Inspiration For Shots In Our Music Video

Me and my co-director agreed that to make our music video more girly we would have a 'geeky' girl get made over into a glamorous popular girl that everyone wants to befriend and the boys fancy. Below are some makeover scenes from both films and music videos:



This clip shows how a normal looking school girl gets transformed into a princess. A shot I would particularly like to use is the one of her hair being brushed and the hairbrush getting stuck in her hair and breaking - this would add a humorous angle to our music video.  To accentuate our protagonist's 'geek-iness' we would have her wearing glasses which, like above, would get broken and reveal a pretty glamorous face. As mentioned in previous posts, we are going to use close up shots of the protagonists nails being painted.

 

This scene shows a stylist throwing clothes and shoes at the protagonist. She looks confused, overwhelmed and out of her comfort zone. This has inspired me to have my protagonist's friends show her outfit options and her looking out of her comfort zone as the fashionable clothes are not what she is used to wearing.




I like this particular makeover scene for two reasons. The first being the camera shot of the girls who are making the protagonist over are looking into the camera and doing the make up as if the camera is the girl. This adds another dimension to the video. The second thing I like is the photographs of her posing after the make over. I hope to do a similar montage but of her and her friends.

Our Final Song Choice

We have decided on using the song 'Heart Attack' by Demi Lovato.



We decided on this song as we feel the lyrics fit well with our idea of a girly pop music video.

Here are the song's lyrics:

Puttin’ my defenses up
‘Cause I don’t wanna fall in love
If I ever did that
I think I’d have a heart attack

Never put my love out on the line
Never said "Yes" to the right guy
Never had trouble getting what I want
But when it comes to you, I’m never good enough

When I don’t care
I can play ‘em like a Ken doll
Won’t wash my hair
Then make 'em bounce like a basketball

But you make me wanna act like a girl
Paint my nails and wear high heels
Yes, you make me so nervous
That I just can’t hold your hand

You make me glow,
But I cover up
Won’t let it show,
So I’m...

Puttin’ my defenses up
'Cause I don’t wanna fall in love
If I ever did that
I think I’d have a heart attack [3x]

Never break a sweat for the other guys
When you come around, I get paralyzed
And every time I try to be myself
It comes out wrong like a cry for help

It's just not fair
Pain's more trouble than love is worth
I gasp for air
It feels so good, but you know it hurts

But you make me wanna act like a girl
Paint my nails and wear perfume for you
Make me so nervous
That I just can’t hold your hand

You make me glow,
But I cover up
Won’t let it show,
So I’m...

Puttin’ my defenses up
'Cause I don’t wanna fall in love
If I ever did that
I think I’d have a heart attack [3x]

The feelings got lost in my lungs
They’re burning, I’d rather be numb
And there’s no one else to blame (no one else)
So scared I take off and i run
I’m flying too close to the sun
And I burst into flames

You make me glow,
But I cover up
Won’t let it show,
So I’m...

Puttin’ my defenses up
‘Cause I don’t wanna fall in love
If I ever did that
I think I’d have a heart attack [5x]

We have come up with some ideas to relate the lyrics and visuals;

• For the line 'I can play 'em like a Ken doll' we aim to use stop motion and an actual Ken Barbie doll. We hope to have the girl pull the Ken doll's head off, showing each stage of the process through the use of stop motion
• As this song is by a solo artist, we have decided to use a girl group made up of 4 girls, however we still want a 'main' girl that sings the whole way through. Her band members will feature in the video and assist her get ready to go out etc.
• In the beginning half of the song we will have the girls be getting ready for a nigh out and will show a range of shots including close ups and mid shots of them applying make up and putting on clothes/shoes. This will create visuals for the line 'paint my nails and wear high heels'. 

Song Choices For Our Pop Music Video

After researching pop music video, we have come up with a list of possible songs to use for our music video. Here are our options:

1. Girlfriend - Avril Lavigne

This is an option as it has a good pop-rock beat, and the lyrics would be easy to create visuals for. The lyrics create a narrative in your head and as an audience, you can imagine a girl talking to a boy about his girlfriend and trying to impress him so he dumps her for the girl.

