Planning the editing - Miss Georgiou

Planning the editing

A variety of editing styles are essential within a music video, most importantly because they help with the transition between shots, for example, we plan on using a jump cut in the video between the sections of performance and narrative in order to help the video flow from scene to scene. Also, the pace of the music video can be used to dictate how the artist is feeling, for example, a fast pace may suggest panic and fear, whereas a slower pace suggests calmness, all of which will add to the overall emotion and mood of the song. Editing ensures that the music video will flow from beginning to end which will help our group when telling our narrative with the audience, and will allow us to jump between the past and present and between narrative and performance.




The first example of an editing style that we plan on using in our video is a time lapse, which will be seen towards the beginning of the video and will consist of visuals of the artist and the male character to show the audience their developing relationship, for example, the audience will see them out on their first date and exploring London together, which the audience will recognise through the use of visuals of landmarks including Big Ben and the London Eye. This time lapse will be accompanied by the use of slow motion, which will be used during the instrumental sections of the song that can be heard between most of the verses. This editing style will be used to show the audience how the artist is feeling, for example, by slowing the footage down the audience will be given a clearer view of the artist’s facial expressions and will give them more time to understand what she is doing and who she is with. The use of slow motion is conventional to the indie genre because indie songs are often based on real life experiences, for example, about love and relationships that often tell emotional stories, therefore the use of slow motion will help our group to add to and emphasise the emotion of the song because it will give the audience more time to take in what is happening in the video. The use of a time lapse represents Gabrielle Aplin as having a busy lifestyle due to the fast pace at which the footage appears in the video which is conventional to the indie genre as indie artist are often perceived as always being on the road and performing their music in different places.

 

Another editing style that we plan on using in our video is a jump cut, which will be seen, for example, towards the beginning of the video following the lyrics 'bring me back around again'. The use of a jump cut arguably compliments the lyrics and allows the artist to change their video from a narrative to a performance style, both of which are conventional to the indie genre because it makes the video more interesting to watch, due to the fact that the use of performance allows an artist to show off their talents while the narrative gives the audience to focus on and helps them to understand the lyrics better. The use of a jump cut is conventional to the indie genre because it can be used to show the audience how quickly an artist’s life can change, due to the fact that the music industry is very unpredictable in the sense that an artist cannot foresee whether their music is going to be successful or not. The use of a jump cut could also be used to show the audience how fast pace an artist’s life is, due to the fact that indie artists are often perceived as always being on the road and as always performing their music in different locations and venues, which emphasises how passionate they are about their music. The use of a jump cut represents the artist as being creative, due to the fact that the use of performance in music videos helps an artist to show off their talents, for example, being able to play the piano, which usually causes the audience to feel envious of them which links into Goodwin's theory and the idea that an artist must be extraordinary, in a talented and skilful sense in order to keep the audience interested in them. Also, the use of a jump cut could represent the fast lifestyle that an indie artist has, due to the fact that they are often perceived as always being on the road, performing their music in different countries for different audience, which therefore may make the audience feel as though they are being given an insight into how the artist lives.

Another editing style that our group plans on using in the music video is slow pace editing, which will be seen during the last chorus of the video while the audience is singing the lyrics 'my salvation, my, my' as our groups feels that the slow pace of the video will emphasise the sadness of the death of the male character because it allows us to drag out lyrics and the visuals of him dying, which gives the audience more time to understand what is happening. The use of slow pace editing is conventional to the indie genre because indie songs are often based on real life, emotional experiences about love and relationships that allow the audience to make an emotional connection with the song and the artist because they may feel as though they are getting to know more about an artist’s personal life, which is something you would expect them to share with their friends. Slow pace editing represents the artist as being more relatable due to the fact that the audience may often perceive an artist as having the perfect life because of how rich they are, however, the idea of death and sadness in the video disagrees with this perception and suggests that the artist has been through situations that the audience may also find themselves in.

Furthermore, our group has planned to use special effects, in particular, orange and brown colour tints, saturation and filters throughout the majority of the video in order to make the footage look older. These special effects are conventional to the indie genre which does not fit into the mainstream because the genre is often perceived as being old fashioned, and these effects will give the video more of a vintage feel due to the fact that the footage will appear more like a memory, rather than having been produced just for the purpose of the music video, which therefore creates more of a personal feel to the video. The audience may feel as though the artist is allowing them to get to know more about her personal life, which is often what the audience are interested in, they want to be able to compare their own lives to the artist. These special effects can be used to create more of an emotional atmosphere, which arguably shows the audience how the artist is feeling without having to use vocals which could disrupt the rhythm of the song. The use of colour tints and saturations will help us to represent the artist as having more of an individual style and as being conventional to the indie genre due to the fact that the video will not fit into the mainstream, therefore the audience will be able to recognise the music video with the indie genre. These effects may also represent our artist as being more natural and relatable because she is not using over the top special effects, such as flashing lights or a green screen which she can use to transport herself to exotic locations that may be unrealistic to the narrative and audience.

 

The use of different editing styles will allow our group to produce a music video that flows from the beginning to the end, which helps us create a narrative that flows and provides the audience with a mini cinematic experience, that may help them to understand the lyrics and deeper meaning of the song better. The audience will be able to build a relationship with the audience through the use of editing styles because the story will give the audience a bigger insight into the private life of the artist, as is being told to them as if they were friends with the artist, which may therefore cause them to feel more inclined to watch any future music videos that the artist may produce.

