Lip Sync Analysis

Throughout my music video, I plan to incorporate both live performance and a narrative performance, of which I will intercut into each other. As I want to include a live performance and I plan to use the cover or Lorde’s song as the audio, the actress/actor I decide to use will have to lip sync to the song. Therefore, I decided to analyse lip syncing in Lorde’s existing music videos.




Throughout Lorde’s ‘Green Light’, the live performance and narrative performance is intercut throughout. In the live performance, Lorde is shown, through close ups, to be singing directly into the camera. However, because the audio was added in post-production, lip syncing must have been utilised during the filming stage. Lorde appears to be singing the song diegetically as the lip syncing is accurate. To make it appear that she is singing diegetically, the lip syncing is in perfect time to the audio. Also, the fact she is ‘singing’ directly into the camera can distract the audience’s attention from her mouth as the intense glare at the camera deviates their attention to her eyes. The fact Lorde’s head doesn’t stay still and she instead looks around can also help to disguise any slight mistakes made within the lip syncing as the movement detracts from that.

How will this help me?
I now know that when filming my own live performance, to create a successful lip sync, the actor/actress I feature will have to learn the lyrics effectively in order for the lip-sync to be accurate. Also, to help me disguise any potential slight mistakes, I should ensure there is movement within the frame or another key feature which can deviate the audience focus. I could also ensure I record many takes of the song so I can select the most accurate clip and use that one. Or I could ensure I film different verses or choruses in different takes so the actor/actress can focus on a smaller part of the lyrics so there is a higher chance the lip syncing of every verse/chorus will be accurate.

Red Thread Of Fate

After analysing the lyrics of 'Sober', I have started to think of symbols I can use throughout my music video, to help represent the plot events within my narrative. Considering the lyrics discuss a relationship that is failing, I decided to explore something that could represent this.

After completing the group discussion we decided that we wanted to include the theory of 'the red thread of fate'. This is relating to a Chinese myth as they believe that the gods tie an invisible red cord around the ankles of those that are destined to meet one another in a certain situation or help each other in a certain way. According to Chinese legend the God in charge of "the red thread" the ‘old lunar matchmaker’ god. Throughout a lot of Chinese media, and recently in some English media, the red thread of fate has been used top represent a relationship between couples. This has been adapted as the red string is attached to two people’s fingers. It creates a physical connection between them and shows they are destined to be together.

 We would like to feature it within our music video because it conforms to Barthes' theory that audiences appeal to things that have symbolic meaning. This is because within the lyrics Lorde says ‘every ribbon you use to tie yourself to me’ which shows similarities to the myth. In this case, the thread would be symbolism for two things throughout the music video as when I analysed the lyrics, I realised there was a double meaning:

Her relationship with someone:

Throughout the song, Lorde uses repeated personal pronouns to create the sense the song is almost something she has written specifically for someone. However, in the beginning of the lyrics, Lorde describes a relationship that is struggling but there is still hope. She says ‘but my hips have missed your hips’ and she calls them both ‘king and queen of the weekend’. This metaphor implies that they are still strong and relying on each other. This is juxtaposed to the lyrics at the end of the song. She sings ‘midnight, we’re fading’, ‘we know that its over’.

This shows the clear difference between a relationship that was spoken about with hope at the beginning compared to the relationship that is defined as ‘over’ in the end. Also, the difference of the pronouns ‘you’ at the beginning and ‘our and ‘we’ at the end, can again show a change in the relationship. It shows that at the beginning Lorde mainly focused on ‘you’ (whom the listener assumes is a male) seeing them as above her, as a form of guidance. At the end, the change in lexical choices shows the listener that she sees them as equal now and doesn’t have to rely on them anymore.

                                                   
                                                      Drugs and alcohol:

This is similar for her relationship with drugs and alcohol that is connoted throughout the lyrics; ‘kicks’, ‘a pill that could touch our rush’ and the title of the song ‘sober’. The song could be interpreted to tell a story of drug and alcohol abuse that eventually ends with lyrics that could have connotations of overdosing.

Therefore, the thread in both cases can symbolise something breaking; either the ending of a relationship or the end of life. The thread could be a symbol throughout the video for both of these situations by being strong and intact as the beginning of the narrative and becoming continuously more frayed and damaged throughout until it breaks at the end. This can also conform to Todorov’s narrative theory, to help represent the progression through the order disorder order.

Colour Palette Analysis

Within my music video that I will create, I would like to include a colour palette throughout. This is because it allows me to create moods and tones subtly, appealing to the indie genre audience who enjoy complex narratives and deeper meanings. Also, it allows me to use connotations of colours to help show progression of feelings throughout the video, backing up the lyrics. To help me see how colour palettes are included in narratives, I have decided to analyse Halseys 'Colours'.

