Music Video Inspirations - Miss Miller

Music Video Inspirations

Introduction
It is important to take inspiration from other music videos so i can analyse and understand the specific things that are used to target an audience. Different skills are used in videos, and some i particularly like, which is why its important for me to choose five different videos that I feel include specific things that work well and explain the reasons why so i can gain a wider understanding. I feel that this post is going to help me gain wider knowledge on music videos other than the soul genre, as different genres also include features that i may want to use. I feel this analysis is really going to help me gain an understanding into what works within music videos depending on there genre, as within this post I am not just looking at the soul genre, but others too as they may hold conventions that I can also incorporate within the creation of my own music video.

Analysis
1)The first video i have chosen which i feel includes a feature that i find effective, inspirational and want to include in my own music video is Adele, Someone Like You.

The feature which i find inspirational within this music video is the editing feature of a black and white filter. This editing skill connects to the soul genre of this song, and helps portray the dull and depressing mood. The black and white filter is applied throughout the whole video and there is no time where there is no effect and the picture colour is normal. The reason for this black and white filter helps portray the emotion from Adele's face, we can see that she is upset, and the black helps portray the darkness in her emotion and thoughts. Her facial expressions aren't elaborated, and nothing stands out to the audience seeing as a filter is used. The black also helps portray the connotation of death, evil black and a mystery. The mystery connotation can be linked in as Adele doesn't give away any emotions of feelings, meaning the audience have to guess what she is feeling leaving it as a mystery to the way she feels. I feel that the black and white filter works effectively within this music video for Adele as well as the soul genre. I feel that i am going to use this editing skill within my music video creation is it helps portray emotion clearly and easily from the artist, especially within the soul genre. I feel i am going to use this within the narrative part of my music video when my artist looks back at her memories of her emotional past and when she was really happy, as it shows the past clearly to the audience with a clear difference to the performance element. I am going to include a black and white feature within my music video when Amy my artist is looking back at her memories of the good times with her friends. This will show her reflecting back on her life, and the good times she used too have. A black and white filter is conventional to the soul genre, as it can show the artist as depressed and in a low mood in life, and can reflect on the lyrics.

2)The second music video i have chosen which i feel includes features that i find inspirational is Marvin Gaye, by Charlie Puth and Meghan Trainor.

The reason for choosing this song as one of my inspirations is that it holds the mise-en-scene feature of iconography that I find inspiring. The piano is used throughout the whole way of the song, which I found helped to add to the effect of the song. The piano starts of by being played by Charlie Puth, one of the artists of the song. He plays the piano and sings at the same time, and this also shows a great performance as he is playing for people in a high school dance. I feel that from the iconography used within this music video I am also going to include a piano within the creation of my own music video. My music video holds the genre of soul so the piano being played will help show the emotion and sad expression from my artist. I am going to also have my artist playing the piano herself as it helps to show the artists fame within the music industry. Although I am not going to include a brown piano within my music video but a black piano as it holds the conventions of mystery and darkness within the soul genre, and helps show the effect from the lyrics being sung over the piano keys. The black and white keys on the piano link together to show insecurity's and sad emotions from the artist. The piano within my music video will fall under the performance side rather than the narrative, and will only show the artist playing and singing to herself rather than an audience within the music video above, as it feel this is more conventional to the soul genre showing loneliness. I am going to include a piano in my own music video in the performance element, in a music room which will show Amy playing the piano in time with the song itself. The piano is played the whole way in the background of Adele's song so including it in the shots will show the performance element to her video. Having a musical instrument within a soul music video is conventional, as it holds features of the artist being professional and talented.

3) The third song I have chosen to include which I feel holds features and conventions that have inspired me within the creation of my own music video is Stay by Rihanna.

The reason for choosing this music video is because of the emotion that is portrayed through the artist as well as the frequent use of close-ups from cinematography. Close-ups of the artist Rihanna are used throughout nearly the whole music video as she sits in the bath throughout her performance. The narrative of this song shows Rihanna heartbroken about her previous love. The amount of close-ups used lets the audience gain an insight into what she is feeling, and how her emotions are very strong towards him. The close-ups also allow us to see the true emotions being shown from Rihanna and how they are fresh and new. Because of the significant amount of close-ups that are used, this means the audience can create a relationship between the artist easily as they can see and feel the emotions that she is expressing. This is what I want to create within my music video, a emotion that the audience can understand what is happening and see the raw emotions through the use of close-ups. Close-ups are very effective and are conventional to the soul genre, which is the genre of my song Hometown Glory by Adele. The audience of my music video will be able to understand the emotions being sent out as they will see the meaning of the song through the visuals as they will connect to the lyrics. The sad expression from Rihanna shows her vulnerability and how she is going through a hard time, this is a similar situation within my own music video, which is why I feel close-ups are going to create a good effect in my own music video and why this particular music video has inspired me. I am going to include close-ups throughout my whole music video, this will consist of within the performance style, when Amy is on stage performing the song, and a close-up will show her true expression and emotion into the depth of the song and lyrics. Close-ups within soul music videos are conventional to the soul genre as they mean the audience can understand the true meaning of what the artist is feeling, and why she is feeling like this, this works well in soul videos, and i will try to do the same in my own.

