planning cinematography

Cinematography is essential within a music video as you need a variety of shots to keep the audience immersed in the video and understand what is happening/meant to happen in it. If the audience are watching the same shot for more than 3 seconds then they will quickly become bored and not want to continue watching. Having a range of different shots mean you can really present a narrative with deeper meaning as you are able to show different perspectives - e.g. if you used a point of view shot, an over the shoulder shot and a two-shot for conversation, the audience will get a different feel each time which is more interesting. Using different shots for the cinematography will evoke more diverse emotions within the audience, which is a desired effect for the artist. 

The five different camera shots I would like to include are presented in the image below. They are handheld shots, shallow focus shots, low angle shots, panning shots and zooming in shots. 

Handheld shots would be beneficial to certain aspects of the "Salvation" narrative. For instance, the scene where the female character is going for a run through the forest could successfully take advantage of a handheld shot as it creates a more erratic feel to the scene. This scene will be shot in parallel to the male character being in war and dying and therefore the tempo of the scene needs to be climaxing; having a handheld shot to film the scene will achieve this as they are useful when intending to create drama. The use of a forest for the female running is conventional as the setting is natural and therefore matches the rustic and genuine nature of the artist and the indie genre. This scene will conform to Goodwin's theory of there being a relationship between the visuals and the music as the use of the handheld shots as part of the visuals will match the increase in tempo of the music. In addition, a handheld shot for the running scene would represent the artist as being quite determined and strong as she is exercising, which will effectively juxtapose with the subsequent scenes and therefore is very effective. Above is a GIF image example of the use of handheld shots; as you can see, the shot is extremely efficient in this circumstance where there is a fight occurring, as the audience really get a sense of the dramatic tension. In my own video, the use of a handheld shot whilst the audience will automatically provide the desired tension as the shot acts as if someone is following the artist, as she is running away from something. This creates deeper meanings behind the lyrics, which will link to the music. For example, the lyrics of "I was buried underneath, and all that I could see was white" fits in with the running montage my group and I are aiming for as they connote death-filled images. The idea of seeing white suggests the light at the end of the tunnel when a person dies, or the color of heaven. This is important as the handheld shots at this point in the narrative will help to construct a dark, dramatic scene which acts as a tool to foreshadow someone's death. As the audience are aware that the male character went off to war, they will most likely realize he has or is going to die. Therefore, this appeals to the audience as for them, it feels like they have figured out the plot and can actually emotionally prepare themselves. In addition, the lyrics of "I was buried underneath" implies suffocating of some sort, and as there is going to be a parallel between handheld shots of the artist running and the male character running, with fast-paced editing, the lyrics will link to both the music and visuals, effectively building up the tension of the narrative.

For the first and last scene of the video, we have decided to use a shallow focus shot. This type of shot would be advantageous to our narrative as we want to put emphasis on the photograph of the male character which the old woman will be holding up. As the music video is set as an analepsis of the old woman's past, having the shot at the start will establish enigma codes within the narrative as the audience will be wondering who the man in the photograph is. The enigmatic nature of the shot will represent the artist as also being quite mysterious as the audience do not know what the artist is intending to exhibit in the video. The audience will recognize the significance of the man only he will be in focus; everything else in the shot will be blurred out and therefore disregarded by the audience. Furthermore, once the shot has been shown and the narrative progresses, the audience will start to make connections and assumptions of who the man is once they see him in the analepsis. A shallow focus shot is extremely conventional of the indie genre as quite often in music videos the artist likes to pick out key objects to signify its importance to the narrative. The idea for this shot was encouraged by the use of it in Gabrielle Aplin's "Panic Cord" music video where she uses it when holding up objects she picks out of the box of memories. In this video, the shallow focus shot is used alongside high-key lighting around the object which further accentuates its significance. Therefore, as we are filming this shot outside, if there is good natural lighting, we can apply the use of light to the shot as having natural or high-key lighting is very conventional of the genre. Repeating the shot at the end of the video will give it an overall neat and linked feel as well as reminding the audience that the narrative does not end in the past but there is still a story continuing in the present. The above image demonstrates the use of a shallow focus shot; as you can see, the image of James Bond is the only aspect in focus which immediately signifies his importance. I want to employ the use of this shot in my own music video as it directs the audience's attention to one thing alone, and they will realize it is a crucial part of the narrative. As a group we came up with the idea to use this shot at the beginning and end of the video as the lyrics at this point really fit in the cinematography. At both the start and finish of the music video, there is an instrumental part where the lyrics come in languidly, which corresponds to the use of a shallow focus. The shot will be shown at the beginning right at the point where the lyrics of "you are the avalanche"; here, the word "you" will be emphasized by the use of the shot. As the shot will be shown of the artist looking directly at the camera, it completely engages the audience into the video as it almost seems as if the artist is singing to the audience. At the end of the video, the lyrics of "my salvation" are sung on repeat, and as they fade out slowly, the shot will be shown; this links well as the shot is in half focus and therefore correlates with the idea of fading out. 

