’s lyrics and express the meaning to how it would be interpreted within this country, using a contrast of shots including homeless people: referring to the welfare state, to business people: implying the government only care for the middle class. We also intend to express words which Michael Jackson addressed to the audience, that this is how the media and the government made him feel. The words include ‘aggravation’, ‘police brutality’, ‘trepidation’, ‘free liberty’, ‘speculation’ and ‘segregation’. We also are expressing the racist words, however, are intending to make clear, who is being called the ‘Jew’, and the ‘Kike’. Overall, our intention is to raise awareness to how the media and the government have the power to victimise people, how they can use defamatory statements through the press, and ask the question: who do they really care for?