#as usual this is primarily vibes/metaphorical :3

[abyssalmermaiden]

… Dark chambers of my mind Locked around the neck of my love None of you understand And it doesn't matter To a broken marionette like me!

bonus Amon solo shots:

[sdcuevas16]

Crafting a Storyboard for the Analog Horror Becoming Filipino

Creating a great story necessitates thorough planning, especially when dealing with complex topics. In the case of "Becoming Filipino," an analogue horror web video series, creating a storyboard was a critical step in bringing the creepy and thought-provoking story that dives into the fears linked with Filipino identity to life.

This blog post will walk you through my process of producing the storyboard for this one-of-a-kind series.

"Becoming Filipino" storyboarding was a complex but engaging process that required me a precise approach to capture the core of the storyline. Here's a thorough summary of how I approached this task:

Understanding the Theme To begin this creative journey, I wanted to completely understand the overarching concept of "Becoming Filipino," which explored the fears linked with Filipino identity. This required me to thoroughly dive into the complexities of Filipino culture and society, covering a wide range of themes ranging from socio-political challenges to deeply rooted social norms.

Research: To understand the multifaceted nature of Filipino identity and the issues that the community encounters, I began by conducting comprehensive research.

Story Conceptualization: I worked closely with the series' writers, particularly Collie Arellano for PSA 1 and 3 and Nico Booc for PSA 2, to incorporate these research findings into a coherent narrative concept based on their written plot, ensuring that the overall story was consistent with the intended theme. 2. Creating Symbolism The message of analogue horror is primarily reliant on symbolism. The next phase was to come up with creative ways to illustrate the country's problems using supernatural elements. This necessitated careful study of how each scene, character, and visual aspect would contribute to the symbolism of the narrative.

Metaphor Exploration: When creating the "Becoming Filipino" storyboard, I used metaphors and symbols to depict the complicated difficulties that Filipinos experience such old film footage, glitches, and deformities of elements. Metaphors were picked with care to complement the main theme, making the story dense and informative while maintaining the unpleasant vibe of analogue horror.

Visual Design: Working with other artists in the group, I helped create visual pieces that reflected these metaphors and guaranteed their seamless integration into the storyboard. 3. Balancing Horror and Social Commentary One of the most challenging part was balancing the scary components with the underlying societal critique. The storyboard had to guarantee that the terror was kept to a minimum, allowing the significant societal lessons to come through.

Tone Setting: I collaborated extensively with the writers and other members of the group, and consult them on a regular basis, to ensure that the horror element would not overshadow the narrative's societal commentary in the storyboard.

Narrative Flow: I painstakingly structured the scene sequence to preserve a harmonious flow, just to make sure that the narrative shifted smoothly from moments of anxiety to periods of reflection. 4. Eliciting Emotional Responses To explain the horror part of the series, the storyboard had to focus on creating sequences that elicited powerful emotional responses without falling to the usual horror tropes.

Emotional Arcs: I created emotional arcs for each character and scene to ensure that the audience felt an array of emotions, from discomfort to empathy.

Visual and Auditory Cues: I worked with our team's sound designers, Airam and Paler, to generate visual and auditory cues that would elicit the required emotional responses in the viewer, all while keeping the disturbing atmosphere of analogue horror.

The storyboard for "Becoming Filipino" was a difficult but enjoyable task for me. It definitely required me to digest the selected genre, underlying ideas, and target audience. As I worked on the storyboard, it became clear that "Becoming Filipino" is more than just a web-video series; it's a deep dive into Filipino identity and the horrors that go along with it.

My Storyboard Outputs

PSA 1

PSA 2

PSA 3

[lystelle]

why cassandra is the traitor- not adira

now before y’all hit me with the “but adira!!” hear me out. as we know, adira has been set up as a morally ambiguous, wandering individual who doesn’t seem to have much to lose since we met her. the very first time we meet her, she attacks raps and cassandra for kicks. just about everyone in the gang gets off untrustworthy, even ‘villainous’ vibes from adira. even later on, after multiple encounters with adira (including ones where she helped the group get out of trouble!) not much has changed, not made better by hector’s warning about her.

now you would think that, for being set up this long as someone who is untrustworthy, adira is the traitor. but that’s too easy. it’s too predictable, if it happened, we wouldn’t be surprised- and we know that the tangled crew too well to expect something so obvious. 

adira is the red herring.

what we know about tangled antagonists:

quickly looking back at varian in early season 1, we had a lot of material to warn us of his antagonist/villain potential. this is important. first, pre-existing weakness/personality traits. his alchemy was shown to be unstable, and so was he- unwilling to back down or accept his mistakes. he wanted to be successful. second, imagery and foreshadowing, primarily being the first appearance with his mask and coat in ‘what the hair’. third, and most importantly, the means/reasoning to turn into an antagonist. varian’s poor relationship with his disappointed father (who he lost shortly right before everything went downhill) which would later be exploited and lead to his breakdown.

cassandra’s resentment:

cassandra, throughout her entire life, has been pushed down, overshadowed, patronized, and in general, not seen as capable of the things she clearly is skilled at. the most obvious of these things being her swordfighting ability (throughout the show), strong leadership/independence (finally put to the test in ‘secret of the sundrop’) and skill in disarming enemies (as seen in ‘under raps’). cassandra has the capability to be a captain of the guard possibly even greater than her father. in the first season we are shown her being forced instead to work as a lady in waiting, put down during ‘challenge of the brave’ as simply ‘rapunzel’s handmaiden’, and at the slightest mistake, rejected from chances to ascend as a guard. 

“to you this was just a fun way to blow off a saturday but to me, this was my chance to show everyone that i am more than just your lady-in-waiting. and just when i thought i might even get the slightest bit of respect... never mind.”

not until the finale does corona truly see her shine as a leader and soldier, and even then, she is overshadowed by rapunzel. 

in both the first and second season, cass bickers and fights with rapunzel quite a bit, she is smug when she’s right, and bitter when she’s wrong. rapunzel showed up out of nowhere after 18 years and has already garnered more acclaim than cass has ever had, simply because she’s back home, whereas cass had to work her whole life to get a small sliver of respect. during S2’s midseason, ‘rapunzel and the great tree’, cassandra gets her hand severely burned by touching rapunzel during the reverse incantation, when she was a second away from stopping the vines herself with the spear. that burn, though not directly rapunzel’s intention, was still her fault for not trusting cass to save the day on her own. not only did she steal cassandra’s spotlight again, but she literally physically injured her. i think this is a kind of metaphor for the severe damage rapunzel causes, without directly intending it, to cassandra.

they try to talk once later about it, but to no awry; when rapunzel tries to help her injured hand, cassandra pulls away and says she’s fine when she clearly isn’t. later in ‘rapunzel: day one’, they talk about it again, arguing, cass clearly not accepting rapunzel’s reasoning for the tree incident, and at the end, they don’t say sorry and full get over it. cass admits that she’s “still mad” at her, and that she’s going to be for a while, though not forever. her tone shows that she doesn’t know if she can forgive rapunzel so easily, especially after all the past wrongs they’ve never even addressed. the writers are very obviously sending strong messages of resentment and bitterness building in cassandra, more than ever before, indicating to me that a tipping point is very near, especially with the finale coming up.

let’s review my three points for building up an antagonist from earlier, this time with cassandra.

#1: pre-existing weakness/personality traits

though she shows warmth occasionally and sometimes even apologizes for her actions, cass in general gives off a morally ambiguous vibe throughout the entire series. she lies to varian and others without batting an eye, disobeys orders from the king, and can be quite violent and threatening to members of her own court. (it also doesn’t help that her design and color palette are quite dark and shadowy, but i digress.) when given the opportunity to win and proceed in her path to recognition, she takes it, rarely regarding the impact on others.

#2: imagery and foreshadowing

she literally has an entire ‘i want’ song about how bad she wishes people would see her and respect her (‘waiting in the wings’), and give her the chance to shine, but she is never given the chance. past trends of ‘i want’ songs in disney usually lead later to some sort of chaotic ‘answer’ to the need, as pointed out by many already. 

cassandra also appeared in a ‘nightmare’ vision to rapunzel during ‘rapunzeltopia’, surrounded by green flame and especially villainous if compared to the other nightmares presented to her at the time. she is angry and bitter. “you did this to me rapunzel. it’s all because i FOLLOWED YOU.” the emphasis on ‘followed you’ is especially interesting to me. is she tired of following rapunzel’s lead? maybe even corona’s lead?

#3: the means/reasoning to turn into an antagonist

i thought this over after the aforementioned ‘rapunzeltopia’ especially. cass made it clear she hasn’t gotten over her anger. she’s covered in armor now, metaphorically and physically. when she wandered into that door in the shell house, we don’t know what happened to her, but what we do know is that whatever was inside was able to convince her to abandon her friends (who were trying to save rapunzel’s life!!) and that, as far as i can tell, is a major red flag. when she emerged from that door, clearly winded, the very first thing she did was scowl at rapunzel in a very menacing, bitter way.

whatever or whoever she saw in that place, it obviously changed something. i do think it’s the real cass who came out of that door, but she has been tampered with. whether it was a vision of her future, a person who told her her skills were more valued by zhan-teri, or someone who wanted her working in the dark kingdom, a lot of things could have happened to sway her allegiance. i don’t specifically think she’d hurt her friends, but she doesn’t feel so inclined to help them at the moment either. maybe she saw something that told her to stop rapunzel from reaching the opal, and she believed that she needed to protect the group from it. she has, of course, always taken the secondary option to save the group (think back to the spear in the great tree).

to close:

all this to say that cass has the buildup, unsolved resentment, and skills to pose a threat to the group. we know that ONE member of the party will turn against them. the finale is drawing very close. and only ONE member fits the formula of a twist antagonist that tangled used last season. that’s cassandra.

will this be for forever? of course not. i see this being a major plot thread in the finale and being resolved later in season 3, it would make an excellent storyline for rapunzel to deal with and add a lot of angst (which we all love). 

however, for the time being, cassandra made it clear she’s constantly ‘left waiting in the wings’, and the next opportunity that comes for her to prove herself might not have been from corona.

[yououghtaknow]

5, 29 and 30? Also, I read all four seasons of Skam Brighton over quarantine and it was fantastic! The changed storylines were so refreshing and I’m so excited for season 5 💛

hi!!!!! thank you so much for asking and thank you so much for reading <3.