Throughout ‘Colours’, the colour palate is used as representation for a relationship. This conforms to Barthes’ theory that there is symbolic meaning within music videos. 

In the establishing shot of the music video, Halsey is shown through a low angle long shot to be stood holding the prop of a polaroid camera. Within the shot, the colour palette has been chosen to be white and high key. This is consistent with her costume and in the next shot, shown through a cut. The white can be used to connote innocence and purity. The fact that when the male character (the princess in terms of props character theory, challenging gender roles) is shown to be wearing a white costume is significant. The fact she initially was surrounded by white and is seen to be watching the male who is also wearing white, suggests it is his she wishes to surround herself with. However, the lyrics at this stage don’t suggest anything to the viewer in terms of there being a romantic connection, so the white can also be suggesting neutral ground/emotions. 

 Although the colour palette throughout the beginning of the music video continues to be white, blue begins to be incorporated gradually. This is in relation to the lyrics as she sings ‘and it's blue’. The fact the blue is becoming more prominent within the frame can show that the focus of the singer is becoming the male character and is taking over the neutral feelings she had towards him in the beginning. The blue becomes the representation of Halsey herself.  This also conforms to Goodwin’s theory that there is a relationship between the visuals and lyrics. 

As well as the blue and white colour palette there is also a grey colour palette introduced through the use of a filter. Although this was used the whole way through the video, the filter becomes more noticeable when Halsey begins to sing ‘everything is grey’. This is because the props and other colours within the frame have been specifically chosen so they don’t contrast the grey tones as much. This makes everything appear darker. For example, in the head and shoulder shot of Halsey ,again holding the polaroid, the low key lighting, the use of a black background and Halsey taking up a small proportion of the frame all creates dark tone making the grey filter more prominent. The use of the grey has symbolic meaning of clouded vision or an unclear area. This can suggest that Halsey doesn’t understand her feelings for the male or if she isn’t sure if the feelings are reciprocated or not. This could also be a reflection of the viewer’s thoughts towards the narrative.

As the narrative progresses and the blue continues to become more prominent in the frame, the lyrics again create a relationship with the visuals. As Halsey begins to sing ‘you were red’. The colour palette begins to change again to create a more lilac tone. This can represent her creating a connection and fusing with the male character she described as ‘red’. When you mix red and blue you create purple. However, the fact the red is never seen within the narrative can suggest the selfish emotions she is having. This is consistent with the narrative twist that takes place in the very end of the video when the audience are shown that the person she was in love with was the father of the boy the whole time. The red therefore, that she describes him as, is used to suggest he is the dangerous decision. It also explains why the red is never seen in the palette as the audience are hidden from the true meaning and identity of the red.

How has this helped me?

After analysing the colour palette in this music video, I understand that the colours can be used to represent emotions and feelings. They can also be used to assist a narrative and create a deeper, meaning. This creates a more complex narrative which is part of the target audience we are trying to appeal to. I also realise how aesthetically pleasing a colour palette can make your music video appear. Therefore, I would like to practise creating a colour palette as I could potentially use it in my video. 

Group Ideas Updated

To collate our research as a group and to group together our ideas for our narrative we decided to have a group discussion about everything. We split this down into four main sections:

Brief narrative and red thread theory:

When we sat down the first thing we decided to do was gain a brief idea of our narrative so we could develop it. So we began by collating our favourite parts of our individual research to see if we all wanted to explore it in our narrative. The main aspects we decided were:

• We wanted to explore homosexuality but to prevent it from becoming a typical cliché narrative, we decided to add a plot twist of introducing a male character. This is because the indie audience don’t enjoy stereotypical plots and therefore, this challenges stereotypes. We then decided that to make one character of both bisexual, homosexual and heterosexual would allow us to explore all representations.
•        We also decided that we wanted to have a motif running throughout the video to conform to Barthes’ theory of symbolic codes as it appeals to the indie genre. Therefore, Liv made the connection that as we had decided to name our artist ‘Luna’ that there was a myth that featured a god with the same name. It also represents people being in relationships with people they belong with so it would be interesting to use throughout our narrative.
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Character types:

Overall from this we decided that we would have three main characters:

