Planning cinematography - Miss Georgiou

Planning cinematography

Cinematography is essential within a music video because the visuals help the audience to understand the lyrics better which may sometimes be quite ambiguous. Also, a variety of different camera shots will make a music video more interesting for the audience to watch, for example, a close up will help them to focus on the most important things within a shot, whereas a long shot will allow them to get a better view of the location, to see which characters are there and what they are doing. Cinematography provides the audience with a mini cinematic experience as opposed to just listening to the music by itself. The audience may sometimes feel as though they are part of the video, which can be achieved through the use of a point of view shot, and the use of a narrative can sometimes make the audience wish they were actually part of the video.

The first camera technique that our group plans on using throughout the instrumental section of the song, around 2 minutes and 50 seconds into the video following the repetition of the lyrics "my salvation" is handheld. For starters, this technique will help our group to create a panicked atmosphere as the audience will see the artist running through Hainault forest, suggesting that she is running away from something. At the same time, the audience will also see visuals of the male character running while holding a rifle, both of which will overlap. Eventually, the audience will see the female character fall to the floor from exhaustion, while the male character falls due to the fact that he has been shot. The audience may feel surprised by the fact that we decided to kill the boy character off, but they may also sympathise with the artist as they themselves may be able to relate to the idea of losing someone. Furthermore, this technique could also be used to foreshadow the death of the male character because this scene appears in the video before the girl character receives the call to find out that he was killed. Handheld may also help the audience to see how the artist is feeling due to the fact that she is running and moving faster which suggests that she wants to run away from the knowledge that he is dead. This technique is conventional to the indie genre because it gives the video a more natural, unprofessional feel, as the quality of the video may look cheaper. The indie is not a mainstream genre of music, therefore the audience will not expect to see high quality camera techniques. The technique also helps us to present the artist as being more genuine and natural because she does not use special effects in order to sugar coat her life by making it appear better than it is. Also, this narrative and musical instrumental both compliment each other because at this point in the video the pace of the song begins to speed up, which coincides with the visuals of the artist running through the forest, both of which help to create a climactic atmosphere because it makes the audience feel as though the story and song are both building up, therefore they will sense as though something big within the narrative is about to happen, which will be the artist finding out that the boy character has died. This will help us to hook the audience into watching the video because they will be able to form an emotional connection with the artist through sympathising with her situation and possibly being able to relate to the idea of losing someone themselves. When the pace of the video and the speed at which the visuals are appearing are in time, it makes the audience feel more comfortable, and makes the video easier for them to watch.

Another camera technique that our group plans on using at the very end of the music video is a shallow focus. The audience will see a blurry visual the older lady holding up a photograph of the younger couple who were seen throughout the rest of the video, therefore shallow focus will help the audience to focus on the photograph, which is the most important piece of iconography in the scene, rather than the older lady. This technique is also often used to connote how important the narrative and characters are, which is beneficial for the indie genre because indie music videos are often narrative based and the visuals are used to show the audience that there is a deeper meaning behind the lyrics and to help them to understand the lyrics better. Indie artists are often perceived as being more focused on selling their music and their story, rather than fitting into the mainstream. Furthermore, the narrative style of video compliments the lyrics due to the fact that the video begins and ends with the same visuals of the older lady holding the photography, and through the use of a narrative the audience will be made to understand that the older lady and the young girl are the same person, therefore it will be made clear to them her attachment to the photo and song. To conclude the video the same way it began will make it obvious to the audience that the video is ending and will suggest to them that they know everything they need to about the story and about the two characters in the video. The use of a flashback and the visuals of the photograph will make the audience feel as though the woman is still in love with the boy even though he is dead, and that the relationship that they had is still clear in her mind. The audience may feel that even though the video is finishing, her story is still continuing.

We plan on using a low angle shot during the time lapse scene, which will appear after the lyrics "was buried underneath" are sung. The lyrics and visuals will compliment each other as a low angle is often used to make something appear bigger and more inferior in comparison to something else. Our group wants to create a claustrophobic, vulnerable atmosphere by showing the audience visuals of London landmarks such as Big Ben and the London Eye, which will suggest to the audience that the characters are just two small people in a big world. This technique is not conventional to the indie genre because the characters in an indie music video are often portrayed as being equal. The genre is all about the promotion of being your own person and not comparing yourself to anyone else because no one is inferior to anyone else. The use of a time lapse makes the visuals appear rushed, which could be used to suggest the idea of 'rushed love' because as the narrative develops, the boy character gets deployed into the army, and due to the fact that the characters are both young, it shows that they have not spent that much time together. Furthermore, when compared to the pace at the beginning of the song, the audience will notice that the artist is singing at a much faster pace towards the end of the video. Due to the fact that the pace of the song keeps in time with the speed at which the visuals appear, the audience will feel more comfortable watching the video because the music and visuals compliment each other. The use of this low angle may also help the audience to feel as though they are part of the video due to the fact that there will be no characters in the shot, therefore the audience may see it as being more of a point of view shot that they are living.

