After carrying out a large amount of research into various aspects of the music video and into planning techniques of the music video, we were able to create a storyboard and a script that enabled us to bring all of our different ideas together and be able to plan out how we wanted each of the scenes to look like. However, there are some minor details we needed to plan and perfect regarding the character costumes and the film location. To make sure all of the details present to the audience our wanted themes and feelings throughout, I carried out some research into the costumes and make-up of existing videos so we are able to communicate well with our audience. To make sure the research is as accurate as possible, I tried to use a number of videos that are similar to my own. So the videos I annalysed had the same indie/acoustic genre and the each of the 'characters' were all female.
James Morrison - I Won't Let You Go (female actress)
The James Morrison music video is filmed around the story of one female actress and is seen wearing only one outfit throughout the video. From the very beginning of the video, the actress is introduced and is featured wearing a light pink, silky dress, with no shoes and natural make up. This simple and natural look that is presented automatically makes the actress appear very angelic whilst also symbolising purity. The fact that the actress has been presented in this way with no shoes but is stilll in a rural area, makes the audience immediately question if there is something wrong with the actress and allows them to feel empathy for the model. When the audience is presented with this angelic type of model they automatically pressume that the actress is good, pure and delicate.
Amy Winehouse - Back To Black (female singer)
In contrast to the angelic and pure charctaeristics presented with the female actress in the James Morrison video, the negative and dark personality traits and characteristics that are typical of singer Amy Winehouse, are presented in her clothes and her make-up in her music video 'Back To Black'. In the video, Amy is dressed in all dark clothes throughout, has lots of dark make up, back combed, messy hair, piercings and tattoo's. The connotations that typically go with a girl being presented this way are very negative, people will see her as a rebel. Typically, audiences perceive people to be evil if they are presented this way. As well as the presentation of the model, the connotation of the singer can also be derived from the surroundings, with the backgrounds all being dark and very sinister further promoting the evil and negative connotation of the singer.
Summary/Conventions
- Evil and negative connotations are usually derived from models dressed in dark clothing and make-up.
- Models that are considered to be 'rebels' usually have tattoo's, piercings and messy hair.
In contrast...
- Light coloured clothes, natural make-up and beauty often reflect a angelic, pure, innocent and delicate personality characteristics.
Our music video costumes
After analysing contrasting costumes from similar music videos, I have a better understanding of the representations of different characteristics presented by different costume and make-up styles and can therefore plan what we want our model to wear throughout our own music video so that we communicate our desired feelings and themes to our audience successfully.
At the beginning of our music video we want the audience to see that the actress is evil and appears to be distressed and upset that she has been caught in this frame of mind so therefore we have decided that we want her to be dressed in a black dress with messed up hair and dark eye make-up so she therefore appears disheveled and distressed that she has been stuck in this frame of mind for so long. To make it appear more like shes been struggling where she is, we want her legs to be streaked with mud. All of this dark and dishevelled aesthetics of the model make her appear evil and sort of like a dark spirit which is exactly the type of effect we want to create. Later on in the video, we want our model to appear as though she has been changed and set free from the negative hold that she had over her and in a sense, has become a free spirit. After the way she has been changed, her appearence will also change and will become the opposite of what it was. For example instead of a black dress she will be dressed in a white dress and her skin will no longer be streaked with mud but will be clean and pale making her appear much more natural and at peace. Again, instead of dark make-up, we want her to be very natural. The representation we hope to create with this very natural look is that the model is very angelic, free, delicate and beautiful.
We are hoping that with the change of costume and make up will be a big enough change to make the audience realise that her personality, characteristics have changed from being very negative, depressed and sinister to ending up pure, angelic and happy much like a free spirit.
Changes before production
Despite the fact we were very particular about the makeup used on the model in the music video, we finally decided not to have a change in makeup throughout the film. However, we still want to do a costume change so that the mood of the film and the presentation of the actress connotes different things. We felt as though it would be better to keep the makeup of the model very neutral so that she still represents a delicate, pure and slightly naive girl. Changing the makeup would also be dificult to maintain throughout the video because of time as well as continuity. We feel as though it would be difficult to make sure the model's makeup was the same all the way through the video since various scenes would be shot on different days. However, I don't feel as though this will affect the representation of the model or the messages we are presenting within the video.
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