Planning Setting and Iconography - Miss Georgiou

The planning of the music video is essential in being prepared and organised enough to produce a music video of high quality. Planning the setting and iconography is arguably one of the main suggestions that makes the music video seen more professional. If it is just filmed in a bedroom that appears too average or in an unconventional location it can really change the overall atmosphere of what you want to create. For example for us we are trying to choose settings that are appeared as simplistic or beautiful. Conventionally in the indie genre this involves settings such as cities and countryside locations, even small towns. This is something we have considered when discussing our own locations. In addition to this the iconography in the music video will also have subtle effects that will overall account to a massive part of the music video. However small or big the iconography will be it is very important to try and make a special account for all the props we will use in order to have time to buy/collect them as well as plan ahead where they will be placed in the shot and what they will be used for. 

We plan to get a number of shots in London to create a montage effect. One of the locations being Convent Garden. Being a very popular place for shopping and British culture. It is a perfect place to get shots of things that we want to gather for our music video, such as people. We want shots of manic London settings to show how life can be manic and busy. The emotions of these blurred characters may be seen and this will relate to our artist because it will portray her as being 'trapped' through her inability to have any control over her partner and his fate in the song. The audience will feel sympathetic towards her and this will lead to there being overall a sense of realism as it is easy to feel very along and trapped even in a world full of people. On continuous shot is needed in this scene. This means that a certain angle needs to be created and stay there for about 5 minutes or so. However, because this is such a busy and very successfully populated shopping centre, it will be hard to settle down with a camera and tripod. There will be a limited amount of space, which means it will be harder to find the perfect place to not only find the perfect camera placement but make sure there is enough room for the crew also. Due to the huge population we would also need to be very wary of the crew and the public people that may be harmed if an accident with the tripod happens. To unsure the safety of our self and others we would need to ensure that the camera is kept at a close range to us and in addition to this make sure the tripod is very steady in itself. In this case due to it mainly being inside we need not worry too much about the weather as the internal lighting will be able to substitute any darkness surrounding the location and also protect against any rain or windy weather.


London bridge is a prime location that London is mostly recognised for. It is filled with life and lights. Normally very busy it will additionally be a place that will contribute to the very fast-paced atmosphere that we aim to create in certain aspects of the scene, mainly when the tension begins to arise in the narrative. It begins and continues to represent the artist as being in trouble or feeling panicked in the music video. Which overall relates to the feeling of her being trapped. This relates to the audience as they are able to witness everyday people in this busy, but beautiful city. It enables them to put things into perspective while seeing people rushing around the city the audience almost pity them, as they do not realise the beauty surrounding them they just rush through life getting to the places they want to be. The conventional aspects of this particular location relate to the indie genre as it entitles the audience to be able to see the busy London scene. The city is rather popular in British indie genres as it is always full of life, people and culture which will relate well with the audience as it allows them to get a perspective of how the artist portrays this busy London scene. Time lapse scenes will be able to support the fast-paced atmosphere we aim to create. Very similar to the Covent Garden scenes we are able to see how much of a difference these shots will have, based upon the fact they are set in London and contain a number of different people, leading very different lives. London Bridge is a lot more spaced out compared to Covernt Garden, but it is a main attraction for tourists which means it will still be very compact and busy. This will limit the amount of different angles and shots available to us as it will be harder to set up the camera in certain positions, having there be lots of people surrounding us while recording. Health and safety is very important while at this particular location as not only would we have to be careful about the traffic driving on the roads of London bridge but also the fact that there will be lots of people walking over the bridge which means we have to be careful and cautious of the water below. As this is an outside location we would have to be fully equipped with umbrellas and towels to keep the equipment dry as well as the fact people may be more aggravated in the rain and less patient while need to get to certain places.

