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Final Product - 'Under The Table' by Fiona Apple
Evaluation
For ‘Under The Table,’ we focused on the social issue of toxic relationships. We found this interesting as it meant we could express our artist’s emotion visually and creatively through colour and lighting. This aesthetic choice represents the isolation and silencing that people, particularly women, feel when in unhealthy relationships. By using colour to represent the emotions our artist is unable to express to her partner, we tell the viewer that it is ok to feel like this. Furthermore, the red and blue sequence towards the end of the video, followed by the artist addressing the audience and breaking the fourth wall, tells the audience she is about to express these emotions in a more confident way to her partner. Here, we show the viewer that any romantic relationship must have good communication to work; this exposes whether the two people should continue to stay together, or if it is potentially harmful for them to do so. We also tell the viewer that this is ok if it does not work, through the conclusion the artist reaches with the issue at the end of the video.
Our music video creates a sense of branding through the use of colour theory to represent emotions. The use of red and blue in the projector sequence serve not only as the inner conflict of our artist’s emotions, but also the internal battle she has with herself as she feels vulnerable towards speaking out to her partner. The red and blue ink establish a clear ‘brand’ for the music video; we used it as imagery for our Digipak, with the red representing strength and anger and the blue representing vulnerability. Red and blue are prominent colours throughout the video, with the bathroom scenes consisting of blue surrounding our artist and red gradually seeping in around her as she is consumed by anger. This establishes a clear message from the artist, as well as helping the viewer invest in the artist’s emotional narrative. Overall, these elements of our video relate to our contemporary target audience, who value self-expression in music videos as part of their experience of consuming music.
Our product engages with audiences through different mediums. Firstly, our music video makes use of different settings within the house to convey different messages to the audience. For example, the bathroom represents a ‘safe space,’ a well-known trope for female characters in media. These different settings engage our audience as they must decode what they see in order to understand our artist’s story. Our application of Marshall McLuhan’s theory of ‘hot’ and ‘cool’ media is relevant to our audience’s engagement with our product, as it is defined as ‘cool’ media, with them needing to ‘fill in gaps’ to understand the meaning of the video.
Our music video was distributed through YouTube, therefore is available to a worldwide audience through the internet. A variety of ages are able to access our video, which is good as the target ‘alternative’ audience ranges in age. We also created a physical product for ‘Under The Table,’ through the form of a Digipak, as well as a social media page where fans can access the artist’s posts, merchandise and tour dates. The Digipak helps our audience engage with the artist as they are able to purchase a physical product and therefore experience a sense of connection and loyalty to the artist. Social media allows for an extension of this connection to the artist, as consumers are able to access the ‘world’ of the artist through their online presence. The images presented on the artist’s social media offer a carefully curated narrative, serving as imagery for the artist’s brand and the story of the album itself. We did this through the use of projector imagery such as the red and blue colours and lyrics from the song to paint a picture of what the audience should be expecting from this artist’s work. This was followed by the actual release of the album and finally the tour and product. This feeds into the audience’s emotional anticipation for the music video, as well as the journey of the artist and their story through music.
When completing our target audience research, we found that the ‘alternative’ genre was generally equal in terms of gender; however, we found that a lot of female artists often have a higher number of female fans than male. This is because a lot of female consumers who listen to their music often relate to their lyrics about shared experiences through a female perspective. This affected our social media creative choices as we used messages from the artist to the fans, as well as interactive posts they could comment on and share, to make our artist more relatable to her audience. We also included a trailer for our music video, featuring a lyric from the song repeated alongside clips of our artist in the video. This creates a relatable narrative the audience can easily put themselves into through the engagement of social media.
Our video can be seen as unconventional for the ‘alternative’ genre as our portrayal of the relationship or social issue in the song is viewed on-screen, instead of referenced through imagery. A lot of ‘alternative’ artists follow this convention to provide their fans with ‘breadcrumbs’ to piece together a narrative using show don’t tell. We decided not to follow this convention in order to show the psychology of our artist and her relationship with her partner. In terms of Andrew Goodwin’s theory about music videos, however, this could be seen as conventional. His theory states that conventional music videos have a link between music/lyrics and visuals, which we followed in our music video. Examples of this include mentioning of wine in lyrics and visually, as well as the relationship represented through the characters sitting at the table. All of this creates the representation of the artist, including the use of voyeurism, in which we see the artist at her most vulnerable in the video; the intimate aspects of her relationship.
Another way our music video is unconventional is through the use of bold colours to tell a story, rather than conventional muted colours of ‘alternative’ music videos. This is often seen in ‘alternative’ music videos to depict a mundane view of life, without any lenses or enhancements to how we see the world. We chose to be unconventional here as our research showed that our target audience enjoys stylised music videos with a sense of nostalgia through colour. These two factors challenge the conventions of our genre by making the music video more memorable to watch and giving it a bolder aesthetic, which in turn helps us to market it.
To conclude, this project has helped me understand the sense of branding that goes into the creation of an artist. I have learned how branding affects an artist’s social media presence, as well as their designs of physical copies of music, such as Digipaks. Overall, I have a better understanding of the creative process an artist goes through to achieve this, as well as how to present social issues and successfully engage with my target audience.
Social Media website
As part of the A Level music video promotion package, Olivia and I designed a social media website for our artist, Luci. We decided to create an Instagram account as this is something we are both familiar with using and we have seen how other artists have used it to promote their music. We selected 9 images to build a narrative through our artist's Instagram page. These made her present as quite intimate and personal, someone who expresses her own emotions clearly to her fans and keeps to the consistent colour scheme of red, blue and black for the aesthetic of her new album. These establish a sense of branding for our artist which she uses to connect and engage with her fans. We added a profile picture from the album cover as well as a lyric from the song and a link to the music video so fans can easily access it on this page. We also added some story highlights to serve as extra pieces of the narrative we build through this account, as well as some behind the scenes which fans can watch to see a different, more 'real' side of the artist.
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This is me and Olivia's final design for our Digipak and album cover. We took inspiration from the projection scenes in our music video, which we decided to use here to create the representation of our artist. We used the red and blue ink projector videos here as we thought they best represented our video as a whole, especially towards the end of the video in the projector sequence of red and blue. Also, we decided to use the red ink boldly in the front cover of the CD, to create a vivid, striking image that's easily recognisable for our artist. Then we used a faded red with an overlay in the second cover with the song lyric on it which transitioned to the faded blue on the cover where the disc would go. This then turned into the bold blue on the back of the CD with the track names. We wanted to represent the artist's anger but also her vulnerability here. She also shows less of her face in the blue, rather than her full face in the front cover of the album. We did this to reflect the feeling of our music video, which starts angry but then reaches a sense of resolution at the end.
Barcodes, Record Labels and Copyright Credentials
In order to improve the validity and realism of the album cover, Olivia and I created our own barcode, record label and copyright credentials. This was done so we could further understand how to create and market an artist, as if our Digipak was actually going to be sold to a target audience.
Our record label
Olivia and I decided to create a logo for our own fictional record label, which would distribute the album. We decided to name our label 'OC Records', after ourselves, and created a simple, recognisable logo which would go on the back cover of our Digipak.
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Digipak Research
For 'alternative' album covers, the cover reflects the emotions and image of the artist significantly. These types of album covers are usually quite eye catching with their bold colours and what they are depicting, which is usually quite striking. The representation of the artist is often exaggerated to display the emotions and tone of the album or the movement the album is part of. Below are some examples of 'alternative' album covers I have analysed to research the conventions of this genre's digipaks.