Planning colour and lighting - Miss Georgiou

Lighting and colour

A variety of lighting styles and colours are essential within a music video because they can be used to highlight the most important aspects of the video and to make a video more realistic, especially natural lighting, due to the fact that the video will look like what the audience would expect to see if they were there, which may make them feel more involved in the video. Also, the lighting and colour will change depending on the setting, for example, if the scene is outdoors the lighting is more likely to be natural, which helps to give a more realistic feel to the video. Furthermore, the use of a variety of lighting styles and colours may make the video more interesting to watch because it will help us to change the mood of the video, for example, the darker the lighting will suggest a more emotional, sadder mood, which may make the video feel more personal as the audience are being shown how the artist is feeling. The lighting styles and colours will change depending on the narrative, which could be used to foreshadow events that happen towards the end of the video, for example, the use of low key lighting in the goodbye scene may foreshadow the death of the male character.

We have planned to use low key lighting in our music video towards the end of our music video when the artist receives a phone call telling her that the male character has died. The use of low key lighting is conventional to the indie genre due to the fact that the lyrics of indie songs are often emotional as they have a deeper meaning to them, which could be down to the songs often being based on real life experiences that an artist wants to share with their fans. The use of low key lighting will help an artist to create a sad looking atmosphere, therefore it could be suggested that the use of lighting could represent the emotions of the song and to show the audience how the artist is feeling without them having to use words which may disrupt the rhythm of the song. The use of low key lighting may help an artist to be represented as more realistic due to the fact that artists are often perceived as being wealthy and as having perfect lives because they make so much money and are loved by thousands of people, which sets a high lifestyle standard that most people cannot live up to and will not be able to relate to. The use of low key lighting may also help the song to feel more personal because the audience may feel as though they are getting to know more about the artist who is sharing a personal story with them as if they were fiends, which is conventional to the genre as indie songs are often based on real life experiences. This will help us to represent the artist as being more relatable because it destroys the idea that she has the perfect life and that nothing sad ever happens to her, therefore she comes across as being more of a human being and not just a product of the music industry.

We plan on using natural lighting throughout the majority of our music video, for example, natural lighting will be seen at the beginning of the video when the two characters meet for the first time at the park, and during the performance element where the audience will see the artist walking through a 'cornfield'. The use of natural lighting is conventional to the indie genre because indie does not fit into the mainstream, therefore it is likely that indie music will only appeal to a niche target audience which means an indie artist will not make the biggest of profits through selling there music and will therefore have a lower budget to spend on creating a music video. Furthermore, indie artists are often perceived as being more focused on sharing their music as opposed to creating fancy, expensive music videos, therefore it will be easier for the artist to be associated with the indie genre. The use of natural lighting when filming in everyday, easily accessible locations, for example, in a park or at a train station, may help an artist to appear more relatable due to the fact that they are seen in places that the audience may go to, therefore they can be viewed more as an everyday person, rather than just a famous artist.

We have planned to use special effects, specifically saturation and orange and brown colour tints to add onto the footage that we collect, which will be seen in our video during the performance sections and throughout most of the flashback section. The use of saturation and orange and brown colour tints on the footage will help our group to make the video appear older, which is conventional to the indie genre due to the fact that the genre is often perceived as being old fashioned, and therefore the special effects will give the video more of a vintage feel. The use of these special effects may cause the audience to feel as though the footage is more of a memory that the artist is having, rather than something that has been filmed just for the purpose of the music video, which therefore makes the video feel more personal as if the artist is sharing a private story with them as if they were close friends. This arguably links in with Goodwin's theory and the idea that an artist must be absent due to the fact that not knowing everything there is to know about an artist helps to keep the audience interested because they will feel as though there are still things to learn about the artist. The use of these special effects helps us to represent the artist as being more suited to the indie genre and we hope will help the audience to associate and recognise the artist and video as being part of the indie genre, which is typically seen as more old fashioned and different, which means the video does not fit into the mainstream like the pop and rap genres do.

Another lighting technique that we potentially plan on using in the video is high key lighting, for example, towards the beginning of the video during the montage section when the two characters are watching television together. We are going to use the lighting that we have available to us, which is arguably conventional to the indie genre due to the fact that the genre does not fit into the mainstream, therefore indie artists will have a cheaper budget to spend on music videos and will have to work with what they have available to them. The use of high key lighting represents the artist as being the most important aspect of the scene due to the fact that the lighting will cause the audience to focus on her character and what she is doing, which is unconventional to the indie genre in the sense that indie artists often want their music to be viewed as the most important thing, rather than themselves. However, there is the possibility that we are not going to use high key lighting due to the fact that we may not include the television scene in the montage if it does not compliment the other scenes within the video.