29. which version (og + adapts) does yours most closely resemble?

hmm. well i would say skam austin, definitely, as a western english speaking remake. also with the dance team/theatre club vibes and the music aspect. also skam españa, definitely, with the centring of the girls' stories and just the beautiful friendship tone of it all, which is what i really wanted to get across. also some druck in there, with the realism and fixing the trans wrongs they did. and alistair fletcher has the drama of skam france, just as a character. what do these remakes all have in common? canon wlw. which was the main thing i wanted to write in this remake. skambr has 11 canon named wlw characters who have all played major-to-minor roles in the plot of each season, with 5 of them being members of the girl squad and three of them being mains and having wildly different experiences with their attraction to women because you can’t sum up the lgbt experience with just one person.

30. free choice! just give us some fun facts about it!

fun fact: i have never physically been in brighton. i would like to be one day, but i will most likely not get there before the series finishes.

second fun fact: i was originally planning to write a skam remake set in derry, northern ireland before i wrote skam brighton. that idea has morphed into something else that i plan to write, but it is a fun fact!!

and now. the big one.

5. what are some iconic soundtrack moments?

here we go lads, seasons 3 and 4, like promised.

season three

tw for discussion of mental illness and suicide, drug abuse and violence throughout.

trailer

WE START OFF!!!! WITH A BANGER!!! "tainted love" by soft cell. it’s an iconic 80s banger that we all know and love, about a toxic relationship, and we see a type of favourite character that is niche to me (the guy with perfectionism/parental issues who did some fucked up stuff in a piece of media who not a lot of people like). it’s jake baby. it’s about him living his life and being like “i feel like i have to run away from all of this” (a sentiment which shall be echoed later on). and jake with all of his different masks…….. i was ahead of my time.

episode one

we open with “say amen (saturday night)” by panic! at the disco which is. kind of yikes now, but the song does have the vibes i desired for the opening scene. a party-esque banger. lyrics like “i pray for the wicked on the weekend / mama, can i get another amen?” for the catholic imagery and mommy issues. also panic! is known throughout history to be an lgbt band. 

then we get “get out of my head” by redlight”, just for the mental illness of it all. also it has been said that i do love a good party song with deeply depressing lyrics about the main playing in the background <3. 

and then we get me ripping off druck with “idontwannabeyouanymore” by the theorist playing because i just wanted to use a piano cover of the song because silence with just instrumental is just very dynamic and mentally ill. 

and then we meet eleanor with “insane” by sonny fodera and biscits, which is basically just the lyrics “girl you make me go insane” because. well. you hate to see it folks, but we gotta foreshadow the internalised ableism and the hating one woman as a treat.

and to close off a very music filled first clip, we got “drive” by halsey, a staple of tumblr culture back in the day because it is just like “all we do is think about the feelings that we hide”. literally when you are gay and alone and are just so desperate for someone to see you but also so deeply afraid of it because that means change coming <3 

AND THEN!!!! we meet the love of my life ms christine love as she hums “express yourself” by madonna as she cleans the house. i wanted to give christine a lot of 80s music in her scenes, to show that she’s living in the past in regards to jake’s dad. also it’s just a good song, “you gotta make him express how he feels” is me writing any of the characters having dialogue.

AND THEN BABY!!!!!!!!!!! we get a moment i love so deeply. “mama who bore me/reprise” by the sweet signatures. an all female acapella cover of the iconic spring awakening song. this song has everything - heavy metaphor about sex, wanting your mum to tell you shit, catholic imagery, teen angst, amazing belting. we get the slow part as jake is alone and just trying to work out how to help his mum, and then get the ANGRY BANGER as jake goes out to play with his dogs to get his frustrations out, because at the end of the say, all of these characters are still kids <3

then we get “young (club mix) by jaded because i just wanted kind of boring straight party music for the bryan and rory scene. 

BECAUSE THEN LGBT COMMUNITY!!!!! we get jake’s dramatic walk down the hallway as “somebody to love” by queen plays. it’s about the catholicism, it’s about the being gay, it’s about the being so fucking lonely and just wanting somebody!!!!! also the parallel between jake’s lonely scene with “somebody” playing and liz’s crowded scene with “nobody” playing…. it’s about mentally ill people being different but also the same <3

AND. NOW. THE MOMENT I’VE BEEN WAITING FOR. we meet Him. the most valid theatre kid rep in the world. mr alistair thomas fletcher, who enters our lives singing “shallow” from a star is born under his breath as he washing his hands. once again, i’m ahead of my time. but also the first lines al sings are, metaphorically, him talking to jake. like “aren’t you tried trying to fill that void / or do you need more”. and then we begin a piece of foreshadowing most pleasing to me. alistair in season 3 and the recurring motif of falling, which will climax at the end of episode 10. also foreshadowing of his experiences with bipolar disorder with “in all the good times i find myself longing for change / and in the bad times i fear myself”. and we also begin the motif of jake interrupting al’s singing. 

(you may be thinking, isaac tumblr user nickhealy, you’re putting a lot of thought into this. that’s because out of all of the characters, al’s the one who never really expresses himself with his words or actions - he usually expresses himself primarily through music, which is a very fun and autistic thing of me to write.)

(also, the og episode 1 bench scene did make me feel very. not good as a gay trans guy, with all the talk of penises and such. it’s just very sexy of me to change it to al talking loudly about ballet and elton john. and then we get jake up on the balcony and al down yelling up at him. because i have literally never referenced anything subtly in my life)

and we end with “how does it feel” by m-22. like: “how does it feel when your walls fall down /  how does it feel when you're lost and found / how does it feel / it's the sweetest sound”. like it’s about jake meeting al, king of not being Good At Social, fletcher, and instantly being like “yes, husband material, thank you”.

episode two

(yes, this episode is titled after the gay hsm song. yes i’m a genius)

we open, as all good things do, with a fun homoerotic punk song with catholic imagery “east jesus nowhere” by green day. it’s just jake being like “i am Trying to find the instagram of a cute guy outside of church, love being a sinner”.

and now we see the beginnings of Sad Boy Jake, with “it’s ok, i wouldn’t remember me either” by crywank. we got “i am looking for an easy place / to mask my thoughts behind my face” and “i can hide from friends but i cannot hide from you” because he’s gay and he has depression. 

AND THEN!!!! we get “i like you” by dandelion hands playing as he comments supportive things on the youtube video of al….. literally jacob love will see a pretty boy one time and be like “last time i had you i should have kissed you”. also his alternate name being jack valentine…. valentine and love ugh my brain is so big

AND THEN!!!!!!! slow mo time, with “bite” by troye sivan…… a gay classic, if i do say so. like it’s about jake seeing al casually walk past, being all prententious and out, and jake’s just like “please set me free and let me walk beside you” because of the gay experience of simutaneously wanting to be a person and kiss them.

and then we get “the daisy chain” by the growlers. “feeling pressure on every side” and “tired of waiting to be explained / weakest link in the daisy chain”. it’s just the vibes babe.

AND THEN!!!!!!!!!!!!! a brilliant moment in my bare a pop opera stanning career - we get jake watching a bootleg of bare 2004 as “role of a lifetime” from the show plays. literally one of the most gorgeous songs ever written, sung by matt doyle. like everything is an act when you’re pleasing everyone - which could be the tagline of skam brighton as a whole. also jake watching “see me” and beginning to tear up because he’s afraid to come out to his mother and get the same negative reaction….. and him watching “cross” and sobbing because he relates to jason so much and feels like he would also be better off dead than gay….. 

BUT AFTER THAT!!! we smash cut to al as jeremy in be more chill, singing the beginning of “more than survive”. absolute king shit!!!!! also, i don’t remember if it’s mentioned in canon, but eleanor is the person who plays the squip in this production of bmc, because i am not!! subtle!! with!! my!! metaphors!! 

and we return to sad boy jacob with “swear to god the devil made me do it” by the front bottoms, chosen because references to the devil and mommy issues <3

AND THEN!!!! A MOMENT OF GREAT FORESHADOWING!!! we get mister alistair fletcher practising alone in a theatre because he is dramatic, and jake walking in as he sings “broadway here i come” from smash. we got references to saints, we got hints at al’s anxiety, we got the falling motif coming back in a song explicitly about jumping off of a building, that also doubles as a song about wanting to do theatre….. also, al plays the last note wrong as a metaphor for al’s plan of suicide going well until the very end, where he ends up alive and goes home.

(side note, we also got the football team’s jackets and signature colours being black and white (straight pride flag colours babey) and then we see al in bright yellow. it also represents jake’s depression and al’s mania, the everything and the nothing of it all.)

AND THEN!!!! we get manic (in the most literal sense of the word) pixie dream boy al asking jake to dance with him to “movement” by hozier because. it’s literally just such a beautiful song. and jake is just watching al dance like “hm. no thoughts head empty just pretty boy”. also the scene itself is a reference to wicked, with jake doing an awkward and stilted dance and al taking it and turning it into something graceful (the glinda and elphie scene in dancing through life)

and then we get the return of blue neighbourhood with “youth” by troye sivan playing over a smoking montage with the boys, because they’re young, they’re gay, they’re vibing

AND THEN!!!! we get “talk” by hozier playing as the episode ends - a song that of course references orpheus and eurydice, as al also did in this clip with hadestown. it also plays over ellie talking because jake is just Ignoring her to pay attention to al. also the inherent homoeroticism of making eye contact while hozier plays

episode three

we open with “highway to hell” by ac/dc over a fun football montage of jake both playing the game and getting bored and checking out guys. it’s about the thinking he’s gonna go to hell for doing it but he literally Cannot Stop

AND THEN!!!!!! a moment. we get a performance of some of “all you wanna do” from six by al and ellie and their theatre kid friends as they rehearse for something at lunch and jake, bryan and rory watch them. ellie’s doing the whole flirty k howard thing, and not actually getting into the real feeling of the song, and the guy she’s dancing with it awkward as all fuck because he’s her cousin. so we get al stepping in and fucking going the fuck off. and we see how good of an actor al really is in this scene, as he’s legit scary. we also see ellie clearly having feelings towards al and him just being like “yep good acting! moving on!!!” because no thoughts just dance. also bryan and rory not understanding that the song is about assault and jake being genuinely concerned….. and then al and ellie’s kiss at the end as ellie “dies”..... god the real reason this show isn’t made is because i would be too powerful if i could make everyone see my theatre kid mischief.

AND ANOTHER MOMENT!!!! we get “like a prayer” by madonna playing as jake is living his life and taking some “am i gay” quizzes - the questions of which are comprised of actual am i gay quizzes i took to make the scene as legit as possible, and as a gay trans person. Did Not Like. Would Not Recommend. also jake admitting he’s gay to the quiz because he’s pissed about the concept of misgendering al….. also jake forcing himself to pick the straight options even though it’s emotionally hurting him…. and then we hear christine singing in the hallway “everyone must stand alone” because it’s jake pov at the time…..

