Plot and narrative work for the music video

Each of the members of our group looked individually at the lyrics of Cyanide and formed their own opinions on the evolution of the storyline and how best to interpret this in the video to accompany the music. We then worked in collaboration with each other to produce the final storyline. Whilst considering this storyline, we kept in mind Andrew Goodwin's theory on music videos, in order that our video would conform to his points.
The opening scene will involve an attractive, well dressed male entering the pub and ordering himself a drink. In punk rock music videos, clothing is often of dark colours and we will use a dark shirt and trousers for this male character. He is handed the menu by a female who is out of shot in order to keep her identity hidden. She is in fact the ex-girlfriend. There is a close-up shot of a cyanide pill being dropped into his drink. Andrew Goodwin's theory states that intertextuality is often used in music videos. We used Agatha Christie's film, Sparkling Cyanide, as partial inspiration for our video.

The video cuts to a scene of the band playing in an underpass linking the band and the lyrics to the storyline. Punk rock videos are often filmed in urban locations and so we used this underpass to fit in with this convention. The walls are covered with graffiti.
The band will be wearing black jeans, and leather jackets which will follow the conventions of punk rock bands as seen in various artists and bands, for instance Green Day.
Andrew Goodwin's theory states that there is a succint relationship between the music and the visuals in a music video and we will strive to achieve in our video. An example of this would be the drop of cyanide in the drink which links to the lyrics '...'


We are taken back to the storyline through a flashback scene of the male being introduced by his girlfriend, the female who handed him the menu in the previous shot, to one of her friends. The new female and the male are instantly attracted to one another. The scene cuts to show the male and the new girl dancing and flirting at a house party with the ex-girlfriend looking on. The band is playing in the background linking the lyrics to the scene. Andrew Goodwin states that women are often portrayed in a voyeuristic manner in music videos. We will follow this convention as both girls will be dressed in short sexy dresses to appeal to a male audience. 
A mid-shot scene in a living room shows the male and the ex-girlfriend arguing and he walks out leaving her crying.
The story returns to the pub and shows the ex-girlfriend working behind the bar. We see her glare at him as she hands him the menu. She returns to the bar and takes a cyanide pill which she puts into his drink. A close up shot shows him sipping at his drink while she looks on with enjoyment.
As he falls to the ground the new girlfriend walks in and screams.
All of these scenes are linked together by shots of the band performing.
Our video will contain many close-up shots of the artists and their instruments to conform to the conventions of a music video.
-Peter Godwin-