The directors choice of setting in a film is very important as this setting sets the mood, it sets the backbone for a good narrative, for example if the film is a horror, the narrative wont be as strong if the setting is in a colourful school playground with bright skies and a rainbow, than if it was in a cold, dark abandoned field with a dingy shed.
Conventional settings we expect to see used in a music video will vary depending on the genre, however typically we would expect to follow the character round their daily lives and we'd expect the music and lyrics to reflect on the artists experiences that we can see, therefore settings would include places the artist would regularly go for example, around their house, a date night, a night out, a workplace (for example for a singer, that would be a studio).
Music videos can often be metaphors for deeper feelings, for example Joey Graceffa's music video for 'Don't Wait' symbolises his journey to accepting his sexuality, finding his prince and helping his alcoholic mother. His music video is all about hidden meaning, for example him and his lover are playing as children, then when they are grown they are royally dressed with crowns and powers (these powers symbolise their inner strenghth etc). So, for a metaphorical message like the ones Joey's music video contains, I would expect settings to include his home where he faces troubles with his mother and then perhaps a romantic open forest or beach where him and his lover can find each other.
Overall the setting will really vary depending on the genre of the music video. Genre is a very important factor in choosing the settings, as I have mentioned, the set of somewhere sets the mood and atmosphere almost just as much as the characters do. If the music video is in the fantasy genre like Joeys (link here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kcwo_mhyqTw ) I would expect the setting to differ a lot in comparison to a documentary style music video such as Canonball by little mix, where their journey to winning the x factor is shown with locations such as their home, the x factor stage, wembley and behind the scenes of the show.
Mise-en-scene is something that needs to be constructed very carefully, particularly in music videos where theres less dialogue than in a short film. Mise-en-scene helps make the music video mean something, creating meaning and understanding of the narrative for the audience using different factors that we can see in the frame e.g., costume, location, setting, props, lighting, sound etc. The importance of the setting in constructing meaning for the audience through mise-en-scene is incredibly important. Usually aerial shots/establishing shots are used at the beginning of a scene to show the audience the location the scene is taking place in, in order to set an atmosphere and give them more knowledge. For example Harry Potter used many aerial shots of the castle in order to create meaning for the audience before the film even began.
To conclude, setting and locations in films and music videos are extremely important to get right, they are a big factor in helping to construct a mise-en-scene, and creating meaning for an audience, so I will carefully consider my setting when planning/making my music video.
No comments:
Post a Comment