Music Video Treatment PassiON Heels “Everybody Dance” This music video aims present a female protagonist in a non-sexualised way, which goes against the usual convention of music videos. This will be used to challenge the stereotypical representation of females as a sex object and the subject of the male gaze. Instead I intend to present the protagonist as a strong independent woman who has become stronger, rather than weaker, by the breakup of her relationship with her boyfriend. I will present this with a linear narrative of a stereotypical ‘good girl’ transforming into a ‘bad girl’. Whilst this could be seen as stereotypical, I aim to present this as the protagonist finding her own strength following the breakup. he first 15 seconds of the song are the introduction so I will use this to establish the character and location as well as presenting the title and artist of song in text to promote the band. The lighting will be bright natural light (from a nearby window) at the start as this will be used to represent the innocence of the protagonist. I will shoot during the middle of the day to get the brightest lighting possible to create this effect so that I won’t have to use artificial lighting. If there isn’t enough natural light while shooting indoors, I will use lamps and table lights as lighting. I will change the standard bulbs to white light bulbs to prevent the lighting from being to yellow. The protagonist will be shown sitting at a table in a mid-shot to show her with her natural makeup and ‘girly’ clothing. There will be an emphasis on the colour pink in the outfit to show that it embodies a stereotypical view of femininity. The edit will then cut to a close up of the photo she is holding in her hand. Next there will be an edit to a tilt to show a close up of the protagonist’s face, showing that she is upset. I will present this by using water to form a tear on her face. I will have to ensure continuity by showing the tear falling down her cheek in other shots. This tear will be shown wiping away the foundation that the protagonist is wearing, to give the connotation that her feelings are raw and exposed. There will be a close up to a photograph that the protagonist is holding, a 6’’ by 4’’ print photograph of a female, who it is implied is the protagonist’s ex-girlfriend. This lesbian relationship will be presented in black and white flashbacks, which will be filmed in colour and have after effects used to make them black and white. I will use transition effects in Adobe Premier Pro present the flashbacks at the effect and the use of black and white will allow the audience to read this as being a flashback that is set before the rest of the video. The protagonist will then move to their bedroom and sit slumped on their bed. The shot will be framed so that the protagonist is at the edge of the shot to present her isolation. The bed will have a few cuddly toys on to give the impression of an emotional immaturity of the protagonist and there will be a pin board/ display board with an array of photos, cinema tickets, concert mementos and nostalgic items. This display will have a ‘girly’ character to it to present the protagonist’s youth and femininity. There will be flashbacks of the protagonist with her ex-girlfriend sitting on the bed. The shot will be framed so that they are centred in the middle of the frame. It will be implied that they are a couple with a montage of shots of them interacting playfully, holding hands, hugging each other, smiling and Page 1 of 4
laughing, and hugging each other. This will then cut to the protagonist on her own with the room more dimly lit and she will be sitting in the middle of her bed in a closed posting with her legs crossed, almost huddled or in foetal position. A close up will show that the eyeliner she is wearing is smudged as if she had been crying, although no crying will be shown in this scene. The protagonist will then go to the bathroom to fix her makeup. She will be shown through the mirror to imply an element of voyeurism. She will sort of her smudged makeup by wiping her face of the makeup she is already wearing to imply rawness but also to imply a fresh start. Next she will splash water onto her face to wash off any remaining trace of makeup. The water will be shown in time lapse so it is shown running down her face as if she is crying but she will swiftly wipe it away with a pink towel. She will then proceed to redo her make up with more bold colours such as a dark lipstick which contrasts against her pale skin. In the next scene she will be shown on a swing in an empty children’s playground. At first she will be swinging slowly but she will get quicker and quicker until the pace she is going at will fit with the pace of the song. She will then move onto another activity in the playground, which will show her exploring it almost childishly but she will also have a maturity that will show that she is an adult who is too old for childish activities. Other items in the playground will be shown to be moving alone to imply that they have been abandoned.
There will then be a scene where the protagonist has transformed into her ‘bad girl’ persona. This will be shown with her clothing (leather jacket, dark jeans) and her makeup. She will be shown appearing from behind a door. This will create binary opposition (LeviStrauss) between who she was then and who she is now and also between the ‘good girl’ and the ‘bad girl’ stereotypes. There will then be a shot of the outside of a tattoo studio and the protagonist will be shown pausing outside in a long shot from behind. There will be no tattooing shown but it will imply that the protagonist has had a tattoo as there will be a cut and then a continuity edit of her walking away. She will return to her bedroom, where she will sit on her bed and be shown in a long shot so her pin board will be shown in the background. Instead of the photos of her and her girlfriend and the mementos of their relationship, there will be items to show the protagonist’s own interests and empowering quotes that relate to strength of character. She will then return to the sitting behind the table as she was in the first scene to imply as circular narrative (Todorov) and she will again be holding the photograph. The camera shot will start by showing her front the back but will then pan around so she is shown looking at the photo. There will then be an extreme close up to show her expression of indifference towards the person in the photo. She will then be shown tearing up the photo in a close up and then throwing the pieces away.
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