Music video inspirations - Miss Georgiou

Music video inspirations

Inspirations are essential to consider when creating a music video production because they allow us to see what famous artists have done before us, and to identify some of the things that they have included that have aided the success of their music videos, and things that are conventional to the indie genre which will may be able to include in our own music video in order for us to help our audience to identify and associate our music video as being part of that specific music genre, for example, the use of performance in indie music videos helps an artist to show the audience how they are feeling at specific points throughout the video and allows them to show off any other talents that they may have such as the ability to play a musical instrument. Furthermore, inspirations will help us to identify and understand the elements that an audience wants to see in a music video due to the fact that artists will have more experience when it comes to creating music videos and appealing to a specific target audience, therefore they know what they are doing and know how to please an audience, because the audience are the ones who are making them rich and successful.

The power of love - Gabrielle Aplin

I was inspired by the use of iconography in the 'The Power of Love' music video, particularly the visuals of Gabrielle Aplin playing the piano while she is singing. The use of musical instruments is conventional to the indie genre because it helps an artist to highlight the talents that they have, which could make them more desirable to work with, both from a record label and an artists point of view. Most successful artists are able to write the lyrics for, and compose the music to their own songs Also, the use of musical instruments links in with the element of performance which is often used in an indie music video to show the audience visuals of the artist doing what they love. Some of the audience may not be able to afford to buy tickets to an actual concert, therefore the use of performances may make them feel similar to if they were at an actual concert, and they therefore do not feel like they are missing out. The use of instruments also helps the artist to show off any other talents, besides singing, that they might have. This video has inspired me to use musical instruments in my music video, specifically a piano, as it may help Amy to get into the character of Gabrielle Aplin and make the video look more realistic as the audience can see that she is producing the music that they can hear. The piano will be seen at various points throughout the video, for example, the video begins with the two characters first meeting and then continues to show them on their first date, however, we plan on using performance between these sections of narrative during an instrumental to act as a transition between the scenes to help the video flow better.

The one - Kodaline

The style of the music video that I want my video to be is a mixture of both narrative and performance, therefore I was inspired by the music video for 'The One' which incorporates both of these styles. The use of narrative can be seen at the beginning of the video when the two main characters first meet in the diner, and the use of this narrative helps to make the video more interesting to watch because it provides the audience with a mini cinematic experiences and helps them to visualise the deeper meaning of the lyrics. The use of visuals can show the audience what the artist is singing about, which is beneficial as the lyrics to indie songs can sometimes be quite ambiguous, and this may also help them to make more of an emotional connection with the song because it may feel as though it is based on a personal experience, which is conventional to the indie genre because indie artists often write their own music based on experiences that they have been through which they feel an audience may be able to relate to, which helps the audience to know that they are not alone in the things they are going through. Furthermore, the use of performance is beneficial to an artist because it allows them to show off their talents, for example, the ability to play a musical instrument and helps to suggest to the audience that the song is personal to them due to the fact that performance allows the audience to see an artists facial expressions at a particular point in the video, which shows them how they are feeling while they are singing and therefore what the song means to them, which is conventional to the indie genre due to the fact that indie artists often write songs that are based on real life experiences. The use of performance also links into Dyer's theory and the idea than an artist must be viewed as extraordinary in order to keep an audience interested in them and as being envious of the skills and talents that an artist has, for example, the ability to write as well as perform their own music. Indie artists are also perceived as being passionate about what they do and that they enjoy performing for audiences, which is part of the reason why they are always on the road. I plan on using both narrative and performance in my own music video, for example, at the beginning of the video to introduce the two main characters into the narrative by showing the audience how they first met, and then the use of performance following that scene will allow the audience to identify who the artist is as she will be on her own, which will suggest to them that the song is about the male character and that the music video is her story.

Thinking of you - Katy Perry

I was inspired by the 'Thinking of You' music video by Katy Perry due to the fact that the narrative for the video is based on the theme of war, which is the same theme that our group decided to base our own music video on because we did not want the storyline to be too predictable and the same as most other indie narrative based videos. Also, the use of old fashioned iconography, for example, the wooden bicycle, and old fashioned looking costumes and hairstyles, for example, in the video Katy Perry's hair is curled and pulled back away from her face through the use of a headband that usually matches her outfit, and she is also seen wearing white and brown brogue type shoes, both of which help the video to be recognisable as part of the indie pop genre. It could be argued that this video was so successful because the audience were not used to Perry producing slower songs due to the fact that she is a well known pop artist who usually wears revealing outfits, colourful makeup and uses extravagant props and special effects. Furthermore, I was inspired by how the video switches between the past and present, for example, the audience see Perry sitting in front of a mirror staring at a photograph, and then the video shows the audience visuals of Perry and the character from the black and white photograph spending time together, for example, they are seen at a dance and riding a bike, however, the audience are aware that the male character is no longer alive due to the fact that at the beginning of the video Perry is seen with another male character, and then at the end of the video, the audience are shown visuals of the male character from the photograph being killed during the war. The use of the colours black and white also suggest old fashioned. The use of both the past and present will be seen in my music video at the beginning when the audience will seen an older lady sitting on a bench in her back garden, the camera will zoom into her face which will then morph into a younger character for the narrative to begin. This transition will imply that the two female characters are the same person, which we hope will make the video more interesting to watch because the audience will be curious as to know her relevance within the video. The use of old fashioned costumes, iconography and setting is conventional to the indie genre due to the fact that indie artists are often perceived as having their own individual styles that often do not fit into the mainstream, for example, it could be argued that the 'norm' in the music industry is for female artists to be seen wearing revealing outfits and tons of makeup, however, in this music video Katy Perry can be seen wearing a baggy dress that falls to below the knee, and natural looking makeup that helps her to be viewed as more relatable with the audience because the artist is perceived as doing her own thing and as not acting in a way that helps her to fit in. Furthermore, the video may also be perceived as old fashioned due to the fact that the artist receives a letter informing her that her boyfriend was ' killed in action', we plan on including something similar in our own video, however, in order to make our music video more modern, we plan on having the artist receive a phone call rather than a letter as we hope this will help our video to reach out to our target audience because they will be able to relate to the use of mobile phones as opposed to writing letters.

