James Bay - Let It Go
Reasons we Chose it
We chose this song because we all thought that it has the right 'feel.' This being calm, emotional and soothing almost. The music video is the same too, which we all thought would be helpful, as we can base our production on it and use similar techniques. Although I previously hadn’t heard the song before it was suggested, after hearing it just once, I knew that it would be a good choice. Furthermore, since we could all agree on it, it would lead to less disagreements on the narrative, particular shots, editing decision etc… in the future.
Although Viva La Vida was a close second, it became clear that it might be hard to disassociate the song with Chris Martin (The singer) as his voice is very distinctive, and so finding an appropriate actor to mime his singing would be hard. Also, as we analysed the lyrics, the message being conveyed and the narrative we imagining was overly complicated, involving too many people and hard to do editing wise shots. In contrast, we came up with ideas much more easily while discussing and listening to Let it Go. There were also ideas that seemed too hard / complicated, but we all kept on adding to other’s suggestions and got feedback on our ideas from our teachers.
Video Analysis
There is slow camera movement throughout, fits with the slow pace and sombre mood of the song. You can see his breath, as it is cold, which is subtle, but helps reinforce the idea of it not being cheery and upbeat. Having slow camera movement is key, so we will try to not have any fast panning, tracking, etc. shots.
James sings only some parts, not all of it. We’ll have separate sections for performing and narrative, but link them together somehow. Also, there’s no one playing any instruments, so we’ll do the same, which makes it a lot easier to plan / organise.
There is low key lighting throughout, with harsh, long shadows falling across his face, along with a lack of contrast in colours (i.e, they’re dull) and he looks very pale, which sets the tone of the song and shows how he is ‘out of it,’ alone with his thoughts. I will spend more time and pay more attention to the colours of our final piece while editing, as a good colour grade can make a lot of difference in the way something feels and is presented.
Changes in time are shown by fading down to black using his back to block out the light, then moving away from it, to fade back up to the next shot. E.g From day to night. We are planning to show a change in time, so fading to black then back up to the next shot will help the audience realise that we’re now at a different point in time. Doing so by blocking the frame with an object or character could be a good idea.
After the time change, he’s still sitting in the same position. Shows he’s troubled, and has been thinking hard about his relationship. To reflect on this, we could potentially have our singer in the same location or position, but in different locations.
James is un-phased by the burning surroundings, and turns back around quickly after there is a large explosion behind him, continuing to walk at the same pace and direction, which shows how deep in thought he is. Also, his hair is blowing all over his face, and he doesn’t try to move it out the way. Furthermore, while he is driving, he’s looking forward with a blank expression, clenching his jaw, trying to ignore the girl in the passenger seat, which shows conflict between them. Showing a character’s emotion, by them not showing any emotions is very powerful. It tells the audience that on the inside, they’re conflicted, may have doubts and have locked themselves away from others. Using close ups to do this is very effective, so I’m sure we will incorporate this somehow.
The last shot is very similar to the first one, with James sitting on the chair. The camera makes a like motion, he is still facing the window, but there is less light coming through, and he turns towards the camera, almost as if he’s acknowledging that it’s there. Keeping the performer in the same or similar location, position and clothing shows them reflecting on what’s being sung about, linking them to it, while not detracting from the narrative. I feel that having an alike theme of this will look good, and help make our video look professional, if done well.
This video has been very helpful in giving me ideas for what our group can aim to achieve for our product, in terms of shots, narrative, mise-en-scène (clothing, lighting and colours) and editing. I hope to mirror some of these techniques closely, while keeping our video unique.
