Treatment of my Music Video

     For my own interpretation of the song 'Human' by The Killers, I have constructed a trio of narratives on my storyboard. This is where I have created two separate settings for the two main characters to start in, then a third is included to show the band performing the song in certain sections throughout my storyboard. The two separate storyboard narratives will follow a man and a woman, who both live separate but very average lives. The woman is introduced sleeping in bed with dishevelled hair and wearing all of her clothes instead of clothes like pyjamas etc, to insinuate that her life is out of order in some ways. She wakes up with a depressed look on her face, then walks towards her phone (which is ringing) and then, just as she picks it up, the shot of the singer is shown with the microphone. The woman then suddenly drops her phone, as though she has just heard the singing, then begins to peel off a fake upturned smile imprinted on a sticker over her mouth, which when she removes, she is smiling, then leaves her apartment/room and starts walking to an unknown  destination that is revealed later on.

   The man in the other narrative is introduced just as the other narrative finishes until later on. The man is in hospital, being pushed on a gurney down the white corridors, until they stop at a set of double doors. Around this time, the singer is shown again in the third narrative, as the man sits up, gets off the gurney, and walks through the hospital (signs of 'sadness' and 'devotion' direct towards the place where the man has just come from, and a 'dancer' sign that points in the direction he is going). The hospital is sort of a metaphor for the mans ruined life. The man then leaves the double doors and starts walking to an unknown destination. As this is happening, the woman is shown walking down a street, feeling at her frowning eyebrows and noticing that they are peeling off. She pulls these stickers off, now revealing a much happier face as she walks towards the unknown destination. The stickers represent sort of a manufactured sadness that becomes automatic when people live the same life day after day. Now she has given her 'regards to soul and romance,' she can set off to become the 'dancer.' With the bands performance and singing lasting, the woman finally reaches the outside of a forest, in which she begins to pass through. Around this time, the man from the other narrative enters the same place, just metres across from the unsuspecting woman (the man also doesn't realise that the woman is nearby). The music becoming louder to both people, they quicken through the forest, both eventually reaching a clearing at the same time, but still not noticing each other. It's at this point where the story briefly cuts to   a deserted street, as though to question the disappearance of everybody. Cutting back to the man and the woman in the forest clearing, a large crowd of people are shown surrounding the band. Upon noticing the man and the woman, and upon the man and the woman noticing each other for the first time, the crowd rushes towards both people. The video ends with the two people being brought through the crowd and everybody becoming much more joyous. 

   

Analysis Of A Music Video From An Independent Artist

To prepare for the planning of my music video of 'Them Heavy People' by Kate Bush, I need to be able to analyse another indie artists music video, so I can get a clear idea of what the music and video of this particular genre consists of in terms of features, like sound, costume, production design, location etc. I will analyse the video for:

           'Fallen Trees' by Saint Saviour

Here is a perfect example of what indie music videos feature. 'Fallen Trees' begins with a close-up shot of the artist, Saint Saviour, as she begins her song with just one camera shot directed at her when she sings. Throughout the whole video, there are very few different shots, such as side shots, mid and long shots and shots that follow the artists movements. The limits of these shots contribute to how an indie music video is defined, as the camera never veers away into unneeded establishing shots of sparkling images. The same can be said with the cinematography of the video, as it is clear that there is no evidence of post-production editing, yet maybe apart from a possible change in brightness. It basically shows that the artist and the cameraman went out and filmed the video and used whatever was already there without need of adding effects inappropriate to the song. In most larger-budgeted music videos from big, well known artists (who in my opinion are much less talented than the independent singers, who write and help produce their own work without needing a dozen big-time producers), the use of props can either heighten or worsen the videos intended effect, but with an independent video, we, the audience, are presented with a video that focuses more on the song meaning than on the surrounding colourful visual aspects and large items that get needlessly thrown around to insinuate fun, but it ends up looking silly. However this isn't to say that indie artists never use colour in their videos, as with Marina & the Diamonds and her 'Oh No!' video, which has a pop-art effect. In the 'Fallen Trees' video, the only noticeable props are two sets of black balloons, each set tied to each hand of the artist as she sways with the balloons. The use of these balloons can convey much more meaning than thinking that they're just there for effect. Is she trying to fly away from something? Why are the balloons black? Now to analyse the use of location. As I said before; the indie artists use whatever there is in the shots of their videos, so here is a wide open space that looks countryside-like or even coastal or looking as if it was filmed on the top of a cliff. Juxtaposed to the more well known music vids by more well known artists, Saint Saviour's 'Fallen Trees' strives for effect from its music and visuals, and not glamour, like many chart toppers try to achieve instead just to get a larger target audience. When a big artist makes a music video, the budget is much bigger, so the idea of being able to put almost anything into a video from the budget gives it a bigger chance to ruin the song with irrelevant uses of over-the-top cheesiness and special effects. The same applies for the film industry. 

       These features that I have analysed should now help me get further with my own my own music video of Kate Bushe's 'Them Heavy People.' Hopefully it should go well. In my next blog I'll share the first stages of my planning for the music video. If you want to view Saint Saviour's 'Fallen Trees,' you can find it here at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHUr7KfD8WY