Purpose of Digipaks
Firstly, when beginning the process of creating my own Digipak for my artist, I had a look at the actual purpose of Digipaks. I found that as well as just representing the artist and providing a protective cover for physical copies of music, the Digipak also ensures a sense of loyalty and connection to the artist for the consumer, as they own a piece of their merchandise as a physical item. The Digipak often includes extra booklets/posters that fans of the artist can collect and view as an 'add on' to the actual music itself. Overall, it enhances the experience the fan has when consuming the artist's music and creates an established relationship between the artist and the fan.
I created a Padlet with my initial research on the purpose of Digipaks. From here, I will begin to discuss possible ideas with Olivia for our own Digipak design, as well as how we wish to present our artist and what our album could be called.
In terms of costumes for our artist, Olivia and I wanted our characters to be in relatively formal clothing, as they would be presented at a dinner party in the music video. However, we also wanted them to pick what they should wear depending on how they would approach a formal event. We thought this would add variety to the characters' aesthetics on-screen so they would not all look the same and it would possibly give the extras a bit more personality even if they do not have much screen time.
As for Lucy and Vedaant, Olivia and I decided to use colour to our advantage with their costumes.
Lucy
Inspiration and conventions
Overall, our artist's costume is unconventional for the alternative genre. A lot of female artists in the alternative genre often present as less feminine in order to present as powerful to their audiences. This is something a lot of female artists traditionally conform to due to the societal perception of masculinity as 'powerful' and femininity as 'weak'. Although not all female artists in the alternative genre do this. An example is Florence Welch, the singer and songwriter of the band 'Florence + The Machine.' Florence wears traditionally feminine clothing, such as long dresses with long sleeves, but still retains a presence and power on stage.
Extras
For the extras, we gave them choice over what they would wear, with the instruction to choose stereotypical gendered clothing to show their difference to Lucy as she gains confidence later in the video. Here is an example of what one of our female actors wore in the scene: a floral dress similar to Lucy's.
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Vedaant
Similar to Lucy and the extras, we asked Vedaant to wear formal clothing for the dinner scene, except we asked him to wear strictly black, to reflect his character's need to blend into the formal setting and how he is closed off towards Lucy but not the guests. Our use of colour theory and psychology here represents black as mysterious, powerful and possibly dangerous, which reflectshis character and relationship with Lucy in the video.
Casting
When considering our casting choices for our music video, Olivia and I came up with some initial ideas for the dinner party scene:
1. Female lead (artist)
2. Male partner
3. Dinner party extras
Initial options
We decided that the female character would be our artist, with us taking some inspiration from Fiona Apple, our song's artist. Since our narrative also includes the performance aspect in the video, this was an important casting decision as our female lead would also be taking on the role of the artist. Originally, we considered a friend of mine from outside our film class called Miyuki. We thought Miyuki would be a good choice for casting as they have the right look we were trying to reflect through our artist. They also study fashion and design, so this would have been an advantage for costume planning and makeup. However, we found we had conflicting schedules and they were in the middle of an exam season at school so we had to find another actor to play our performer.
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'Fleabag' (2016-2019)
'Vertigo' (1958)
And of course the mannerisms and expressions of Fiona Apple - the original songwriter for 'Under The Table'!
Production Log #5
Projector re-shoot
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Production Log #4
Editing our music video
Olivia and I decided to start editing our music video as we were still in the filming process to make sure we weren't wasting any time in lessons and before the deadline. Initially, we put together the footage from the first shoot, then filled in the gaps after the second and third shoot until we had a rough cut of the music video.
The projector shoot
Once we had the projector shots from the first shoot, we were able to choose our favourites and drop them in to FinalCut. We had a rough plan for where each clip would go before the shoot so it wasn't difficult for us to decide which clips would go where. The main challenge with this bit of production was matching the lip-syncing to the different parts of the song. Here, we decided that we would need to re-shoot some of the projector shots, either because the lip-syncing didn't line up or because we wanted to experiment with different camera positions or emotions.
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Shots from the first shoot
Olivia and I then dropped in the shots from the first shoot with our two main actors. We left our projector shots where they were from before but decided to layer them so we could always switch back to how the edit was before we added this footage in. We felt here that our ideas for the video were coming together and were beginning to experiment with different edits and cuts to reduce the length of some of the shots.
Shots from the second shoot
Once we had finished all the shoots (except the final projector re-shoot), we dropped the rest of the footage into FinalCut and had a rough cut of our music video, which we presented to the class. From here, we began working to edit the clips to the beat of the music and experimenting with different ideas as we edited together. An example of this was an idea Olivia had, which was to cut between the dining room and bathroom in the first 10 seconds to the beat of the song. This was good as it split the original clip, which was a bit lengthy, into about 16 cuts, and we used this idea for lots of the other clips in the music video in order to make the edit feel a bit more like a music video, rather than a short film.
After editing the video, Olivia and I started working on colour correcting. We did this after finishing the editing as it was something we found quite challenging and wanted to do once we had a clear idea of what our music video looked like. Our use of coloured lighting in our video made it difficult to match the clips together, so we decided to use colour scopes and wheels to make it more accurate. Specifically, the red shots of Lucy before the projector scenes in the last minute were difficult for us to match as some of them were filmed with a red light or with just the bathroom/dining room lighting.
Rough Cut Feedback
This week, Olivia and I presented our Rough Cut to the class. By this point, our product had not been colour corrected and there were a few blank spaces or place holders, which we will change as we continue to edit it. Here are the general feedback and responses our class gave us.
Aspects we knew we have to change prior to the feedback:
- colour correcting
- finding clips to fill any blank spots in the edit
- fixing the 'under the table' transition into red lighting (we haven't edited this yet)
Positive parts of the edit:
Our class thought the tracking shot of Lucy walking back into the dining room at the end of the video was good. This was a relief for us as we had struggled to get this perfect on the day and wanted to make sure it looked natural or not too long in duration. The class also liked the bathroom mirror shot which shows the change in our character's personality. Again, this was something we found difficult to film on the day and we were glad that the message of the shot was understood by fresh eyes.
Aspects we need to improve on following this edit:
Something the class suggested we improve as we continue to edit our music video was bringing the performance aspect into it sooner. In the Rough Cut, we have about 35 seconds until any lip-syncing. This could be a problem because it could come off more as a short film rather than a performance video, so we will try to incorporate the performer singing the song earlier into the edit. Another suggestion the class made was to bring the worlds of the dinner party and the projector together to merge them and keep them less separate. They said this would bring the audience closer to what our character was feeling, so we will experiment with this. Something else that was mentioned was faster editing around the climax of the song, which is the loudest bit of the video. This would show the build up in tension so we will look at the longer shots of the fight scene and try splitting it up to reflect our main character's anger and confusion as the video goes on.
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Rough Cut
This is me and Olivia's Rough Cut of our music video for the song 'Under The Table' by Fiona Apple. Overall, we have been successful with our editing progress so far, with a better idea now of where our video could go from here. The product still needs to be colour corrected and we need to reshoot a couple more projector scenes, either to fill time or replace some we aren't satisfied with yet. However, overall we have managed to get to a halfway point with our video, and once we are finished we will begin working on the digipack.
