First Draft: Opening

Costume List

Bed Scenes

For the bed scenes we decided to keep the costumes minimal by us wearing just underwear but not showing this in the shots so it looks like we're naked. This adds to the sexy and intimate feeling of the bed shots and also the vulnerability of the girls, particularly the first one. Being undressed makes them more exposed and perhaps open to being hurt. This is portrayed through the first girl since she looks particularly lonely in her shots because she has woken up without her boyfriend who should have been there if their relationship was more stable. 

For the second girl  we wanted her to also look naked in her shots so there are still similarities between both characters. But with the camera angles and the actions using the gold glitter and confetti she doesn't look as lonely or sad. And due to the change in skin tones it helps create a warmer feeling for the second girl. 







Field Scenes

 We wanted to keep these two costumes similar, just like in the bed so the audience weren't confused as the two female characters are representing the same person. So we decided to use these two dresses as they're the same style and material but just different colours. For the first girl we wanted a dark colour to express her feelings of being down and unhappy with her relationship, keeping the mood very dark and gloomy.

In contrast, we wanted the other girl to have a more light and natural colour so the nude colour worked perfectly in order to give her a more natural and happy style to go with her brighter makeup and brighter mood.







Studio Scenes

Continuing with the theme of having similar outfits but with slight differences in them we chose these two outfits for the studio scenes. We've chosen a black outfit as most of the shots in the scene are more about the props we will use or the lip syncing rather than the girls themselves. The male character will also be in all black to keep everything very similar. To make sure his character is represented clearly in this scene there will be a fighting scene to make it clear by his actions that he is the antagonist.

Written as a group

Representation in our video

Female character in a relationship:

The female character that is in a relationship is going to represented as being very unhappy with her boyfriend.
We plan to show these emotions through extreme close ups of her facial expressions being concerned, angry or unhappy. The use of these close ups will allow the audience to have sympathy for her. There will also be wider shots with a loose frame which will make her look alone and isolated and also very vulnerable. This will particularly work in the bed scene to enhance the idea that her boyfriend isn't there and she's laying all alone in quite a big bed and the field scene would also be effective with a loose frame as the area around her will make her look very small and alone again. For some shots we may have the camera on a high angle which again will make her looks small, vulnerable and alone as she is with her relationship.
We will use slightly darker lighting with these shots and won't put any type of warm filter on the clips in order to keep the feeling of her being cold and alone, this will contrast to the other female character in the video as although she's the same person, she's at a different stage with the relationship so a contrast is key.
The body language of this character will add to her characteristic of being very unhappy as she won't be smiling, laughing or doing scenes that involve a lot of movement as these would make her look to happy. Within the shots of this character there will be no gold, this is because in our video the gold represents her values and happiness, therefore having no gold will show the audience that because of her relationship she's lost all of her values and happiness. The costume she's wearing is in the colour black with connotes the dark and unhappy feelings inside her and helps to contrast between the two female characters within the video. We kept the costume flowy however to still make her character very girly and young as we didn't want her to look to boyish or hard looking otherwise she might be portrayed as the villain in our video when he's actually the protagonist. The makeup choice for this character is to have quite dramatic eyes but keep the lips very natural, this gives the affect of her being tired of the relationship and smoky eyes hint at her crying perhaps as its suppose to be smudged, it however gives her quite a sexy appearance which comes across in the start of the video when she stands up for herself and breaks up with her boyfriend in order to put herself first.




Female character not in a relationship:

Both female characters are based on the same person, however they differ as one girl is the girl before she broke up with her boyfriend and the other one is the girl after breaking up with her boyfriend. In order to show a contrast we've decided to represent them in complete different ways.

For this character close up shots will also be used in order to show facial expressions again but this time not to create sympathy but instead to express her feelings of happiness and content with being single and getting her values back. More medium shots will be used rather than a long shot as we don't want this character to seem alone as she's more happy with being on her own. This is particularly the case in the bed, a tight frame will be used so that there isn't much space around her so that she seems content with being the only one in the bed.

