Planning lighting and colour -Miss Miller

Planning lighting and colour

Introduction

To use a variety of lighting and styles and colours within our music video is important as it adds to the effect of the emotions and feelings being portrayed to the audience. The difference odours will involve some bright and some dull, and both represent different things within the song. The variety of lighting will mean the audience will see the artist in a different way depending on the mood of the song, and how this will connect to the lyrics being sung at that time. Using more than one feature for lighting and colours means a range of values and messages will be sent out to the target audience. We discussed as a group what we are going to include within our music video and the screenshot above shows our spider diagram.

Analysis

The first colour we are using within our music video is a black and a white filter. The black and white will also be used o the artists outfits as the main colours the artist will be wearing throughout the costume changes is black, with elements of white. These are the main colours used throughout the whole music video, as the black and white also represents the colours on the piano as we are using a black piano, with white keys. The performance element of the music video will be edited in a black and white filter, in comparison to the narrative of the music video which will be in colour, this includes the shots of London, at the artists house with her friends and at a shopping centre. The black and white filter will be used on the camera shots of close-ups and long shots. This will help with the performance aspect as it will help the audience to engage the mood that is being set throughout the set, as the song itself is sad and emotional. The black and white filter will also help contrast the video as the black and white piano, the black microphone and the black background setting, so all of these will link together to create a good image for the audience to see. The black and white filter is conventional to the soul genre as it conventionally represents darkness, sadness and a emotional time that the artist is telling the audience about. The black and white filter helps with this as the emotions are portrayed easily. The black and white being used for the performance element and the normal colours for the narrative, shows the different aspects in the artists life and how her life is different when performing and the different emotions that she feels. 

The colour red is also going to be used frequently throughout our music video. the red will be seen most frequently when the artist is performing on stage and when playing the piano and this will be shown on her lips. The colour red is a connotation of passion and love, which has some involvement within our chosen song. This helps with the representation of the artist and the way she is going to be portrayed. The red also helps to show the artist as glamorous, prestige and talented as it shows her as a bright person who wants to stand out in her performance, which is conventional in the soul genre as we see the artist performing as a solo act, taking pride of the whole stage. Although on the other hand the large amount of make-up may show our artist amy as insecure and nervous within the performance element, this is conventional of the soul genre as we see as an audience soul artists wearing a lot of make-up to hide emotions or looking down or away from the camera. The red will stand out to the audience a lot and will be clearly noticeable in contrast with the black which is reoccurring throughout our music video.

The next use of lighting we are going to include within our music video is back lighting. Back lighting is going to be used in the performance aspects of the music video. The reasons for us choosing back lighting Is to create a silhouette feature for the audience to see. This will show the artist in her prime location on the stage, showing her talent and performance. Amy will be singing on stage, just like the picture I have used on the left to show an example of what we are going to try and achieve. The use of back lighting can show our artist in two different concepts. The first being shy, venerable and hiding her identity, as we wont be able to see any facial expressions or emotions, just an outline of Amy's features and body. This means we wont see any intricate detail of our artist, which is un-conventional of the soul genre as close-ups are seen to be used so the audience can create a wider and stronger relationship with the artist as they can see the emotions being expressed, as well as through body language. In addition, the other concept that can be portrayed of the artist through the use of backlighting is strong and independent. The silhouette feature will show Amy on her own on the stage performing in a strong light behind her. This is both conventional and un-conventional of the soul genre. Conventional because the artist will be performing alone, whereas un-conventional as she will be shown as strong, whereas soul artists are conventionally shown to be heart-broken and down in emotions. This will show her has an independent woman, with a lot of courage. These two sides that the audience will see, means that the audience can relate too either side of the artist, and can create a strong relationship with her.

The next use of lighting that we have discussed and decided to use is low-key lighting. Our whole music video will consist of using low-key lighting as it shows a dull and sad mood easily and can portray the artist in many ways. The low lighting will help connect to the artists clothing of black and white, helping to blend with the background and meaning the costume wont stand out at all, allowing the dark meanings from the outfit to still be portrayed. The low-key lighting will also connect to the mood of the song, as it portrays sadness through the lyrics and dark lighting on certain scenes will help with this, which Is the mood we want to create as it helps the audience understand the way Amy is feeling and why she is feeling like this. Low-key lighting is conventional to the soul genre as is can show the lower emotions that are normally portrayed, which are easier to grasp and understand through low lighting. The shots that we will be taking from London, will be edited darker to connect to the running theme of low-key lighting, although not so much as the performance stage as within this part, the stage will be covered in a black background and curtains whereas London will be very open and crowded, which will connect to Amy's emotions as confused and rushed.

The last use of lighting we have discussed and going to include within our own creation of a music video is high-ley lighting. The use of high-ley lighting is going to be displayed when Amy and her friends are in her house, having a good time and chatting. The high-key lighting will be displayed through the natural lighting coming through the windows and mostly all the lights on in the room. The picture on the left demonstrates an understanding of what we are going to try and create, showing a living room in a house with a lot of lights on. The high-key lighting will represent Amy the artist as positive, as this is a good and happy stage within her life as she is enjoying her time with her friends. The bright lighting also gives the impression of flashbacks, as the good times with Amy's friends shows her past and how she was really happy then. The setting will be held in the artists house. High-key lighting is un-conventional within a soul music video as it shows positivity and enjoyment, which is rarely seen within soul, as sadness and depressive moods are usually portrayed and demonstrated through lighting such as low-key. The lighting will fill the background with light, almost showing a glow of the artist at how happy she was at this point in her life and covers any dark areas in her life and the background.

Conclusion

Overall, I feel this post has led me to understand how planning before hand is useful and how important lighting and colour is within a music video. I have understood that specific lighting in certain scenes and area is vital as it portrays certain moods to the audience. The lighting and colours that I have selected are easy for the audience to create a relationship with the artist as they portray the artist in specific ways that the audience can understand easily. An example of this is low-key lighting, this clearly represents the mood as dull, depressing and sad and can be understood with meaning from the audience, as well as the artists expressions to comprehend with this. I feel that the lighting and colour techniques that I have included have lead me to have a full understanding and feel positive about including these in my own music video.