lyric analysis

The purpose of analysing the lyrics for "Salvation" is to know exactly which parts of the video will be narrative and performance. By looking at the lyrics in detail we can plan out the contents of the video a lot more efficiently and when creating a storyboard, it is a lot easier as you know exactly what lyrics are going to be within each individual shot. In addition, analyzing the lyrics means that we ourselves will have a greater understanding of the deeper meaning of the lyrics and therefore will be able to produce a more successful music video that connects with the audience.

I have included in a copy of the lyrics for our music video which we have annotated as a group to help us with the production of the video. My group and I have annotated the lyrics using a key; green represents performance, pink represents narrative and orange represents the chorus. The reason we have done this is so that we can automatically see what will be in each shot and scene and therefore will help us with producing a storyboard. We have also numbered each verse of the song and then included what each number stands for on the right-hand side. For example, for verse six, on the right-hand side, we have written that the scenes will be both performance and narrative based and expanded on the cinematography and editing we are going to use. In this particular scene we want to use a running montage compiled of the female character on a run through the forest and cutting to time lapsed scenes of London to create a claustrophobic effect. To advocate the filming further, we have also included the semiotics of the lyrics; in verse six we have written in the figurative interpretation of the lyrics so that as we are filming we are continuously reminded of the effect and emotions we want to generate from the audience. The annotations have also aided in uncovering hidden meanings or messages within the song such as the deeper link to transcendence. As a group we interpreted the lyrics to have a heavy link with death which is why we shaped the narrative around the male character dying; the idea of him going off to war stemmed from the title and repeated use of "salvation" as this suggests the male character is a hero to the artist. 

All the annotations we have made have been extremely beneficial to planning all the micro elements and genre conventions that will be included in the music video as well as catering to the target audience. As this is an indie genre music video, we have had to make sure our annotations fit the criteria of being quite quirky and being an alternative way of thinking. Within the fifth verse the artist sings "Glorious we transcend Into a psychedelic silhouette". This part of the lyrics is what gave us the idea of the male character dying as we thought it foreshadows death. In addition, we came up with a really good idea for our editing in that we use cross dissolving to fade in two shots together of both characters' faces so they almost merge together to give the sense of transcending and fitting in with the concept of a "silhouette". We labelled this part of the narrative as the goodbye scene as it is quite emotionally gripping and portrays the artist's emotions quite explicitly: she feels as if her life is over now that her partner is gone. Another editing technique we are going to adopt in the music video is cross-cutting between two shots. This will be advantageous in the sixth verse when the narrative will become quite busy as this is when the artist discovers the male character has died. Instead of just bluntly stating that he has died, we are going to build up a climax to his death and to do this we are going to edit together scenes from London of people walking which we have edited to be fast-paced, combined with the scene of the artist running through the forest. In addition, we were also thinking about putting in some performance shots as it shows the artist in her raw element and therefore is more personal. Therefore, as there is a lot going on, it has been and will be exceedingly helpful to use annotations of the lyrics as we know precisely what to include and we have kept track of this so that we do not accidentally miss anything out.

Before the editing can take place, we have had to think deeply about the cinematography of the music video. Although we have not included a lot about cinematography in the annotations, as we have written out the narrative content, we are aware of the shots we are going to use and this helped when we made a storyboard where we included each type of shot. For example, we have written down all the narrative content in verse three, and as we have grouped together relevant scenes, we know how the cinematography is going to pan out. Verse three consists of a lot of the "cute" and romantic scenes and therefore we have decided to use a lot of close up shots for this part; e.g. close ups of the couples' faces looking happy or close ups of them holding hands whilst walking through the forest, etc. However, as we have highlighted the performance parts of the song as well, we instantaneously know to use a variety of shots here as there is not going to be a lot of action occurring. For example, we are predominantly going to use mid-shots of the artist playing the piano so that you can see her face and her costume but she will also be presented as extraordinary as you will see her hands playing. However we will try to change the shots every time the performance part of the video is played as the audience will quickly become bored if they are seeing the same mid-shot each time. If we use a mid-shot twice then we would use it at a different angle in order to create a different feel each time, reflecting the mood of the part of the song the performance is being shown. The annotations are extremely helpful with guiding us to use appropriate cinematography in certain parts of the song.