Wings - Birdy

In the music video for 'Wings' by Birdy, I was particularly inspired by the carefree, emotional representation that the artist is portrayed as having, especially towards the middle of the music video when the audience can see her jumping up and down on a trampoline in her back garden which then jump cuts to her sitting on the shoulders of another character in the video, which implies that she is at a party or at a concert both of which may help the audience to relate to her because she is seen as acting her age and participating in activities that her audience may also be interested in. Furthermore, she is also represented as emotional through the use of close ups of her face due to the fact that the audience can see that she is not smiling, nor does she smile throughout most of the music video, suggesting that she is unhappy. The use of a close up is conventional to the indie genre due to the fact that indie songs are often perceived as being based on real life experiences that the indie artist has gone through and feels that an audience will be able to relate to in order to show the audience that they are not going through these experiences alone. Furthermore, the use of a close up gives the audience a clear image of how the artist is feeling at a particular point in the music video because the camera is solely focused on their face, this therefore gives the video more of a personal feel because it appears as though the song relates to them and that the lyrics make them feel particular emotions. We have planned to use close ups in our music video during the performance sections as believe they will help us to introduce the artist to the audience so that they know who the artist is, and because it will allow us to show the audience how she is feeling.

Cool Kids - Echosmith

In the music video for 'Cool Kids' by Echosmith, I was inspired by the clear incorporation of Dyer's Star theory which is evident due to the artist being represented as being ordinary through the use of costume, for example, she is seen wearing affordable clothing such as a plain white dress, while the boys are wearing jeans which makes them appear more relatable due to the fact that not everyone will be able to afford designer brands such as Hollister, which is also conventional to the indie genre because indie is not the most popular genre of music, therefore indie artists will not make a large profit through selling their music and therefore will not have a lot of money to spend on creating their music videos. On the other hand, the artist is also represented as being extraordinary through the use of iconography and performance, in particular the visuals of a musical instruments such as the guitar and drums which helps the artist to be perceived as having other talents and skills as opposed to singing, which also helps to keep the audience interested in the artist because they are more likely to feel envious of the talents and skills that they have because not everybody has the ability to perform for thousands of people. I will use Dyer's theory in my music video where the audience will see visuals of the artist playing the piano and performing directly towards the camera, both of which will separate the different sections of narrative, similar to that seen in the Cool Kids music video. We want the transformations between the narrative to flow as smoothly as possible which we feel will make the video easy for the audience to watch, similar to that of a mini cinematic experience.

In conclusion, the three artists and songs that I am considering for my own production are 'Salvation' by Gabrielle Aplin, 'Thinking Out Loud' by Ed Sheeran and 'The head and the heart' by Another Story, all of which are indie artists and include codes in their songs and music videos that are conventional to the indie genre, for example, they all have love story based lyrics, slow pace editing to give the music videos more of an emotional feel to them, and performance sections within the video that allows them to share their talents with the audience, for example, the ability to play musical instruments and the implied idea that they have written those songs themselves. I decided to chose an artist from within the indie genre due to the fact that I am an avid listener of this genre and feel that it will be easier to create a music video with a narrative if the lyrics to the song feel more like a story being told, rather than random words that go with the beat. I will be able to share my ideas with the rest of my group through group discussions regarding the mise-en-scene that we wanted to use in our music video, for example, when discussing the setting and iconography of our video we decided that we wanted the location to be a mixture of both the countryside and inner city, therefore in our video the audience will see shots of London landmarks such as Big Ben, but they will also see visuals of the artist in the park and in the forest, which will give the video a countryside feel. Furthermore, we were also able to share our ideas through the creation of a group storyboard, which set out how we wanted our music video to look visually and helped to ensure that we all had the same vision regarding how the end result of our music video was going to look. It gave us time together to go over our group narrative and decide if we liked the way it was going to look, and what the characters we going to wear and how we were going to present them to the audience. I think that having these inspirations before producing a music video is important because not only do they help you to identify the conventions of the chosen music genre, but they help you to identify what you like within the genre and what you might want to include in your own music video.