AND SMASH CUT TO!!! fall out boy’s cover of “i wanna dance with somebody”, because at the last very gay house party “i wanna dance with somebody” played and i love a good parallel

AND THEN!!!!!! literally the hottest of all hot boy summer things, we get al and esther doing some karaoke at the house party with “don’t you want me” by the human league. (which, yes, is a glee reference.) THE LITERAL COURAGE OF THIS MAN!!!! alistair fletcher looked a closeted guy, who he has had three (3) interactions with in person, dead in the eye and was like “i know you want me”. as opposed to esther “just be her friend first and then see about anything else” montner and james “I Will Never Speak To You Again If You So Wish” cohen.

and then, because of course i did, we get “bad romance” by lady gaga playing over the next scene with the beginnings of the boy squad because it’s a gay house party and it’s a fucking banger for the ages

(also just the shift from al hot boy summer fletcher to al gay disaster fletcher with him running literally out of the house because he kissed a guy.)

“left handed kisses” by andrew bird and fiona apple plays after jake and al’s deep conversation outside. like jake’s really out here like “i don't believe everything happens for a reason” and “i don't go in for your star-crossed lovers / in the heart of a skeptic / there's a question that still hovers near” because al info dumped about his love for adaptation of romeo and juliet…. (side note, al is definitely an & juliet stan, as everyone should be, stream & juliet <3)

episode four

we open with a song i discovered when i was in a community theatre rip off version of cats, “the show” by lenka. it’s about a song about indecision in the middle of a church before confession, because jake can’t actually confess to the sins he believes to be true. it’s about the “'cause it's too much, yeah it's a lot to be something i'm not”.

And then we fade to “pink + white” by frank ocean (because mlm rights), and just like “you showed me love / glory from above / good glory, dear / it's all downhill from here” is a very al/jake line. also it’s a bop for a little football montage.

AND THEN!!!! on halloween, we get a little montage of jake dancing to “paradise by the dashboard light” by meatloaf as he makes himself a sandwich - it’s literally about just being happy and having a nice time. and also jake dancing to more old timey music because he’s going up to his parents’ old room and he’s also living in the past a little, with his childish snack and playful dancing.

(also, the phone call where al just infodumps about bare and jake’s listening and asking questions <3 it’s about the autistic love and friendship yet again)

and then we get “i’m so tired…” by lauv and troye sivan as we arrive at the very awkward ellie/jake/al pre drink, because Is Jake Not So Tired Of This Heterosexual Bullshit He Must Do.

(also, it is my personal headcanon, and therefore canon, that al convinced ellie to go with the angel and devil costumes so that he could pull up in his leo-as-romeo get up and live out his baz luhrmann esque fantasy).

AND THEN LGBT NATION!!!! we get “run away with me” by ms crj as jake and al literally run away from the party after al got misgendered and Pissed. it’s about the using romance and whimsy as an escapism from your shitty life, it’s about the being the in darkness and occasionally getting hit by the street light, it’s about the “i’ll be your sinner in secret”, it’s about the bare connotation with the “run away with me” parallels. it’s also about the song being one of the best songs ever written.

(and then we get the wedding, which, before i get into the song, is a reference to So Many Things. we got west side story with the fake wedding and first kiss, we got hadestown with al making the wedding rings from nature (a la wedding song), we got bare with wedding bells and the dream wedding, and in the scene, we get some vineyard scene from spring awakening vibes, with the discussion of the future and religion and philosophy…… quite literally i love art so much)

and then. ladies. a piece of writing written in Peak tender tumblr. al and jake have the kiss of their wedding to “pink in the night” by mitski. it’s literally about the “i know i kissed you before but / i didn’t do it right / can i try again?” of it all. like jake love voice “i glow pink in the night in my room / i’ve been blossoming alone over you”. the repression, the pining…………. i am such a talented man.

and then we end with a doctor who reference, with al saying “run”, taking jake’s hand and the two of them running out of the church as “run away with me” comes back in. it’s literally about al taking jake out of his dull life and helping him find his own happiness. it’s also about the inherent autistic culture of relating to aliens.

episode five

WE! OPEN! WITH! a song about being gay and falling in love with someone immediately after meeting them - “share your address” by ben platt. a bop for the ages. it makes me so happy, it’s a great “early stages of a relationship honeymoon stage” montage song.

(also, i just really love the detail i put in about al’s binder, because the cuddle scene with david and matteo in druck did make me worried because david was wearing his binder. like i understand why he wore it for the actor’s comfort but just the thought of sleeping in a binder…… terrible. awful. pain beyond my wildest dreams.)

(also also, al saying he couldn’t get on hormones because of “problems with his heart” is a lie, because he means because of his mental health, which is based on personal experience babey)

and then we get an iconic skam song: “talk show host” by radiohead plays as jake sits in the back of a drama club meeting, isolating himself. it’s literally about the “i want to be someone else or i’ll explode” of it all. 

and then we get “rock and roll” by led zeppelin as jake walks his dogs - just because it seems like the kind of song jake would like and it just vibed with the whole scene.

(also, the clip where jake texts al at the beginning of it and then asks bree about her family….. literally i’m so good at foreshadowing)

AND THEN!!!!! WE GET THE ICONIC!!! “involuntary teenage rebel” by clout from grandma’s closet plays as we get a jake solo slow mo. literally they were right when they said “they say i'm a teenage rebel / but i'm really just afraid of how i come across to others / and it bothers me when i look weak”. like that’s just another skam statement line babey. also it’s genuinely such a good song and literally helped inspire me to do more songwriting…. stream it 

and then we get “heaven” by avicii, chosen purely for the title being “heaven” because christianity centric season.

AND THEN!!!!! we get jake asking al to come save him from the shitty party, and al says “wait for me, i’m coming”, an obvious hadestown reference, and when he arrives, he’s singing the “la la la la la la la”s from the show. it’s because the party - where bryan, rory and ellie are - is, in al’s mind, hell, and he’s going to save jake from it. 

and then, because, as mentioned, the way al express his true feelings is through Music, we get al trying to comfort jake by playing him a song - “you matter to me” from waitress (put a pin in waitress, i’ll get back to it later). the inherent homosexuality in “come out of hiding i’m right here beside you / and i’ll stay there as long as you’ll let me”. also it’s just about mattering to someone. like, for the first time in his life, jake has someone who’s saying “i love you, you matter, i will be here for you” and he just needed that So Much. 

episode six

AND WE SMASH CUT IMMEDIATELY TO!!! “london boy” by taylor swift, a campy and beautiful bop!!!! because al Is from london and he Is a boy!!! (also, fun fact, i was going to make al be from ireland originally, but then someone in the skambr discord said this song should be used in a scene, and i was like “okay, fuck it, london time”)

(also, you can subtly see al’s mania in the london boy scene, with him coming up with quick ideas, clearly having very low anxiety through the past few episodes, and just taking off his shoes and going for a walk in a park in november…..)

and then we get “landslide” by fleetwood mac as jake lies in his dead dad’s bed. it’s really about the “can the child within my heart rise above? / can i sail through the changing ocean tides?” and about the grieving as a child and your mental health getting worse while you’re still so young and you feel like the world’s on your shoulders and you’re both an adult and a child at once……

and then……. we get “class of 2013” by mitski after christine has her breakdown and jake packs his things to run away. it’s about both of them dealing with their grief by pretending it never happened and having all of that build up inside of them until they can’t take it anymore. And i see the lyrics of “mom i’m tired / can i sleep in your house tonight?” in this specific situation as jake being tired of his father’s constant presence and he just wants to be in a house with his mother the way he remembered her before his father died. 

(and, sidenote, this is one of the saddest scenes i’ve ever written, in my opinion…...with jake being like “she’s so crazy, but i’m nothing like her” because he’s in denial of his own mental health issues and al seeing him saying that as “oh, he’ll see that i’m crazy too and want to leave”...... and al says his final goodbye to jake, using his full name, because he assumes jake will never want to speak to him again, but jake has no idea……..)

(also, jake parroting bryan’s words of “gay marriage is legal, so everything is fine” in the pride clip……. God. and the way jake’s internalised homophobia and ableism manifests in the same harmful way….)

and then we get “don’t threaten me with a good time” by panic! At the disco as they boy squad rolls up to the party in the park. it’s just a party song. no deeper meaning lads.

and then we get jake in the bathroom having a little breakdown (as a treat) to “Give me novacaine” by green day. it’s just about the using alcohol and drugs to cope with your poor mental health because you have no other quick way to make it all better. It’s about about jake trying both to numb himself and to force himself to feel something, but neither one of those things give him the results he wants.

episode seven

we open with another iconic and beautiful song: “life in italics” by clout from grandma’s closet babey. like jake love voice “all these troubles on my mind i’ve been lonely / building walls running from the old me”. thank you clout for literally writing some of the best lgbt music. 

AND THEN!!!!!!! a scene that brings me much joy. “gotta go my own way” from high school musical 2 plays in the other room as jake has a religious breakdown in a literal (storage) closet. and then al leaves the group chat and blocks jake…. like jake voice “another colour turns to grey / and it's just too hard to watch it all / slowly fade away”

and then we get “hello!” by role model as jake goes for a depressed jog and he sees bree out drinking with some random people. like “i never really talk much, keep it inside / to find someone who cares is getting harder to find / we should be dancing in the sun / it's hard when everything is numb”.

(also, at the end of that clip, we briefly shift from jake’s pov to al’s, as we see al filming in the park and he films jake running away…… do i know what this means metaphorically? not really. do i vibe hard with it? oh hell yeah)

AND THEN!!!! after jake and sandy have their beautiful conversation, we get “under pressure” by queen and david bowie, another older song, this time expressing jake’s joy as he finds some small solace with his younger self. it’s also just about the inherent homosexuality of the song and of sitting on the beach, eating chips with your best friend.

episode eight

WE BEGIN!!!! with a youtube video of ellie and al singing “wallflower” from we are the tigers. i chose this basically because i wanted to get more of a vibe of what their relationship is/was across, and also because i love the song (stream we are the tigers original off broadway cast recording). it’s also about the dynamic of the song being “shy introvert vs outgoing extrovert being very toxic friends”, and also about the ellie supporting al stuff, because she has canonically been there for him for years, just not in a very good way. also i wanted to write representation for the “had a very intense friendship with a girl pre-transition and then had a dramatic friend break up and now i’m a guy and feel disconnected from the whole thing, although it was quite homoerotic at the time” people. this scene also marked the beginning of my purely self indulgent musical number scenes, and be warned, this may the the first, but it is by no means the last.

and then it’s very music lite for the rest of the episode, until al returns, and jake’s like “hey, maybe you should stop talking to your toxic friend” and al responds by beginning to make out with him as “fuck time” by green day starts to play. the COMEDY of jake being like “seriously, i think--” and then all you hear is “OOH BABY BABY IT’S FUCK TIME”. skam brighton is a comedy show.

and then we get al “communicates through music and theatre references” fletcher beginning to sign the ASL translation of the bridge of “word of your body (reprise)” from spring awakening with jake - which is another Very tragic show - and al also literally says the line “and so you should”. and al responding to jake jokingly calling him insane by shutting him up with another kiss….. oh ladies.

episode nine

WE! OPEN! WITH! “love shack” by the b-52s as jake wakes up and sees james and al just having some Fun making breakfast in the kitchen. it’s just some boys being boys and having bants.

and then we get jake using al’s love language of music and singing “those magic changes” from grease, singing along to the jordan fisher and aaron tveit version because that song did assist in my gay awakening.

