Music Video Inspirations - Miss Miller*

It is important to gain inspiration from other productions, in my case music videos as it helps you develop your own ideas to incorporate in your production. Therefore, analysing and picking out inspirations from music videos I researched will help with my planning of my own music video, as I will have inspirations that I may consider including within my music video. Also, it helps demonstrate the uses of the inspirations and how they were successful in the music videos I researched, and helps me understand further on how to use the aspects into my own. 

In my what is a music video post, I analysed the music video, Summertime Sadness by Lana Del Rey. The inspiration I got from this video, was the use of the editing style; time lapse. The time lapse in the video shows clouds moving in the sky at the beginning of the video. The use of this time lapse opens the music video with a narrative due to it having dialogue accompanied with it. I found the use of the time lapse inspirational as it introduced the music video in a nostalgic way, which grabbed my attention therefore succeeding on capturing the audiences attention. This has inspired me to include a time lapse in my music video at the beginning, however mine will be rewinding the whole music video from finish to start quickly. This introduces the narrative in an interesting way and also implies that a story is going to told after it. Also the time lapse at the beginning will suggest that the music video is a past event that has happened to the artist, which makes the audience get an insight of her life, building a relationship between her and the audience. The use of the time lapse is conventional to the indie genre, as it illustrates time passing by and by having my time lapse of glimpses of the narrative rewinded, this portrays the theme of memories which is conventional, as artist's within the indie genre tend to sing about personal experiences. 

Another video that I gathered inspiration from is Lorde - Yellow Flicker Beat in my research into chosen music genre post. From this video, what intrigued me the most was the camera technique; tracking, that she used when singing in the middle of the road in the forest. Tracking was used and this was shot from a low angle. The use of this particular cinematography made the focal attention be on Lorde in a fascinating way and made her look superior in the frame as the audience were placed below her. This was inspirational, as I think it made her singing scene look more interesting and also the tracking showed the artist fully by going around her, which helped promote her further. The way in which this camera may be used in my music video, is to introduce the artist in the video as this is because it shows the artist personally and puts the spotlight on her, which will help create a relationship between the audience and the artist. For example, I may consider using this cinematography when my artist is singing, to show her unstably and further connote the lyrics that she is singing which will be sad. The use of the tracking is conventional to the indie genre, as it follows the artist around, therefore giving the artist a further insight on what they're singing about. 

Couple in bedroom not speaking (negative side of relationship)

Another inspiration from this post, but in the music video Panic Cord by Gabrielle Aplin, is the style of video. In this music video the style was primarily narrative based, with a narrative about her ending a relationship because she was bored in it and she thinks she maybe the one to blame for the end. This inspires me to include relationship based narrative in my music video, however mine will be about how two girls are in a secret relationship but one wants to make it public. Both my idea of a narrative and Aplin's narrative show the struggles in relationship which is conventional to the indie genre, as artists usually sing about life experience so that the audience can relate to them. I was inspired to consider having a bedroom as a location in my music video, through Gabrielle Aplin's music video 'Panic Cord'. This is evident throughout the video as we see the artist in a bedroom with her partner play fighting, looking like they've had an argument and also when she is playing the guitar whilst singing. The use of this location also follows star dyers theory of how a star presents themselves as ordinary and extraordinary within a music video. 

Playing guitar whilst on bed

Gabrielle Aplin follows this as she is seen as ordinary by having a real life setting in her music video e.g. bedroom, kitchen etc. These locations portray her as ordinary because they are recognisable by the audience and they can relate to what happens in there. Also, she is portrays as extraordinary through the use of her playing her guitar as it presents her as being multitalented which the audience may not relate to. However, she is primarily represented as ordinary throughout the music video through costume, setting and natural lighting which helps convey the realism that is expected to be in an indie music video. This is because she plays it  This has inspired me to consider having a bedroom in my music video ad it conveys a realistic setting and shows the artist in their natural form. Also because bedrooms are seen as  a private area were everyone can be themselves, this implies that the artist is allowing the audience to see them as being authentic and real, which is why I want to consider including a bedroom in my music video as it'll help convey a relationship and intimacy of a narrative I'll possibly having. An example of when I would have the location of a bedroom seen in my music video is when the artist is looking into her memory box at the images of her and her partner. This will be following the convention of having real settings in the indie genre as the bedroom connotes privacy and conveys that she's sharing with the audience as they see her in her personal space. 