4) The fourth song I have found inspiring after analysing and watching is Paloma Faith - 30 minute love song. This song is from the genre of soul, and holds conventions that I feel work well and have inspired me to think about using in my own creation of a music video.

This music video has inspired me through the use of mise-en-scene. The make-up of Paloma shows her to be wearing red lipstick. The red lipstick portrays in a glamorous and beautiful way. She is wearing it throughout the whole music video as she sings and performs. The colour red also shows the connotation of passion, which links too the narrative of this song of her being in a love affair, conclusive to the name of the song. I feel that the red lipstick is an effective way to show the audience emotions you cant express, or to back up emotions. Because of this, I am going to include the feature of red lipstick in my own music video. I am going to show my artist wearing it throughout all the performance side and some of the narrative when she is more grown up. The red lipstick within my music video will help influence the past in my artist's life, and how she is unhappy now. Unlike this music video where the red lipstick represents passion, my red lipstick shows her professionalism, fame and as well as anger, about how upset she is now in her life, and wants things to just be like the past in her Hometown. The audience will be able to create a relationship easily as they will be able to see the purpose of the red lipstick on my artist and how this reflects her life now and how she is as a person. The red lipstick within the performance aspect will show her fame to her audience, and how she feels above everyone else when performing. I feel this music video has helped me to feel inspired and learn the meanings behind this use of mise-en-scene. This is going to be included throughout my whole music video, which will show Amy to be wearing quite pale make-up and red lipstick, apart from in the scenes where we will see her to be wearing a minimal amount of make-up to express her when she was younger, and enjoying herself with her friends. 

5) The fifth music video inspiration I have taken is from the song Fix You by Coldplay. The reason for choosing this song is due to the location, from the micro-element; mise-en-scene.

This music video's location is set In the streets of London. From watching this music video, the setting has inspired me to include it in one of my five inspirations. The location of London shows to the audience an urban feel to their music, and this song has a slow beat. The music video shows the artist walking the streets of London from light to dark, as well as in comparison to a concert which flips in and out of the London shots. I feel that I am going to include the setting of London within the narrative style of my music video as it shows an urban feel to the music video, shows a crowded place, showing the artist to having confused and full emotions. The location of London also links to my lyrics, where my artist will sing about her previous time In her Hometown, but now lives her life in London, where she feels isolated and away from her family and friends. Filming the streets of London will help the audience to see what the artist feels and how she is living her life, and by going to London and filming shots within our group will mean a greater understanding for the audience. My artist will also be walking the streets of London, but within my music video I want to include more of what the artist see's rather than her herself, although this will be included. The shots of London will include sight seeing attractions such as the London eye that will be recognised easily by my target audience. I feel that from my analysis of this music video, it has helped me understand how important the setting is within a music video, and I feel London works well when the audience trying to understand the meaning behind the music video and I enjoyed Coldplay's video. This is going to be incorporated within my music video, as me and my group are going to travel to London, to film shots of Amy my artist waking the streets of London singing with surroundings around her. The location of London we think we are going to use is oxford street, waterloo or London bridge as these are the busiest places in London and have a mixture of tourists and commuters. To have such a hectic surrounding will be un-conventional to the soul genre, as we normally see calm settings to represent the mood.

I want my artist amy to be shown in the style of narrative and performance. These are both conventional from the soul genre, and have all been included in all of my 5 artist representations. My artist representation will show my artist Amy as insecure, sad and depressed. This will be shown through the dark clothing she is going to be wearing in every scene of the music video, as we are going to include five different scenes showing different locations and expressing different emotions of sadness.

Conclusion

My analysis of five different music video inspirations has helped me to look at what things are important to include within a music video, and how each create a relationship with the audience or not. It has helped me a lot to explore other genre's other than soul as I can see what other artists include within their music video's to make it popular and inspiring. I have taken one thing from each five of my music video's and explained them to I can understand what I have chosen and the reasons for my choices. I feel that each one of these analysis's has helped me to explore all the important things I am going to include within my own music video, and how I now know other artists have included these features to make them effective and noticeable. I am going to make sure I include each five of these features as they really inspired me and stood out when I watched each music video. this has helped with the production of my own music video as I can now discuss with my group members my ideas and plans of what to include.