Theydon Bois is a local town filled with historic looking buildings and endless amount of forests and land. This particular landscape being the 'cow fields' near the train track is perfect for shooting typical indie scenes. Being a very isolated and plain scene we inspire to create an artist who is well in tact with nature. This location of tranquillity is very peaceful it also adds to the typical ideology of the indie genre as it remains very natural and non-man made. Most indie artists tend to use real locations like this to appeal to there audience as more then likely it is possible that they have been somewhere similar in there life and can relate. Many towns have fields to play on in England especially if you are from a small town, even living in London the audience are able to relate to the fact that the lively city is very common to them as a city born audience member. In this particular location we aim to have a couple of scenes. first will be the time the couple meet. This will allow them to meet accidentally by walking the dog. This beautiful setting will be a perfect place for the audience to relate to as it creates a very peaceful and very simplistic yet stunning backdrop while starting the love story that will consume the narrative of the music video. In addition to this the same location will be repeated at the end of the music video as one of the characters from the relationship dies, the artist who is left standing will go to the exact spot and spread the ashes. In this manor the location is used and presented as a more of a symbolic feature to the music video as it has a hidden message of love and loss. Some limitations may occur when filming as the area may be accompanied by children playing and even other people walking there dogs. This is a caution that needs to noticed while filming as it may ruin the atmosphere of the music video. As the 'cow fields' are actually quite steep health and safety precautions have to be put in place. The area where the equipment will be placed and where the actors will be filmed has to be sturdy enough and stable enough for no accidents to happen and cause injury. This will not only be dangerous but will delay us to get the footage shot accurately and in good time. The weather may be effective with the video depending on the day and scene that we are shooting. For example the day that they meet should be more sunny and the day that the ashes are spread it may look more effective if the weather is more gloomy.

This particular type of  setting is used to overall create a more mature atmosphere in the music video. This is the artists car, a Volkswagen Fox. It is a midnight colour which is almost like a deep blue/grey and black mixture. It is quite a square car that is very spacious for the characters inside it. The reason we have this car is due to the fact it can be used in a conventional way that will deepen the love in our narrative. This is because we plan to make the car appear as being broken down. This will be conventional to the indie artist as it will display a particular love scene that will show the couple in trouble and helping each other out, aswell as adding a vintage effect to the music video, by in fact having something appear as 'old' this is a typical convention of an indie genre as it is common to have things appear older and more run down. This scene and iconography in particular links into the lyrics 'My salvation' This is solely because this prop and the use of this prop is being used to create a distinctive role between the couple. The male being the 'hero' in the narrative portraying him as her salvation, not only for loving her but for helping her throughout the struggles they face. This creates a relationship between the audience and the artist as the car not only allows her to be seen as more mature for driving but also for having a more 'needy' perception of herself as she needs help in this situation.

This object is going to be used as the urn. It is a very dark green/black colour with lemons on the lid although this will be camouflaged when filming. The idea of this piece of iconography will be to create an emotional connection between the artist and the audience. This will allow the audience to be able to get a sense of sympathy as the artist will be spreading the 'ashes' of her partner. This is unconventional to the indie genre, just because it remains very dark. Although it doesn't really fit the conventions of any music genre as it is something you would expect to see in a drama or a thriller video. Although it is not conventional to the music indie genre it will still be successful in create the right atmosphere an indie genre typically has. Although we don't really plan to correlate this with particular lyrics of the song, there is an instrumental that has a very slow and sad music sound pattern to it. This will relate strongly to the audience as they will be able to see how the music artist reacts to death and grief as many of themselves would've probably gone through loss in there life also. 

Our final piece of iconography is in fact the piano. It remains to be very old and vintage looking. Placed in a dark room we are really able to see how it relates strongly to the indie genre. The piano and guitar are two of the most typical instruments played in the indie genre. This is because artists generally want to be able to show of the talents of playing an instrument. In this case we are going to use the piano to not only relate the artist to the indie genre but we are also going to try and create a very vintage atmosphere with this particular piano setting, Although there are no particular lyrics that will relate to the piano. The whole song instrumental part to it is played by a piano which relates strongly to the song Salvation by Gabrielle Aplin. This overall creates a welcoming atmosphere to the audience by showing her ability to play her own songs. The relationship created with the piece of iconography and the artists is a very common one in the indie genre. The fact that our artist will be able to play the piano almost allows the audience to feel like there favourite artist has become and maintained famous due to natural talent like playing an instrument and not just looking good like many typical pop artists.


In addition to this the use of the photograph was one of the things that related closely to our narrative (carry on from here)

Overall the location and and iconography used in the music video can really relate strongly to the indie genre, but using the typical locations of the indie genre and being able to relate to the iconography by using music instruments can really make the difference between creating a more successful music video and more believable artist.