UNI BRIEF: “Woke Up This Morning”

Being a huge Alabama 3 fan, I’ve always wanted to do something illustrative with their music. Particularly their most popular hit, Woke Up This Morning. You may recognise the tune as being the theme from cult TV drama The Sopranos.

The song, which is written and played by the “sweet-goddamn-motherf*cking-country-acid-house” band (quoted from the band itself) is about domestic violence. The darker underlying theme of a woman standing up against an abusive figure is not obvious at first, but becomes clearer after a few listens.

The song can be found here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bShnWzFcDas

The video is a “working model” of the “animation” (though it’s not strictly an animation – thank god) which I plan to put together over the next few weeks. The “animation” will consist of still illustrations, with elements of each still altered at each frame to suggest a very basic movement. For example, the opening scene – we’ll see a clock ticking. There will be one still of a clock, but for those four or five seconds of movement, only the hands will be moved to suggest ticking. When the woman applies lipstick – there will be no smooth movement. Just two or three stills to visually explain the process of applying lipstick. The collection of stills will suggest a broader theme of sequence and routine. Until the woman picks up and drops a revolver into her handbag, we (the viewers) won’t think anything unusual of the narrative.

The sequence will be full of sex appeal and classic American culture. Icons such as Jim Beam whiskey, Marlboro Red cigarettes and bright red lipstick will be placed throughout the video. Not to advertise. To help construct the theme surrounding my “obsession.”

Digital photomontage. The clock is a stock photo, the cigarettes and coins are from my own photography. I originally put this together to create a composition of a bedside table which I could later draw from – but I actually quite like the disjointed deconstruction and the colour difference