In conclusion, we have decided to use these specific colours and lighting styles in order to make the artist appear more relatable, especially through the use of natural lighting because the audience will be able to see that the video has not been staged, which means what they can see is how the audience could expect to see it if they were there, which could make them feel more involved in the video. The use of low key lighting will help us to add to the emotion of the song which is conventional because the indie genre is often perceived as being sad and emotional, due to the songs being based on real life experiences about love and relationships. Also, due to the fact that colours and lighting are often used to show the audience how an artist is feeling, the video may feel more personal because the audience may feel as though they are getting to know more about the artist, which could also make them feel as though the artist views their fans more as friends. The audience may forget that there are potentially thousands of other people watching the same video as them and will feel as though it is just them and the artist, which also helps to make the music video feel more personal.

Lyric analysis - Miss Georgiou

Lyric analysis

The purpose of analysing the lyrics of our chosen song is to ensure that our group understand the deeper meaning of the song that we are creating a music video for, as this allows us to decide how we can use the lyrics to tell a story to show the audience what we feel the lyrics mean, therefore we can help the audience to understand what the lyrics of the song mean too. If we ourselves understand what the lyrics mean, we will be able to create a music video that helps the audience to understand what the lyrics mean by telling them a story through the use of visuals. The lyric analysis will help us to create a story board for our music video because through understanding the lyrics we now know what we want our visuals to show and what we want the audience to see, which will mean that they too will interpret the lyrics of the song the same way we have. For example, for the lyrics "darkest fairy tale" we wanted to show a change in the narrative from the idea of good to bad, as fairy tales are often associated with love stories and happy endings, however, the male character dying means that the artist and he are not going to have a happy ending.

After analysing the lyrics, we have decided that our video will be a mixture of the narrative and performance styles due to the fact that not only will this make the video more interesting to watch as we will be able to use a variety of shots and locations, but it is conventional to the indie genre because they allow the audience to express a deeper meaning to their song through the narrative while promoting themselves and their musical talents through the use of performance. We realised that there are a lot of sections of instrumentals within the song, therefore this is where we have planned on using the performance style due to the fact that the instrumental takes place between each verse, therefore we will use each verse to tell the narrative, and then the instrumental will help us to break up the narrative and change scenes which we feel will make the video run smoother. The use of performance is conventional to the indie genre as it allows an artist to show off any other musical talents that they may have, which will help them to appeal more to their audience who may envy how many skills the artist has. After analysing the lyrics we feel that the song is based on a love story, however, the lyrics "one world away" and "my make believing" suggest that the person Gabrielle Aplin is singing about is dead. The use of worlds such as "you" and "my" give the song a more personal feel to it, which is what led our group to believe that it is likely the song is based on a real life experience, and which is what also influenced our decision to use visuals of the 'artist' in our music video, rather than using a separate female character for the narrative sections, as this will show the audience that the song is personal to the artist.
We decided to annotate the lyrics one line at a time as this allowed us to work out what each lyric meant and then share with the rest of the group how we interpreted each line. We have decided that during each verse we will develop on the narrative, as this will help the audience to associate the lyrics of the song with visuals, which will often be used to explain to the audience what the lyrics mean. Each verse will show a different scene that takes place at a different location, which we feel will make the video more interesting for the audience to watch. We have also planned to use performance between each verse in order to break up the narrative and allow us to change the location and scene smoothly. We plan on using the sections of instrumental between each verse to incorporate elements of performance into the video, which will consist of visuals of the artist playing the piano, singing in the show or singing while she walks through a 'corn field' as we feel that performance will help us to show the audience how talented the artist is. This is conventional to the indie genre because indie artists often produce and write their songs themselves, this is in order to prevent them from becoming a product of the music industry. Furthermore, we used words such as "avalanche" to help us decide the types of clothes we wanted the characters to wear in specific scenes, as the word avalanche made us think of snow, which we know is white and we associate white with the idea of innocence and good, therefore we decided that in the beginning of the video we would have our characters wearing white to show the audience that they are both innocent, and that their relationship is only beginning.

The first indie convention that we have chosen to use in our music video is a love story based narrative, which will begin by showing the two characters first meeting, their first date, the boy going off to war and to finish the audience will see that the boy character dies. This is conventional to the indie genre because indie artists often sing about real life, relatable experiences that help the audience to make an emotion connection with the song as they are told personal stories that they may not have known about the artist. This also makes the video more interesting for the audience to watch because they may feel as though they are involved in the story and are being shown an insight into the artists private life. The use of a narrative helps the characters in the video to come alive and feel more like real people, which therefore makes the video feel more realistic.
Another indie convention that we have decided to use is the style of performance, which will be seen throughout the video in order to break up the changes in the narrative, for example, at the beginning of the video we will show the two characters meeting for the first time, which will be followed by a section of performance, and then the narrative will continue and will show the two characters going on their first date. The use of performance is conventional to the indie genre because it allows an indie artist to show the audience any other talents that they might have other than being able to sing, which links into Goodwin's theory and his idea that an artist must be extraordinary in order to keep their audience interested and envious of them.
The final indie convention that will be used in our music video is slow pace editing, which will be seen throughout the video, but in particular when the artist receives a call and finds out that her boyfriend has died. The use of slow pace editing will help us to drag out the scene which will emphasise its importance within the video. This is conventional to the indie genre because indie songs are often based on real life experiences that have emotional backgrounds to them, therefore slow pace editing helps to create a sad atmosphere and allows the audience to fully take in and understand the deeper meaning of a song. The use of slow pace editing compliments the slow pace and volume at which the song will play, this will therefore make the audience feel more comfortable when they are watching the video because everything will appear as though it has a purpose.

