Being a Media student and also a Drama student I understand the
relationship between the performance and how that performance can be
received. In the creation of my music video I was aware that it won't be a
Todorov's work in narration where the story is linear and has
a beginning middle and end. But more of a Bertolt Bretch sense where it’s
cut and exaggerated brief moments that might not link to
the next. I love Bretch's work with epic theater, which is where the
audience is actively processing the work as it happens so instead of
not thinking and just looking at the work they think about it as it happens. I
did that in my music video by having sudden brash emotions placed in calm
scenes which had the distancing effect (Verfremdungseffekt)
where the audience is now aware that things could change and
is adjectivally think about the play, anticipating the next scene,
wondering and analysing the previous parts. The idea of the fourth wall being
broken by this effect is something I've done to an extent, in drama breaking
the fourth wall requires interaction with the audience
and awareness of the audience being there. I have done that in the
way of looking straight to camera through the screen to
the viewer this way even though they are just watching the contact
will bring them in and involve them, as it seems like
I'm communicating with them.
I didn't want a very overly feminine feel to the video
so I stuck with dark pallet colours for the outfit and having a lot of myself
covered, the use of smoke suggested an intoxicated feel and also suffocating
sense to the video. The projection shots also add to that sense
of delusion and being cornered. I then use stronger signs to show
that the character is in charge, by first place her in a very male
dominant environment By this it should drown her and the
attention would be on the boxers, but by playing with the theory of Laura
Mulvey's male gaze, I had the boxers avoid me, so that it seemed like I wasn't
even there, this also shows control in a sense that I had free reign of the
space and attention of the camera, usually women in music videos are the main
attention by the people in the video, this entices the audience themselves to
look at the female in the context in which they are observing her. But since
there isn't attention towards the female it seems like she is more
powerful.
The bathroom shots included the strobe light effect and the TV
placement, were done with the idea of lighting, I'm very interested in
unnatural mechanical light. In that, it creates a very odd and pressured
atmosphere, for example the TV had a dark mood to it, and the strobe light with
it being drastic brought chaos but having the female character placed in that
and not being overwhelm and almost unaware of these effects makes her seem in
control, that she can shift the mood, so I used a light and feminine Gestus of
blowing bubblegum, this made it almost ironic which gave it a subtle feel of
confidence.
