MISE EN SCENE
Costume, Hair & Make-Up
Costumes used in Pop videos tend to be either really extravagant much like something an artist like Lady Gaga would wear or something quite plain and simple. I chose to dress the band members in ordinary clothes in order to make them relatable to the young audience who may dress alike. However to make the four girls seem like a band we had to design their costumes to make them look almost like one. To do this we decided on the theme of pink by having them wear pink tops, pink jumpers or a pink coat. This enabled them to look like a real band as they all dressed in a similar colour making them unite. Their hair and makeup was left looking natural but also elegant as they are sophisticated female role models for a young audience. Although they also like to have fun with their friends, which is reflected through their fun and bubbly styles due to the free- falling hair or cat-eye.
As for the male character playing one of the girls boyfriends, he would have his hair styled up into a quiff which is a popular hairstyle for a boy of the teenage generation. Furthermore, he would wear his camouflage jacket which is decorated with a traditional shade of army green representing the idea of the boyfriend going off to war. As well as this, he would be dressed in a T-shirt, black jacket and dark jeans which are typical clothes for a boy his age. This would make him more favoured, especially to the male fans who could easily relate to him due to his casual costume much like what the fans may wear.
Facial Expressions & Body Language
The body language of all the characters seems to be broad and strong despite the saddening mood that Bryony and Tom may be going through, they still hold themselves together. Especially seen through the time the band spends together, it presents a united front of friendship by which they always have each other's backs. Although Bryony and Tom may express pained expressions due to Tom's departure, most of the facial expressions seen are those of cheeriness and warmth. This implies that the basis of the video involves a merged friendly group who make each other feel better even when they are feeling low.
Lighting & Colour
The scenes will most likely be well lit as Pop videos tend to be set in the daytime on a bright day or inside a studio with beaming lighting. The general colours will be stereo-typically happy colours such as pink, purple and yellow which would be established on the girl's costumes and the setting in which the video is based through the sunset on the green screen. In professional music videos, the well-lit location is created by artificial lighting in a professional studio. Whereas, for a low budget pop video we had to make use of the light stands and umbrellas which lit the green screen effectively for the set. Furthermore, by following the conventions of a Pop video by the use of bright colours we were able to express to the audience the uplifting mood through the happy genre.
Positioning of Characters/Objects
For the performance section of the whole band, most of the time the one singing would be close to the middle so that the audience's attention focuses on them rather than those who aren't singing. This idea was also shown through the positioning the the band members as sometimes they create a V formation where the girl singing is at the front and the others are diagonally behind. This demonstrates the same idea that the one directly addressing the audience would be at the centre. Furthermore, when Bryony sings in the narrative, we placed Tom behind her in almost a freeze-frame where time has stopped and she is singing her feelings to the audience directly. This makes the audience feel involved in the narrative and feel sympathy for the girlfriend of the boy who goes to war.
Settings & Props
The first setting we filmed at was in school in the photography room with green screen set up behind the band. This is something seen quite a lot in Pop videos as anything can be put behind the singers when they are performing making the myth of an illusion become a reality. For example, you can place a desert behind the performer when in actual fact there was just a green screen there. In our video, we are going to place a sunset in place of the green screen as it is something pretty with the corresponding colours seen in the rest of the music video such as pink and orange. The sunset will work well for the type of Pop video as it is something that is meant to uplift the underlying mood of the upsetting narrative and entertain the audience.
The second location is at Wick Quarry which provides a stunning backdrop. This is also commonly seen in Pop videos as high budgeted videos spend a lot of the money on outfit and location. Although we had a low profit we were able to find a location that had the exact same effect in making the scene look creative and conventional for a Pop video. We also chose a quarry as many people wouldn't see it as a glamorous place for a pop video, but to challenge the conventions we decide on somewhere that has a rustic vibe but is also pretty and scenic.
