Planning Cinematography - Miss Georgiou

Cinematography is essential in the making of a music video. It involves the ideology of the camera and the ways you are able to manipulate the camera to film from different heights, angles and speeds. The variation of shots can depend on the particular genre or type of film you are creating for example if you was making and filming a thriller or a horror you would typical choose more handheld and POV shots, which allow the audience to feel more involved with the sequence. In the new the most common shot used is the standard mid shot or long shot, this is to allow the audience to have everything they need in front of them. However, I am planning to make an indie music video which allows me to create shots that show all the beauty in the location, while also stirring the emotions of the characters to create a successful narrative.

This particular shot is planned to be used while our character and artist goes on a run through the forest. It will be used through the instrumental part of the song when the tempo increases and the overall tension of the song is at its peak, we feel that instead of actually having this type of shot movement over a certain lyric doesn't work as well as it does in the instrumental of the song where there are no lyrics but it still  has the fasted tempo as the instruments used at this part of the song is very powerful. The handheld movements of the camera will go perfectly with the song at this particular moment because it is not as calming as it was before with a faster beat it will also relate to the fact that the main problem that occurs in the music video will be happening at this particular moment. The narrative of our planned music video takes a turn for the worst as one of the character dies, this is not yet known to the audience so the increased pace of shots and unsteady camera movements is a perfect choice during this part of the music video as it builds a lot of tension. Although the handheld movement is not conventional to the indie genre as it is most commonly seen in action or horror films it does relate to this particular moment as there is something physical happening in the music video at this point. The artist is overall represented as very panicked although in the narrative she is just going on a run, the use of the handheld shot will create a much more panicked atmosphere and the artist will be viewed a lot more vulnerable then normal. This will lead the audience to believe that she does feel human emotions and does get panicked and but in difficult situations just like the rest of us. Although salvation is a very calming, meaningful song. It does have its powerful moments, which relates to Goodwin's theory as we are planning to change the type of shots into more unstable ones such as handheld as the tempo overall increases and the song becomes more powerful.


This particular shot involves the camera to be manipulated so that it changes focus. The background is blurred while the foreground remains very much in focus and clearly viewed. This is planned to be used at the very end of the music video when the aged character picks up the picture of the couple. The slower chorus is playing now and the lyrics 'My Salvation' relate very well to the shot as it shows that the person in front is in fact the Salvation it is symbolic to the fact that she has gotten old but still thinks about her 'hero' and 'salvation' which is her old partner. The focus would be on the image while the background is blurred, this guarantees that the audience's attention will be solely on the picture, which will trigger an emotion of sadness that the older lady is in fact the younger woman and artist that we have witnessed throughout the whole music video. This shot is rather conventional to the indie genre as it provides a much more dreamy shot compared to having the whole shot in focus. This provides the audience with an insight that is common in the indie genre. It stereotypical produces every shot more artistically and a lot more thought is usually gone into each shot to make it appear more angelic. This is very similar to how we plan to create our own music video, in the style of the indie genre. The camera shot typically presents our artist in a way that creates a bond between the audience and herself. The shallow focus shot entitles use to be able to see the artist in a new light, The blurred focus may even imply that her judgement is blurred which represents her whole life being mislead by grief of missing her loved one. This overall leads to the audience feeling very sympathetic towards our artist which deepens the connection between them more, which is overall a successful way to sell a music video and create more sales as the audience feels as though they can relate to the artist and the emotions she is aiming to get across. This overall relates with the theme we are aiming to create throughout the indie genre music video, being very angelic, peaceful and relatable.