(also, al stanning female doctor pomatter in waitress and james stanning waitress as someone from an abusive household….. my mind.)

and now. we begin The Big Bad Clip. “why didn’t you stop me” by mitski plays over the beginning of jake and al’s london adventure. it’s literally about looking back on the scene as it happens in a montage and al being like “why didn’t you stop me from doing that”..... god.

(also, jake and al go to see waitress, which Has been played before, and it’s foreshadowing for how their relationship ends. jenna and jim’s relationship - the main couple of waitress - begins with them cheating on their parents and falling in love quickly in secret, but they know it’s not healthy for them to keep the relationship going, so agree to end things and part ways as friends who wish nothing but the best for each other.)

and then we get “oops! I did it again” by britney spears glee cast version, because it’s just really Sexy and Fun. also just the mentally ill experience of “oops! i did a manic episode again!”.

and then we cut between a piano version of “last night on earth” by green day, as jake sits alone in the hotel room, and “true trans soul rebel” by against me! as al walks down the streets of london, in a split pov, and then we see al having a full meltdown/breakdown in the middle of victoria station. like al voice in this scene “another night you wish you could forge, / making yourself up as you go along / who’s gonna take you home tonight? / does god bless your transsexual heart?”.

and then we get legit “last night on earth” by green day as jake walks away after ellie yells at him. just because it vibes so much.

episode ten

we open with “mystery of love” by sufjan stevens as jake walks down to al’s house, because it’s just a vibey song, and while i hate cmb//yn with the fury of a thousand suns, it Is a song written for mlm.

and then we get “better alone” by lykke li as jake researches al’s various diagnoses. and it’s just like “nobody wants to be the one to walk away / nobody wants to see the truth, then let it in, run away / nobody wants to know the ways they don't love you right” and then “i’m better alone than lonely”..... mr love

and then we get “let it be” by the beatles, a Very nostalgic old fashioned song with catholic themes and just big comforting and recovery vibes…. jake confessing his real feelings to the priest and then reuniting with christine in the church and hugging her tightly and they both agree on working on getting better….. 

and then we get to the talent show, where we see the end of ellie singing “on my own” from les mis - as jake did at the beginning of season one. is this foreshadowing? is it a coincidence? i honestly don’t know. i just chose it because basic theatre girl song.

AND!!!!! THEN!!!!!! we get the song that acts as al’s suicide note: “the goodbye song” by joe iconis (writer of be more chill and “broadway here i come” from smash). we get the return of the falling motif with “i’m flying away” and the lines that really act as what al imagines to be his final goodbye to everyone he knows, as everyone he knows and loves is in that building: “i'd stay if i could / but the universe won't let me / so please be good / and don't you forget me”, and then al turns the “aahs” at the end of the song from a catchy crowd pleaser ending to a long, painful scream as the audience slowly stops clapping, until the room is silent, and then he bows a la the emcee at the end of cabaret (a bow which is often viewed as a metaphor for the character’s death). it’s literally just al having a breakdown on stage, but he rolls a nat 20 on his performance check, and the audience are like “this is very good performance art”

we then get a flashback to “broadway here i come” because. i am a king of foreshadowing.

and then we get “wait for me” from hadestown (obc version) as jake runs to find al, and it’s about the role reversal of jake running to save al from something worse than al saving him for bryan. it’s about the repetition of “wait for me, i’m coming” because of the fear of “what if i get there too late?”

episode eleven

“a better son/daughter” by rilo kiley plays as jake looks through al’s two tumblr blogs - and the song simultaneously a very al and jake song. with the descriptions of depression and dealing with a mother with mental illness at the start, which are very jake, but then the lines “and sometimes when you're on, you're really fucking on / and your friends they sing along and they love you. / but the lows are so extreme that the good seems fucking cheap” are just the base character description for al.

and then we get “the archer” by taylor swift as jake goes into the school again…. like he has been the archer and he has been the prey, in regards to being gay (with him helping in outing sandy and being outed himself).....

(also, fun fact about the episode, it was originally written to be from al’s point of view, but then i decided against it and had to rewrite it, which is why there’s only 4 clips instead of the usual 5 or 6)

and then, lgbts, we get “the predatory wasp of the palisades is out to get us!” by sufjan stevens as jake walks his dogs  out on the beach and al goes to the beach to write his emo poetry…… also, fun fact, al’s poetry is the first time i’ve ever written poetry/lyrics that weren’t about me, which is very fun. 

and then!!!! at the beginning of the final clip, we got “footloose” by kenny loggins, the iconic bop from the film of the same name. just because it slaps and it’s a fun time.

(we also get some Foreshadowing with al referencing rent in this scene)

and then. transgender nation. we get “midnight radio” from hedwig and the angry inch playing over al and jake’s having fun and being dumb kids montage. 

i know riverdale made this song a meme, but it HITS. it’s about the al referencing origin of love in the cuddle clip, al saying “i laugh because i will cry if i don’t”, it’s about the “for the misfits and losers” and the “hold onto each other”. it’s literally about jake finding community and also wholeness and happiness in himself.

(also, jake talking about all the little soulmates and the fact that he believes that the boy and girl squads are all his soulmates in different ways…… and bree actually paying attention and showing some vulnerability at that point because she loves her friends so much!!!!!!!!!!)

season four

tw for discussion of sexual assault/rape, alcohol abuse and abortion throughout

trailer

lgbt community. we begins with the regrettes' cover of "don't stop me now" by queen because a) i think it's fun when women and b) it's about bree's mania that we've already seen throughout the seasons, this time from her perspective, and it's simultaneously a Fun Time and a Foreboding time.

episode one

we open with "hail mary, gentle woman" by the cathedral singers, which is literally just the prayer "hail mary", but a song. i chose this because catholic, women, and church time babey. also because it was always one of my favourite hymns growing up (because, in case you couldn't tell from half of the mains being raised catholic and lowkey fucked up because of it, i was raised catholic)

and then we SMASH CUT to "r u mine?" by arctic monkeys, a sad british teen staple, as we see bree wake up in josh's bed for the first time and take the "walk of shame" to get to church. it's about the "i go crazy 'cause here isn't where i wanna be", introducing the Mental Illness, bree's want to get out of where she's from and go to a good uni, and her literally not wanting to be in some strange guy's bed in one line. am I reading too much into this? hell yeah. but it's my show, so i can read as much as i want!!!! (also "satisfaction feels like a distant memory" is both about her depressive states and josh not being able to make her orgasm <3)

AND THEN!!!!!!!!!! we get "all i really want" by alanis morissette, the beginning of my season 4/jlp parallel hyperfixation. it's about bree kinning frankie healy and "do i stress you out?" being her @ audrey. and just bree voice "it would knock me to the floor if i wasn't there already / if only i could hunt the hunter". it's just a perfect teen angst song and it's perfectly grungy and brianna-y.

AND THEN!!!!! we get "kiwi" by harry styles playing as bree slow mos by herself down the street. it's about the just hot girl energy of the song and also the romanticization of unhealthy behaviour because that's bree, baby!!!! also we get more of the word "crazy" because of bree's internalised ableism, and we also get the chorus of "i'm having your baby, it's none of your business", foreshadowing her unplanned pregnancy done by josh, who we saw in the last scene.

AND THEN!!!!! we get "chandelier" by sia as bree and the girls have a fun party moment, but bree is still Fucked Up mentally by seeing annabell and also men being creepy. it's about the using alcohol and drugs to push away your feelings because you have a lot of trauma and have internalised ableism and have no idea how to get the help you need without being vulnerable, which terrifies you so So much. also we see that bree forgot to take her meds in this scene, which i couldn't explicitly say in the scene because spoilers, but it's a fun thing.

then we get dodie's cover of "when the party's over" by billie eilish because i like the soft piano vibes of it as bree walks home after the party, because we always see bree as "the party girl", but the party's over now and we see her petting her cat, making sure her brother's home safe, taking off all her makeup and pretty clothes, completely non sexualised, and just getting into bed to sleep because she's just So Tired. also it's about bree pretending she's happy on her own, but she's Not, she has a lot of self loathing and deeply loves her friends more than anything. also a bree/rori moment with "call me friend but keep me closer".

episode two

we open with an audition sequence!!!!! because i'm a theatre kid and love a good audition sequence!!!!

we get rori singing "sexy" from mean girls, because it's a very rori show (pink aesthetic, fun female characters, a funny time), and because it's a very maureen from rent song. also rori is just a very funny person and also has a sick high belt in my mind. also it's about her learning to like the way she looks, slowly but surely. it's also a song about changing who you are, which is a very skam brighton theme.

and then we get al singing "vienna" by billy joel, but the shortened version they did in smash, but he also plays the piano like ben platt in the politician because he's a basic white theatre boy. it's also just a beautiful song about growing up and maturing, and also "if you're so smart, then tell me why are you still so afraid?" is a very bree line. 

(also, the part where josh calls milo his "kid cousin" and then bree's like "yeah, milo's the same age as me" but josh ignores it…… creepy!!!!! bad!!!!!! also, side note, milo is canonically genderfluid and uses different pronouns depending on the day, which is why they change throughout the season.)

and then!!!! we get annabell singing "hallelujah" by leonard cohen, which is just a stunning song, we all know this. it's a song about faith and doubt and it's also a parallel to rori's happy go lucky song, which annabell's being slow and sad instead. also they're jewish and gay and lovely. and then the jeff buckley cover plays over the next scene because it's Good.

and then we get "feel it still" by portugal. the man as the girl squad text. it's just a fun song and the line "i'm a rebel just for kicks" is great from brianna "rebel girl by bikini kill" holland.

and then, swiftie nation, we get “new romantics” by taylor swift as bree agrees to go out with josh because she’s being self destructive. like the fact that she says yes to him as the line “we’re all bored / we’re all so tired of everything” plays say it all. and just the whole song is very bree core, as a whole, also it’s a really fucking good song. i am a 1989 (deluxe) stan.

and then we fade away with “vienna” by billy joel because it is such a good song god bless <3

episode three

WE!! OPEN!! WITH!!! “tik tok” by ke$ha because it is genuinely one of the best songs of our generation, and also it’s just a very shopping centre song. i don’t know why but it Is.