The dinner scene
On our final shoot the following weekend, Olivia and I filmed the dinner scene, which will be taking up the majority of the music video's runtime and will be the focus of the narrative. Our friends and my brother played 3 extras to give the impression of a dinner party and once again we blacked out the windows in Olivia's dining room in order to give a more low-key, evening look to the scene. However, the lighting in this shoot was noticeably different to the lighting in the first shoot, so this is something we will have to changed post-production. One aspect we found challenging with this shoot was a shot we did using the gimbal, which followed Lucy coming back from the kitchen and into the dining room to join everyone else. This was going to be the final shot of the music video so it was important to get right so its impact is not lost on the viewer. We used the DJI Ronan app to balance the equipment, which took some time to do. Also, the equipment was very heavy, so it was difficult to keep steady during the shoot, so we had to re-do this shot a couple of times.
Filming more footage for the bathroom scene
Olivia and I felt our footage from the last shoot of the bathroom shoot was not what we had hoped for, with many of the shots being too blurry or unfocused. We also wanted to reshoot this scene because we weren't satisfied with the lighting, with it appearing too harsh in the previous footage and the aperture light being in some of the shots. To fix this, instead of placing the light on a surface, Olivia held it so it could be moved if it was appearing in the shot. This shoot ended up being much more of an improvement than the last one, with the shots being more in focus and better timed. Overall, Olivia and I were much more satisfied with this shoot rather than the last one, with the footage looking a lot nicer and the hand held camera working better for us.
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Our production for our music video is now finished. From here, Olivia and I will begin editing on Final Cut Pro and will produce a rough cut, which will give us a better idea of what our final product will look like.
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Production Log #1
The projector scenes
Olivia and I began the production of our music video with the projector sequences on 1/12/22 with our actress, Lucy. We had been struggling beforehand with our actors and shooting the video, something we had hoped to had finished filming by this point in the term. However, we were fortunate enough to be able to cast Lucy this week and began filming our music video with the projector scenes.
Health and Safety
Talent release forms
Before shooting our music video for 'Under The Table', it was important that Olivia and I considered the safety and consent of our actors. We had our actors sign a talent release form each before we filmed to make sure they were comfortable to feature in the video. We also gained informed consent from them about what exactly they would be doing in the video and roughly how long it would take to film/how many shoots we had to do.
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Schedule
Here are me and Olivia's filming schedules for our music video. We began production at the start of December 2022 and editing after our first shoot, then carried on editing up until the christmas holidays. After the holidays in January, we did more editing for most of the month and did the projector reshoot at the end. Finally, we were ready with our final product around the start of February.
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Location scouting for our music video
Olivia and I wanted our music video to take place at a dinner party, where our central couple will be hosting their guests. This will be where the tension is in the video, which will be displayed through the communication between the man and woman in the relationship. When Olivia and I discussed possible filming locations, we took our own dining rooms into consideration and evaluated them in terms of what we wanted. We wanted a dinner party of 6 people (including the couple), as well as a room that could provide dark but warm lighting we could use.
Previsualisation
Instead of creating a storyboard for our music video, like we did last year for our short film, Olivia and I made a sort of timeline of shots and events of the story we want to show. We went through the verses, choruses and seconds of the song and decided what we wanted to include and when, so we had a better idea of what our music video would look like. We also talked about any other potential ideas we had together and included them here in case we decide to explore them further when it comes to filming our video. Whilst discussing this, Olivia and I also came up with some potential intertextual references we could include in our music video, most notably a reference to 'I, Tonya' (2017) when our main character is putting makeup on in a bathroom, or a reference/inspiration taken from the short film for the song 'All Too Well' by Taylor Swift, featuring the two characters fighting while they wash up dishes.
Annotating the lyrics of the song
This was done so we could pick up on any extra details in the lyrics, which we could use in our video.
Genre Research - Alternative music
Me and Olivia's chosen genre for our song 'Under The Table' is 'Alternative', with different online sources varying in results for this song, including subgenres such as 'Alternative Pop/Rock' or 'Indie'. Originally, alternative music emerged as a genre of rock in the early 1980s and was then widely popular in the 1990s. The name was coined in the 80s to describe punk rock-inspired bands that were on independent record labels which didn't fit into the mainstream genres of the time. Though the genre is considered as 'rock', some of its subgenres has also been influenced by other aspects such as folk music and jazz. Overall, the genre is largely defined by its rejection of the commercialisation of mainstream culture as generally these bands played in small clubs and spread their popularity through word of mouth. Therefore, there is no set musical style or sound of alternative music as a whole, although most songs are often associated with the sounds of either distorted or jangly guitars and often meld other genres of music that were popular at the time.
Main influences
Some earlier main influences of the genre include...
- U2
- The Cure
- Nirvana
- The Smashing Pumpkins
- The Cranberries
- Arctic Monkeys
Fashion
TV and Film
I searched for any examples of films or TV shows which featured music of my genre as a soundtrack, and used them to search for a theme that correlates with 'alternative' music's communities or style.
'Six Different Ways' - The Cure (It, 2017)
A scene from the 2017 remake of the 1990 horror film 'It' (Dir. Andres Muschietti). Here, The Cure's 'Six Different Ways' is used more to induce a sense of nostalgia for the audience, rather than a relation to the music genre. The film being a remake of an original story means that it focuses on 1980s nostalgia and culture, especially as the film is adapted from the first part of the original novel, with the second part taking place in the contemporary audiences' timeline. However, the song could also be used here as a nod to the emerging 'alternative' genre of the time, especially with the scene revolving around a group of kids who are beginning to adapt to 'teen culture', this including music. Similarly, the video correlates with The Cure's original aesthetic and style, with the tone of the video being slightly comical (like a lot of The Cure's music) as the upbeat song is used over clips of the kids cleaning up blood.
'Dreams' - The Cranberries (Derry Girls, 2018-2022)
The use of The Cranberries' song 'Dreams' is a little more relevant to the genre than in 'It' when it is used in the TV show 'Derry Girls'. Similar to It, the TV show also takes a nostalgic look at a specific time in the late 20th century, with this being The Troubles in Northern Ireland, something that took place in the 1990s. Throughout 'Derry Girls', the song 'Dreams' is used repeatedly in significant scenes that show historical moments during The Troubles, such as the declaration of peace. The song is also used when the main characters, the 'Derry Girls' are shown growing together or 'coming of age'. This is relevant to the theme of the show, as the show often presents a parallel between the conflict going on around the characters and the conflict they experience as they grow. Here, it is significant as this is the last scene of the show altogether, with the song signifying how they have grown together as they vote for their future in Northern Ireland. The content here is relevant to the genre as the show focuses on the people living through The Troubles, rather than the war itself. This relates to the 'alternative' genre and its communities of people who feel powerless against what happens in their country, especially since The Cranberries are an Irish band, with another one of their songs, 'Zombie', being used in the show alongside footage of peace rallies.
More examples:
'Paper Bag' - Fiona Apple (Bridesmaids, 2011)
'Born Slippy' - Underworld (Trainspotting, 1996)
Radio and TV stations
When researching potential radio stations people listen to when searching for 'alternative' music, I found out about the concept of 'Campus Radio'. This is a type of radio station that is run by the students of a college or university. This may be created and produced solely by students or may include contributions from the local community of the station. These exist either to train professional radio personnel, who are the key personalities that promote this music, or to provide an alternative to commercial broadcasting or government broadcasters. Because many radio stations need licenses to broadcast commercial hits, Campus Radio stations are often associated with emerging music genres, such as punk, indie rock and 'alternative' music. Because of this, Campus Radio stations often provide promotional exposure for new and emerging local artists, whilst also offering a station for enjoyers of alternative music.
