Claudia Wingrove A2 Portfolio

I wanted to create a timeline analysis of Sia's 'To Be Human'  because her footage can create a context for my own music video. Within her video it features clips from a film. These clips are organised in a way to create their own film and this is something that I wanted to touch on in my music video. Along with this context these clips both contrast and appose one another, not only does the lighting signify the change in area and time in the storyline, but it also falls back onto itself, repeating the same moment captured before the man goes to war, creating a non-linear storyline. This could suggest that it is the final time the main soldier spends with his lover before something inevitable will happen.
The music video opens up with a mid close up low angle shot on the mans face, cutting between that and an over the shoulder/ dirty mid shot of the same mans face in a convocation with his partner. The two clips contrast with one another, a 'before and during' the war appearance. The second time the camera switches to the first shot, the man is crying and then, for the first time the camera shot moves to his POV showing the woman he is talking to. The woman in this shot also begins to cry, a similar act happening between that shot and the previous one creating a mirroring effect and an emotion connection between the two characters. The camera also focus' on the mans face between the two shots, illuminating the colour of his eyes. The before and during shots of the war change the scenery around him, his appearance changes from clan to ragged but his eyes still stay the same.
The whole music video has a green-tint, this can have negative and dingy connotations associated with the different settings the film clips were shot in (urban, underground, abroad carnage; semantics of war).

The mood board above highlights the conventions of pop/ soul music. I intend on using some of these ideas within my non-linear story line for my music video. Inspired by the lyrics from Lewis Capaldi's song 'Bruises', I linked my interpretation of what the song lyrically means and what the representation of love and self hate means. The idea of water is to clean the body, I intend on using this metaphor to reflect the mental health of my character by them attempting them to clean themselves of the bad thoughts.

I included pictures of people walking away from one another and someone singing in a spot light to reflect the loneliness that appears through the lyrics in 'Bruises'. This will also be mirrored in my story line because I want to create a narrative hat is influenced by the music so that my footage and song fit perfectly together. The picture of the piano stands for the style of music and the beauty that it represented through the meaning behind the song.

Choosing a location for my new narrative:

For my final music video idea the location settings have changed. The narrative follows a young man in emotional turmoil, being affected by society and the pressure of deadlines, never feeling like he can be himself. 

The video will follow the character through his daily life, shooting multiple shots doing the same movement, but wearing different clothes. I will overlay the shots and change the opacity. The camera and chair will be kept in the same place and will connate a distortion in time. I will then follow the storyline with my character wearing one of the tops (from another day) from that scene through the rest of the storyline to show a change in day and the repetition of his actions. To correlate  this action I will over lay and mimic the idea for other actions. He will put his hand on a wall and I will re shoot this action multiple times and overlay it to create a mimicked and repeated movement, a possible level of OCD.
The first location is filmed within a bathroom with a big mirror, capturing his reflection and shooting multiple 'dirty' that will represent the inner turmoil he is feeling. I will follow him into the kitchen and out of the front door, standing and waiting. I will then overlay another shot where he will be standing in the same position but surrounded by traffic, this will create a contrast between the quiet and the loud surroundings but still showing that he is alone. One of my ideas is to portray a distortion of time. I do this by changing the opacity of an overlaying shot with the man standing in the bathroom and then another with him outside, the contrasting elements will portray the duration of time. He will then be followed by the camera in the same angle but in different locations. I will cut between the shots and create one movement of my actor walking forwards while his surroundings will change, this will portray his need of wanting to fit in and to signify his loneliness and separation of society.

A change in Music Video ideas

Since the post I have changed all three of my music video ideas. I had also chosen to change the song I will be filming to, which enabled me to become more receptive towards other possible ideas. Linking back to my film influences: 'To Be Human' by Sia and 'Dusk Till Dawn' by Zayn Malik featuring Sia, I wanted to structure my footage and editing in a similar way the producers for the two music videos had. 

The similarity between the two is that they are both made to look like short film. Though the footage filmed for the music fits, they both have a beginning, middle and end, a structure more popularly known for footage that has a clear narrative and story line, that may have an underlying message, compared to the most recent Pop music videos like 'Bon Appetit' by Katy Perry. By choosing a different style and type of music I believe that I will be able to structure my new music video idea around a meaningful and underlying problem within society that needs to be addressed.


Within the mind map I present my ideas in a clear and structured way, by using a visual outlet to see my ideas I was able to develop and ask questions related to the possible filming ideas that I have. My base idea is that my film narrative should bring to light something that the media suppresses. I wanted to focus on the medias representation of men because social media, and media in general is an outlet where as receivers we gain and spread information, keep in contact with others and is a forum that we also learn from. When a topic is not addressed through such a huge outlet which most people rely on to gain information and use to express their own beliefs (this can be shown by polls and trending hash tags to bring awareness to a topic or to how support) and a topic is never mentioned, it begins to suppress a huge majority of people and makes others unaware of it. By creating a specific narrative for my music video I will address a wide audience and surface the lacking support men are receiving for emotional help.



In this video, a clip from Jeremy Kyle's show, the audience laugh when the man on the show had to jump off a three story building because his 'domestic' partner had locked him outside on their balcony. The response from the audience shows the outlook society has when men are belittled and lack the emotional support they need. Kyle rightly supports the man and said that if it were a woman who had to do jump from a building to escape they wouldn't be laughing.
The stereotypes associated with male dominance over-rules the underlying emotional support men also need.

This edit enabled me to develop my editing skills by using two sets of footage to make this music video. Within my previous edits I had created a narrative only using shots from one location. For my final idea I plan on using different footage and locations to create a travelling story line, this will be expressed through both stationary and moving shots. I used the footage I filmed previously of a dancer and clips from an interview with a boy to create this music video, I wanted to create a merged connection between the two men. Following the male gender I explore the weaknesses and strengths they both feel which is represented through the strong and expressive movements made by the dancer and the emotionally bound boy which is sat still in the interview. The juxtaposing movements express the image that society wants to see compared to the emotions the male may actually be experiencing. The story line is woven together by the similarity and unity of the contrasting stillness and movement.

I decided to film a visual feedback on the two video edits I made from the two music video edits because it provides a personal and engaging interaction between the viewer and the speaker. It allows me to compare the two edits and to either add additional clips or change the narrative slightly. I learnt that I needed to make my narrative clearer, a concept that fits with Stuart Hall's Reception Theory. With more footage and re-arranging my clips I will aim to make a clearer narrative for my music video.

Why would I use technology to provide Audio-Visual feedback?