Song Title: Selfies
Director: Evie Brudenall
Summary: My music video will contain both elements of performance and narrative. The performance aspect of my video will include the actor lip - syncing along to the track in front of a white back drop, with photographs attached to string hanging all around them. The photographs will depict a countless number of selfies, to literally portray the song's title. I intend for the photographs to be polaroids. The colour of the back drop could also change from white to multiple different colours such as red and green throughout the performance to reflect the song's playful but also important nature and subject topic. However, during the performance scenes in the video, the actor will not always be lip - syncing; they will also be hitting a piñata with a bat; instead of sweets, photographs, more specifically selfies, will come out of the piñata.
The video will also be narrative and complementary to the lyrics. For example, the first line of the song reads, "Sitting in my bedroom tonight" - the actor will literally be sitting in a bedroom, conveying the appropriate emotions. The actor will also visit various locations such as a photo booth to show what the character in my video gets up to during their spare time, and also shows their love for taking photos of themselves.
Treatment:
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| This image represents what I envision my overall video to look like. |
Treatment:
As "Selfies" is arguably Nina Nesbitt's most recognised song, the video has to make an impression and establish her as an artist - therefore the tone of the video has to be identifiable with the artist and set a precedent. Although the song's subject is relatively trivial, the lyrics explore the reasons behind the matter. Overall, the video must not lose its sense of fun and vibrancy, but it must also be sensitive to the issue and matter discussed in the song.
The video begins with a stop motion countdown from 3, with a person drawing the circle around the number as a countdown to the next. The visuals will be accompanied by the sound of a film reel turning, like it would be in an old film countdown. Once the countdown is complete, the song begins to play. The actor is standing in front of a white backdrop, staring directly into the camera whilst wearing colourful clothing to contrast with the plain background. The lighting will be bright. Polaroids that are attached to string, hanging from the ceiling all around her, hanging at different lengths. All of the photos are selfies of the actor's character, which shows the abundance of selfies the character likes, or feels the need, to take. The song's chorus repeats the words "self" and "vain" three times in a row; on several occasions, on the beat of each repeated word, the screen will split into a third, and the actor will be appear duplicated on the screen. In some instances, the actor will be repeating the same action, whereas in other shots each duplicate will be showcasing a different pose or aspect of performance. In addition, the background in each third could be a different colour to emphasise the playful nature of the song.
A birds-eye-view close up shot shows the actor lying down on a bed of photographs, which will be a performance aspect of the video as lip - syncing will be involved. Once again, the photographs will all be selfies. This depicts how extreme the selfie habit has spiralled.
In a separate shot, a piñata in the shape of a love heart hangs in front of the white backdrop. The actor approaches it with a bat in hand, circling and examining it in, as if determining where to strike. The character then starts to hit the piñata with force. Some of the shots will be in slow motion, whereas others will just depict the character releasing her anger. This highlights the heartbreak element of the song, significant by the fact the piñata is shaped in a love heart. The piñata contains not only multi-coloured confetti, but yet more selfies - this symbolises that the character's heartbreak and anguish has prompted the surge in selfies; it could be considered as her coping mechanism.
The performance scenes are interspersed throughout the video with narrative scenes. The character begins in her bedroom, sifting through old photos of her and her ex boyfriend. In anger, she tears up the photographs and throws them away. As the song builds up to its chorus, the character puts on her coat and shoes and head out the door. In the next verse, she is seen walking to and entering a photo booth. Her aim is to replace the memories and photos of her and her ex with pictures of herself. However, when she collects the photos, she notices that one of them has captured her looking sad and forlorn - she then proceeds to throw it away.
Inspiration for Ideas and How to Achieve them
These screen shots are from a YouTube video called "Stop motion - Birthday love". The video begins with this visual countdown from three to one - the numbers and subsequent circle around them are drawn by hand, and the audience can see this on the screen.
The idea for these to be hand drawn rather than being created digitally attributes to the overall aesthetics and tone of the video that I'm trying to create.
In order to achieve this stop motion countdown, I will have to research whether or not there are different methods to film it.
The video begins with a stop motion countdown from 3, with a person drawing the circle around the number as a countdown to the next. The visuals will be accompanied by the sound of a film reel turning, like it would be in an old film countdown. Once the countdown is complete, the song begins to play. The actor is standing in front of a white backdrop, staring directly into the camera whilst wearing colourful clothing to contrast with the plain background. The lighting will be bright. Polaroids that are attached to string, hanging from the ceiling all around her, hanging at different lengths. All of the photos are selfies of the actor's character, which shows the abundance of selfies the character likes, or feels the need, to take. The song's chorus repeats the words "self" and "vain" three times in a row; on several occasions, on the beat of each repeated word, the screen will split into a third, and the actor will be appear duplicated on the screen. In some instances, the actor will be repeating the same action, whereas in other shots each duplicate will be showcasing a different pose or aspect of performance. In addition, the background in each third could be a different colour to emphasise the playful nature of the song.