Magazines and Fanzines
When looking at which magazines people use to read about 'alternative' music or to find new emerging artists, I found a magazine called 'The Wire', which was originally founded in 1982 and was known as an independent music magazine, reflecting the 'alternative' music genre and its rejection of the commercialisation of music. The magazines focuses on the experimental, as well as jazz, hip-hop and improvised music, with it stating that it "wages war on the mundane and mediocre". Since the 1990s, the magazine has given away CDs called 'The Wire Tapper', which feature a variety of sounds to promote artists and their music from festivals. The magazine is still releasing issues as of now in November 2022, and despite new technologies overtaking the use of CDs, it still promotes the underground and emerging sounds of 'alternative' music, not just limited to large countries such as the USA and UK.
Club nights and Gigs
In terms of clubs and gigs that play 'alternative' music, across the UK there are many clubs that have been playing this genre of music since it emerged in the early 1980s. These clubs also often host nights for alternative subgenres, such as Indie or Punk music, for example Camden Rocks At Firewater in Glasgow hosts an Indie rock party every Thursday, in tribute to the Home of 'Britpop'. In general, each major city for alternative music has its most popular clubs for the genre, with some of them focusing on older songs. An example of a club that plays old and new artists is Pressure at Rescue Rooms in Nottingham, which is known for playing bands such as New Order and Prince alongside Arctic Monkeys and Bombay Bicycle Club. Nowadays, these clubs are often advertised on social media, a lot like mainstream clubs and bars, as this is an easy way for them to bring in new customers. However, before the introduction of easier advertising through the internet, these clubs often spread their word through zines handed out on highstreets and posters. Generally, people who attend these clubs wear a variety of styles, with some subcultures being represented on the clubs' posters, such as goths and punks. However, the biggest similarity between people who go to these types of clubs is that they take inspiration from older styles and appear very androgynous, something reminiscent of the emergence of 'alternative' music.
Activities and lifestyle
In terms of lifestyles that are associated with 'alternative' music, the genre's main sphere of influence is young people, therefore the activities and lifestyles it influences revolves around a lot of youth culture. This includes an initial influence on drug use in the 1980s, as the artists themselves took part in this, however this has been something that has been controlled and discouraged in the last couple decades. However, 'alternative' music mostly encourages a partying lifestyle, like other genres, with an emphasis on creativity and being unique. As a lot of the alternative bands and artists do not use mainstream labels or companies, they often write a lot about political views and the perspectives of those who grew up in working class families - as they are less likely to have to censor any of this with their label companies. Because of this, their music often speaks to those from similar backgrounds or with similar opinions, therefore their lifestyles correlate with the music they are listening to, and this becomes the type of lifestyle associated with 'alternative' music.
Codes and Conventions
Olivia and I identified that the music genre of 'Under The Table' was labelled as Alternative or Indie by both Spotify and Google. From this, we concluded that we needed to research further into our genre in order to understand the codes and conventions of it better and therefore what we can apply to our own music video.
Similar bands and artists to Fiona Apple
Firstly, Olivia and I decided to look at some artists and bands similar to our chosen artist, Fiona Apple, and identify the codes and conventions of their music videos, as well as general patterns and similarities which we could potentially apply or consider when creating our video. We chose these artists from the Spotify profile for Fiona Apple, which had a section labelled 'fans also like...'.
Mazzy Star - 'Fade Into You'
In this music video, the star is represented in a way that highlights her beauty and style, with shots focusing on her boots and eyes, showing her makeup. Mazzy is presented as laid back and almost in a fantasy state, with warm, film reel footage and slow-mo shots edited to blend together of deserts and cars. This gives the idea she is a nostalgic and reflective person who also isn't afraid to show her femininity, with a wide shot showing her standing in a skirt and tank top in the desert.
The storyline and narrative of the song feels very reminiscent of an older point in the artist's life. The old film reel footage gives the viewer the idea that this song is looking back on a past experience or relationship, with the numerous close ups of clothes, faces and cars reading almost like a short film telling a story. This is done quite abstractly, with it cutting between shots of deserts, trains and Mazzy's reactions to this imagery, to Mazzy then singing on stage, with the switch from warm to a cold blue lighting giving the impression of melancholy and loneliness. Conventionally, this video fits Mazzy Star's iconography, with her often being presented in a very dream-like, almost sleepy fashion. It also fits the codes and conventions of Indie/Alternative pop, with the music video seeming to have a small budget and a different way of telling a story in a more abstract tone. This is done using show don't tell and the mise-en-scene of the clothes, vehicles and sunglasses unlike how most music videos would tell them to the viewer's face.
Hole - 'Violet'
Alternatively, in this music video, the artist, Courtney Love, is represented differently to Mazzy Star, as she is dressed in corsets and white weddings dresses, unlike Mazzy who wears a dark palette and boots. Aesthetically, this contrasts with the performance of 'Violet', a loud song that fits the 'punk rock' genre of the band. The representation of the artist here is made to show what it is to be objectified, with the use of a lot of POV shots of men in the audience watching Courtney, showing the 'male gaze'. Courtney is lit by stage lighting, with the 1920s burlesque emphasizing this message to the viewer about the way women are viewed. There are also points in the video where the camera cuts to quick shots of rats, eggs and other unpleasant imagery to contrast with the white dresses and tutus the viewer is seeing. This is done to follow a narrative of the sexual exploitation of women and to remind the viewer not to romanticise the video too much. Typically, Hole has their own iconography when it comes to their music videos. This is shown in 'Violet' through the footage of them performing the song on a stage edited inbetween the shots of the burlesque girls dancing. However, this footage is edited to look like it is a part of the burlesque footage, with shots of people behind the stage moving the light towards the camera and then cutting to Courtney Love dancing on stage after performing the song with a guitar prior to this.
Mitski - 'Washing Machine Heart'
However, in Mitski's 'Washing Machine Heart', we see the representation of the artist differently, unlike Mazzy Star's nostalgia and warmth and Courtney Love's confidence. Mitski is presented as calm and still, but also invoking a sense of uneasiness in the viewer. The video feels surreal, with the contrasts between light and dark lighting of the film noir theme, and the shot of a man's lips cutting to Mitski' touching her lips with her fingers telling the narrative of an unrequited romance that reads as very damaging for her. Also, the use of the close up shot of her empty hand cutting to the hand striking a match presents the artist in a state of longing or loneliness. Here, Mitski is telling the story of this romance without showing the other person, highlighting how damaging it is to her. This is done through continuous close ups of her neck, hand and body, telling the viewer how alone she actually is, and that she is aware of it. The shots of the pearl (a reference to her song 'A Pearl', on the same album) which quickly transitions to pins with the beat of the song, presents the artist in an eerie way to the viewer, showing her as beautiful but tortured. Similarly, the mise-en-scene of the statue she leans on and the taxidermy bird emphasizes this loneliness she feels.
Phoebe Bridgers - 'Motion Sickness'
Compared to the others I have looked at, this music video is a lot simpler in its narrative and production. The majority of the video focuses on the star Phoebe Bridgers as she rides a scooter around a neighbourhood in Los Angeles and ends up at a karaoke bar, with this being filmed on a rickshaw dolly as we follow her around. The star is represented in a tuxedo, which is significant as she is often shown in masculine clothing, especially with this song as it relates to her accusing the person the song is about of emotional abuse. This is unconventional of most music videos as the typical female star is often presented more femininely. However, Phoebe turns this on its head by wearing a tuxedo and using the conventional power that masculinity gives someone to take away any weakness the viewer may associate with her under this context. Also, the focus of the video being Phoebe on the scooter links to the title of the song, 'Motion Sickness', with there being a link between the lyrics and what we are seeing on the screen. In the video, Phoebe puts on a bike helmet when riding the scooter which has little planet stickers on it. This code symbolises a potential representation of Phoebe's inner thoughts or stream of thoughts while she sings the lyrics of the song - as the song focuses on the inner conflict of a relationship. Overall, the video represents Phoebe Bridgers' iconography, as she is someone who often films her music videos on a lower budget, but showing a story through her clothing and the setting in which the video takes place; with a focus on nostalgia and hometowns, similar to Mazzy Star. She also often wears a skeleton costume, with her songs often focusing on halloween or death imagery. This is similar to Courtney Love and 'Hole', also to Mitski's 'Washing Machine Heart'.