The first example of a cinematography technique that we have chosen to use in a our music video is a close up, which will be seen at the beginning and end of our video to show the audience the photograph that the elderly character will be holding in her hand. The use of a close up allows us to highlight to our audience what we want them to focus on, which will usually be the most important part of the scene. It will also allow up to introduce the main characters into the video as they will be the ones seen in the photograph, therefore the audience will know who to look out for. Furthermore, the use of a close up can also be used at times to show the audience how the artist is feeling as the camera focuses on the artists face, rather than their surroundings. This technique is conventional to the indie genre because it helps to make the video feel more personal which is beneficial for the indie genre due to the fact that most indie songs are often based on real life experiences, therefore the artist is being honest with the audience and sharing things that they may not know about them, which may further interest the audience.
Another example of a cinematography technique that we are going to use is a mid shot, which will be seen in the video during the sections of performance in order to show the audience that the artist can play the piano, therefore that she is the one who is producing the music that they can hear. This technique is conventional to the indie genre because indie artists are often perceived as being the ones who write and produce their own songs in order to help avoid becoming a product of the music industry. The technique allows the artist to remain the focus of the scene, but still allows the audience to see more of the setting which helps to build on the narrative as they can see where the characters are and what they are doing. This may help the audience to feel more involved with the video because the visuals are what the audience would see if they were actually there with the artist, therefore it appears more realistic.

The first editing style that we plan on using in our music video is slow pace editing, which will be seen throughout, but especially towards the end of the video when the artist receives a call and finds out that her boyfriend is dead as we believed that it will help us to emphasise the sadness of the scene, which will also allow the audience to make an emotional connection with the song. By slowing down the footage we are allowing the audience to fully take in what is happening in the scene, which is important because we want them to understand our story and its relevance to the song. This is conventional to the indie genre because indie songs often have a deeper meaning that the narrative of the video is based on, as this helps the audience to understand the deeper meaning through the use of visuals.
Another editing style that we plan on using in our video are special effects, in particular orange and brown colour tints which will be seen towards the beginning of the video when the two characters first meet as it will help our group to make the footage appear older than what it is, which may suggest that the footage has been collected over time, rather than for the purpose of the music video, which will give the video a more personal touch to it. This editing style is conventional to the indie genre as it is used to make the video look more old fashioned, which compliments the indie genre as it is often perceived as being vintage and as not fitting into the mainstream.

In the video, the costume and make up that the characters wear will be dependent on what is happening in the narrative, for example, when the boy character is being sent off to war the audience will see him wearing an army print costume, as this will suggest to the audience where he is going without having to tell them verbally, which would disrupt the rhythm of the song. The use of quirky costumes is conventional to the indie genre because indie artists often have their own individual styles that help them to stand out in a diverse genre of music, which often does not fit into the mainstream. The use of costumes helps an artist to develop the narrative because they can be used to show the audience what an artist is doing, where they are going, or what their individual style is, which may help the audience to recognise them throughout the video.
In music videos, body positions and facial expressions are often used to show the audience how the characters in the video are feeling, for example, if they are seen smiling the audience will assume that they are happy, whereas if they are frowning it is clear that they are upset. Similar to body positions, if a character is slouching the audience will assume they are unhappy or tired, whereas if they are stood upright with an open posture, the audience will assume that they are happy. The song 'Salvation' has an emotional, deeper meaning to it, therefore we want to portray the emotion of sadness in the artists facial expression, especially towards the end of the video when the male character dies. This will help the audience to build a relationship with the artist because they will sympathise with her and her situation, and most of them will be able to relate to the idea of loss. The artist will also be represented as being more relatable because this use of facial expressions will destroy the idea that famous people are always happy and have perfect lives. Having said that, due to the fact that the narrative is based on a love story, we will also want to show the characters in the video smiling, which will imply that they are happy, and that the two characters like each other and want to be together. We will be able to portray the characters in these ways through the use of a close up, as this will allows us to show the audience a clear visual of how the artist is feeling at a particular point in the video.
Due to the fact that we are basing the song on a love story narrative, the positioning of the characters throughout the video will be used to show the relationship between them, for example, towards the middle of the video once the narrative has developed, the audience will see the artist and male character standing close together as this will give them the idea that the two characters want to be with each other and could suggest that they have a close relationship. This will emphasise to the audience that the video is based on a love story and that the male character is the person who the lyrics of the song are directed to. The audience may feel as though they are getting to know more about the artist and her personal life, which could suggest to them that the artist views them more as a friends as opposed to an unknown fan watching the music video from behind a computer screen.

