Planning Cinematography - Miss Miller

Planning Cinematography

Cinematography is imperative to consider when planning the production of a music video as these are the main elements which portray the artist's message and narrative to the audience that overall ensures they understand the conventions of the genre and enjoy watching the music video.

The first camera shot that we have planned to use in our music video is a close up shots. We have decided to use this type of shot when the artist is singing towards the camera. We have decided to use this type of camera shot as it will clearly show the artists facial expressions which will portray their feelings and emotions about the situation to the audience. As our artist will portray sadness and loneliness through her facial expressions the audience will then feel empathy towards her as she is singing about a common situation of heartbreak which the majority of the target audience would have also had to deal with. Therefore this is making the artist more relatable to the audience as they can personally understand how the artist must be feeling. This will then further hell for the audience to build a relationship with the artist as they feel as though the artist is confusing in them and telling them how they feel. This is conventional to the indie genre as indie artists are usually artists who want to portray themselves as ordinary people who don't like being centre of attention although they are in the public eye. They want to make themselves more relatable so that they are almost on the same level as their fans and target audience. The close up shot will show strong clear shots of the artists facial expressions which could include crying and upset that will connote to the audience that the artist isn't afraid for them to see how they truly feel and they can show this without being judged for expressing their true feelings. This helps to show the audience that the artist is confident in themselves and their intentions in the indie genre and their material on personal circumstances.

An example of a close up shot

The next shot we have planned to use in our indie music video is the use of a long shot. We have planned to use this shot to show our dancers in the chorus scene dancing a duet dance to represent the two females in a struggling relationship. We have decided to show this in a long shot to ensure that the audience can see everything clearly and understand what the dance is representing to give them a better understanding of the narrative of the video. By using a long shot it is also portraying to the audience that the artist is sharing the whole of their world and insight of the circumstance in one shot which is also making them more relatable  which is a convention of the indie genre. This is conventional to the indie genre as indie artists most commonly use real life situations in the narratives of their music video and the subject of their song and lyrics in order to give a sense of realism to their audience and help for the audience to build a relationship with them as they are relatable and represented as an ordinary person like their fans and target audience.

An example of a long shot

The next piece of cinematography that we have planned to include in our indie music video is the use of a high angel shot. We have decided to use this type of shot to show the two girls playing with sparklers and having fun with eachother in their relationship. We have decided to use a high angle shot as this will represent that the two girls are the on the same level as each other and neither are more powerful than one another. This will show to the audience that the two characters are as one which represents that they are deeply in love and happy in their relationship as this is the message we want to portray to the audience at this point in the narrative. Showing the two girls in a high angle shot will make the audience feel as though they are looking down on them but they are still extremely happy. This will then show the audience that the girls aren't bothered about judgement and people looking at them as they want to express who they are in a lesbian relationship. This is conventional to the indie genre as the artists are usually portraying themselves as individuals and independent artists who sing about their personal experiences which gives the video a more personal feel as though the artist is confiding in the audience.

An example of a high angle shot

The next shot we have planned to use is a mid shot. We have decided to use this shot when the artist is performing and singing towards the camera. We have decided to use this type of shot as it clearly shows the artist's body language and also their facial expressions to help the audience to understand how the artist is feeling. This is conventional to the indie genre as the artists are usually independent artists who write and sing songs that are unique to themselves and their life and they want to express their feelings about a certain situation that they have experienced before in their life. This is also conventional to the indie genre as the artists usually write material about real life situations that most people would have experienced in their life time which makes them more relatable. This helps for the audience to build a relationship with the artist as they can then begin to understand the similar feelings that they felt compared to the artists feelings and build a relationship with the artist as they feel as though the artist is telling them personally the story of their life and how it broke them as a person. This is quite a personal subject so for the artist to express it through a song to all their fans and target audience it makes the audience feel at ease and as though they are a down to earth and ordinary girl who is seeking advice and help like anyone would do once they experience something like heartbreak or broken relationships.

An example of a mid shot

The final shot we have planned to use is a panning shot. We have decided to use a vertical panning shot to show when the ballerinas are dancing in our chorus setting of a dance studio. We have decided to use a vertical panning shot for this scene as it will show the audience the whole shot of the ballerinas in their setting and will also help the audience to understand the narrative and understand the concept that the ballerinas are representing the two girls in a relationship that is breaking apart. This is conventional to the indie genre as the artists sometimes show other characters in their position to portray a clearer narrative as they sing and narrate the situation. This also helps for the audience to understand how the artist may be feeling as it is as though along with the audience the artist is over looking her situation and therefore her facial expressions and body language present how she feels when she thinks about this situation in her head as we watch it on screen. We have also planned to use a horizontal panning shot. We have decided to use this shot to show the two girls walking through the market hand in hand to show the times when they was extremely happy as a couple. We have decided to use this shot as it will show the situation and all of the setting. When the shot pans slowly off of the girls it is almost representing their relationship status as drifting away and breaking them apart which could be represented by this type of panning shot. This is conventional to the indie genre as the videos are very personal to the artists life and their feelings about personal situations and they want the audience to know every detail. This helps the audience to relate to the artist because they can feel sympathetic towards them and understand how badly they must be feeling about the situation. This helps them to build a relationship with the artist as they feel as though they want to help them and see if they overcome the issue in more of their videos and material.

An example of the action that takes place in a panning shot

Our target audience could build a relationship with the artist through the shots that we have selected because they are all intimate shots that will give the audience a greater understanding of the narrative and the artists personal feelings and emotions about the situation which will make them more relatable. This will therefore help the audience to feel a certain way towards the artist that will make them more likely want to watch more of their material and follow them as an artist.
This planning has helped to ensure that our artist will appeal to the target audience as all the shots are conventional to the indie genre and we have taken inspiration from other successful indie artists and their music videos. These shots are all common pieces of cinematography in indie music videos as they allow the audience to relate to the artist in many ways and encourages them to follow them as an individual artist and their material.