Planning Lighting & Colour - Miss Miller*

Lighting and colour is important within a music video, as it helps establish the mood and atmosphere of the song and give further meanings to what is going on . For example, low key lighting can help create a dark atmosphere within a video due to its lack of light which creates enigma and suspense. In addition, the use of colour is essential in a music video as it helps connote different things to make the music video more understanding e.g the colour red could connote passion and love within the music video, and establish that there is a relationship involved. Overall, colour and lighting is important because it helps present the different hidden meanings within the music video, making it more interesting to watch.

The first lighting that will be evident in our music video is low key lighting. This will be used in the bonfire scene when the artist and her lover are at a bonfire event and playing with sparklers. The only form of light that'll be seen will be from the fireworks and sparklers. The reason why this particular scene will have low key lighting is because the event will be during the night so the fireworks are visible to see. The use of this is conventional to the indie genre as it helps make the scene look realistic due to It being set in the night and the indie genre generally portrays realism so that the audience can relate to what is happening. This is because it wouldn't make sense if there was high key lighting when they're at a bonfire event, as you wouldn't be able to see the fireworks. The use of this low key lighting will set the atmosphere of the scene, by making it seem more intimate and exciting as the only source of light is coming from the sparklers and fireworks. This will represent the artist as at ease, in high spirits and content with where she is at the moment, as the low key lighting illuminates the relationship and makes it look special. Also, the low key lighting could convey how the relationship is quite dark, but the sparklers give signs of excitement and hope included in it. Overall, the lighting will give a sense of realism by conveying the setting in its natural light which could help build a relationship with the audience as they could relate to the low key lighting evident outdoors at night. The low-key lighting connotes the hidden love of the hidden relationship in the narrative as when in darkness you cannot see anything, however the fireworks show the sparks in their love which makes it seem rare due to the setting that they are in. 

Secondly, natural lighting will be used in the music video, especially when the couple are seen indoors at the artists house and bedroom together. The use of this lighting will show them being natural and intimate with each other which gives a sense of realism in the video. The purpose of this lighting is to show the relationship in the narrative naturally and convey the rawness of what they are doing to show realism. This will help the audience see clearly the realness of the relationship and also make them understand what is going on. Natural lighting is conventional to the indie genre as it shows the scene in its natural setting and further showcases realism that is well known in this genre for making it look relatable for the audience. The natural lighting will represent the artist as honest and free spirited as it portrays her as revealing herself to the audience in her natural state, portraying her as confident because she's not hiding who she is. This helps build a relationship between the artist and audience because it makes them feel as if they're getting an insight of how the artist is like, so it makes it look like they have a bond. Also the natural lighting presents the hidden message of the relationship being authentic and pure because the lighting is natural and conveys them naturally connoting that they do not need to hide inside unlike when they were in low key lighting. 

Thirdly, high key lighting will be used in our music video. This type of lighting will be used when the couple are walking through Camden Market looking at the stalls and shops and also when they are at the field dancing around with their friends. The use of high key lighting in the market and field scenes will help portray realism as they will be there in the day, so it'll capture the reality of the scene and the narrative. Also, the high key lighting will help convey the artist and her girlfriends facial expressions and body language clearly so that it shows the narrative. For example, the high key lighting will show their body language of the artist trying to hold her partners hands but she pulls away whilst walking through the market, which conveys their lack of intimacy and makes the audience establish that they're in a troubled relationship. The use of high key lighting helps represent the artist as fulfilled and happy in the field scene because the lighting gives a vibrant feel to the scene, and suggests that she is content with her relationship at the moment. This could help build a relationship between the artist and the audience, as it showcases clearly what is going on and make the audience feel apart of what is going on, especially when its shot from a hand held shot. Also, high key lighting in the field scenes when they are seen dancing around through the smoke and drinking alcohol with their friends, will help exaggerate the excitement and rebellious activities that they're doing which sets a jubilant atmosphere. High key lighting is conventional in the indie genre, as it helps convey the mood of the music video and also shows the characters or artists facial expressions and body language to show the narrative. Furthermore, the high key lighting will be used differently in the two scenes. In the Camden Market scene, high key lighting will be used negatively to showcase the complicated relationship. In the field scene, high key lighting will be used positively to show the couple and their friends having fun in a rural isolated place. The contrast between the two gives the hidden message that the artist is an extrovert when in public urban places, whilst her partner is an introvert but when they are in a rural, isolated, quiet area such as the field, her partner is extroverted and more comfortable to show her happiness in the relationship. The use of this contrast helps the audience understand further about the narrative and how the artist's partner only feels comfortable in the relationship where there is not many people around. 