The use of colour and lighting, specifically orange and brown colour tints is conventional to the indie genre because it helps an artist to make the footage appear older. The indie genre is often perceived as being old fashioned and vintage, therefore these colour tints will allow an artist to create a video that compliments this old fashioned style. This may cause the video to feel more personal as the audience may feel as though the footage was collected years ago, rather than for the purpose of the music video. It will help the video to appear as though it is a memory, rather than a present experience. Furthermore, most of our music video will be set outdoors, for example, they are in a park when they first meet, there is a scene during which the car breaks down, and also towards the end of the video the audience will see the artist running through a forest, therefore most of the lighting in the video will be natural. The use of natural lighting is conventional to the indie genre because indie is often perceived as only appealing to a niche target audience, therefore indie artists are likely to have a cheaper budget to spend on music videos due to the fact that the genre does not fit into the mainstream, therefore it does not have a big following which means indie artists do not make the biggest of profits from selling their music. This is also conventional to the genre because most indie artists are not materialistic and are not only in the business for the money.
The use of setting and iconography in a music video will help an artist to develop and bring their narrative to life, and to make the video look more realistic as the audience can clearly see where the characters in the video are and its relevance to the song. The use of easily accessible locations, for example, the park at the beginning of our video, or the forest towards the end is conventional to the indie genre because it is likely that the audience themselves may have been to these places before, which helps them to relate to the video and view the artist as being more down to earth. The use of iconography is often used to make a video look more realistic because it helps prevent a location from looking as though it has been set up for the purpose of the video, the use of iconography suggests that the setting is real and shows the audience how it would look on a daily basis, compared to had the artist filmed in a studio, for example. The use of setting and iconography together will help an artist bring their video to life as it helps the audience to understand where the characters are and what they are doing.

Our music video will be made up of a mixture of both performance and narrative styles. The audience will see the performance sections between each verse in the song when a small instrumental is playing, they will see visuals of the artist playing the piano, walking through the 'cornfield' or singing in the shower. The use of performance allows the artist to show off her talents besides singing which may cause her to become more desirable to work with, and the audience may feel more envious of her skills, which will help to keep them interested in her as they will be curious to see what other talents she has. The use of both performance and narrative will make the video more interesting to watch as it will allow us to use a variety of camera shots, and will provide the audience with breaks during which they do not have to focus on the narrative. The use of a narrative will help us to make our video feel more like a mini cinematic experience, rather than just a music video because the story will draw the audience in and will leave them wanting to know what happens next. The use of a narrative will gives the audience something to attach the lyrics to which may also help them to make more sense of the lyrics. The use of both performance and narrative is conventional to the indie genre because the narrative allows an artist to express the deeper meaning to the song, while performance allows them to show the audience that they are the ones producing every aspect of the music, this is also conventional because indie artists are often perceived as being entirely focused on producing and sharing their music with their fans.


Similar to what our group has planned to do, a music video that is based on a real life experience will allow the audience to make an emotional connection with the song and feel closer to the artist because they feel as though the artist is telling them a personal story, which is aided by the use of close ups which makes it appear as though the artist is singing directly to the person sitting behind the computer screen, rather than thousands of people. The audience may begin to view the artist in a different way, for example, the use of performance may cause the audience to feel envious of the artist and how talented she is. The use of performance also has the potential to influence viewers into wanting to learn how to play musical instrument themselves, or to find other ways to become involved in the music industry due to the fact that artists are often perceived as having wealthy lifestyles.
As a group we researched some successful videos that artists, including Birdy and Ed Sheeran, who are similar to ours have done before. This was due to the fact that these artists have been in the music industry for a long time, therefore they know what they are doing when it comes to creating videos and they will have a better idea of what an audience will want to see in a video, for example, visuals of an artist playing a musical instrument, or the use of a narrative to keep the audience hooked and wanting to know more. Furthermore, we looked back over the results that we have received from our questionnaire to see what our target audience had wanted to see in a music video and what they liked about the indie music genre. We have targeted our audience by using characters that are a similar age to our audience, and by using realistic locations that our audience could go to if they wanted to. This will allow the audience the ability to imagine themselves in the video, rather than just sitting behind a computer screen watching the narrative.


By breaking down the lyrics into sections and analysing what they mean, we will be able to come up with ideas of what we want the visuals of the video to show the audience, in order for us to show them what the lyrics mean. We were able to create a narrative based on our interpretation of the lyrics, and we were also able to plan out where we want the narrative to change, for example, there is a small instrumental between each verse which is where we plan on using performance to show the artist playing musical instruments and to break up the narrative in order to make the video more interesting to watch. The storyboard will be a rough outline of what we want to see in our music video, therefore when we are filming we will be able to refer back to the plan in order to make sure we have the correct visuals to compliment the lyrics, and so that when we are editing the footage that we have collected we are using the correct special effects and that the footage is appearing in the right order.

Planning the setting and iconography - Miss Georgiou

Planning the setting and iconography

The location is an important aspect of a music video because it allows the audience to see where the characters are and what they are doing, and it also has the potential to make the audience feel as though they are there with the artist. Indie music videos are often filmed in places that are easily accessible to the audience because indie artists do not make a huge profit from selling their music due to the fact that the indie genre does not fit into the mainstream and only appeals to a niche group of people. The setting is often used to develop and make sense of the narrative because the audience can see what the artist is doing for every lyric that they sing. The setting can be used to tell a story in the sense that the audience can see the journey that the characters in the video take through the places that they visit.
The use of iconography is another important aspect of a music video because it often directs the audience to what the artist wants them to focus on by highlighting the most important aspect of the scene. Iconography helps to make a video look more realistic because it can be used to help the audience to understand where the artist is, for example, the iconography of plates and knives and forks would suggest to the audience that the character is in the kitchen.