Alternative/Indie codes and conventions conclusion
Overall, from these music videos, I have identified how different artists represent themselves visually to their audiences, with each artist choosing to be presented differently in terms of aesthetics but similarly in terms of the focuses of their songs. These artists tend to focus on a variety of themes, most notably nostalgia, their routes/hometowns, relationships and inner conflict. This is something I can take and use in my music video to create a detailed narrative and build the characters off with Olivia. When we come to filming our music videos, we will definetly be taking these codes and conventions in mind, with a possible inspiration from Mitski's symbolism and use of mise-en-scene, Hole's lighting and theatrical representation and Mazzy Star's unsettling warmth of her setting.
More bands and artists which Spotify labelled as similar to Fiona Apple
- The Sundays
- The Cardigans
- Regina Spektor
- Florence + The Machine
- Fleetwood Mac
- Alanis Morissette
- Tori Amos
- Bjork
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Interview with our target audience
In order to better understand what our target audience for our music video is, Olivia and I interviewed a few people at school and asked them about what kind of music they consume, how they consume it and how they hear about new music. We then played them a section of 'Under The Table' and asked them about who they think would listen to it and what their expectations would be for a music video of this song. We did this to discover what kind of people would consume our product, so we could modify any initial ideas we had for the video to better fit our target audience.
Our interview
Conclusion
We gathered a few people in our year group whom we knew consumed music regularly and believed it had a big influence over their everyday life, and asked them the questions above. From this interview, we concluded that our music video's target audience is young people, mostly of Generation Z born between 1997-2012. We also concluded that the genre they believed it to fit into the most was grunge and alternative pop/rock, therefore we will need to consider this when it comes to us making our video in order to fit the beliefs and wants of our target audience. When picturing ideas for what expectations they had for a music video, most of the people we interviewed stated similar ideas to ours, with images of and uncomfortable warmth and characters showing potential conflict on screen. Overall, Olivia and I now have a better understanding of who we think would want to watch our music video, as well as their wants, needs and overall expectations for a video of the alternative genre.
Our music video pitch
How To Pitch
Our initial ideas on a Padlet
Olivia and I had a lot of initial thoughts and ideas about our music video that we wanted to be able to get down somewhere and share together, in case we may forget them along the way, as they may come in useful for when we start to plan our video. We decided to make a Padlet, a website we were familiar with from year 12 and both really enjoyed using for planning and mind-mapping. Here are our initial pieces of inspiration from other media, including some photos and videos of projector photo shoots, something we are considering using in our music video as we have access to a projector. We also looked at montage and some music videos we felt inspired by, including 'How Are You Doing?' by The Living Sisters and 'Limp' by Fiona Apple. Along with this, we also looked at some TikToks that some creators online have made whilst lip-syncing to pop songs.
Different points to make here (and for pitch):
- song choice
- different inspiration
- basic ideas for song visuals
- intertextuality
- genre
Decision time...
Richard Dyer's Star Theory - Taylor Swift
Unique Selling Point (USP)
Richard Dyer said that "a pop star's persona is a fragile thing which needs constant nurturing". Taylor Swift has a unique selling point which is the way she uses messages and clues in her marketing and songs to tell a story. This is a Unique Selling Point as it provides discourse between her and her fans, but also tells an overarching story within her albums and reflects herself as a person. An example of this is in Swift's branding for her album 'Red'. The album was first released in 2012 but was then re-released in 2021 with the subtitle of 'Taylor's Version'. This was a part of Taylor Swift's campaign to re-release her albums that weren't under her own label - meaning she did not own them. This is a Unique Selling Point as it means that Swift's fans (labelled as 'Swifties') are able to listen to the re-released album (along with its added new songs) and are able to feel more connected to the artist as she gains her own label for her work. This is a clever USP as it allows for a 'rebranding' of Swift's identity and image, as well as changes of her own original songs with the famous 10 minute version of her song 'All Too Well'.
Ideologies
Taylor Swift's ideologies were something that she didn't truly express to her fans or the world before recent years, however this is something she is now more vocal about in her career, since 2018, when she endorsed Phil Bredesen, the Democratic candidate for Senate in her home state of Tennessee. Since then, the star has been more vocal about what is going on in the world especially during the release of her 7th album 'Lover' in 2019. An example of one of her ideologies being conveyed was in her song 'You Need To Calm Down', a song about self-love and equality for the LGBTQ+ community - which she donated to around the single's release. Swift has also shown her political ideologies in making donations to the victims of gun violence and for the 'March For Our Lives' campaign. These ideologies are conveyed in Swift's music through lyrics, but also outside of them through the use of her platform on social media.
Altogether, these are ideologies that do conform to the current cultural ones but Swift is also known for questioning the representation of the young female star in the media. Some examples of this are included in her song 'Mad Woman' from the album 'Folklore', released in 2020. This is a song that argues that the way women are treated in the celebrity industry is unfair, and that they are ridiculed if they show emotional responses to this treatment.
Representation
Richard Dyer's theory states that a star's representation is created through a variety of different texts to show different aspects of their personality or 'brand'. For Taylor Swift, this is shown through her different albums or 'eras' throughout her career as a songwriter.
For her debut album in 2006, we have the innocent country girl next door. This is a pastiche brand that derives from older country artists' styles such as Dolly Parton or Carrie Underwood, and helped Taylor comfortably begin her career in the 'country' genre.
We then see the release of her 2014 album '1989,' which falls into the pop genre. In her music video for 'Shake It Off,' We see the representation of the fun side of Taylor, as opposed to the fem fatale representation of 'Bad Blood.'
In her 2017 album 'Reputation,' we see Taylor take back a darker brand reflecting the online abuse she received from fans and other stars such as Kanye West and Kim Kardashian. Because of their affect on her reputation, she had to create a new brand that reflects her 'rise back from the dead', as represented in her music video for 'Look What You Made Me Do'. Here, Taylor literally rises from the dead, implying that as a star she is able to control her own mortality, an idea that we as an audience receive from this.
In contrast to this, in her 2020 sister albums 'Folklore' and 'Evermore,' Taylor takes inspiration from folk music and her country routes to create a natural, intimate persona. These albums were released at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic and revolve around a series of fantastical narratives which Taylor used as escapism during the lockdown. Here, another new side of Taylor's representation is built through a series of new texts. She is presented as peaceful and happy with who she is. This is something that she realised at this point in her career through refusing to give in to the societal expectation for female stars to re-invent themselves with every new album. Here, we see a more 'real' version of Taylor Swift.
'Folklore'
'Evermore'
Finally, here we see the realest version of Taylor Swift, through who she is as 'the good friend', 'the fan' and average 33 year old woman. When her fans on TikTok see her talking about the star Phoebe Bridgers and going out and getting drunk/embarrassed about her 'drunk self', they see her as 'real' and relatable, as if they know her personally.