We're hoping to add a filter to most of the shots of this character in order to make them warmer, this is again to portray the character as being content and happy with being single and will enhance the gold that will be featured in these scenes. Having these clips with a warm filter will also make the scenes of the other female look even colder giving us the contrast we want. We will speed up and reverse these clips which will add to the tempo representing the mood.
The main feature of mis-en-scene that will show the representation of this character is the large amounts of gold that will be shown, in the makeup, the outfit and the props used. The gold predominantly represents the good within her and the gold comes out after the character breaks up with her boyfriend which is an idea we wanted to use as this relates to the lyrics of the song. Theres also a difference in the body language used as this character will be laughing a lot and turning and flicking her hair, giving her a girly and happy feeling that has come from not being with her boyfriend any more. In order to contrast the two girls' costumes, we've gone for similar dresses for the field scene but whereas the first girls' black, the second one is nude to connote the change in moods of them. The makeup is a lot more warm looking and a lot of glitter and gold is featured to again show her values coming out in her skin after calling off her relationship.

Male character (female character's boyfriend):

The male character is ultimately the antagonist in this video as he is the boyfriend thats made the female so unhappy in the relationship and taken all her confidence and goodness away from her.
In order to show him as being the villain first he will only appear in a few clips to show he's hardly in her life anymore and that he isn't as important as her. Also through his only appearance in the video being an argument and fighting scene and ending up in the female character crying it sums up how bitter they've got when they're together, we didn't want to show any happy memories as we wanted to enhance the fact that things have got so sour between them. His costume will be dark colours to add to the idea of him being the villain and show that he's also not happy being with her. We're also going to make sure the angles and editing we use make it obvious theres little compatibility between them anymore, e.g. not having the two characters very close or not having them doing the same thing to connote they once worked but definitely don't anymore.


Overall:

Overall, we're not challenging many stereotypes in our video. The female characters are being represented as very girly and the male character very masculine. We're keeping to a male and female relationship rather than a homosexual one simply because there are references to the song being about a male in the lyrics. We're keeping the stereotype that women can be quite submissive to men by how unhappy the female is with her boyfriend but she's stayed with him up until now.
The females have a positive representation as they're not seen to have done anything wrong which is different to the male who is represented in a negative way so he's not the one that is sympathised by the audience.
Having a positive representation on the female who is the singer will appeal to the audience as they're more likely to be a fan of someone thats represented in a positive way rather than being the antagonist in their own video.

Analysis of Only Love Can Hurt Like This - Paloma Faith

Only Love Can Hurt Like This - Paloma Faith

Camera:
Many close up shots are used throughout this video as the song is very emotional therefore the close ups on Paloma Faith's face helps to project the inner emotions of the song. Whilst lip syncing she helps get the message across through her facial expressions which are predominately sad or concerned about the relationship.






Editing:
Throughout the video the majority of shots are slow pace and the length of each shot is mainly long. This also helps portray the theme of the emotions throughout the song as if fast pace shots were used it would give the feeling of happiness and the relationship being exciting so we can see in this video that the mood is the opposite and that there are problems in the relationship.

Mis-en-scene:

Pathetic fallacy is used in the video as it is raining in some of the scenes where she is stood singing, rain predominantly is used in unhappy scenarios and works much better in this video than a sunny day would have. The lighting in the video is used in a way that helps the narrative of the song. When the couple are in the sexual scenes which is suggested are there to represent the happier times of their relationship the lighting is very bright and warm which shows us their love for each other. However when it then cuts to the scene of them arguing and fighting the lighting is much colder and has blue tints to the colouration which in contrast show how bitter the relationship has become and that there isn't much love there anymore. In the video the female character is seen undressing a lot or in her underwear which connotes her inner vulnerability towards the male character and within herself. In some scenes of them being happy the location they're in looks quite nice and modern however in the scenes of them arguing or her singing the house starts to look quite derelict at times which shows that their relationship is slowly falling apart like the building around them. The colours used are mainly blues, especially with her outfit as she wears blue underwear and a blue dressing gown which shows her unhappy state and that she's becoming cold to the relationship. The climax of the video comes when she falls into the water which represents her as finally reaching the end of all she can take and she's finally drowning in her emotions meaning she cannot continue the relationship with him.

Sound:
Prior to the climatic scene in the water the music cuts out which adds to the dramatic feeling of this scene as this shows the peak of the relationship and her emotions getting too much.