Setting

We plan on using Amy's car for the driving scene during the montage near the beginning of the video, in particular, the breaking down of the car scene. When filming, we will have to be aware that there may be other cars on the road, and due to the fact that we plan on keeping the car stationary for most of the scene we will have to make sure the characters in the scene are safe in where they are positioned when we begin filming because it is likely that we will be more concentrated on getting the footage that we need, rather than what is going on in our surroundings, therefore to solve this problem we will need someone who is not filming to watch out for oncoming cars and to make sure that everybody is, both in and out of the scene are safe. Morgan, who will be portraying the male character in the video will be seen pushing the car to safety, therefore due to the fact that he is not actually in the car, he is more at risk of potentially getting injured, especially if there are other cars on the road with them. These visuals will link in with the lyrics "my salvation" due to the fact that he is represented as being her saviour because he is pushing her broken down car to safety. A limitation of this location is that we cannot control how many other cars are on the road at the same time, therefore a car passing by may get in the way of our shot and take away from the content of our scene.

We plan on beginning our music video in Molly's back garden, which is where the audience will be introduced to the character of the older lady. The audience will see her holding a photograph of the younger couple, the artist and a male character, which the camera will zoom into and lead into the main narrative of the video which revolves are the two people in the picture. We chose this setting in order to create a peaceful and homely atmosphere, which we want to mirror her emotions, due to the fact that elderly people are often perceived as being peaceful and content with life. This is conventional to the indie genre as you would not expect to see characters of their age in pop music videos which often include dance numbers and revealing outfits. This scene will be most effective if the weather is sunny because we want to show the older lady as being at peace with what happened, which the audience will begin to understand as the narrative develops. If it is raining on the day that we plan on filming on, we could always film inside the house instead and still achieve a homely feel. We also plan on ending the video in the same location because we feel that it will help us to tie the video together. By the end of the video, the audience will understand the elderly woman's importance due to the fact that the narrative is her story, therefore the visuals of her will suggest that she has finished telling it, and may make the audience feel as though she is the narrator of the video. The audience may feel as though the elderly lady is sharing a real life experience that she has lived through, which therefore gives the video more of a 'personal' feel.

The visuals of famous London landmarks including Covent Garden, Camden, Hyde Park, London Eye, Big Ben and the London Bridge will be seen during the time lapse scene towards the beginning of the video, as this will be used to show the audience the development of the relationship as we hope it will suggest to the audience that these two characters have been to all of these places together. These visuals will coincide with the lyrics "I never meant to fall for you", which will clearly tell the audience that she is falling in love with the boy, and that they have been spending a lot of time together. This is conventional to the indie genre because indie songs are often based on real life experiences about love and relationships, which the audience will be able to relate to because it is likely that they have been through similar experiences themselves. A limitation of filming in these locations is that we will not be able to control who else visits these places, therefore it is possible that people may get in the way of the camera and take away from the key aspects of the time lapse, which are the landmarks. Also, we cannot control the weather, and if it is raining on the day of filming it will be horrible to walk around in. Furthermore, we want the audience to feel as though the characters are happy to be together, therefore rain connotes the wrong message and emotions. The rainy weather may also prevent us from getting a clear visual of the landmarks which will make the footage look cheaper, and may mean that we are unable to film because we cannot afford for the camera to get wet.

We plan on filming on the Cow fields in Theydon Bois for the scene where the two characters meet for the first time, when the boy character is walking his dog, who runs off to the girl character, which is what causes them to speak. The location is relatable because lots of people walk their dogs in the park, and the artist is also relatable because she is shown as doing things and going to places that everyday people go to, and does not spend her time in locations that are considered expensive, such as destination holidays or award shows. The use of this setting is conventional to the indie genre because indie artists often have to use cheaper locations to film in because the indie is not the most popular genre of music, therefore artists do not make a huge profit from selling their music which they can then go on to spend on their next music videos. We also plan on filming the spreading the ashes scene in the same location which will appear towards the end of the video. The use of the same setting at the beginning and then again at the end of the video helps us to tie the narrative and love story together and will help us to show the audience how significant the location is due to the fact that this is where they first met and had the two characters not been in that specific place at the same time there would be no basis for the song. This idea links in with the lyrics "you are an avalanche" because it could suggest the idea of love at first sight due to the fact that avalanches are unpredictable, and she was not expecting to meet somebody in the park that day. The limitations that we will face when filming at this location will be our inability to control any other people in the park who may walk into the shot and may therefore take away from the key characters in the scene. Furthermore, we cannot force the dog to run to where we need him to go to, therefore it may take longer to film the scene and get it right. However, it is possible that we will be able to use dog treats in order to try and persuade the dog to run towards the artist as planned. When filming, we do not want the characters to feel uncomfortable or cold, which could happen if it is raining on the day of filming. We could solve this problem by using an umbrella and dressing them in outfits that are appropriate for the weather, or we could always film on another day when the weather isn't as bad, however, we may have a time frame during which we need to finish filming, and we run the risk of waiting to film on a sunnier day that never actually comes. We want for the weather to be sunny during the scene where they meet for the first time because it will connote the idea of their relationship being innocent, and will help us to represent the two characters being happy, due to the fact that the sun is often associated with happiness.