Our group plans on using a panning shot towards the middle of the video, during the scene where the audience can see that the girl character's car has broken down. The audience will then begin to see the car moving forward with the artist sitting in the drivers seat, followed by the boy character who will be the last thing to come into the shot, which suggests to the audience that he is pushing the car. This visual will coincide with the lyrics "my salvation" which will suggest to the audience that he is saving her and her car, which is conventional to the indie genre because the panning shot gives the audience a better view of the location and what is happening in the scene which will help our group to make our video more relatable because the audience will be able to see that the artist is always in an easily accessible area, therefore she does not live such a lavish lifestyle that the audience will expect her to. The audience may view the artist as being a down to earth, normal human being because her car has broken down, which destroys the idea that nothing bad ever happens to famous people, and that they have the perfect life. In our video, my group wants to show the artist as being the damsel in distress and the boy character as being her hero because we feel that this will make the video feel more like a cinematic experience due to the fact that in most romantic films the female character almost always finds herself in a situations that requires her needing to be saved by the stronger, male character. This will also help the narrative to link in with the lyrics "my salvation" because in the video he is being portrayed as her hero through the use of visuals that show the audience that he is 'saving her' by pushing her car to safety. The audience may feel as though the song is a love song that was written for the male character featured in the video, due to the use of the word "you" which suggests that the song is directed to someone in particular. This will also cause the audience to feel as though the song is based on real life experiences that she wants to share with them, and due to how much detail the video goes into, it will suggest that the artist has lived through these experiences herself, which helps to make the video more realistic and relatable. Having said that, the lyrics could also relate to the visuals of the male character being deployed into the army, therefore he is a hero in the sense that he is fighting for his country.

The final camera technique that our group plans on using in our music video is a zooming in shot, which will be seen towards the end of the video when the artist finds out that the boy character has been killed in the war. The audience will have already seen visuals of the boy falling to the ground, therefore they will know what has happened before the artist does. The zooming in technique will eventually end up in a close up of the artists face, which is conventional to the indie genre because it helps to give the audience a clearer understanding of how the artist is feeling, which also helps to make the video feel more personal because it appears as though she is sharing with them an experience that she has actually been through. The audience may be able to sympathise with her if they have been through a similar situation themselves, however, the idea of death is often used to make the audience feel more emotional. The artist will show sad facial expressions and will have a slumped body position that we hope will make her appear broken hearted, therefore the audience will focus on her emotions which will give them a clear idea about what she has just been told on the telephone without needing someone to actually verbally explain it to them. Also, the artist being portrayed as vulnerable and broken hearted will compliment the narrative because the boy is dead, therefore her emotions will be realistic to those of someone who may be able to relate to the idea of losing someone. The video will also come across as being more realistic because it will destroy the idea that people often have that artists have the perfect lives, and are always happy, and do not have to worry about anything. The visuals will match the lyrics "I never meant to fall for you" because the audience will see both of the characters running towards each other and then falling just before they meet. We hope that through the use of iconography, specifically a rifle, and the army print costume the audience will understand that the boy character is in the army, therefore the most obvious reason for him falling is due to the fact that he has been shot, which will help the audience to form an emotion connection with the song because everybody can relate to the idea of death. This then links into the lyrics "all that I could see was white" as it relates to the idea that he is now in heaven, and that he is a hero because he fought for his country.

Each of the various camera shots will allow the artist to build a relationship with the audience in different ways, because cinematography can be used to connote different meanings and emotions. For starters, through the use of a zooming in and close up shot, the video will be made to feel more personal as the audience are shown a clear visual of how the artist is feeling, and because she looks so sad the audience will sympathise with her and can maybe relate to the situation she is in. Through the use of a panning shot in the video, which shows the boy character pushing the car, the audience will be able to relate to the idea that everybody needs help once in a while, even though artists are often perceived as being independent and in control of their lives. The use of a low angle helps to create a sense of vulnerability, and the idea that the artist is feeling scared, which the audience will be able to relate to because everybody is afraid of something, therefore the audience may appreciate the artists honesty and how open she is being with them through the use of her music. The use of handheld will show the audience that not everything is as perfect as it may appear, and that social media or media in general only shows us what they want us to see, even though it may not be the truth. Furthermore, the use of a shallow focus will direct the audience to focus on the key image in the shot, which will help them to understand the love story narrative better, and make them feel as though the artist is sharing a personal story with them. The use of cinematography helps an artist to represent themselves as being more relatable and realistic because it shows the audience how they are feeling, which is often similar to emotions that the audience themselves feel.