AND THEN!!!!!!!!! we get genuinely one of my favourite songs that i’ve been waiting to find the right scene for ever since i first heard it. “dog bite” by stella bridie is just genuinely a stunning song that really Gets bree’s character as a whole, especially the first lines “putting on lipstick in the bathroom at the doctor’s  / i got a party after this blood test”..... the whole Need to be perform feminity whilst doing something as simple as going to the doctor’s as bree draws herself and tries to make herself look perfect because she believes her only self worth comes from her body and just….. the vibes. immaculate.

and then we get “ophelia” by marika hackman, another beautiful song, as we see bree self destructively look through all of the cyber bullying that’s happened to her in the past as a way of emotional self harm. it’s just a genuinely depressing scene with a good song underscoring it.

but then we cut to rori and brianna out for a jog together - because both have issues with their self image, but also because they’re friends and like to do things together - as “it’s nice to have a friend” by taylor swift plays. it is a very homoerotic song, with a lot of childhood friends to lovers vibes, which is kind of what we’re going for here. they are both very deeply sad but also it is nice to have a friend and have someone there for you when you find out the cast list of the musical you auditioned for and you can hug them…….

and then!!!!! we get “...ready for it?” by taylor swift as we get another party sequence because it’s a fucking banger and also brianna is Very reputation as a person, which will be shown with some other taylor songs throughout the season. also it’s kind of a “are you ready for it?” for the Deeply Sad scene that follows the fun party sequence, because this is skam brighton, and i will always write scenes of people being sad outside/after parties.

episode four

we begin with “harlem” by new politics as bree, annabell and dean hang out at the shopping centre and fuck around in clarie’s. it’s about a funky song and about the recurring line of “like you, like me, like everybody else” of the three of them all having their mental illnesses in common and bree simultaneously feeling happy that she can be open about it, and deeply uncomfortable that she has to be open about it.

and then we get “crush on you” by elijah who as bree scrolls through instagram and looks at two pictures - one of annabell and one of rori and nick, and when she likes the picture of rori and nick, she literally taps over nick’s face so that she can just look at rori <3 it’s about the bree being a bicon.

and then we get the theatre club watching rent as a fun time!!!! we get tune up #1 and voicemail #1, just iconic numbers. we get theatre kid supreme al knowing all of the words, cool guy james doing his air guitar, and when the line “let her be a lesbian” is sung, we get annabell cheering and rori awkwardly looking away because she has internalised homophobia.

(side note, one of my favourite aspects of this season is that it’s a subversion of the past three, where we’ve seen sandy, liz and jake deal with their internalised struggles with their sexualities, but with bree and rori, rori’s the one dealing with her sexuality, while bree is in love with her quietly)

AND THEN!!!!! we open clip 5 with the iconic skam verse song “call your girlfriend” by robyn as the girl squad show up at a house party and bree and rori have a homoerotic moment

and then!!!!!!!!!!!! a moment of skamverse wlw solidarity, “blush” by rhiza plays as rori and bree kiss in the bathroom. a) because it’s a good song and b) because the whole “she's just a friend, you know, but sometimes yeah i wanna kiss her, uhm but that's just 'cause she's cute right? that don't make me gay, it's not like i like other girls like i only like her, i mean no, i'm not gay, right?” part is really summing up what rori’s going through in this scene. also the song is just a bree song. 

episode five

WE OPEN WITH!!!!!! an iconic moment, if i may say so myself. an iconic wlw song, “boyfriend” by marika hackman, plays over bree and nick out partying. like it opens with the lyrics: “i've got your boyfriend on my mind / i think he knows you stayed with me last night” and then we get “it's fine 'cause i am just a girl / ‘it doesn't count’”. i mean. come on.

we then get a snippet of “rent” from rent in a rehearsal, with the lines: “how do you leave the past behind / when it keep finding ways to get to your heart” and “how can you connect in an age / where strangers, landlords, lovers / your own blood cells betray / what binds the fabric together / when the raging, shifting winds of change / keep ripping away”, which all really relate to brianna with her trying to bury her past traumas and and how she struggles to connect and also struggles with change - and the reference to fabric in the line when she’s the person who does the costumes for the show.

and then we get “pynk” by janelle monae as bree and annabell go charity shopping together and have a nice time. It’s just a fun wlw song and i like it. also it’s boppy and happy and kind of dreamy to show how their relationship is very on the surface and not as deep as it once was and they’re not really going to get that back so it’s just really awkward. 

AND THEN!!!! we get bree panicking because she’s getting creepy messages from josh so she runs to hang out with the girl squad and works on her drawing of them, focusing on rori as “head over feet” by alanis morissette plays. this is kind of a contrast to “pynk”, with it being a song that uses real instruments as opposed to the more electro feel of “pynk” to represent the two different relationships. also the lyrics “you treat me like i'm a princess / i'm not used to liking that” and “you've already won me over in spite of me / and don't be alarmed if i fall head over feet / and don't be surprised if i love you for all that you are / i couldn't help it / it's all your fault” are just Incredibly rori/brianna.

and then we get “hand solo (acoustic)” by marika hackman as we get a brief scene of bree masturbating to some not very healthy p*rn. i was hesitant to include this scene, out of fear of over-sexualising bree as a bisexual girl of colour, but then i thought i had to include the scene from a non-sexual stand point - to show how bree uses sex, even in her own mind when she’s alone, as a self destructive thing, and to show that masturbation is a normal thing to do, but also it’s a hint that bree’s state is getting a bit more manic than usual, so she’s getting more hypersexual. also for the catholic guilt of her stopping and looking up to see the cross above her bed.

when then get ortopilot’s cover of “basketcase” by green day, which is more of an acoustic version of the song. the song itself is just a Very mental illness song and just has a lot of vibes of guilt with it, and the beat of the song is very quick and manic in itself.

we then get “every breath you take” by the police playing over bree and josh’s Scary text conversation in the fish n chip shop, because it’s a creepy stalker song with Pleasant Music over it, which is kind of the Vibe i was going for with josh. also, the season came out around the same time as skames season 3, and seeing the parallels between josh and miquel, with josh being very emotionally distant and miquel being very emotionally close, but both of them having the same goal in mind and end result was very interesting to me. also both of them being very creepy old guys who should stay away from teenagers <3

but then. oh but then. we get a moment that is genuinely one of my favourites. we get the broadway cast version of “forgiven” by alanis morissette, another one of my favourite songs. i chose the broadway version because i prefer the quieter orchestration and the build up to the chorus instead of going all in on it so quickly. i chose this song because bree does parallel frankie from jlp, yes, but she also parallels mj in the fact that she’s repressing her trauma from being sexually harassed and assaulted by adult men ever since she was a child. and the song itself is very beautiful and bree core, with lyrics such as “my brothers, they never went blind for what they did / but i may as well have / in the name of the father, the skeptic and the son / i have one more stupid question” and “we all had our reasons to be there / we all had a thing or two to learn / we all needed something to cling to / so we did”. we also see bree seeking refuge in a church after being harassed by josh, because religion is the place where she genuinely feels safest, but she also doesn’t feel safe, as a bisexual woman in the catholic church, but she also knows in her heart that she is loved by god. 

episode six

WE! OPEN! WITH! “motion sickness” by ms phoebe bridgers plays as bree wakes up at liz’s house the next morning - a song literally about a shitty older man - and then bree is literally sick in the bathroom, claiming she has food poisoning from the strange fish they got last night because she couldn’t go to their usual place out of fear. but, in reality, this is morning sickness from her pregnancy, because she had sex with josh for the first time 6 weeks prior.

and then we get a scene of bree in a manic state rapidly working on costumes as “my body’s made of crushed little stars” by mitski plays. this scene is directly inspired by me in what i believe to be a manic episode staying up until 5am writing because i thought that if i stopped i would forget everything that i was thinking and never write anything good again. fun times. but also just the fast pace of the song and the very depressing lyrics and the whole “i’m not doing anything” playing over bree doing So Many Things…..

we then get a lot of silence because it’s Emotion Time, but then!!!! we get a moment very pleasing to be, “unprodigal daughter” by alanis morissette playing as bree goes to buy a pregnancy test. the song itself is just one of my favourites, and it’s also about bree kinning ms frankie healy (having a “perfect” white older brother, having an intense relationship with your mother, being artistic and into english, being bisexual and just really cool), but it’s also a song about choice and the singer choosing herself and who she wants to be and having hope for the future and wanting to run away. also the line “i’d invite you but i’m busy being oppressed” once again being used in regards to a young bisexual girl of colour….. genuinely one of my favourite lines ever written. the power it has.

and then. bree finds out she’s pregnant via the tests. and “oh no!” by marina begins to play, because skam brighton is a comedy show, but also skam brighton is a show for depressed british-ish teenagers. bree copes with this Really Fucked News by deciding to go and get wasted because that’s her favourite method of dissociation. also the song is just very bree as a whole, with the wanting to change and the “i'm now becoming my own self-fulfilled prophecy” after her making fun of her cousin’s pregnancy in the first episode.

and then we get “bubblegum bitch” also by marina as bree goes out to drink. it’s there to represent how bree is trying to force herself to get into her familiar role of the fun bitchy party girl, but it’s not working because she’s just really fucked, but she’s trying her best.