We plan on filming in my house for the performance elements of the video that require a piano because I am the only one in our group who owns a piano. In order to incorporate the romantic aspects of the indie genre into our video we wanted to place some candles on the top of the piano which we believe will create a more romantic feel to the video and help the audience to understand that the narrative is based on a love story because the audience will associate the visuals of candles with dates and romantic meals. However, we will not be able to use too many candles because it increases the risk and we must ensure that they are secure on the piano top so that they won't fall off, especially seeing as the piano is wooden. This use of performance links in with the instrumental which is where the visuals will appear because the audience are made to see that the artist is producing the music that the audience can hear herself on the piano, which helps to make her appear more talented and desirable to work with. The audience may appreciate how hard the artist has worked to be as talented as she is, but they may also envy her for the qualities that she has, which will keep them interested in her as they will be curious to see what else she can do.

We have planned to film the 'row scene' at Amy's house because we believed that she will feel more comfortable in her own surroundings, which will therefore make the video look more realistic and less forced. A limitation of filming at this location is that we need for the lighting to be bright enough so that the audience can see the characters and their facial expressions, but there also needs to be a low key about the lighting to show the audience that they are fighting. This can possibly be achieved through the use of editing and colour tints to make the footage appear darker that what it is. These visuals of the male character wearing an army costume while they argue will coincide with the lyrics "the darkest fairy tale", therefore the audience will understand that he is going to war and that she is upset about it, which could suggest that their "fairy tale" relationship is going to come to an end, and that the two characters are not going to have the happy ending that the audience would have expected them to. The audience may be able to relate to this scene because all couples fight and all relationships have there ups and downs, which also makes the artist more relatable because she is not shown as having the perfect relationship which would be unrealistic. The weather will not prove a problem for using during the filming of this scene because even if it is raining, it will only emphasise the darkness of the scene and the angered emotions that the characters are feeling.

We have also planned to film in the forest in Theydon Bois for the running and goodbye scenes that take place towards the end of the video. During the 'running' scene, the audience will see the artist wearing running gear, looking as though she is meant to be running. They will also see the male character mimicking her actions in what we hope will look like a reflection, that will make it appear as though the two characters are running towards each other. We will attempt to film both of these separate scenes on the same day in order to ensure that the parallel scenes have a similar lighting, and therefore look as though they are taking place at the same time. A limitation of this will be that a change in the weather may cause the lighting to change, and that our lack of control over how long it will take to film or how quickly the sun will set makes it difficult for us to plan when the best time to film will be. These visuals will coincide with the lyrics "I'm making my way home again" because it will suggest to the audience that they are each other's 'home', and that they are running towards each other in order to be together. This may cause the audience to sympathise with the artist because they know that they can't be together and that the artist is upset about it. The use of the same setting twice will cause the audience to associate the location with the bad events that happen in the video, therefore they know what to expect if they see this setting again. All of the locations that our group plan on filming in are considered easily accessible for the audience because it does not cost to go to these places and it is likely that the audience will have been to these places before. The audience will perceive the indie genre as being cheaper because it does not fit into the mainstream, therefore indie artists may not make enough money to be able to spend lots of fancy equipment or green screens, however, the use of affordable locations will make it easier for the audience to relate to the video and view the artist and song as being more realistic.

Iconography

The telephone will be the most important piece of iconography during one of the scenes towards the end of the video where the artist receives a phone call to find out that the boy has died in the war. The audience will see the artist holding the phone to her ear, followed by visuals of the phone hanging from the phone cord, with the artist sitting on the floor beside it looking distraught. We want to use a vintage looking telephone because we feel that this will be more conventional to the indie genre which is often perceived as being old fashioned and as not fitting into the mainstream. The use of vintage iconography could represent the artist as having an individual style and as being stuck in the past. These visuals will link to the instrumental which is when they will appear due to the fact that they will cause the audience to focus more on the narrative and will help them to understand the deeper meaning behind the song. Also, the use of this iconography is significant to the narrative because it shows the artist finding out that the male character has died, which helps the audience to make an emotional connection with the song as they are likely to sympathise with the artist due to the fact that they will be able relate to the idea of loss.

The iconography of a dog will be significant at the very beginning of the music video when the two characters meet for the first time, the audience will see the boy walking his dog in the park, which is relatable because lots of people take their pets to the park, and they will then see the dog run off to where the girl character is standing. The use of this iconography helps us to introduce the artist and the main male character into the video, and makes them appear more relatable and realistic because they enjoy the simple things in life, such as dog walking, which shows the audience that her lifestyle is not as lavish as they expect it to be. This links to the lyrics "my make believing, while I'm wide awake" and the idea that he is too good to be true, that the whole thing was unexpected and such an unlikely thing to happen to her. The use of the dog as iconography will create a relationship with the narrative, due to the fact that the is the reason the two characters got to meet in the first place, therefore without him the song and narrative would not have been possible.

