Music Video Idea 1: Waiting Game

The song that I have structured my music video idea around is Waiting Game by Banks.

The main location would be a pretty simple apartment in which would be a desk, a

small table, some small lamps and a bed. The colour scheme would be rather neutral, staying with bland colours such as black, grey and brown. However, the walls would be a dark red connoting an atmosphere of power, passion, and danger. The artist would be wearing a black dress proposing a sense of elegance and mystery. Overall, this set would be fairly dreary, however, through the use of lighting, the intended atmosphere would be created. I want the frame to be flooded with the colours red and black, I would use red top lighting but leave the general light low to further create a dangerous yet enticing mood. I believe that this would help to draw the entirety of the audience's attention to the artist herself, which with this particular artist, her target audience would find appealing. One of Richard Dyer's paradoxes is that the star must be simultaneously present and absent for the consumer. With this contrast of light and dark, the artist would be able to seem rather distant and yet present concurrently. The video would begin with a single light on the artist against the red wall, her head would be lowered but as the camera gets closer and as the lyrics start, her head would rise. She would predominantly stare into the camera, creating a connection with the audience as well as looking aside from it. The camera work would begin mainly as close-ups and some extreme close-ups of her mouth as she recites the lyrics, she would do some movement such as running her hands through her hair but it would be fairly minimalistic, to begin with. However, when the beat kicks in, the lighting would increase making her more visible and the shots would widen allowing room for more movement. There would be moments where the artist wouldn't exactly be facing the camera but simply living in the set as it is an apartment. Towards the end of the video, the artist would be joined by a male character which we see shared a relationship with the artist.

There are two other elements that would involve dancers, the first to be introduced is an extremely minimalist construct. There would be no physical set, allowing the focus to be on the dancers and how we present them in certain light. I would want the lighting to be predominantly from behind the dancers, creating a slight silhouette effect. A lot of the dance would involve contact which would be exploited in close-ups to present as ora of struggle, escape, and longing. The room would also be filled either with haze or a powder like substance much like the pictures below:

The second element involving dancers would again be fairly minimalistic however it would be used more towards the end of the video as the song begins to climax.

There would be multiple lights behind the dancers that would again create silhouettes however they wouldn't all be shining at once, they would change simultaneously with the music highlighting some moments over others. There would be moments where the artist would also stand in front of these lights often accompanied by the male character but that wouldn't be until further into the video.

There is one final element involving this male character whom we would see dressed in a suit. Through the video, he will be seen a number of times in an office like setting often staring aside from the camera suggesting a sense of thoughtfulness which later we can read as lust as he enters the 'apartment' setting with the artist.

The artist that I'm creating, would be similar to artists such as FKA twigs and Wet. The lustrous and yet dangerous atmosphere created by the red lighting and the silhouettes would fit with the song as the lyrics are about a questionable yet passionate relationship. The video fits with the star image of the artist as she is the main focus the video, the footage will draw the audience's eyes to the artist making her seem more superior.