BIG TW FOR SEXUAL ASSAULT

and then “you are going to hate this” by the frights plays as josh and bree dance together, and we see josh giving her more and more drinks, getting her purposefully drunk as she gives into it, wanting the release being drunk gives her, not realising that he could be doing something bad to her because she’s so distracted by a) the alcohol and b) the fact that she’s fucking pregnant and doesn’t know what to do about it.

and then we get “seventeen” by sharon van etten as josh begins to assault brianna. i first heard this song in sex education, where it played as a group of girls supported their best friend after she was sexually harrassed on the bus, and i wanted to use it here as kind of a parallel to that, but also as a reminder than bree is seventeen years old, a child, and josh knows this, purposefully got her drunk and is assaulting her, because he is a disgusting human being.

episode seven

we open with “interlude iii” by tessa violet, as bree wakes up and leaves josh’s bed again, a parallel to the first clip of the season, but this time we saw the before that presumably happened. it’s just a really pretty song that vibes with the lonely emptiness of the scene.

and then we get “the ballad of mona lisa” by panic! at the disco as bree walks into school. it’s just a really vibey bree song, and the whole “i’d pay to see you frown” line is just about the always masking around people and never showing your real emotions. 

we then get “out tonight” from rent, but the movie version, purely because i just prefer the music production on that version. it just slaps. also, i just used this scene to talk about my love for my interpretation of mimi marquez. she’s just a teenager with a lot of problems who needs proper professional medical help, very much like bree. also, i have always seen “out tonight” as mimi having a manic episode and using the number as a distraction from her actual problems (literally what bree is doing) and i love her. (also the scene of bree watching the scene from the movie and having gay panic is just an Iconic moment)

we then get “funeral” by phoebe bridgers as bree lies in bed, deeply depressed and barely able to move. it’s just about a beautiful and deeply sad song. like all of the lines just vibe really hard with bree and the deep loneliness and emptiness of the song, and the underlying panic really outline bree’s actual emotional state.

and we end with the titular song of the episode, “will i?” from rent. i chose this song because, despite it being very repetitive, it’s always been deeply meaningful to me. and the only lines being “will i lose my dignity / will someone care / will i wake tomorrow / from this nightmare?” playing after bree talked about having to deal with her pregnancy, and following the dream imagery used in funeral, because all of the music Is connected…….. quite genuinely one of my favourite moments, because it’s so understated

episode eight

we begin the music of this episode with “everything i own” by the front bottoms - just a really fucking sad song for a really fucking sad time in bree’s life. with like like “just try to appreciate what you got while you got it” and “sometimes i don't feel like singing / i don't really like these songs / sometimes i don't feel like dancing / dj please, don't turn the beat on / let's keep it quiet, keep me honest, keep me true” just really vibing with her.

and then we get “even my dog” by kathryn gallagher, another one of my personal favourite songs, as bree walks through the hospital. first of all, kathryn gallagher’s character in jagged little pill, bella, does parallel bree quite a lot - being from a poor family, being talented at art, being slut-shamed by her school and dealing with the trauma of being sexually assaulted. the song itself has lyrics describing depression, with lines like “i don’t know how i’m gonna get better / i just know that i’m supposed to / i don’t know how i’m gonna get better / but i’ll tell you i’m good ‘til i believe it too” and “everybody wants me to be happy / everybody wants me to be” and “i can feel it / the life i knew before you / it’s beautiful to be so naive” which i feel just Really fit bree and her situation

then we get a little bit of “musetta’s waltz” played by james, because it’s a rent thing, and rori sings a bit of “over the moon” because it’s a maureen song and i just wanted to include it for a little bit of fun in the hell week

and then. oh and then. we get the funeral scene from rent and “i’ll cover you (reprise)” performed by milo and everyone else. the reason i chose this song is because a) it’s one of the most beautiful and heart wrenching songs in musical theatre canon, and b) i wanted to use the imagery of a funeral to show bree quietly making the decision in her head to go through with the abortion, even though she has many doubts. and the line “a new lease you were, my love / on life” is about the baby bree might have had may be being her ticket to a new life, the way she was for her mother, but bree knows that’s not what she wants and not what she can handle right now. and the moment bree finally break is the climax of the song, the moment death is said out in the open “when your heart has expired”. she hears that, is struck by the reality of what she wants to do, and just runs because it’s a lot for any person, let alone a seventeen year old, to handle.

and then we get the girl squad picking bree off the ground, quite literally, and helping her go to the doctor, all of them together, as “sign of the times” by harry styles played. all of the girls are involved, organising rides and where to go and comforting bree, and al’s staying behind, doing ground control at the rehearsal, because al and bree are siblings and they love each other god damn it. ans the song itself is just. simply epic. and the lines “you look pretty good down here / but you ain't really good” really get to where bree is in regards to her self image and it’s about her finally opening up and accepting help and doing what’s right and good for her, not being self destructive or doing things for someone else.

episode nine

we open with a slowed down piano cover of “knee socks” by the arctic monkeys, simply because i liked the sound of it and it’s a quintessential sad british time, but it’s also about girls being pretty.

and then we get one of my favourite songs from rent being sung by bree, “without you”. it’s a genuinely beautiful song about addiction and the struggles that people can go through with it. the song has a double meaning to bree, as she’s been struggling with her alcohol abuse problems recently and going clean, but the song is also about bree imagining life without her hypothetical child. “but i die / without you” is how bree is seeing it, still thinking she’ll be rejected by her mother, and partially by god, if she goes through with it, but the song goes on. she knows the world will go on without her child, but she’s unsure of how she’s going to be after the child is gone. (we also see james come in and sing too, as he plays roger, but him singing is also a reference to him dealing with his own addiction, as mentioned before in this season, to nicotine).

we then get “you gotta be" by des'ree playing as we go from bree getting herself together after josh gets fired to bree and her mother sitting together and watching ladybird. i wanted ladybird to be playing because it’s a very bree movie, in my opinion, and the “give me a number” scene playing is a really good feel, for me, of what it’s like to be a working class child and feeling the need to pay back your parents, which is something bree also feels immensely. and the song has lyrics such as “challenge what the future holds / try and keep your head up to the sky / lovers, they may cause you tears / go ahead release your fears” and “stand up and be counted / don't be ashamed to cry” and “you gotta be tough, you gotta be stronger / you gotta be cool, you gotta be calm / you gotta stay together / all i know, all i know, love will save the day”, which just really vibe with where bree is in this scene, trying to figure out all the things she has to be and can be and the whole thing about standing up is just very bree, because, despite us seeing her insecurities and weaknesses, she’s always been a confident person 

and then we get a scene that i wrote just to make myself cry. bree gets her hair cut by her mother after deeply connecting to her as “slipping through my fingers” by abba plays. it’s a song about a mother watching her daughter grow up and trying to stay close to her despite her always growing and changing, which is how i see audrey. she’s a woman full of love and she will do anything to support her daughter and make her happy, and it took bree until now to see it. and then we see bree’s hair literally slipping through audrey’s fingers, because haircuts are often used as a way to regain control over one’s life, and i’ve used bree’s hair throughout this season as a way to represent her trauma. when she gets morning sickness, she throws up in her hair. josh pulls on her hair when he assaults her. her cutting her hair off is a metaphor for her cutting off her trauma, but then from the hair cutting we transition to:

the abortion clinic, where “soon you’ll get better” by taylor swift and the chicks is playing. a song where a daughter sings to her mother to get better, and we see a mother supporting her daughter as she gets ready to go through surgery. the song itself, though, feels more about bree’s mental health than her physical state. she knows that through this surgery, she will ultimately end up better, but it’s going to take a lot of time.

and then as bree and audrey sit at home, they watch another movie: this time “grease”, representing bree’s desire to get back to her younger, happier self.

and then. we get “wake up” by alanis morrissette as bree gets ready for the rally in support of sexual assault survivors. a song, when used in the jlp musical, is used to talk about how it’s easier to not stand up and speak out against sexual assault. with the line “it’s so much easier not to / and what goes around never comes around to you” being used in regards to the cishet abled white man who will never get back all of the harm he puts out into the world, but we see bree reclaiming the song and her own body, putting on makeup in a way that makes her happy and marching out to the streets as it plays, focusing on her and only her

episode ten

WE OPEN WITH!!!! a moment most pleasing to me - “i did something bad” by taylor swift playing as the girl squad slow mo down the street together, a united front. i chose this song because it’s literally about society saying a woman did something bad, but she doesn’t give a fuck and wishes that she could do it again, which is how bree feels about fucking up a rapist’s life. also, once again, bree rolling a nat 20 on her deception roll as she gets proof of josh having the pictures of her on his phone by pretending to be the manic pixie damsel in distress josh wanted….. and we also get josh using the term “witch hunt”, the same phrase bryan used when he went off on bree, to show that they’re both the same character archetype, but in different flavours (bryan coming in asshole jock and josh coming in adult man incel).

(note: i also wanted to include the girl squad in this scene, because in the og when noora when to go meet nikolai on her own i was just. So Scared for her because she had No One. also, fun fact, i included the fact that the squad call nick “nickolai” as a nickname in season 2 so maybe there would be a theory that he would be nikolai, but i was just playing 4d chess with myself and he’s just a nice guy)

and then we get “seasons of love” from rent, which is, yes, a basic theatre song, but you can’t deny how good it is. and the whole “minute” thing in it lining up with the “minute by minute” iconic skam speech, and we get annabell on the big soloist lines because they’re the person who also heard the “minute by minute” speech before from the same place as bree, because it was said in their group therapy…. and it also parallels “i’ll cover you (reprise)” with them all standing in a line, but this time bree stays because it’s about love and being supported by your friends and not being sure if you’re okay, but knowing there’s always a safe place for you to go where you’re loved.

(also, we get a throwback joke of sandy, once again, being surprised by how strangely sexual all of these musicals are. i love her so so much)

and then!!!!! we end the episode with rori and bree confessing their feelings for each other and kissing for real for the first time, and it ends with “dress” by taylor swift playing. literally just the most homoerotic song, and the whole “i don’t want you like a best friend” line…… they deserve to be in love with each other and i have been building up to them finally admitting it for four seasons. literally the longest slow burn i’ve ever written. 

episode eleven

WE! OPEN! WITH! “watch you sleep” by girl in red, a song i discovered in 2018 and wanted to save for a good moment, and then the whole “do you listen to girl in red” thing exploded, so. (james from derry girls voice) i support wlw, though i myself am not wlw. also it’s just a really sweet song that i like a lot. and we’ve seen bree wake up a lot at the beginning of episodes, and we see her wake up from a nightmare this time, and she calms down instantly when she realises she’s home and with rori…..

and then we get a moment MOST PLEASING to me!!!! we have canon swiftie alistair fletcher streaming “daylight” by taylor swift in the bathroom as bree and rori wait for him to be done. and then they start to dance together to it, with them referencing rent before they start dancing, and rori begins to sing along because rori, as a character, has such “lover” energy. and we get rori singing “i once believed love would be black and white”, which is a reference to her and james’s relationship, with her thinking it would be simple and easy, and then “i once believed love would be burning red”, with her and nick’s quick, passionate relationship “but it’s golden like daylight” and we see her and bree together, calm, best friends who are now lovers, no big dramatics, no fireworks, just two people who care so deeply about each other, holding each other, having seen each other at their worst and still adoring them with every part of their being. and we get the “you’re so pretty”, “no, you”, “no, us” exchange, which is just saying “stop comparing yourself to other girls, just be in love with them and yourself”

and then we get “number one fan” by muna, which is just a really fun boppy song, and just big bree core. with lines like “so i heard the bad news / nobody likes me and i'm gonna die alone / in my bedroom / looking at strangers on my telephone / well, wouldn't you? / wouldn't you like if i believed those words?” is showing her development, going from believing all of the bad shit people say about her, both online and to her face, and standing up for herself and believing in herself