2.  Miley Cyrus - 7 Things

We chose this song as it has a very 'sassy' feel and personally, I can visualise, these girls showing they don't care about the boys who messed them around.

3. Cyndi Lauper -  Girls Just Wanna Have Fun



This would be a very fun song to create a music video for. It is very upbeat and the lyrics are very obvious to create visuals for. This video would be very girly and maybe include shots of girls getting ready to go out and shots of make up, shoes and clothes would be included.

4. Demi Lovato - Heart Attack



Finally, our last option is this song. The lyrics are also very easy to create accurate visuals for. For example, the line 'But you make me wanna act like a girl, paint my nails and wear high heels' creates an obvious idea for the type of shots used. You could use a close up of a girl painting her nails and putting her shoes on, thus creating a very girly music video. 

Year 5 Stop Motion Task

The year 5's at my school asked us Media girls to help them create a stop motion video of the earth moving around the sun. We thought we could use this as good practice for our own pop music video as we've decided to feature stop motion in it.

The idea was to split a piece of card (the base) into 8 sections and have each pair of year 5s to construct their own earth and sun made out of plasticine.  For each section, we needed to take 40 photos whilst rotating the earth, we also used a torch to represent the sun light.

However, this turned out to be very time consuming as the year 5s struggled to follow the instructions and stick to the task. This resulted in us running out of time and unable to finish taking the photos, meaning we had to leave the year 5s to carry on taking the photos. Another issue was that we had to use four different cameras so the angles and lighting was slightly different, meaning all the pictures looked slightly different.

If we were to re-do this task, I feel we should have planned it more meticulously and use shot-by- shot storyboards to follow to ensure we had enough time and used this time effectively.

Here is the final stop motion video all put together.

Shot-by-shot Analysis of a Pop Music Video

Here are a short descriptions of each shot in the music video 'What About Us' by The Saturdays.

I got up to one minute and 16 seconds and then realised the shots get repeated throughout the whole video. In just over a minute, 97 shots were used. Using a range of close ups, mid shots and wide shots. This amount of shots is typical for a performance -  type pop music video. However, this has made me want to use less shots in my own pop video. 

The History of Pop Song Music Videos

I have researched into pop song music videos from the past ten years. Using the MTV Video Music Awards, I have found the winners for the 'Best Pop Video' for every year since 2005.

2005



In this music video, shots of clothes in a wardrobe are used, making this particularly girly. The singer also performs on a stage in front of a crowd which is following one of the typical conventions.

2006



This music video is very humorous, particularly the making fun of stereotypical American girls. For example, the disastrous orange spray tan.

2007


This video follows many of the pop music video conventions. For example, back up dancers and dance routines, shots of the singer and her band and close ups of the artist. The narrative amplifies the lyrics by adding a story to the lyrics of how the performer steals a boyfriend from her rival. A lot of the humour comes from the fact that Avril Lavigne plays both of the girls in the video.

2008


Within the first 10 seconds, clips backing dancers, dance routines and girls getting ready are evident. Halfway through the video, the convention of a different shot on each different beat is followed. Fast paced shots flick between the performer and backing dancers walking down a red carpet in front of the paparazzi then into a club and then back to the solo performer singing and dancing looking into the camera.

2009


This video is highly energetic and follows the conventions of multiple outfit changes, seductively looking and singing into the camera and a dance routine with her backing dancers in the office, who look like her adoring 'fans' that look up to her and aspire to be her.

2010



In this video, the artist has a care-free attitude and seems to be a wild party girl who has gone out the night before and had fun. This video follows Goodwin's convention of there being a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals. For example, the brushing of her teeth for 'before I leave, brush my teeth' and the mid shot of her foot fits the lyrics of 'pedicure on my toes'.

2011

This video is very comical and similarly to Avril Lavigne's 'Girlfriend' video, the artist performs the uncool geeky girl. This video is particularly girly due to its brightly coloured theme and also the make over scene where the performer becomes overly attractive and gets attention from the popular people. The shots used showing the performer walking down the stairs after her make over are very typical for a woman in a pop video.