@taylorswift I cringe but I miss her. Your move @phoebe bridgers ♬ Nothing New - Taylor Swift
Conclusion
Ultimately, from these different texts, we build a 3D idea of who Taylor Swift is and how she is represented in different ways through them. With every new album there is a different 'era,' something she uses to almost create different characters with personalities. This is especially evident in her marketing for her 'Eras Tour,' which she began in March 2023 and celebrates her past 10 albums. This is also something she reclaims to a further extent as she releases her re-recorded versions of her first 6 albums. Therefore, out of a patchwork of texts, including social media, music, music videos, interviews and photos, we understand her as an audience. Ultimately, this fits with Richard Dyer's 'Star Theory,' which revolves around a celebrity's persona and Unique Selling Point, and how they share this with their fans.
Q&A with Alumni
My Film Studies class and I submitted a Q&A with Bangkok-based filmmaker Leena Tangtermsirikul
Leena's website:
https://nanaleenaa.wixsite.com/rinatangtermsirikul
Leena has worked with Thai singer-songwriter Alann8h, and she has helped her create these music videos:
'Burger King Bathroom' - Alann8h
'Damsel In Distress' - Alann8h
As a class, we asked Leena about her creative process. This involved how she came up with ideas, worked with the artist and approached the filming process.
The Q&A
What inspires the narrative behind your music videos?
There are many elements that can be used as inspiration to come up with a narrative for a music video. I could say the song itself inspires the narrative but within the song there are sub-elements that come together to create a narrative. These sub-elements that I would distinguish by are things like the lyrics (what are the lyrics talking about, what is the deeper meaning behind the lyrics).
I personally think that the lyric itself is the narrative, but like analysing a poem, I try to analyse the lyrics to bring out that deeper narrative hidden behind the words where I would then try to visualise that into shots and scenes. An easier way for this is to talk with the artist directly and have them explain the meaning behind their song.
The genre and style of the song is also a big inspiration for coming up with ideas especially to establish a mood & tone for the music video. Tuning in with your emotions while listening to the music is something that I do a lot. I try to dive into what emotions the song evokes within me; how the song makes you feel. Another thing that I try to envision is the scenario or situation that I imagine myself to be in when I’m listening to the song; what vibe does the song give? I personally think that knowing the emotions and the vibe that the song brings out is something valuable that you must project into the music video because evoking emotions within the viewer is one thing that maintains engagement. One thing that I learnt from seeing other people’s work is that a video can be visually exceptional and stunning but if there is no narrative purpose or it does not evoke any form of emotion, it is difficult to create something that engages the audience from start to finish.
In terms of my thought process, I tend to visualise the scenes before coming up with the overall narrative. I often have scenes and scenarios in my head while listening to the song; the composition, the lighting, the theme, styling etc. Then I work my way to form a bigger narrative from those few initial scenes in my head. A note to take is that everyone has their own work flow and thought process therefore this may or may not be the right process for some others. I know people who visualize in terms of editing before anything, or some just simply begin with a storyline. But whatever your initial thought is, I believe that there is always a way to work with that thought, and everything else will come together eventually.
How do you decide upon a theme/how do you choose to represent the artist in the music video?
Oftentimes, artists tend to already have their own style & theme going on. Our job therefore is to bring across that style into the music video with the help of other departments including styling, hair & makeup, art direction. This is of course the simplest way to represent the artist. However in some cases, there are new upcoming artists who still are unsure of their own style and image that they want to portray. In this case I would listen to their music to try to figure out their mood and style. Another option is to go through their social media and try to understand their media image, the type of content they post and the overall style that they put out to the public as an artist. With this information I am able to get a sense of what theme they would fit in, what kind of makeup and styling they would look good in and other elements of creating a music video will come together with the theme that you decide for the artist.
There is a lot of discussing and planning to do with the artists themselves to make sure that every aspect is approved because creating a music video for their song also means creating a star image for them. I personally think that this is one of the important things to do before anything else as it gives you an initial idea for the MV and it is always good to have the artists’ opinion as your main starting point so you can make sure that you are on the right track, which also saves you time if the artist does not favour your own ideas without their input.
Do you make sure that every shot has meaning that adds to the narrative or amplifies the songs message?
When it comes to designing the shots, I will always try to aim to create some meaning with them to support the narrative. A good cinematographer mentor of mine once mentioned something that stuck with me until today: a good way to add more meaning and personality/character to the narrative is to film lots of insert shots (B-rolls) of the environment and surroundings of the main situation. For instance, if the scene is a story of an adult male drinking a glass of milk with a straw. An insert that would create more meaning to emphasize his character and personality might be a single close up shot of the bitten and flattened tip of the plastic straw. This shot would straightaway tell the viewers that this man is a childish man because not only is he drinking milk, the emphasis here would be the bitten tip of the straw which is a characteristic of a child. In this way, I think that it is very helpful and important to always keep in mind to include shots of specific things in the scene and the surroundings because they will not only be greatly appreciated by the editor, but they can elevate the narrative and create a more visually interesting story.
How do you visualise your ideas in pre-production - do you use moodboards, storyboards, shot lists?
I usually begin by browsing for references and inspiration on pinterest and vimeo (sometimes on other social media like youtube and instagram – usually artists with a similar style). After I come up with a brief concept/idea for the MV, I create a moodboard with a few photos and screenshots to sum up the visual idea which helps to gather my thoughts into one single page or slide. The moodboard is also very useful for the team to understand the whole mood of the project, and to keep everyone on the same page.
Once the story is formed and I have a decent idea of the shots that I have in mind, I will begin to create a storyboard finding references for every shot. I tend to be quite detailed and specific with the shots as it will be easier to understand for the team and I believe that having a detailed storyboard leads to a better structured and prepared shoot. It is always expected that finding references will take up a big portion of our time, therefore if I feel like i am spending too long in finding a ref for one specific shot, I will resort to sketching out the shot manually.
The next step after the storyboard is the shotlist. Shot lists are sometimes not necessary in my opinion since we will usually use the breakdown on set, and both are somewhat similar. However it is helpful to have a shotlist for organizational purposes in order to create a breakdown. I sometimes use shotlists to organize my thought process when I need to plan the required equipment, props, casts, wardrobe etc. for each shot. Once the shotlist is complete, I can then rearrange the shots and information required to create a breakdown for the shooting day.
Is there anything differently, technically to shooting a music video than you would do for a short film/advert?
I personally cannot think of any technical aspect to distinguish between shooting a music video and a film/commercial. I believe that you can be as creative with films and commercials as you can with MVs. Regarding the technicalities, there is little to no difference between the type of projects you get, coming from my own observations and experience. However, considering I am still quite young in the industry and still have a long way to go and learn, I am not entirely confident in my response for this part since bigger productions with budgets over millions may have their own technical ways of handling MVs and commercials.
How much coverage do you hope to have before you begin to edit?
To avoid the big issue of not having enough footage for the edit, we try to do a good amount of planning in the pre production stage so that there is no missing footage or the problem of forgetting to shoot something on set. Planning very precisely leading up to the shooting day, in my opinion, is extremely important because everything costs money. There are a lot of expenses put into shooting a commercial or a music video and the budget is set for a fixed amount of shooting days, therefore it would be more or double the amount of money spent if we need to schedule another shooting day just for the missing footage. However this cannot be the case as the budget is usually fixed and confirmed therefore in order to prevent this problem, a delicate plan in the pre production stage is highly important.
From a DOP/cinematographer’s perspective when shooting on set, something that I learnt is that there is no harm in shooting more, in other words, shoot more than what is required. If I see something nice in my surroundings that I feel would be useful to the narrative like a flock of birds in the sky or the intense waves bashing against the cliff, I would go ahead and shoot those for B-rolls. I try to not let the thought of “this footage is not going to be useful anyway” stop me from shooting things in the environment.