Despite challenging indie genre conventions, our group have opted for using a low angle shot as part of the cinematography. This type of shot would be good for when we use a time lapse sequence for filming parts of the London city life of people walking by. For our music video, we are using two types of locations: countryside and city life. This is because we want to create a busy/chaotic atmosphere to certain parts of the narrative and using a low angle shot for the time lapse will create this desired claustrophobic effect. Low angles are beneficial for making something look more superior; this relates to our own music video as the low angle shot will capture the whole bodies of the people walking by, effectively making them more dominating and empowering, reflecting the feeling of imprisonment the artist/female character is feeling.These emotions will be exemplified further as the London scenes will be edited to be in parallel with the shots of the female character running through the woods. This will ensure that the music and the visuals match consistently as the London scenes in addition to the running scenes will match the increasing tempo of the music at this point. However, as stated earlier, low angle shots are not conventional of the indie genre as there is generally no need to illustrate being dominant or subordinate in the music video. Therefore, using the shot in my own music video will represent the artist as being quite weak and powerless as there is a strong metaphor of feeling trapped being presented. However, the low angle shot is needed to represent the type of love between the characters: rushed and short. Above is a GIF image of a low-angle being used; as you can tell, it is useful in making an aspect seem more inferior than it originally is. Therefore, it fits in well with my own music video as it will make the shots of London appear quite impressive and vast, effectively juxtaposing well with the shots of the countryside, as well as keeping in with the idea to make the artist's life seem chaotic/busy. When we use these shots of London, we want to place them in between the shots of Amy and the male protagonist running, to create more of a chaotic and tension-filled atmosphere. Therefore, they will work well with the lyrics of "I was buried underneath and all that I could see was white", as stated previously, these lyrics connote chaos, suffocation and dramatic action. 

The use of a panning shot would be useful for the scene in the music video where the female character breaks down in her car. Using this shot will show the location as well as showing the action occurring between the characters and therefore the audience will get more of a feel that this is an indie music video. Showing the location is important as the seclusion of the countryside in a situation where the male and female character are alone adds to the narrative and engages the audience in further as they will be excited to see the relationship progress. In addition, the panning shot will be used at a point in the lyrics when the line "my salvation" is sung which will link to the fact that the male character is helping the female with the breakdown and therefore is her hero, making the narrative more romantic, conforming to the audience's expectations. Furthermore, the idea of the male character being a hero is central to the narrative of him going to war and therefore this is a motif we want to keep strong throughout the video. However, the shot is useful in representing the artist as quite feminine as the female character (the artist) is shown as needing help from the male. This conforms to stereotypical patriarchal ideology presented in a lot of media texts, as the artist is being represented as the submissive of the two. However, this challenges the indie genre conventions as women are usually represented as being quite independent and generally more positively in comparison to genres such as hip-hop. Above is a GIF image example of a panning shot. It is highly effective to get a vast scope of a location or situation in general, as well as making the shot seem more important and exciting. The shot will correspond with the lyrics at this point: "I never meant to fall for you...my salvation, my my, my salvation...", as they show how the artist's emotions have taken a dramatic turn as she says that she loves her partner; therefore, having a panning shot creates an idea of a huge scope, a vast space, which the idea of love encompasses. The panning shot is useful in showing the action within the shot as well as the location around; seeing the countryside setting is important as it establishes the genre, and makes the entire shot feel more rustic and authentic.

The last type of shot I have listed is a zooming in shot. This will be effective when the female character starts crying as the camera will zoom into the tear on her face and then dropping on the floor as this will create a much more dramatic feel to the music video, as well as allowing the audience to sympathize more with the artist/female character. This will successfully create a more personal relationship between the artist and the audience as the latter can relate to the situation a lot more as it is an experience that some of they may have felt at one point in their lives. In addition, it presents the artist as being a lot more human; often in the music industry, artists are presented more as Richard Dyer puts it "manufactured by institutions for financial gain". Consequently, the audience may unconsciously forget that the artist is a real person with real emotions; therefore this zooming in shot represents the artist as a lot more genuine and is a much more realistic portrayal. The reason why we chose to use a zooming in shot as opposed to a close up or extreme close up shot is because we wanted to firstly show a wide shot or mid shot of the artist crying for context of what is happening before slowly moving into showing more detail of the tears. This is a lot more effective as the gradual process of seeing the tears close up matches the melancholic and slow pace and ethos of the lyrics at this point. I have inserted a GIF image above to show an example of a zooming in shot being used. As you can see, it is extremely effective when wanting to show a wide shot of everything occurring in the frame and then being able to show something important in great detail, such as a facial expression. Therefore, as the female character will be extremely grieved, my group and I want to capture this as effectively as possible and show her tears up close. However, we also want to show her general posture and facial expression first, which makes a zooming in shot more effective than a mid shot,then jump cut to an extreme close up shot. My group and I ensured that the visuals matched the lyrics, as the repetition of "my salvation, my my" connotes a sense of the male protagonist leaving the artist and she is trying to get him back. Therefore, the drama and tension of the narrative increases by the use of this shot.

To conclude, it is suffice to say that the audience will be able to build a good relationship with the artist as the entire music video is quite relatable to the target group. The shots we intend to use have all been deliberately picked to ensure that we evoke as many emotions from the audience as we can in order to connect on a much more personal level with them. The use of different types of shots will mean that the audience can see different perspectives and therefore relate to the video more as although the audience may generally be of similar ages, the same gender or preferences in music, etc, they will still all be different and therefore will appeal to different shots which may bring out different emotions for them. Therefore, variety of shots in the cinematography is key.