Representation:
In the video, the male character is portrayed as not having much emotion towards her. In basically all of the scenes the females facial expressions change to show us how she's feeling however he doesn't show any different facial expressions, this may indicate that he doesn't feel the same about her anymore. The female character is represented as being very emotional about the relationship, this is due to her facial expressions and actions throughout, for example when she pushes him away and when she's signing in the rain.

Devyani's Make Up

Make Up Choices

Written by Devyani

Vlog: Day 2 of Filming

Filming Diary: Bed and Field

25th October 2016:

Today was our first full day of filming for our music video. Today our aim was to complete all the filming for both the bed scenes and the field scenes.
The day started at my house where we were using my bed for the bed scenes. For the bed scene the only piece of equipment we needed was the camera as we wanted to use natural lighting for these scenes to give them a more natural look. We began by Devyani doing my make up which was a mixture of dramatic dark eyes to show I've just woken up and have been out the night before and nude lips to keep the look quite natural and relaxed. I also got into my outfit which was just my underwear as we wanted to give the illusion that we were naked in the bed. Which also gives a sense of vulnerability which we wanted particularly for my character.
We had previously planned what kind of shots we wanted for this section and had also planned roughly how much we wanted to film to ensure we had enough footage when we came to edit. So we started by me miming the whole of the song to ensure we had enough lip syncing. We started by doing this from a high angle which worked for most of the song but we wanted to mix it up half way so we did it on an eye level angle whilst I lay on my front (as shown in the image) The first high angle shot worked really well to make me look isolated and alone and then the one on my stomach worked really well in order to show my facial expressions.
We then played the song all the way through and got a bunch of natural shots from all different angles to ensure when we were editing we didn't have any gaps where we didn't film enough footage, these shots ranged from me rolling over in the bed, some looks, waking up, and in general we wanted them to project the mood of this character being unhappy about something and alone as her boyfriend isn't in the bed with her.




Once we felt fully satisfied that we had enough clips of me in the bed we then swapped over and I was in charge of the filming and Devyani did her make up and got into her outfit (same as mine) in order to be filmed for her scenes. Devyani's scenes were very different to mine as she wasn't going to do any lip syncing
so we tried to ensure we had enough footage to film almost 2 of the songs.
For these scenes we needed gold confetti that I had previously shredded to throw around in the shots. We tried throwing glitter previously but soon realised it didn't have enough impact and would have just made a mess that would be difficult to clear up so we went with the bigger pieces of confetti and found these worked really well. I was able to sprinkle them over her from a high angle whilst filming and she was able to throw them over herself. Just like my clips we had briefly planned out what kind of shots we were hoping to have by the end of the day and we managed to get all of these and more.
We were very pleased with the bed scenes as we felt we got enough footage and there wasn't anything that went majorly wrong. We then cleaned up my bed and put all the confetti in a bag so it can be reused and touched up our makeup and got changed ready to go to the field for the next part of filming.


After eating a bit of lunch we then headed out to Nonsuch Park in order to shoot some clips for our field scenes.
We started with Devyani's shots this time as we wanted hers to be a lot brighter than mine and knew it was soon to get quite dark. The day we chose wasn't the warmest and the sun wasn't as bright as we hoped but we made the most of it and had in our mind that we could always brighten and warm up some shots when we got back to editing.

The majority of scenes we wanted to film were just natural shots of Devyani, for example close ups of her face and makeup, some walking shots and we also decided to blow some gold balloons up in order to use in the shots. One problem with this was because the grass was so prickly a few of the balloons popped however we bought spares with us so were able to blow more up whilst there. We also had planned to film these scenes bare foot however because of the prickly grass and how cold it was on the day we decided against this and kept on our converse instead making sure they weren't in too many of the shots. Overall we were happy with the shots we got of Devyani as they portrayed her character well and were nicely lit despite how cold it was on the day.

Finally we did my field shots, by this time it had got slightly darker and the lighting looked colder which was perfect to represent my character. We actually didn't get as many shots as we could have for me because we had got so tired after filming all day. However when we came to edit these we managed to fill any gaps with other shots from the bed or studio so overall they worked well.