The colour blue will be evident in our music video. We will see this colour through the iconography; smoke canister, which is in the field scene where the artist and her partner are having fun with their friends. The colour blue is unconventional to the indie genre, as the colours brown, green and pastel colours are used in an indie music video to portray nature. However, were going to challenge this by including blue, that connotes the depression in American culture;"singing the blues" or "Feeling blue", which could represent our artist within this scene as quite upset as she is having to play down her relationship with her partner when around her friends as she doesn't want to be out in the open. The use of this will help build a relationship between the audience and the artist, as they can relate to her emotions of feeling sad through the blue smoke and even sympathise with her. Also, the colour blue conveys calmness and peacefulness which could represent the artist as calm and respectful towards her partners decisions, which portrays her as a devoted and loyal person. This may make the audience admire the artist as the smoke represents her as respectful and they may admire her for being so and believe that she is a nice person that is not selfish. Therefore the artist could be idolised by the audience as a role model that respects other peoples decisions and is selfless and puts other people first. 

The next colour that will be seen in our music video is orange. This will be through the iconography of colourful smoke canisters that will be present when the artist is seen with her friends in the field jumping around and holding alcohol bottles, behaving like teenagers. The use of orange is conventional to the indie genre as it is used to convey happy times in the narrative seen whether through a filter or an orange item. The orange smoke will convey the scene as dynamic and energetic as orange connotes happiness and energy due to it mixing with red and the cheerfulness of yellow. This will make the scene lively and exaggerate the fun that the artist and her friends are having, creating a joyous atmosphere within the video. Furthermore, the colour orange will represent the artist as vibrant, creative, enthusiastic and demanding attention because of the brightness of the colour, which grabs the audiences attention into seeing what she is doing and portraying herself as a fun character. This will help build a relationship with the target audience of 17-25 year olds, as it shows the lively scene of having fun with your friends in isolated places, and being rebellious which they can relate to and emphasise with the artist. 

Our target audience of 17-25 can build a relationship with our artist through the use of lighting and colour in a number of ways. In reference to lighting, a close relationship can be built between the audience and artist through the use of natural lighting. This is because natural lighting makes the scene look realistic and helps the audience establish the realism of what is going on in the scene through this lighting. The reason why it helps the artist build a relationship with them is because of the naturalness portrayed through the lighting that makes what is shown relatable to them. Also, high key lighting and bright colours such as orange, help build a relationship between the artist and audience, because of the flamboyance and vibrant atmosphere they portray. High key lighting and bright colours portray liveliness and excitement which helps the audience emphasise with the artist, as this age range or 17-25 are stereotyped into doing lively, adventurous things because of their youthfulness. Therefore, it helps build a relationship between the artist and audience as they can relate to the activeness portrayed in the music video, due to being in the same age range and likely participating in these activities. Planning lighting and colour was very helpful in figuring out the hidden meanings that each can provide within our music video. For example, the use of the colour blue connotes sadness which could portray the artist within the scene as sad. This shows how colour is important when further establishing what the visuals and lyrics are conveying. If I was to not plan for lighting and colour, I wouldn't know how to direct the artist and characters on how to convey their emotions and body language as there would be no meaning to it and also be able to make a conventional indie music video.