Mine, Taylor Swift - The song "Mine" by American artist Taylor Swift is an influence for my music video. The video was directed by Roman White and chronicles the romantic relationship between Swift and her love interest which ends in marriage. There are several scenes interspersed throughout the music video of Swift walking through a wood, where photographs hang from the trees and branches. I have a very similar idea for my music video - as the song is called "Selfies", I envisage photographs playing a crucial part of the video. However, I would like the actor in the video to be standing in front of a white screen whilst pictures attached to string hang around them. In the video for "Mine", the photos depict memories of a couple's life together, however in my video the photos will be all selfies, to literally portray the song's title.
Countdown, Beyoncé - "Countdown" by Beyoncé is another inspiration for my music video. The video was co-directed by Beyonce and Adria Petty and there are countless references and homages to pop culture of the past. In one shot of the video, Beyoncé appears on screen 7 times as the song counts down from 10. She is performing the same dance move in each segment on screen. In my music video, I intend to have the actor standing in front of a white screen, lip synching; in this shot, I would like an identical version of the actor to appear on screen on the repetition of the word "self". I think it is a clever editing technique that will work well with the meaning of the lyrics and theme of the song, which is the incessant taking photos of yourself.
Another interesting concept in the video that I would like to incorporate into my own music video is the use of the different coloured backgrounds - as the artist moves her shoulders to the beat of the music, the colour of the backdrop behind her changes. Once again, I think this is a very clever editing technique and an interesting visual choice, which I would like to explore in my own music video. It would require a green screen and sharp editing in Adobe Premiere Pro. An example of a situation within the music video where this idea could possibly fit is with the actor in the music video doing various selfie poses in front of the camera - each pose will be accompanied by a different coloured background.
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| In one movement, the backdrop, Beyoncé's leotard and her eye make up are purple... |
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| ...in the next instance they are yellow! |
22, Taylor Swift - 22, another song by Taylor Swift is also an inspiration for my music video. It was directed by Anthony Mandler.
The music video is featured in a traditional 4:3 format as opposed to most music videos of the era which are in widescreen format. The whole video has the textured, grainy look like photos that would be taken with a polaroid camera, which I intend to feature heavily in my music video. I am considering filming my whole music video in this format, as it is the aesthetic look that I think would be suitable for my chosen song. If I want to achieve this look, I will have to do some further research into what type of camera will be need to be used, and the cost will have to be considered.