(fun fact, there was originally a clip in this episode where we see bree going to the police about josh, but as i was getting closer to publishing it, i thought “fuck that, i’m not giving them any screentime”, and just gave bree some fun exposition about reporting josh to his school)

so we get “icu” by phoebe bridgers as bree’s walking down the street, just vibing, very happy because she just got her rapist expelled from his university. we get lines like: “and i get this feeling / whenever i feel good / it'll be the last time” which vibes with my perception and bree and her relationship with her mental health, which is currently, in the episode, in a good place because of goos things happening, but she knows that it’s going to come back down eventually, but she’s prepared for it now, she’s not as scared of herself anymore

then we get al’s film of the rehearsal process - which is, once again, him using art and music as a way of expressing his love - as “heroes” by david bowie plays. this is a direct reference to “the perks of being a wallflower”, a very inspiring piece of media to me, writing wise. the film that al makes is just a love letter to being teenagers and making art and noise in a world where people are constantly telling you to shut up.

and then, following two deeply philosophical speeches i wrote at 3am one night, we get the last 15 minutes of act one of a musical because it’s my show!!!!!! and if i want to have a character yell about love and then sing a song i can!!!!!

we begin with “la vie boheme”, the iconic act one closer of rent. quite genuinely, this song has the same meaning here as it does in rent, only with the added layer of “this is the last clip, so we’re just all having a fun happy ending” on it, so i’m just gonna be talking about my favourite fun parts of it.

we got al and bree sharing a laugh as al sings “not to mention, of course / hating dear old mom and dad”; we got al high-fiving jake as he talks about “fruits”, because they’re both gay; we got one of my favourite lines: “to being an us for once instead of a them”; we got milo and bree messing around because i love their friendship; we got bree and nick singing a verse together; we got al making it canon that mark cohen gets pegged with the “mucho masturbation” line; we get rori making eye contact with bree while she kisses another girl, because we love a call your girlfriend reference and we love her character development; we get james finally perfecting “musetta’s waltz”

and then we get “i should tell you”, a song i hated upon first watch of rent, but now i love it so so much. while james and bree are singing it together as roger and mimi, bree is very much dedicating the song to rori, because it’s a song about being scared of starting a relationship but doing it anyway because you’re learning to trust the other person. we also see audrey and patrick in the audience, both so happy and supportive of their children, because i love them so much. i love all of the parents, but audrey is definitely my personal favourite so fa.

and then!!!! we begin “la vie boheme b”, literally one of the biggest bangers of musical theatre history. 

we get rori singing the first fast verse, literally raising a middle finger to the idea of perfection and eating disorders, because while those ideas may be a part of her life, she’s happy to say “fuck you” to them; we get nick voguing to the camera as he sings his fast verse, goofing around like usual; and then we get milo yelling out their verse to the audience, serious, because they genuinely believe in the words they’re saying

then we get the cast all yelling out their lgbt identity in the form of a reclaimed slur. i also changed this part of the show because there’s two terms referring to lesbians in the song and i wanted to a reference just for bisexual people. 

then we begin to shift all focus away from bree and her story, beginning to move onto nick, as he and james dance together as al yells out the title line of the episode: “the opposite of war isn’t peace, it’s creation”. and i decided to edit the closing monologue because i felt that it placed too much focus on roger and mimi’s romance and wanted to end the season with a focus on revolution and positive social change, ending with the line: “the riot goes on and on and on and on…”

and then we end the season with the line “we will now take a short intermission” as nick looks into the camera, because it’s time for a break between seasons babey!

and that’s another well over 10k essay on my music choices!!!!! also, as of writing this, i have officially finished production on skambr season 5!!!! i’m way ahead of schedule, which is really good for me, and the trailer will be coming out in about a month’s time!!!! until then, thank you for reading my infodump <3

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FIFA World Cup 2018: The best kits of the tournament - where does Australia rank among your favourites? - FIFA World Cup - Russia 2018

Posted June 07, 2018 05:46:54

Photo: Where does Australia’s kit rank for you among the 32 nations at the FIFA World Cup? (Nike)

The FIFA World Cup is finally here, and you know what that means: Prima donna footballers swanning around in the finest on-field fashion world sport has to offer.

Australia will be decked out in an all-gold number this year — will it be enough to swing the fashion judges’ glances our way in the World Cup attire final?

Which kit is your favourite?

If patriotism and favourite players were put to one side, which of this year’s 32 World Cup kits gets your fashionista motor running?

External Link:

Which five kits are your World Cup favourites?

Without further ado, here are our kit ratings, in order of their World Cup groups.

Russia: 5/10

Our World Cup hosts kick things off with a bright red set-up, with white trim in a proudly Russian arrangement of colour.

Photo: The World Cup hosts will primarily be playing in a bold red number with white trimmings. (Adidas)

Admittedly it’s pretty simple — anyone who’s ordered custom kits for their Wednesday-night futsal team knows a generic template when they see one — as Russia looks to go safety-first for their showpiece event.

Saudi Arabia: 3/10

Not off to the strongest start just yet. Saudi Arabia’s home kit has gone for the plain white, with green edgings and a brand new crest.

Photo: Saudi Arabia’s kit is plain white with its national colour green as the trim. Simple. (Nike)

Not much for wowing the crowd, though they get a bonus point for the shirt numbers on the lapel.

Egypt: 6/10

The colour red seems to suit simple kits, but there’s a little more than meets the eye with Egypt’s striking top, with a checkerboard pattern making the most subtle of impressions.

Photo: Egypt firms as one of the dark horses in Russia. ‘Red for danger’ serves as a suitable symbol, then. (Adidas)

Striking black finishes on sleeves and collar give Egypt something of a race-car vibe, which will suit the likes of the speedy Mo Salah just fine.

Uruguay: 7/10

The likely winner of Group A, Uruguay already tops the group’s fashion metric with a quintessentially sharp number from the South American nation.

Photo: Uruguay always looks sharp at football’s showpiece, and it hasn’t disappointed in 2018. (Puma)

Uruguay has a rich history of dapper footballers stealing hearts (Diego Forlan, oh my), and the sky-blue, tight-fitting Puma top will no doubt see them maintain their fine tradition of fashionable competence.

Portugal: 6/10

Photo: Portugal has served up an understated offering in Russia. (Nike)

The big question with any Portuguese kit: Will the walking, talking mannequin that is Cristiano Ronaldo pull it off?

Kind of like how the colour black goes with anything, Portugal has gone low key in 2018.

There are those that argue Ronaldo could pull off wearing a hessian bag, and while the manufacturers haven’t gone that low, they’re perhaps banking on the models to sell the clothes, rather than the other way round.

Traditional dark red, bottle green and golden flourishes for the kit manufacturer means it’s a safe-as-houses effort from the European champions.

Spain: 8/10

At last, a stand-out to finally get the ball rolling. Spain’s kit is a throw-back to the regalia it wore during the 1994 World Cup in the United States, with a similar zappy braid pattern down the right shoulder along the torso.

It’s bright, it’s inherently Spanish, with the right dash of Iberian flamboyance to completely overshadow their peninsula rivals Portugal.

Photo: Spain’s 2018 World Cup kit harkens back to the garments it wore at USA ’94. (Adidas)

Now the question remains: Can our fashionable matadors tame the metaphorical bulls on the football pitch in such eye-catching gear?

Morocco: 4/10

Let’s start with the positives: Morocco’s kit sports a particularly nice shade of red.

Photo: We’re not really sure why Russian player Vladimir Granat is modelling Morocco’s kit. (Adidas)

But that’s as far as the niceties go on one of a vast collection of red World Cup jumpers.

This is not the beginning of a beautiful friendship. No one will be asking Sam to play this one again.

Iran: 3/10

It’s white. It’s got some Adidas red trims. And that’s about it really.

Photo: Iran’s shirt (L) is … white. It has a bit of red, to be fair. And that’s about it, really. (AP)

Iran’s view on shirts seems to revolve purely around function, more than form. Basically something for footballers to wear so they don’t catch their death of exposure.

France: 7/10

Les Bleus’ kits have been getting darker and more navy as the years progress. So the 2018 version at least makes a token nod towards the more royal blue colours France used to sport, particularly when they won football’s biggest prize in 1998.

Photo: France usually look extremely dapper at football tournaments. This new kit may take some getting used to. (Nike)

Up against the brighter colours of Australia, Peru and Denmark in Group C, France’s dark assassins prime as favourites to top the group, and realistically should be aiming to reach the World Cup final.

This year in the fashion stakes, however, probably sees them bow out in the quarter-final stage.

Australia: 8/10

Traditionalists may prefer green and gold, but the all-gold approach for the Socceroos in 2018 is a winner in our books.

Photo: Looking schmick, Trent. Very schmick. (Nike)

The wave-pattern on the sleeves is a flourish we’ll indulge for now, but there’s something really proud and uplifting about the bright hues from top to toe that Australia has picked for its trip to Russia.

Arguments about Australian gold and canary yellow may ensue, but Australia will at least be visually noticed by the discerning nay-sayers of Europe and South America, this time.

Peru: 4/10

Look! It’s that club you created from scratch in Pro Evolution Soccer!

Photo: Peru believe they’re the prettiest contestants at the FIFA World Cup beauty pageant. Look at that sash. (Umbro)

Peru makes a long-awaited return to the World Cup wearing its signature beauty-pageant sash, diagonally slashed across a white front — but it’s not going to take out the Miss Congeniality prize this year.

Peru will be hoping it’s counter-attacking style reaps rewards on the pitch, because they’re sticking to basics in the wardrobe.

Denmark: 8/10

Simple doesn’t always mean bad, nor does it imply a lack of effort. Unlike striker Nicklas Bendtner, Denmark finds an unerring finish with this red-and-white arrangement.

Photo: The Viking blood runs strong in Denmark’s bold red, sported here by Lord Nicklas Bendtner and his travelling raiders. (Hummel)

It’s bold. It’s proud. And it might just be worn by the runners-up (at least) of Group C. Onward, raiders!

Argentina: 6/10

Exactly what you’d expect from an Argentina kit. Nothing more, nothing less.

Photo: Harking back to the glory days, Argentina’s kit is simple and to the point. (Adidas)

You know the drill: White and pale-blue stripes, the Adidas shoulders, and Lionel Messi looking surly. As you were.