One of the most important aspects to bear in mind throughout the production of the music video is the genre of it. Audiences automatically uphold certain expectations when it comes to a specific genre and therefore it is crucial to meet their needs where appropriate. Therefore, when we analyzed the lyrics to understand them, we noted down how best to visually portray what Gabrielle Aplin is trying to sing about. For example, the start of the song is happier than the end, and therefore we associated lyrics such as "while I'm wide awake" with lighter colored clothing; this is conventional of the indie genre as artists usually wear colors such as white, to connote innocence and purity, or other neutral colors. However, as our video slightly rejects typical conventions of being quite happy, we also had to reflect the sadness near the end of the video and therefore we annotated the lyrics to note that at lyrics such as "I was buried underneath", the artist would be wearing dark colors. The main indie conventions which my group and I have conformed to are firstly, the use of a narrative within the video. From just reading the lyrics of the song, we automatically wanted to employ a storyline as there are deep meanings behind them. In addition, if the video were solely performance based, it would not be as interesting, nor would the audience be able to fully appreciate the emotional intensity of the song. Having a narrative allows the artist to connect to the audience on a more personal level, as the latter can underneath how the artist truly felt and thought whilst writing the song. For our own music video, my group and I first analyzed the lyrics before coming up with a more solid plot. Lyrics such as "my salvation" made us automatically decide to have the narrative love based; this is also another convention of the indie genre and it is the one that most people appeal to, as we discovered in our research. Love storylines are far more conventional than most other narratives as they display raw emotion that is far more realistic and relatable for the audience; as our genre uphold this, we definitely want to include it. The second main convention my group and I are using is having a performance aspect to the music video. The reason we want to include this is because it is a well-known convention of the indie genre for the artist to be seen playing a musical instrument. In my group and I's research, we discovered that more people do want to see the artist playing an instrument, and from also researching indie music videos, we can see it is a popular choice. Therefore, to make our own music video as successful and appealing as possible, we have decided to have Amy playing the piano, as this is the instrument heard in our song. Annotating the lyrics successfully helped to decide where the performance parts of the song would go. As a group as decided to slot in performance shots in between the narrative parts. This way, there is an even balance of both narrative and performance shots, as well as breaking the narrative down, so the audience can see other aspect to the artist's thoughts and feelings. It is crucial to have this balanced break as it means that the audience can see and connect to two sides of the artist: one where she is in her relationship and the other where she is alone. Therefore, if there is an emotional part of the song, such as when the two characters first meet, or when the male protagonist dies, the audience can see the artist's emotional response in more depth where she is passionately singing. Including a musical instrument is also key to creating a relationship between the artist and audience as it means that the artist will be portrayed as extraordinary, as Dyer states, and therefore the audience will aspire to be more like them; this is more appealing. The final main convention my group and I are going to use is part of the misc-en-scene: the location choice. The lyrics have helped to decide this as they include words such as "avalanche" and "snowstorm" which all link to natural imagery. Therefore, the majority of the locations we have chosen are all outdoors, in places such as a cornfield, a forest or an ordinary field. It is conventional of the indie genre to use locations that are natural and easily accessible. When we looked at some of Gabrielle Aplin's music videos, such as "Please Don't Say You Love Me", we noticed that she used countryside locations, which helped to create the desired indie feel to it. Having more countryside locations will reflect the lyrics of our song, as they are more isolated locations where the audience can get to know the artist more intimately. The lyrics helped to gain an insight into the emotional response the audience should feel when all the aspects of the misc-en-scene come together; the locations will help to reflect the authentic nature of the indie genre and the artist's rustic music.

In conclusion, it is evident that my annotations will help with my storyboard as I know exactly what shots will be included in the video. When making the storyboard, my group and I can quickly see which parts of the song are narrative and which parts are performance based and therefore can distribute the shots equally throughout the video. Furthermore, by using annotations, we can ensure that not only are the shots in the video will be in the correct sequence but also that the correct editing styles will be applied in the correct place. Overall, it is a lot more efficient to break up the song into sections/verses and analyze each verse separately, instead of just going straight ahead with the production as otherwise you are more likely to create an incoherent video which lacks or has too much content in it.