If you had to give THREE top tips for students making a music video, what would they be?
Know your budget and be creative with it because there is no limit to creativity in music videos.
Understand the meaning behind the song and its mood & tone in order to figure out the theme and style of the project.
Don’t forget to shoot inserts and B-rolls on set!
Codes and Conventions of Boy Bands
Boy bands are defined as a group composed of young men whose music and image is generally designed to appeal to a young teen audience, primarily young female teenagers. Today, the bands are often manufactured and put together by record labels, often matched depending on aesthetic.
Representation
Since the target audience for most boy bands is the teenage girl audience, the image for the band must be non-threatening but cool. At this point in their lives, young people are tending to gain more control over what type of media they consume, however there is generally still some parental guidance and control here.
Because of this, boy bands must tread the line between appearing 'edgy' and 'wholesome' carefully, presenting themselves as mature for the newly independent teenager, but also being enough for their parents to approve of. The result of this is a type of non-threatening representation of masculinity being presented, with the emphasis on the young energy and playfulness of the group still being there. It is not aggressive, but instead focuses on a sense of 'horse play' that is still masculine and 'grown up' enough for the audience.
Wake Up - The Vamps
In this video, the band's fans are participating in vandalism, trespassing and dangerous behaviour, with the use of the mise-en-scene and costume of street protesters. However, these activities are necessary to get The Vamps to perform to the whole city from a tower and tell them to 'wake up!'. Therefore, this anti-social behaviour is portrayed as creative and positive, showing organisation and initiative as well as bringing the city to life altogether.
Intertextuality
Other music videos include many references to existing texts, however, boy bands make these references often, especially to older boy bands and to portray them in a certain light to their younger audience. In 'Kiss You' by British boy band One Direction, each set up that the boys are seen in is a reference to different teen idols from the past: The Beatles, The Monkees, The Beach Boys and Elvis Presley. There is even a reference to the sailors from the film 'South Pacific' (1958). This gives the sense that One Direction is appearing as the new set of teen idols for a new generation, giving the impression to parents of teen viewers that they can feel safe and reassured in knowing that this group is no more different or harmful than any idols before them.
Similarly, in the music video for 'Where People Go' by After Romeo, the band members show their differences by referencing different gangs, such as the Marauders from 'Mad Max' (1979) and the Droogs from 'A Clockwork Orange' (1971). This intertextual reference to 'A Clockwork Orange' sums up the non threatening but edgy representation of the boy band here. With the band member, Jayk Purdy, dressed as a Droog - a sociopathic, psychotic gang capable of unprovoked violence and sexual assault, it is only done here because someone thinks it looks cool and familiar.
Technical codes
Conventionally, boy band videos are performance based, with the group coming together to perform to the camera/audience. This means that the construction of the video will require some master shots of the group, which will be intercut with close-ups and mid shots of the performance. The editing used will be in tone with the music, with it being quick for upbeat music and slower for ballads. There is also an element of voyeurism and objectification as the audience is meant to see the artists as desirable here. So for this, there is often cutaways, often in slow-motion, to close up of the smoldering, wistful and reflective looks of the performers.
Narrative
While the focus of boy band videos is often on performance, the narratives found in these videos are often very simple: getting ready for a performance, getting ready for a party, getting together for a party with girls.
BTS - Butter
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Auteur study
As I researched music videos before starting work on my own, I also researched auteurs who were famous for their music videos. These included Chris Cunningham, Michael Gondry, Spike Jonze and Paul Thomas Anderson. To learn more about music videos, I investigated Paul Thomas Anderson's work as I liked how simplistic his music videos are in terms of narrative. He has also created films such as 'Magnolia' (1999) and 'Licorice Pizza' (2021) which interested me as it was insightful to see how he presented narratives in full length films as well as 3-minute music videos. Also, I haven't yet decided whether I want to create a music video or a short film for my A2 coursework this year, so looking at both through this Auteur is very useful for when I will have to decide.
Paul Thomas Anderson
Auteur's work
Here are some examples of music videos that Paul Thomas Anderson has directed or produced.
'Man From The Magazine' - HAIM
This music video takes a look at sexism in the music industry through the artist singing behind the counter at a Deli to a group of male customers. The overall style of the video is cynical, with the artist looking at the camera multiple times as she sings the lyrics to the song and breaking the fourth wall. We also see the use of the male gaze through the camera cutting between the man at the counter back to the artist. The use of diegetic sound with the artist singing over the customers is also cynical.
'Daydreaming' - Radiohead
In this video, a shaky, hand held camera is used to follow a man around, going with the theme of the title 'Daydreaming', as if he is in a state of dreaming. The use of dim, low-key lighting gives the music video a mundane and realistic style, similar to the look of the Deli in the HAIM video. The video's overall tone reflects this, with the artist looking like an outsider to other characters they walk past. The camera slowly zooms out and in as the artist walks to each location in the video, possibly to show they don't acknowledge the background characters around them.
'Across The Universe' - Fiona Apple
This music video feels similar to the other two in terms of its tone and use of the camera following the artist as they move around the setting, however the style is different. The video is in black and white, highlighting its lack of emotion which contrasts with the destruction happening around the artist. Also, the use of the spinning camera following the artist feels out of the world of the video, which matches their focus on the camera, rather than the silent action of the scene behind them. The stain glass window is the only colour in the video, which is destroyed in the first few seconds. This is similar to the mundanity of the Radiohead video.
Paul Thomas Anderson's visual style
Overall, Paul Thomas Anderson's early style is chaotic and dramatic, while his more recent work has a similar intensity, but is more internal and intellectual. This is interesting as it makes the viewer think a bit more about the messages the films or music videos are trying to convey, which aren't noticeable on the surface. As someone who enjoys analysing symbols and metaphors in films and literature, researching Anderson's work and visual style has inspired me to take a deeper look at this as I begin to create some initial ideas for my own music video.
Andrew Goodwin
This week, I looked at more music video analysis, specifically by Andrew Goodwin, who was a director of music videos. He created 6 steps to help directors bring the audience's attention whilst watching music videos.
Relationship between lyrics and video
Narrative music videos commonly use a close relationship between the lyrics and the actual video, however some videos may just use this to add to the 'aesthetic' of the video. For example, here is Kate Bush dancing in a field in her music video for 'Wuthering Heights'. This is close to the lyrics as it represents the characters Cathy and Heathcliff playing in the Yorkshire Moors, which is part of the song. Bush almost acts as a storyteller here, dancing in the setting of her song and representing the joyful but toxic relationship she is singing about.
Relationship between music and visuals
This is done to match the tone of the video. The atmosphere that the song creates must be reflected in the music video, for example, in David Bowie's 'Life On Mars' video, there is bright lighting and close ups on Bowie's eyes, with him utilising his different pupils, androgyny and pale complexion to look like he himself is from mars. This is to fit the drama of the song and to exaggerate the out of world experience the audience will feel from watching it.
Another crucial element to Goodwin's theory is star representation, otherwise known as Voyeurism, an idea that demonstrates how music videos should be used to reinforce the image of an artist it is promoting. This is most common for a lot of young artists, specifically young female artists who want to put across a certain image to their audience to fit their 'brand'. This is also especially evident in Pop videos as the artist is on screen for the majority of the video, with the band either in background shots or not at all. An example of this is Taylor Swift, who has multiple close up shots to emphasise her image and how she is represented in her music videos. The first gif is from her album 'Red', from 2012. Here, she is presented with warm, bright lighting, with the focus of the camera being on her face, so that even through the heart she makes with her hands, the audience can still see she is warm and smiley. The heart also gives a warm impression.