Iceland: 6/10

Iceland is incredibly making its World Cup debut in Russia. Rather than a boring, run-of-the-mill promotion photo, we’ve opted for Football Iceland’s epic, country-spanning video spot.

External Link:

footballiceland tweets The new kit is here

Ah, Iceland. What a mythical place. Their footballers will be aiming to achieve mythical status themselves in a simple but effective bright blue number, laced with Icelandic pride and spirit. “Hu”, indeed!

Croatia: 8/10

Red and white checks. Some things just work, and Croatia’s checkerboard pattern (known as šahovnica, to the educated) is a safe bet for footballing fashionistas.

Photo: Like death and taxes, a red-and-white chequered Croatian World Cup kit is one of life’s foregone conclusions. (Nike)

It’s elegance and national pride in perfect harmony. And they’re a decent football team too, as an added bonus.

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Nigeria: 10/10

If the World Cup were won by how much kits were a visual feast for the eyes, Nigeria would right now be lauded for bringing home a first-ever title for the African continent.

Photo: Just LOOK at this bad boy. Top of the class. (Nike)

An electric, almost soothing shade of green, paired with white and laced with zappy chevrons that screams energy, the Super Eagles will be a sight to behold if their pacey forwards get cracking in these numbers.

As if it needs bonus points for an incredible sales pitch, Nike goes for it anyway by saying the kit is inspired by “Naija” spirit, meaning “youthful exuberance, pride and fresh perspective on patriotism”.

Brazil: 7/10

Brazil’s kits will always be iconic and impressive. This year it’s more of the same, though the darker shade of yellow seems to undersell it just a smidge.

Photo: Brazil is sporting an ever-so-slightly darker shade of yellow in Russia this time round. (Nike)

There are two take-home messages from this, though: The Socceroos’ bright kit will look just a bit more impressive in comparison, and Neymar (assuming he heals up in time) will always look good as long as the silky skills are on show.

Switzerland: 7/10

Honestly, we’re not sure if this pattern even works, but damn it, the idea is at least novel.

Photo: Can you see the Matterhorn? (Puma)

It’s what you’d expect from Switzerland’s red kit, except this time they’ve interlaced it with a topographical map of the Swiss countryside. The Matterhorn is situated just above the wearer’s heart.

An idea as refreshing as the air in the Swiss Alps.

Costa Rica: 6/10

It’s basic, but Costa Rica will always enjoy an advantage in these stakes with the ever-handsome colour combination of royal red and royal blue.

Photo: Costa Rica’s kit isn’t exactly something to shout about, but they’ll always win out with the red-blue combination. (New Balance)

This time, a little subtle complication is thrown into the mix with a neat gradient pattern on one side of the shirt. Slow and steady wins the race.

Serbia: 3/10

All the good stuff went into producing Serbia’s obscene sporting talent, and nothing was left for the design brains trust.

Photo: Serbia’s kit: Nothing to see here. (Puma)

A boring, generic shirt, where even the numbers look a little moth-eaten.

Germany: 9/10

Goodness gracious. If anyone can do retro design, it’s the Germans.

Photo: Germany’s kit: Retro. Stylish. A winner. (Adidas)

If you thought black and white was a pretty vanilla colour combo, think again. Striking Adidas shoulders, a clean monochrome throughout, and as for that swoosh!

It makes us want to do our geometry lessons in high school maths class all over again.

Mexico: 7/10

Deep dark green, white edges, and a strobe finish on the flanks. Mexico’s got itself a kit that demands to be taken seriously.

Photo: From the mean streets of Mexico to a World Cup pitch near you. (Adidas)

It’s all business from El Tri, who will be looking for second spot at least in Group F.

Sweden: 5/10

Can do better, Sweden!

Photo: Pretty much what you’d expect from the Swedes. (Adidas)

From the home of sound, economical design, Sweden had the tools to do something truly brilliant in Russia. The ingredients were there — the subtle diagonal bars hint at so much promise, but generally it’s a bit of a let down from the Scandinavians.

South Korea: 2/10

It’s red.

Photo: South Korea’s kit is red. And that’s all we have to say about that. (Nike)

Anyone who struggled to come up with ideas for dress-up parties knows the feeling the Korean designers appear to have gone through, here. Grab an old shirt you haven’t worn in ages and hope for the best.

Those hopes appear dashed.

Belgium: 9/10

Nicely done! Belgium has had some fun with this one, with a cool geometric splash across the chest of its red kit.

Photo: Belgium’s home kit is sharp, but would it be fair to say they have won of the best away numbers in 2018? (Adidas)

We’re only marking home kits here, because we’re trying our best not to be influenced by that fabulous golden number they’re sporting as their change strip.

Panama: 5/10

The World Cup debutants could be the tournament’s whipping boys, but they at least won’t finish last in the fashion grades.

Photo: Panama will be making it’s World Cup debut in this simple, striking number. (New Balance)

A handsome red with fading, bevelled blocks across the Panamanian pecs should see the underdogs go out swinging in more ways than one.

Tunisia: 1/10

Nope. Not good enough from the fabled “Eagles of Carthage”.

Photo: Other than the lapel crest, there is nothing about Tunisia’s kit that screams ‘Eagles of Carthage’. (Uhlsport)

If you have the tournament’s greatest nickname, you would surely come up with a kit to match? A plain white top, with afterthought red as the finishes. It really could have been so much more.

England: 8/10

Say what you want about our colonial friends, England really does know how to make a simple design go a long way.

Photo: England’s kit is typically stately with a touch of class. (Nike)

The 1966 Cup winners have imbued their mostly white kit with understated elegance, making for a fine sight when they go out on penalties in the round of 16.

Poland: 7/10

Sharp and to the point, Poland isn’t messing about with their attire offering.

Photo: Robert Lewandowski looks dangerous in anything, but he’s particularly shop in Poland’s World Cup offering. (Nike)

A team that could prove to be a bit of a smoky in Russia, they’ve got a kit to match: Looks simple at first, but peer a little closer and there are quite a few nice finishes.

So kind of like Robert Lewandowski, in kit form.

Senegal: 5/10

Senegal have gone for the faded emblem print in the “background”, and it doesn’t quite come off convincingly.

Photo: A nifty design in the background, but hardly a world beater from Senegal. (Puma)

Judge the Lions of Teranga by their footballers, I guess — they’ve got a host of good ones this year — because the kit, while not terrible, isn’t a world beater, neither.

Colombia: 8/10

Retro! Retro! Retro! Colombia’s kit is unapologetically a throwback to the days of afro-sporting footballers and silky stepovers.

Photo: James Rodriguez sports Colombia’s home kit, another selection which has gone for the retro look. (Adidas)

The early ’90s-style zaps on the chest make it look a bit like that lightning bolt from the Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers emblem, too.

Japan: 9/10

Ending the list strongly, Japan’s dark blue kit is less of a throwback and more of a nod towards the country’s Samurai heritage.

Photo: Oh my, yes. Very, very, very slick from Japan, here. (Adidas)

And hats off, Samurai Blue have played an absolute blinder here. It’s so very Japanese: beautiful, sharp, sophisticated, meticulous and meant to be taken very, very seriously.

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[joshuapollak]

Track 3 - Practical Work

Intro

Kick & Bass

Starting at the very beginning of the track was challenging - when writing this part I usually have a main idea already which helps with creative direction by already knowing the ultimate goal you are working towards. I decided to try and forget about that to begin with and just focus on it independently for what it was and ensure it fulfilled its purpose. That being a DJ friendly, ‘mixable’ section, in systematic 16 bar phrases that defined the energy level more than anything else. This would be key to capturing the bad temperament (Future Music, 2008).

Through analysis of reference tracks from that period I identified that early hardstyle often began with the kick and bass straight away, filtered down so as to still retain a point of difference in impact to the eventual drop, but effectively introducing the energy and vibe straight from the off. This also gave me an insight into the style of kick and bass that would be appropriate. 

The track above is the one that I took most inspiration from. The kick is fairly heavy and the bass is snappy on the off beat. I loosely replicated this style but decided to choose slightly ‘cleaner’ sounds - the reference track has a fairly clean kick but it sounds like there is quite a lot of distortion on the bass. This was a decision based on personal preference more than anything else, but I tried to retain a similar energy and weight.

Intro Sounds

The above reference track also offers a typical representation of the type of sounds typically found in early hardstyle. Whilst not particularly emotive or melodic, the vibe is dictated by the presence of rhythmic, stabby, staccato sounds that fuel the energy level and have a distinct aggression about them (Meyer, 1956). Ferocious and prominent is perhaps a better way of describing them, there’s rarely and subtlety or depth, everything is right in your face. 

Distinctive characteristics are short, sharp envelope shapes (particularly attacks) and a heavy use of delays and reverbs to fill out the space in what otherwise is a fairly minimal arrangement. Going back to the principles of sonic narrative, a particular focus on morphology appears relevant (Thompson, 1968). 

A keen consideration of these principles was key in the creation and arrangement of sounds across the intro section leading up to the first break. This was combined with a consistent application of the theoretical concepts of expectation, morphology as mentioned, and causality in respect of sonic narrative as outlined in earlier entries (Roads, 2015, Huron, 2008 and Thompson,1968).      

In addition to this, I introduced short snippets of a section of the vocal. Not too much considering this section was primarily functioning for the DJ to mix (it couldn’t be over-cluttered) (Future Music, 2008), but it gave a subtle introduction to the broader narrative that would be more heavily introduced in later sections. 

Further reading around narrative also highlighted a new aspect to consider by metaphorically thinking of sounds as characters having stage presence. We become aware of them as they enter, they do something, and then leave. Stasis is the term relating to a sound remaining the same, whereas mutation involves them changing in some way (Roads, 2015).

On the previous tracks I had largely used sounds in stasis, relying on the addition or substitution of sounds to provide the variation and progression. In this instance I trialled the mutative approach on some of the elements instead, which proved effective in rising the tension leading up to a drop or transition.  

Future Music, (2008). Creating a club track: 10 mix and arrangement tips. [online] MusicRadar. Available at: http://www.musicradar.com/tuition/tech/creating-a-club-track-10-mix-and-arrangement-tips-175793 [Accessed 28 Mar. 2017].

Huron, D. (2008). Sweet Anticipation. 1st ed. Cambridge: MIT Press.

Meyer, L.B. (1956) Emotion and meaning in music. 9th edn. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Roads, C. (2015) Composing electronic music: A new aesthetic. United States: Oxford University Press..

Thompson, D. (1968). On growth and form. 1st ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.