We plan to use a number of low angle shots, this cinematography will be used in our time lapse scenes, this will involve a continues shot of people walking past doing there day to day things, hopefully in a crowd. We plan to use low angle in some of these shots due to the fact that we plan to display this particular shot as the lyrics read 'was buried underneath.' This fits in with the lyrics as it provides a much more detailed meaning. The use of the low angle will make the viewer feel like there 'buried underneath' as the busy London scene will be towering over them giving the overall atmosphere a sense of claustrophobia. This particular shot is not generally identified with the indie genre although it is commonly seen to create a much more simplistic vision. This is because most indie artists tend to want to be known for being creative and sometimes this can be done through the positioning of the shot. Overall though it is not very conventional to the indie genre as the indie genre usually portrays very equal characters by allowing them to be able to be seen in the eyes of the viewer as equal, whereas the low angle shot can sometimes make the artists appear as very tall, almost towering over the audience. This overall makes the artist appear as though they are in trouble at this point. The low angle shot being used at this particular time where the lyrics sing 'buried underneath' can imply that the artist is beginning to feel suffocated. The audience can then relate this to anything that is stressing them out in there personal life, this then builds a relationship between audience and artist as the audience relates to the smothering feeling that many can relate to everyday. Overall the song 'Salvation' is very heart-breaking and this matches the style of the music video as the low angle shot can bring on some audience members fears such as being trapped or looked down upon and seeing is this music video is all about finding a salvation its important that fears are faced first.

I plan to incorporate the moving panning shot into my music video through the scene where the car breaks down. This will include the boyfriend character trying to push the car and the artist laughing in the front. The use of this panning shot will likely to be present during the lyrics 'My Salvation, My, My' due to the fact that it correlates with him being her 'hero' and her 'saviour.' Almost portraying her relaxation in stressful situations just because he is there to comfort her. This is conventional to the indie genre as it allows the audience to see a lot of detail without having to use a jump cut. The audience are able to see more of the location and narrative through one shot. This relates to the feeling of being able to see as much beauty in the indie genre as possible. Overall the artist is seen, using the panning shot, as very happy. This overall lets the audience see our there relationship is evolving and how much of an impact he has on her in a positive way. This is very satisfying to the audience as they are able to see there favourite artist being happy and they would want that for her. They also can portray her as vulnerable as her happiness is influenced through someone elses presence which is very common in the majority of people. The audience may be able to relate to her joyful emotions and then want that happiness for themselves. They would then look up to the artist by envying what is being portrayed in the panning shot. Overall this does relate to the overall style of the music video as it still insists on being very gentle and calm. The movements of the camera will be very slow and it will not be a very fast panning shot which is what we want as it will keep with the tempo of the shot and the overall atmosphere of the music video.

A zooming in shot is used to create a atmosphere that focuses on one particular object. It allows the audience to really see the detail of the object or person being zoomed in on. We plan to use this during the scene where the artist gets the news about her partners death. The lyrics 'all that I could see was white' relate to the narrative and shot well as this particular part of the scene correlates well with how much of an impact the death of her partner is going to have on her as a person, the lyrics 'all that I could see was white' are interrupted into the ideology of 'white' being a ghost. This particular shot can be conventional as it relates to the idea that indie genres are able to correlate the beauty in there genre and be able to really focus these particular things for the audience. This camera shot represents the artist as human and real. The fact that the camera is zooming in on her emotions and feelings that enable her to be able to be seen as vulnerable. The audience will be able to see her in a new light where in most music videos the artist is portrayed in this perfect light, while looking amazing they advertise these certain ideologies to there audiences that money makes them happy. Whereas in our case the artist is being portrayed as someone who can be wealthy and successful but still has a personality and human feelings that make her different from other artists. This particular camera angle and movement represents how much of an impact the slow effect on her will have on the audience. It represents the overall style of the video as it is gentle and elegant. 

My target audience will be able to relate strongly with the overall feeling and atmosphere of the music video as it allows them to be able to see the artist in a new light. Shots such as handheld and zooming in really portray the artists emotions just through the concentration of the character in detail, by either focusing strongly on them or shaking the camera to create a more tensely atmosphere. The cinematography is something that can really manipulate the scene and we need to be able to do this at an advantage. As a group we have planned to use particular shots that will be ideal in creating something that contributes to the strong emotions in the music video salvation. We don't actually plan to make something that is very structured and simple we want to create very unique shots, by manipulating the height and angle of things to satisfy the audience and contribute to the overall feel of the indie genre.