Planning Cinematography - Miss Georgiou

Cinematography is essential to music videos as cinematography means all the different camera angles, techniques and positions that you film for a music video or any video format. Cinematography is so important because if we didn't have cinematography techniques to create meaning then most videos wouldn't have a concept, there wouldn't even be much thought process behind the videos that are made in the music industry. I'll be discussing some camera techniques that my group and i want to use for the music video we will be creating or some shots we plan to use when creating the music video.

In our video, we want to use and implement several shots into our music video, one of these techniques is called an over the shoulder shot, this is when the camera is positioned so it is looking over the shoulder of someone of importance but shows what the person is looking at. The reason why we want to use this shot is because it will be from the perspective (over the shoulder) of our artist looking at someone more successful than himself. The shot is conventional to the genre because the technique shows that our artist wants to be big in the music industry, and that he aspires to be famous so he can get out of the predicament that he has found himself in. The shot is trying to convey that our artist wants to try and make it in the indie music industry and aspires to be like the successful man he saw because that's why he left the flat he use to stay at. The camera shot is supposed to represent a style of a concept in the video because it's showing that it's very hard for someone to get famous even if they really want to, in a way the shot does match the lyrics because the song is meant to be for the more successful man our artist sees as he got out and became famous, but our artist tried to do what he did but it didn't work for him, so the song is trying to show the contrast between the two characters. The camera technique is also related to the lyrics of the song because the song is a personal story of my artist, lyrics like "Been down some dark alleys in my own head" show that it's from the perspective of my artist and the over the shoulder shot can show my artists perspective in a scene as it show his viewpoint.

The next shot we want to try and create in our piece is a shallow focus, this technique is when everything but the certain part of the frame is clear but the rest is blurred/unfocused
, this is so that the audience know where to focus when watching the video, this is why we want to use but to also show that our artist is all alone because you can't clearly see anyone around him. The shot is conventional to the genre as indie music videos often try to convey a hidden meaning throughout the video using a wide variety of camera shots, we're trying to convey that he is alone which can be classified as a dark subject matter to deal with, dark subject matters are quite common in indie music videos so we wanted to implement that. The camera technique reflects the lyrics quite well as the songs lyrics are very personal to the artist the shallow focus is to emphasize how alone he is and that all video needs to focus on is just him. This is because the lyrics are all personal to the artist that is singing the song, the shot would demonstrate an understanding of the lyrics of the song as it would show he left his old life behind him and that he is now being ignored, the lyric that relates to the shot would be "hey, hey it's fine, I left it behind".

Another shot that I would like to try and create for our music video is the point of view shot, this is when the camera shows exactly what someone of interest is seeing in the shot, which is used to show what the artist is looking at as well as to make the audience feel as of they are there with him. We want to create this shot
because it will make it again feel more personal from the artist to the audience but it will also emphasize how different he is from the successful man he sees later in the video. The shot is conventional to the indie genre because it shows what the artist aspires to be in life which is to become successful in the music industry and wants to get out of the lifestyle he's currently in. The camera shot presents our artist as unsuccessful in the music industry because the audience immediately assume that this man is much more famous as he has better clothing, is popular etc. but our artist doesn't have any of those distinct qualities which shows he isn't famous in the music industry. The shot represents the concept of the video, that it's hard to become successful in this industry even if you give up everything for it however it also reflects the lyrics as the song talks about how he got out of his old life or town he used to live in, the successful man our artist sees reflects these lyrics in the song "i got out, i got out" suggesting that the successful man got out of his situation and that he reflects the lyrics of the song better than our artist.

An additional shot we want to try and implement in our video is a two shot, this is when the camera focus on two key characters in the frame, they may be having a conversation or just doing something in the same shot. We want to use this shot to show the authenticity of the video as we w
ant to try and get a cab driver for this scene to show that we've gone the extra mile to make this video good by including extra characters to make it more authentic, it also shows the two characters in the same shot as each other. The shot is conventional to the genre because it shows that our artist wants to leave and is about to start a long journey to his own success, which later the audience find he doesn't achieve. The shot represents our artist as a down to earth person as he's talking to a cab driver, this presents him as a nice person which makes the audience relate to him, but it also shows that he's leaving his old life behind him to try and become famous. The shot also begins the narrative of the video, this is where he first leaves his home behind to try and make it, however we decided that this would be a short scene before the lyrics start just to show the audience that the artist is a likable person. The scene can relate to the lyrics as well, because he is getting in a cab it indicates he is leaving, the lyrics that are similar to the context of the shot are "so I kissed goodbye to every little ounce of pain" this demonstrates my understanding of the song and a shot in relation to those lyrics.

The final camera technique that our group want to try and create in the video is a long shot, this is where the audience see the character at a distance so that they can see a lot of the background behind them, the background is usually important as there is a reason why they would use a long shot instead of a mid shot where the character is closer to the camera. our group wanted to use this for a scene where our artist near the end of the video is running away from a cab he didn't pay so he could get home, we want to use the technique because it would show that our artist is alone and scared, it would also show that he is alone as we want to do this at a late time so that not many people are around. The shot is conventional to the genre as the shot will include a darker subtext behind the camera shot that our artist is alone during his lowest point and need some sort of help from someone, but also emphasizes the struggles he's been facing in his career. The shot will represent our artist in an unsuccessful manor as he had to skip paying a cab driver for the journey but will also present him as someone that fights for their dreams to become a reality as he still wants to be successful in the music industry. This shot will further back up the concept that's very hard to get into the music industry on your own or without knowing someone and the lyrics will be a complete contrast as this will be where the song says "Hey, Hey it's fine" showing an obvious juxtaposition between our artist and the lyrics.

The target audience will be able to build a relationship between the artist through the camera shots as they will sympathize for him as he's going through very hard life struggles as he has no money and left home to try and pursue his dream. The target audience will also relate to the artist as they understand how hard it is to achieve your dreams even if you really want to succeed. Some audiences will even understand how hard it is to live when you're unemployed like our artist in the video as you can see the artist doesn't have any money nor does he have a job and is completely alone in the city.