The final element that Goodwin stated in his theory was the idea that some music videos may reference other existing media or parts of the performance industry to give subtle nods to the audience, to use the media to create a representation of the star or to make the audience feel as if they are in on the joke the artist is trying to create for them. The artist also may be referencing this media to add fame and publicity - or it may have relevance to the song itself or its storyline. An example of this is Madonna referencing the iconic scene from 'Gentlemen Prefer Blondes' (1953), featuring legendary Hollywood actress Marilyn Monroe dancing to 'Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend'. This in itself is put in the video to make Madonna look beautiful and glamorous like Monroe, however it is also to cater to her brand in 1984, which was very virginal and pure. Her album, 'Like A Virgin', presented Madonna like this, especially during her early career, with presenting themselves as innocent being something common with young female stars in the industry. The name 'Madonna', though her birthname, also comes from the sense of the Virgin Mary in Christianity, reinforcing the artist's pure and holy representation in the early 80s through her branding. However, the use of the intertextuality here is turned on its head slightly, with Madonna biting her finger to hint at a possible use of sexuality and passion in the video, especially with her breaking the fourth wall by staring directly into the camera as she does this. It's clear that she knows exactly what she means by using the reference from the Monroe film, showing she is in control.
[Marilyn Monroe in 'Gentlemen Prefer Blondes' performing 'Diamonds Are A Girl's Bestfriend']
Stutterer (2015)
Directed by Benjamin Cleary
This week, I looked at the Oscar-winning short film 'Stutterer', directed by Benjamin Cleary and released in 2015. The film is about a character called Greenwood who suffers from a stutter and has to overcome his fear of rejection and philosophical views about his stutter in order to progress and meet his love interest, Ellie. The film ends with Greenwood meeting Ellie and discovering that she is deaf, therefore fixing his philosophical conflict and helping him grow more self-confident as he practices sign language to communicate for fear of stuttering. The overall message with Greenwood's character is that he struggles to accept who he is, however this is resolved by the end of the 15 minute film.
The film won the Oscar for Best Live Action Short Film in 2015 and has had critical acclaims that back it since then.
After watching the short film, I watched a YouTube video by Tyler Mowery about how to write a successful narrative for a short film, using 'Stutterer' as a case study for this. The video helped me understand the fundamental guidelines for writing and directing a short film, and, although I have chosen to make a music video rather than a short film, it has taught me how to successfully use show don't tell to convey a story without dialogue - which is something I will need to use in my music video. Mowery's video uses the story cycle by Dan Harmon to show how the story works well, even with a short runtime of 15 minutes. Again, this is something I can use to my advantage for my music video, as they tend to only be about 3 or 4 minutes long; a short time for a story. Through this, Mowery describes how the director can use this time to present the story, challenges and conclusions for the characters with little time.
Here are my notes on Mowery's video and how to construct a short film. These will be useful for me when I eventually get to planning my music video with my partner, Olivia.
Learning about short films
'The Lunch Date' (1990)
This week, I started to look at some short films myself and try to analyse their structure and narrative so I understood them a bit more. I compared the short film 'The Lunch Date' (1990), directed by Adam Davidson, to Todorov's 'linear narrative', the idea of events having in chronological order with the story. This is also known as classical narrative.
Todorov's narrative is structured in the following way:
1. Equilibrium - all is in order, 'normal' and happy for the characters.
2. Disruption - a disruption to the equilibrium by the means of an event or action.
3. Recognition - there is a recognition amongst the characters or world that a disruption has taken place and this drives the characters to move forward in the story.
4. Repair - an attempt to repair the damage caused by the disruption.
5. New equilibrium - the problem is solved and we return to a 'new' type of equilibrium where things are happy like before, but with a 'new normal' twist.
I made some notes on the short film in the Three-Act structure, which is a structure that divides a film into three separate acts, with act one being the 'set up', act two being the 'confrontation' and act three being the 'resolution'. This is a very simple structure to a film which I enjoy because it helps separate the story easily and it also helps identify the different conflicts and resolutions of the film. This is a structure I may consider applying to my music video project.
The Ellington Kid (dir. Dan Sully)
I also looked at a selection of short films and used what I had learnt about narrative structures in previous lessons to write about a chosen film. I chose 'The Ellington Kid', a short film that features two characters in a kebab shop, with one telling the other a story about a kid who was stabbed in that very shop. The film ends with one of the characters suggesting that the gang who stabbed the kid was cooked into the kebab meat by the cooks at the shop, with it initially being played off as a joke, but then finishing with the camera panning across to the kebab owner eyeing them, while he sharpens a knife - suggesting to the audience that this is actually true.
Who is Charlie Budden?
Charlie Budden is a Tanglin Trust International School alumni who graduated year 13 in 2016 and went on to study foundation Film Production at the University of Bournemouth, Uk. He graduated from there in 2021 and created his student film 'Oh Little Spark!', based off a Polish lullaby. He came back to Tanglin on 26th August 2022 to give a presentation to some Film Studies students and me about his short film and the challenges and successes in making your own film. He showed us 'Oh Little Spark!' then gave a Q&A on what it was like to study Film Production at University along with some advice about A level Film Studies.
Here is the trailer for Charlie Budden's short student film, 'Oh Little Spark!'
Crowdfunding
Charlie obtained his following and funding for his short film through crowdfunding, which is a way of raising money for something through small contributions from people on the internet. Charlie used the website 'Crowdfunder' to do this. He managed to gain 117 supporters on 12th December 2019 in 28 days, raising 9,160 pounds overall. This was a success as he managed to gain the right amount of following for his film, which meant that the cost required to create the film was obtained.
Another success Charlie had from making 'Oh Little Spark!' was casting British actress Rula Lenska as 'Janina', the main character Gabriel's grandmother. Rula Lenska, born 30th September 1947 has appeared in British stage and television productions, and is well known for her part in the classic British ITV soap opera 'Coronation Street' as Claudia Colby. Charlie managing to cast such a well known and professional actress was a big success for his film, as it meant it could possibly gain more followers on the Crowdfunder as well as other social medias such as Instagram and Youtube if people saw a famous actress playing a central character. This would mean that they would be more inclined to support the film so they could watch Lenska in it.
What I found interesting about Charlie's presentation
Charlie's presentation was very inspiring to me, as the leadership skills he had when directing his film and leading his team are something I look up to and hope to attempt this year, especially with my music video project, which is with a partner and therefore working in a team.
Something else that I found interesting from Charlie's presentation was how much production went into the film, down to the smallest details. On his Crowdfunder, there were drawings and sketches of the characters from the film, with the inspirations for them both being presented through photos from other media he was inspired by. This was something I focused on last year with my film opening and will focus on this year for my music video even more, as the video will need to include enough references and media contexts to be successful. Therefore, seeing Charlie's process of production is interesting for me as I can see exactly how much work went into the story and how much I will need to think about when I am making my music video this year.
Finally, another thing about the presentation I found interesting was how Charlie created the characters in the film's traumas and stories using show don't tell. This is something I want to bring into my music video without directly telling the audience. This is also something rather difficult to convey in a music video as the characters usually don't have much dialogue or time to tell a story, as the video is only about 3 minutes long.
Charlie's Youtube channel
Oh, Little Spark! (independentshortsawards.com)
Uptown Funk music video recreation
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