In the music video Cut by Plum, the use of iconography especially photographs caught my attention. The photographs are seen throughout the music video, for example when the artist is singing and playing on the piano from 2:15 -2:20 and they are seen on top of the piano. The photographs are also used in the video through zoomed in close up shots and jump cuts to show the footage behind the pictures. 
This is evident from 1:28 - 1:40 where we see an image of a man driving a car come to life through the camera shots and editing. The use of the iconography of photographs is conventional to the indie genre, as it represents memories for the artist and convey that they're meaningful to them which makes the audience empathise with what she's feeling. This has inspired me to consider using photographs in my music video to convey a narrative that is based around the artist looking back into her past. This will be evident in my music video when the artist is looking into her memory box and the images of her and her partner. What I found inspirational from the video and its use of the pictures as iconography, is the way it used editing and cinematography to zoom in and showcase the activity shown in the image. The reason why I am intrigued by this is because I believe it will be conventional to the indie genre, as it shows the artist sharing her past with her audience which tends to be included in an indie music video, as artists usually sing about their personal experiences or something close to them. Therefore, the photographs will help build a relationship with the audience whilst being conventional to the indie genre by giving the impression of the artist expressing themselves through the iconography.

The style of video of a performance in Nina Nesbitt's music video 'The Hardest Part' has made consider having a performance in my music video. Through the music video of The Hardest Part, Nina is seen playing an acoustic guitar whilst sitting down and singing through a mic. This follows Goodwin's theory that there is a performance, narrative or concept in a music video and in this case there is a performance. The performance is seen through the use of the acoustic guitar and mic that Nina uses in her music video. A performance is conventional to the indie genre, as it further expresses the emotions or feelings that the artist is showing to the audience. Also I found this inspirational as in the video it follows Goodwin's theory that visuals and music match and this is seen through the use of the guitar, as Nina is seen playing it in time of the music. This gives the impression that she is playing the music live which makes the video look more authentic and believable. This further showcases her talents and makes the audience admire her for being multitalented. This has inspired me to show a performance like Nina's in my music video, as I think it is conventional to the indie genre but also gives the audience further knowledge about the artist as in what they are good at other than vocals. Also, the inspiration of having a performance in my music video is inspirational to me as I think it'll convey the artist in a different light and make her look more extraordinary which catches the audiences attention whilst watching. I am considering incorporating a performance alongside my narrative so that it gives the impression that the artist is telling a story through the performance as well as the narrative which makes the music video more interesting to watch. I will incorporate it by having the artist sing whilst playing an instrument e.g. acoustic guitar or piano, especially when its the chorus. 


The artist representation of being reminiscent inspired me from the music video Panic Cord by Gabrielle Aplin. This is seen through the use of iconography, specifically a memory box that is evident throughout the video. This was inspirational as I believe it conveyed the artist as ordinary and relatable to the audience as she is seen looking back at memories. This inspires me to use the representation of my artist being reminiscent as it'll portray her as thoughtful, deep and reflective which is conventional to the indie genre. I will consider using this inspiration in my music video when the artist is looking back on the memories that she and her partner had, also following the memory theme convention. This representation will help build a relationship between the artist and audience, as they'll empathise with what she's doing and also feel as if the artist is allowing them into her life due to her sharing these memories with them. Therefore creating a relationship between the two and this could lead to longevity, as they will follow artist to find out more about her through her music career. 


An idea that I will definitely put forward to my group members, is the use of iconography especially photographs in our music video. This is because I believe it is conventional to the indie genre and is an interesting way to convey memories or experiences that the artist has had within our narrative. Also another idea that I will forward to my group members is having the setting of a bedroom within our music video, as it is a recognisable location that the audience can relate to, but also shows that the artist is allowing them into her personal space which builds a relationship between the artist and audience. The way I will communicate these ideas across to my members, is that we will have a group discussions of all the ideas we all have and then note them down on a mind map, which will help develop the base of our music video. Also by using inspirations from music videos, it'll hopefully help my group produce a more successful music video as we will have more understanding and knowledge on how certain elements should be used in an indie music video and the effect it'll have on the audience. Therefore, our final product will be conventional but also unique as it'll have our own interpretations in it, hopefully increasing our artist's longevity.