As a group we decided on INDIE ROCK as our genre of music. We chose this style of music and video as it is a very broad genre opening lots of opportunities and choices for us to play around with.
We began looking at bands such as; click on the bands to hear our top 6 songs for our video
We listened to many of their songs and decided to chose a song that inspired the best idea, which came ultimately from the music's atmosphere and mood and also the lyrics.
Some of the main themes that came out of these songs were;
LoveLoneliness Loss
Split personalities Fate
We then continued to brainstorm and play around with these themes, searching for an effective and a slightly controversial story to base our video around...
In the Opening shot (0.02) the band is centralised in frame; this immediately establishes their importance and fulfills the video's main purpose in promoting them.
The next shot is an establishing shot is of a burlesque show which is suggested through the iconography used in the mise en scene. Mise en scene, extravagant, theatrical costumes and hair and make-up which are of the same genre, and therefore, suggest some inter-textuality with Moulin Rouge.
The close up shot of Izabella Miko (actress who features in this video) with her white face and hair may be a symbol of her innocence, purity and beauty. The spotlight lighting on her face, illuminates her showing us she is of importance to whomever’s eyes we are seeing through, which ultimately could be any male's admiring her beauty.
This is then followed by mid/close up of Eric Roberts in his throne like chair, centralised in frame to show his dominance/importance in the video. He is holding an apple and by this point we have been introduced to all the main characters of the video.
Some of the longest shots are focused on the band which once again fulfils a music videos purpose of promoting the band.
0.21 – Eric throws the apple to Izabella who catches and he then points to another man for her to take. The apple in greek mythology symbolises an acceptance of marriage however here it is more of a sexual intimacy rather than a proposal. The fact that Eric has the power to tell Izabella what to do shows he has high dominance and power.
0.24 – the shots of the lead singer then show close-ups of his eyes no longer at the camera but seem to be constantly on Izabella showing his growing infatuation with her. The viewer then begins to get a sense of a love triangle forming as we get consecutive shots of Izabella, followed by Eric followed by the Brandon (the lead singer).
“now they’re going to bed” – as we see Izabella pulling a man away with her, this relationship between the lyrics and visuals helps viewers understand and follow the story.
“he takes off her dress now” – we see a sequence of short fragmented shots of the woman and men becoming intimate, between shots of Brandon’s face and a close up as he turns away singing “now, let me go” showing he can’t bear to watch it anymore; it’s too painful for him to see her with other men because of his feelings for her.
The repeated sequence we then see of Eric throwing the apple to Izabella and her leaving with a man of Eric’s choice shows the repetitiveness of this scenario. Izabella’s laid back gestures show she knows she has control over this and must do as she is told by Eric, however her facial expressions suggest she does not enjoy it and is fed up with it.
0.52 - “I just can’t look, it’s killing me” – Brandon covers his eyes - here we once again see the relationship between the lyrics and visuals, however this time the visuals are used to emphasize the lyrics being sung.
The shot at 0.58 is the first time we see Brandon and Izabella’s love affair. They run behind a curtain which shows it is all in secret, this is also the first time we see Izabella smiling which suggests she has genuine feelings for him.
However straight after this shot (at 0.59) we see that Eric is watching them through the curtains which reveals he knows about their love affair.
The girls all then take to the floor infront of the band and begin dancing, however it is more like they are flaunting in front of the men, as if trying to sell themselves as their dancing is provocative and seductive.
At 1.35 we see Brandon and Izabella together on the balcony, it’s night and fireworks are going off all around them. The camera then gives us a close up of them facing each other staring into each other’s eyesand once again we get the feeling there is true love there.
This moment is then quickly ruined by her running back into Eric’s arms as she curls up on his lap like a child. This shot in particular shows the hold he has over her and pace of the editing and cuts shows how short lived her affair with Brandon is.
Eric then throws her out of his lap showing his disregard and lack of genuine feeling for her as he just treats her like a possession.
“It was only a kiss, how did it end up like this?” – we see Brandon’s frustration at himself for falling so easily for this girl he can never have; once again the lyrics and visuals help us understand what is going on and this time this is also supported by the music as it changes in order to sound like he is speaking out loud to himself in frustration.
We then see short, quick shots of Izabella dancing with Brandon however there are similar shots of her dancing with another man in between, signifying he can never have her to himself.
This similar technique is then used again with short shots of her intimacy with that man and also later Eric, between shots of Brandon covering his face in despair and frustration. These sequences build tension as a confrontation is almost inevitable as Brandon’s feelings build under the surface to a point where we expect him to explode.
The shot of them on the balcony reappears, however this time the sun is rising and Izabella seems weak in Brandon’s arms. This shot may signify their relationship is coming to an end; as the night ends so does their chances of being together.
This tension then continues to build throughout the checkers game between Eric and Brandon. The shot with the two men playing and an under-layered image of Izabella visible over the playing board show they are playing or ultimately fighting for her;
3.02 - The over the shoulder shots while the men play the board game is a shot typically seen in western stylemovies when the men are standing opposite each other as the tension builds, then the fastest finger on the trigger wins in a fight to the death.
The close up shots of each of their faces in turn, showing beads of sweat is also typical of this western scene and drags out the sequence building more tension.
This tension is then broken when Brandon loses the game and turns the board over in anger, signifying he cannot win Izabella from Eric and can never have her.
At 3.17 we see a blurred shot of Izabella and Brandon with their arms around each other; this shot suggests an element of mystery and secrecy as it is not entirely clear who the man is, however it is quite safe for us to assume that it is Brandon and that they have tried to continue their love affair in secret.
3.22 – another shot of them on the balcony as Izabella seems to die in Brandon’s arms which may suggest the official end of their relationship.
There is then another shot of Izabella with Brandon however this time he is the one biting into the apple, this shows a very sudden change in power as it now seems he has taken the place a Eric as the man in charge of Izabella
This is then contradicted again as in the last few seconds we have another close up of Eric taking a bite from the fruit suggesting that Brandon almost had Izabella but not quite as Eric has the most power and the dominance once again shifts back to Eric.
The last shot then signifies the official end of their relationship as Brandon realises he has been a fool for letting himself fall so deep with this girl, and that he can never have her to himself and walks away from her hand and the twisted love triangle as the music also comes to an end.