Make Up Test

By Jess and Devyani

Vlog: Shopping, Location and Make Up

By Jess and Devyani

Field Shots Practise

By Jess and Devyani

Location Recce

Nonsuch Park

We chose this location because it was easy to access and had lots of quiet areas where not many members of the public were, which meant it would be easy to film. Although we originally wanted a wheat field, it was difficult to find one near by since most wheat was cut as winter is approaching. There is still some brown grass in areas of  Nonsuch Park as well as trees with yellow leaves, so we are still able to get gold tones in our location. A problem with our location is that the brown grass areas tend to be prickly which could be problematic when filming because we are using balloons for some shots and they could easily pop if they fall onto the prickly grass. Another issue with this location is that it is open to the elements, so if we choose to film on a particular day, we must ensure to check the weather forecast so we know we will have sunlight and no rain. There is also no access to any electricity in this location, so we must make sure our camera and any other important electronic devices are charged before we film.

Drama Studio

We have chosen to use the school's drama studio for one of our location because we need a space to put simple black or white background and black or white floor. This was an ideal location because we are able to have black floor and we could put down a white sheet if we wanted the floor to appear white. As well as this there is lighting which is already built into the studio so it is easy to use and we know we will have the lighting we want for our scenes. A problem with this location is that there is limited time to use it, to ensure we have enough time, we have scheduled with the drama teacher when the longest available times are and on what days. The shots we are taking in the studio are ones involving our props. This means we will be throwing glitter, popping balloons with glitter inside and throwing paint, these are all actions which could be messy and difficult to clean up. The drama studio is property of  the school and we need to be responsible with the condition we leave it in, so we have bought plain black and white waterproof sheets which we can use to protect the floor and background.

Jess' Bedroom

We decided on Jessica's bed for this scene because we wanted a large bed with plain white sheets. It was easy to access and we had control over this location so we could change things if we needed to. There are power points incase we need access to electricity and there was also lots of natural day light in her bedroom which is what we need. There are not any particularly problematic restrictions with this location.

Written by Devyani

Practise Filming and Lip Sync Practise

Questionnaire Results

How old are you? 

Are you female or male? 

Which of the following describes your status most accurately

What is your favourite genre of music?

What is the main way you find out about new music videos?

 Which type of music videos do you like the most?

Do you think music videos should reflect the concept of the song – and if yes why?

What do you find exciting in a music video?

For our music video we have decided to do the song ‘Gold – Kiiara’. This song falls into the genre electro pop, trap and pop. 

We have chosen a concept based video, do you think this would be appropriate for this genre?

What associations do you have with the word gold?

What kind of costumes do you think would be most appropriate for a concept based music video and this song?

What type of pace video think would suit this song?

Analysis of chosen song

Gold - Kiiara

Current video

The current video for gold includes slow pace and long takes which contrasts to the fast pace song, at times panning shots are used and a hand held shot is used when filming her singing in the mirror. At times throughout the video, a pull focus is used this could represent the disorientation of the song as particularly the chorus is very edited which complements the edited camera techniques. Additionally, the editing reflects the meaning of the song being about a relationship which is falling apart, therefore it works better than if the focus and filming was perfect all the way through. Lip syncing is also a feature used, along with the actions and editing being in time with the music.

As the song is called Gold and there are references to gold throughout the mis-en-scene helps to reflect this. First of all there is a few men in the video painted gold which helps portray the theme of the song. Moreover, gold is linked to wealth and power, this is shown firstly through the costume choice. The studded jacket that the lead singer is wearing represents wealth and significance. She is also sat in a throne-like chair throughout and is the only one that sings/dances along with the music, which draws all the attention to her and gives her power throughout the video. The location choice is dark which could symbolise the basement that is referenced to. The other actors in the video are all alternative looking which symbolises the genre as not being a mainstream song such as pop, as it’s electro pop which is more alternative.

About the song
Artist: Debut single by Kiiara
Genre: Electro-pop
Year: 2015
Number in UK singles chart: 48
Video views on Youtube: 34, 265, 772

Why this song?

The main reason for choosing this song is because there is a significant theme that runs throughout and that is the theme of Gold. We felt that having a colour as the theme is a good starting point to be able to build upon and develop. Additionally, when listening to the song, the story and the way its being represented is something that stands out significantly and allows us to think of lots of different ways we could portray this ourselves through camera shots, editing, colours, props and actions to allow use to create our video to a good standard.