Ellie Goulding- Music Video analysis of editing

Ellie Goulding- 'Anything Could Happen'

After watching this video, it has made it more clear to me about the kind of editing I want to do to my video. By this, I mean that I would definitely like to add slow motion as I found that in Ellie Goulding's video, it was a simple edit that was very effective (e.g. 0.05-0.07 seconds).   For my video, I could slow down the start of the film when she is walking towards the camera as it would bring attention to her and would convey the emotion and feeling better to the audience. It would also show the surroundings a bit clearer and indicate to the audience the type of situation the protagonist is in. 

What I also liked about the editing of Ellie Goulding's video was the blur they used at the start where Ellie just started singing. It is quite an interesting scene and the blur adds to the mystery and slight uncertainty. In terms of my video, I will definitely use this editing technique as it fits in perfectly with my concept and would work well with some of my clips.

As a whole, the transitions are very smooth and hardly noticeable which is exactly what I want to try to achieve with my video.

Mood Board

Mood board portraying images I have brainstormed once listening to the song a few times and analysing the lyrics.

I created this mood board to help to inspire me with my music video. Once listening to the song numerous times and analysing the lyrics I translated the meanings and quotes to these images.

The top left is a close up shot of a girl smoking that is quite an intimate picture and could be effective in my video. If planned carefully and correctly, I feel it could be a great shot. 

The top center image is of drugs which is very relevant for my video. This would be expected for my song and video as it is a heavy theme throughout the music, and the film, and is mentioned in the lyrics: "So she folded the pain and lit the flame...//Inhale, exhale out once again..."

The top right image is a screen shot from the film 'iLL Manors' and is of the character Michelle herself. The dark lighting creates a very eerie atmosphere with her body language portraying a vulnerable and lonely situation.

Below is a picture of barbed wire which is a metaphor for the character's life. She is trapped, and is she tries to escape from her troubles she will get hurt. It also connotates danger and entrapment which is relevant for my video.

Below that is a close up image of a girl crying with make up down her face. When I saw this I found it incredibly striking and would like to try to re-create a shot like this for my video. Ideally, I would also like it to be in black and white but would have to see what the editing looked like. The emotion portrayed from this image is exactly what I want to convey.

The bottom left corner is a picture of loneliness. I believe this would be effective in my video as underneath all of the troubles (drugs, men, anger etc) she is just a very lonely girl who has gone down the wrong path and ended up afraid and isolated. I feel the shot is very compelling because you can only see the silhouette of the person which makes it more ominous and interesting/striking.

Michelle- Lyric Analysis

1. She was once a princess, but now she's a mess
2. Fiend for a fix like a restless
3. And the sex won't puck it less
4. When she was a sweet thing, nevertheless
5. Back in the day, sexually abused as a child
6. She was surely likely to end up this way
7. The past lived in her dark parts of her brain
8. And only having... took away the pain
9. So she folded the pain, and lit the flame
10 .Inhale, exhale out one again
11. She's on the game, the... love a face,
12. Just lock the name
13. With only herself to blame, she lives in hell
14. But there's a million other girls just like Michelle
15. Out in the streets with nothing else to sell
16. To do desperate males, of a denim sells so
17. No wonder she's a thief to boot
18. And the cost of searching things she can loot
19. What it's worth to her and what it's worth to you
20. Any other way, rhyme vice first the truth
21. She's ignited, plus she got a support habit
22. And she resort towards source of...
23. Even to... she's always out... she spares no goodbye

24. I've been tracking myself to know with the lone
25. For such a while, I just don't know
26. Cause the path I've take it's something I can't change
27. Or what step in my way, it's a deepest shame.

Analysis

"She was once a princess, but now she's a mess..."  - As this is the opening line, it sets up the overall atmosphere of the song and indicates to the listener/audience that the character is in a bad way and therefore will be represented like that in the video. 

"Back in the day, sexually abused as a child..." - Gives an indication to the audience of a possible reason as to why she is such a 'mess'. Very open lyrics, not holding anything back.

"With only herself to blame, she lives in hell//But there's a million other girls just like Michelle..." - Emotive language. Portrays to the reader that underneath the 'bad girl' image, she is just a troubled, scared little girl. Also brings to light of the problems of today. As this song is from Plan B's film 'ill Manors', he is trying to say how there are girls out there who go through what this character is going through. 

I produced a mood board following the analysis of the lyrics which can be viewed here.