We also plan on using candles during the performance sections of the video during which the audience will see visuals of the artist playing the piano. This iconography links into the lyrics "my salvation" because it relates to the idea that the song is based on a love story due to the fact that candles are often associated with romance, for example, romantic meals. There will also be candles on the table at their first date to connotes the idea of intimacy, which helps us to show the link between the styles of performance and narrative in the video, which is conventional to the indie genre because the use of performance in the indie genre allows an artist to share any other talents that they might have with the audience other than their vocals, which may make them appear more desirable to work with and may also cause the audience to become more envious of the artist, which relates to Goodwin's theory that an artist must be extraordinary. Furthermore, the use of narrative to break up the sections of performance helps to make a music video more interesting to watch and helps the audience to understand the lyrics better because the visuals usually explain the deeper meaning of a song.

Another significant piece of iconography in the video is the car, which will be seen towards the middle of the video when the artists car breaks down and the audience can see the male character pushing the car from behind in order to protect her from oncoming traffic. These visuals coincide with the lyrics "my salvation" as the audience are made to view him as her hero because of the idea that he does not want any harm to come to her which is why he is pushing her broken down car to safety. The artist is represented as being more relatable because she is shown as being stuck, which therefore allows the audience to see that even she needs help every once in a while.

The iconography of the urn towards the end of the video can be used to tell the audience that the male character has died without them actually needing to be told. This coincides with the love story and the idea that something will always get in the way, which will make the video feel more like a mini film because there is usually an event that prevents certain characters from developing and that draws the audience in because they want to know whether they can overcome it. The audience will make an emotional connection with the song because they will be able to relate to the idea of death, and they will therefore sympathise with the artist because if the video is based on a true story the audience will know that the artist has once felt the exact emotions that she is expressing in the video. This piece of iconography links in with the lyrics "darkest fairy tale" because fairy tales are known for their love stories and happy endings, however, the idea of darkness suggests that the two characters do not get a happy ending, which could foreshadow the death of the male character that appears towards the end of the video.

The piano is also an important piece of iconography, especially during the performance sections of the video, as it helps us to show the artist as having other talents, other than just being able to sing, which links into Goodwin's theory and the idea that an artist will be portrayed as being extraordinary in order to make the audience feel envious of how talented she is, which will keep them interested in her and her music because they will want to see what else she can do. The use of performance links into the instrumental sections of the music video because in order to prevent from becoming a product of the music industry, indie artists often produce their music entirely on their own, therefore they have complete say in what happens to their music. Also, the use of both performance and narrative styles within a music video makes it more interesting for the audience to watch because they allow the artist to switch between the past and present, and the performance allows the audience to just focus on the music, giving them a break from concentrating on the narrative.

The iconography of a rifle will be seen following the male character being deployed into the army which will therefore emphasise the idea of war that we have decided to base our narrative on. The audience will see the male character wearing an army costume, running through the forest holding the rifle until he suddenly falls to the ground. These visuals will helps the audience to make an emotional connection with the artist because she does not know yet that he has died, therefore they know more than she does and they can only anticipate what her reaction is going to be when she finds out. This is conventional to the indie genre because indie artists often base their songs on real life experiences in order to create a deeper meaning and force the audience to make an emotional connection due to the fact that they feel like the events that they are watching have actually happened, therefore the emotions expressed by the artist are real. This narrative links into the lyrics "my salvation" because the audience will view the male character as being a hero in the sense that he died fighting for his country and protecting the people he loved, similar to the way he protected the girl when her car broke down towards the beginning of the video.

At the beginning of the video during the instrumental, the audience will see the iconography of a photograph of a young boy and girl, which will help us to introduce the two main characters into the video because the camera goes on to zoom into the picture which begins the narrative and the song. Due to the fact that the elderly lady is the one holding the photograph, it will suggest to the audience that there is a relationship between the older lady and the younger girl in the picture, we which hope will draw the audience in to wanting to know her relevance in the story. The iconography of the photograph links into the lyrics "a psychedelic silhouette" because similar to a silhouette, a photograph is just an outline of something, it is not actually the real thing. The artist is singing about a person as if they were only a memory, which compliments the visuals of a picture because a picture is just a memory. This is conventional to the indie genre because indie music videos are often based on real life experiences and indie artists create emotional connections in their songs in order to draw the audience in and make them feel something. This iconography could foreshadow the death of the male character which happens towards the end of the video, because at the time of singing he would have been dead, and she is only singing about the memories she has of him. The audience may feel as though the artist is sharing a personal story with them, which may help them to feel closer to her and appreciate how honest she is being with them, which further suggests that she trusts them like she would a friend. The photograph helps to set up the narrative and gives the audience as basis regarding what the video is going to revolve around. The same piece of iconography will be seen at the end of the video because we felt that it would help us to tie the story together, in the sense that the video begins in the present, goes back to the past and then returns to the present. The audience will feel as though the artist has told them everything they need to know about that experience, and that she was being completely honest with them.

The use of setting and iconography will help the artist to build a relationship with the audience because they will be able to turn their music video into a short story that engages the audience and allows them to understand the song better. The use of setting allows the audience to see exactly where the artist is and what they are doing, which therefore makes them feel more involved in the story and makes them feel as though they are sharing a personal experience first-hand with the artist. The use of setting and iconography allows an artist to create a narrative within their music video because they can show their audience specific events and specific places as opposed to just showing the audience visuals of themselves singing in a studio or on stage.