A birds-eye-view close up shot shows the actor lying down on a bed of photographs, which will be a performance aspect of the video as lip - syncing will be involved. Once again, the photographs will all be selfies. This depicts how extreme the selfie habit has spiralled.
In a separate shot, a piñata in the shape of a love heart hangs in front of the white backdrop. The actor approaches it with a bat in hand, circling and examining it in, as if determining where to strike. The character then starts to hit the piñata with force. Some of the shots will be in slow motion, whereas others will just depict the character releasing her anger. This highlights the heartbreak element of the song, significant by the fact the piñata is shaped in a love heart. The piñata contains not only multi-coloured confetti, but yet more selfies - this symbolises that the character's heartbreak and anguish has prompted the surge in selfies; it could be considered as her coping mechanism.
The performance scenes are interspersed throughout the video with narrative scenes. The character begins in her bedroom, sifting through old photos of her and her ex boyfriend. In anger, she tears up the photographs and throws them away. As the song builds up to its chorus, the character puts on her coat and shoes and head out the door. In the next verse, she is seen walking to and entering a photo booth. Her aim is to replace the memories and photos of her and her ex with pictures of herself. However, when she collects the photos, she notices that one of them has captured her looking sad and forlorn - she then proceeds to throw it away.
Inspiration for Ideas and How to Achieve them
These screen shots are from a YouTube video called "Stop motion - Birthday love". The video begins with this visual countdown from three to one - the numbers and subsequent circle around them are drawn by hand, and the audience can see this on the screen.
The idea for these to be hand drawn rather than being created digitally attributes to the overall aesthetics and tone of the video that I'm trying to create.
The idea for the photographs hanging all around the character in the video came from Taylor Swift's music video for the song "Mine". The photographs depict a lifetime of memories, and the artist looks upon them fondly. However, in my music video, the photographs will be selfies of the actor. In addition, I ideally want the photographs to be polaroids as they suit the aesthetics of the song more.
In "Mine", the artist moves around and through the photographs, whereas in my video, the actor will be stationary whilst delivering a performance.
The video for "Countown" also features several examples split screen. For example, in the image to the right, the artist in the video appears three time on screen, performing the same movement/pose in each sector.
However, in this screen shot from the video, the artist appears twice on screen, but she is posing differently in each section. This creates a visually rich scene.
The idea for the change in coloured background on the beat was also sourced from the "Countdown" music video. When the artist moves her shoulders in time with the music, the colour of the background changes, as demonstrated in these screens shots where the colour changes from pink to orange. This effect will most likely be achieved using a green screen, with the colour added in during post - production.
The idea for the heart shaped piñata originated from the music video for another Taylor Swift track, called "22". However, in this idea, the piñata is not attached to anything, and it is instead thrown on the floor and jumped upon. In my music video for "Selfies", the character will repeatedly strike the piñata with a bat, where confetti and polaroid will fall out as opposed to the traditional gift of sweets and chocolate. To achieve this, I will either have to buy or make my own heart shaped piñata. If I were to make my own, I have found several guides on how to do so. Click here to visit a website which details and includes a step by step instruction on how to make your own.
This is the final product and result of the piñata which you can learn how to make following the hyperlink I inserted. This white roses and feathers will not need to be attached to it as it makes the piñata look bridal, which is not my intention. This piñata heart celebrates love, whereas the one in my video features to symbolise the loss of love.
During the scenes where the character is hitting the piñata, I want to incorporate slow motion. I have inserted a video which demonstrates a mousetrap chain reaction in slow motion. I am deliberating whether I would have to use a different camera with more frames per second to film this during production, or whether it could achieved in post production.
For the scenes where the character is lying on and is surrounded by selfies, I took inspiration from the cover of the song's artist Nina Nesbitt's EP The Apple Tree. The birds-eye-view mid shot will be an homage to the artist, although it is a small reference.
The cinematography and the format in which the music video for "22" was shot is also a possible source of inspiration. In the screenshot to the left, the cinematography looks like a polaroid and has a grainy, vintage and textured feel, as the shot is almost frayed around the edged. The music video was shot in a 4:3 format, which is unusual for the era, but it may also be applicable to my music video for "Selfies".
During the narrative scenes of the video, the actor will look at themselves in the mirror. When filming, I will have to ensure that the camera is not visible in the reflection, which can be tricky and will ultimately be a major flaw in the production if it not done correctly.