2012




This video follows all the top pop music video conventions, therefore making it the perfect example of one. Firstly, you assume it is a pop song due to it being set on the beach, this is a very typical setting for a pop song. Secondly, throughout the whole of the video, there are close ups and mid shots of both, the singers singing into the camera on their own and as a group. Thirdly, the visuals, again, relate to the lyrics. One shot in particular being one of the girls spinning round in slow motion so her hair is blowing in the wind. This shot is shown when they sing the lyrics 'the way that you flip you hair gets me overwhelmed'. Finally, the use of attractive females in a male artist's music video is a very common occurrence.

2013



This video opens with the singer laying in a field of flowers, this is a very common type of shot used in pop videos. An aspect that definitely confirms this to be a music video is the singer's dance routine with her backing dancers and the close ups of her singing into the camera.

2014


Again, the bright colours (pink especially), dance routines, backing dancers and close ups of the artist singing into the camera are all traits of a pop music video. My favourite shot is of the singer spinning around on a black and white pinwheel. I think I particularly like that one because it is a change from the typical 'standing in front of the camera and mime'.

2015


Aside from this being a very 'fun' music video, it does follow some of the key pop video conventions; the backing dancers, dance routines and cuts to different shots on each beat towards the end. A wide range of shots are also used, including low angle shots and close ups of the artist.

The 7 Key Conventions of a Music Video

Andrew Goodwin came up with these 7 key conventions that most music videos tend to follow, in his book 'Dancing In The Distraction Factory'.

I will use and follow these conventions as a guideline for my own music video.  

Initial Ideas for My Music Video

I have finalised my genre of using a girly, pop song. To fit with the stereotypical pop song music video conventions, I hope to:

• feature a girl group in the video
• use shots of them getting ready (make up, hair etc.)
• use a green screen for some specific shots
• use shots of the girlband messing around, as if they were in a photo booth
• film the band performing on a stage in front of a crowd
• use bright colours in my music video, especially pinks and purples
• maybe use backing dancers

Ideas for Songs for our Music Video

I have been looking into suitable songs for my music video. I, ideally, would like to use an upbeat girly pop song. I feel like this is the most relatable genre and will be easy to get inspiration for my own video from previous videos.

These two songs are exactly the kind of song I want to use.

1. Skye Sweetnam - Number One

2. Miley Cyrus - Girls Just Wanna Have Fun



Both, follow the music video conventions of girly pop songs.

More Music Video Research

I've decided to look at more music videos as research for my own.

1. Kate Nash - Foundations


I particularly like this video as it uses a wide range of camera shots and techniques including stop motion. The stop motion symbolises the couple in the video and how their relationship is deteriorating. For example, the toothbrushes start, next to each other in the holder and then the stop motion separates them to be facing opposite each other, This has inspired me to use stop motion in my music video.

2. Lewis Watson - Calling



 I enjoy this video because it gives me the same feeling I get when I'm with my friends. It is a very relatable video for, particularly, teenagers. The dull colours and slow motion shots give the video a sense of nostalgia.

Putting all my research together, I aim to produce a music video using a wide range of camera shots and hope to create a sense of nostalgia and one you can relate to easily.

Music Video Inspiration

I have watched some popular music videos and have chosen my favourite for inspiration for my own music video;

1. Rachel Platten - Fight Song

I chose this video in particular as it uses the typical pop song conventions. For example, the singer lying on a bed miming into the camera and an emotional scene of her in the shower.

2. Little Mix - Black Magic 



Again, this music video is very stereotypical of a girly pop song having the same theme as a stereotypical chick flick film. It is set in an American style 'high school' and the 'uncool' group of friends (Little Mix themselves) become the attractive popular clique that everyone wants to get to know.

3. Taylor Swift - You Belong With Me 



Finally, this is my favourite pop song music video. It tells the story of the song lyrics. My favourite part is when they use pieces of paper to communicate through the window. This music video seems to portray the story of a typical American teenage love between a girl and a boy who has a girlfriend.