Preliminary filming

For the screen tests, I wanted to go to a few of the selected locations where I was planning to film the music video just to see how it would look on camera and also to see if the overall concept would work.

The shots I manged to complete were:

• Establishing shot of the opening location
• Long shot of Imogen sat by the tree
• Shot of Imogen running past the camera
• Close up of Imogen's face looking back as she was running
• Extreme close up of Imogen's face to show vulnerability
• Shot of the tree branches against the white sky
• Shot of the traffic on the motor way
• Panning shot of Imogen sat on the motorway bridge

This allowed me to see what shots would work, and confirmed my decision to edit the whole video in black and white. What I need to do now is edit my tester shots and then I can go on to film some real scenes ready for the rough edit by Christmas.

Screen Test

Above is a screen test with Kate Winslet for 'Titanic'. A screen test is a method of determining the suitability of an actor or actress for performing on film and/or in a particular role. In terms of my music video, I am going to film Imogen in various locations where I plan to shoot my video, such as on the motorway bridge and down country tracks. I believe that from these test shots I can determine whether Imogen is suitable for the role. Once I have filmed the scenes, I will then go on to edit them in black and white and in colour so I can decide which edit suits my filming the most.

Production Meeting

Yesterday, Imogen and I met up to discuss the schedule for filming and to talk over any other ideas for the music video. We came up with a rough target for the actual filming of the video, and the dates of the screen tests I plan to carry out around the start of November. We also discussed more on costume and happenings that I want to include in the video.



Schedule/brainstorming



Planning for filming

In order to try and get some inspiration for the types of scenes I want to include for this video, I listened to the song many times paying particular attention to the lyrics.

'This life has taught her she must pay...'

'I guess she only has herself to blame...'

'I've been walking alone this dirty road...'

'There's no way back from here...'

Obviously this is a very emotional song so I want to keep the shots deep but minimalistic. I think it would be important for this genre to not give too much away and go over the top. 

I recently watched Ed Sheeran's new music video for 'Give me Love' and found that it gave me a lot of inspiration for my project. The shots and angles from some of the scenes worked really well with the genre and I feel that I can gain ideas from it. I also love the actresses's costume. Have a look for yourself:

Camera Shot Ideas

Brainstorm of camera shots

Above is an image of some brainstorming I completed regarding camera shots for my music video. After looking, researching and analysing similar genre music videos, I came up with a few ideas. I know for certain that when the first beat of the song drops, I want an extreme close up of her eyes opening to look directly into the camera. Prior to this shot, I am only going to have subtle shots of the girl, with none showing her face as I want to add mystery and suspense.  I hope this will add some drama to the very opening of the video and set the scene of what is to be expected. But I will experiment on preliminary shoots and decide whta shot is most effective. I also know that I want a close up shot of her feet walking towards the camera and shots of her silhouette against the lighter background. Within the video, I was thinking of doing a long shot of the character standing with her back towards the camera, looking out to the view in front of her (look below for what I am thinking of).

Back to camera shot- opening

Colour Vs. Black and White

Which will be better? 

After watching various music videos, including Ed Sheeran's 'A- Team' which is edited in black and white and other videos which are in colour, I have decided that black and white will be more suitable for my video and story line as it will portray (I hope) vulnerability and deterioration. I hope it will also emphasise the character's colourless, dependent world that she has got herself into.

From watching the A Team video, it is clear to see that by editing the film in black and white, it adds sadness and emphasis to the character's bad state. This is exactly what I am looking to portray in my video so I think it would suit well. It also automatically adds darkness because of the lack of colour which connotates decay.

From watching this video, which is 'Time' by Chase and Status, it is of the same sort of genre as mine, but is edited in colour. I definitely think it works for this video, but for me, I do think black and white would have given it a more sinister and darker depth. This has helped me to fully decide that for my video I will edit it in black and white.

Time Management/ Health and Safety Power Point

In order to ensure I film and edit my footage within the timescale I have been given, I decided to make a power point with my planned dates to complete each job. It also made me think about the health and safety precautions I will have to take. It also benefited me as I thought about all of the shots I would like to complete, as well as the preliminary filming.

Time Management by alirosella

Presentation Brief

Below is a presentation, which I pitched to my class in order to get feedback,  based on initial ideas of my music video. 

Music Video Brief by alirosella

FEEDBACK?

-Good costume choice

-London would be good location idea if possible as it would be in keeping with the theme

-Are you going to have the actress mime any of the lyrics? Or just acting?

-How would you like to edit your video?