• The victim:  this will also be the same actress as we use for our artist as it allows us to make a more personal relationship with the audience and it also conform to our previous research. She will be represented as the victim as the person she was in love with and shared her red thread with, has an affair and she is left alone. She will also be the lesbian character.
• The princess/villain: the other female character within our narrative will either be presented as the villain or the princess depending on how we decide to represent her. This could be because she could be shown as innocent and helpless in the situation (as in who she is in love with) or she can be represented as the villain because of the affair. She is originally lesbian but the audience eventually realise she must be bisexual/homosexual.
• The villain: If the female isn’t represented as the villain, the male character will be as it will seem as if he has ‘stolen’ her of the actress. If the female character is represented as the villain, the male character will be less of a focus within the narrative. He will either be bisexual or homosexual.
• The other characters we decide to use in our narrative will be whichever friends/family we have available at the time. This is because they will mainly be featured in the first part of the video when the red thread theory is becoming established. Therefore, we could use the same actors/actresses without the audience realising. For example, we could use the same two people if we do a shot featuring only their faces and then another shot using only their hands. If we change the costume and setting, the audience will not know they’re the same people.  

Live performance:

For live performance we decided that we wanted to use the Lorde ‘Sober’ cover as our main inspiration. There was also the idea to use multi-coloured candles in the background to represent the colours of the LGBT community flag as we will be exploring this within the video. We ideally want the setting to be outside and to have live instruments however this could prove difficult because of the weather and lack of access to instruments.

Narrative in detail:

For the narrative in detail the main ideas we came up with were: 

·        to use an establishing shot of the homosexual lesbian couple as a low angle shot with the sky in the background. This could be using high key lighting to symbolise how happy the artist was. This can be juxtaposed at the end of the video with an over the shoulder shot of the artist looking at the heterosexual couple. This shows how the story has progressed throughout the narrative.

·        To introduce the red thread of fate idea at the very beginning of the narrative. We want to do this by showing the red thread on couples in everyday situations to make the artist seem surrounded by people who belong together. This will help create sad and sympathetic tones when she ends up having no string.

·        We want the bisexual character to meet the male character in a library. This helps to explore the representation that the bisexual character ris confused and trying to find herself. However, we will challenge this stereotype when she realises she isn’t confused and she has found what she really wants. She has discovered herself. 

What I need to do next:

To help me gain specific research into micro aspects of which we will include in our narrative I need to:

• Research the red thread of fate theory.
• Research colour palettes.
• Research how homosexuality is represented throughout other music videos. 

Evolution Of Lorde

 To help me understand Lorde as my chosen artist, I decided to research into the 'evolution' of her style, brand image and success. This means I can understand her image better and help me link it to the ideas seen in her music videos etc.

How has this helped me?
Overall, researching Lordes evolution has helped me understand the method used to create a unique brand identity. I have learnt:

• Although her image has changed over the course of 10 years of fame, the changes have been subtle and slow. They have also kept consistent enough to create an instantly recognisable style and image for her fans and other audiences. 
• Her style has changed in consistency with what is going on in her career. For example, at the beginning of her career, her style was very unique and gothic as it allowed her to be different from the current norm, conforming to the indie codes and conventions. When she released albums and content for her audience, her style changed to match the styling used within the content. Her style also became more modern and typical as her fame increased as there was no longer a need to be unique to create hype. However, the pale skin, dark lip tones and iconic brown hair was always emphasised within her style. 

This has helped me as I now know that when I create my own artist, it is important to understand what is going on in the music industry at that time. For example, when Lorde began her career, there was no other artist with the gothic and unique identity that she created. This means I should consider the market when creating my own artist. It will also be vital that I create a memorable brand identity that can be eccentric (conforming to the indie genre) as this allows me to attract a target audience more effectively. 

Our Song Lyrics Analysis

After deciding our song: Lorde ‘Sober’, I have decided to analyse the lyrics. This will help me understand the song and determine the underlying themes. Therefore, when it comes to making my videos, I know the vibe I’m trying to recreated through miss-en-scene and props etc.

Audience Feedback: Song Choice

When searching for our song on YouTube, we realised there is a live version of the song and the album version. Both songs fall into the indie pop genre but the liver performance is more mellow and slow than the album version. Therefore, to decide which song we will use, we decided to get audience feedback of which song they preferred and why. We sent a message to everyone we asked to find out what their favourite genre is. If they replied with ‘indie’ we then asked them to listen to both songs and tell us whether they preferred the album version (option one) or the live version (option two). The reason we asked what their favourite genre was, is because we only want our target audience specific feedback. We also made sure we asked an even number of males and females from the age range of our target audience to see if there were consistencies between which gender preferred each song. 

Option 1 (album version):

Option 2 (live version):

The answers were as follows:

females:

Males: 

Overall, the total results were:
Option one had four results and option two had six. The results were also consistent between which song the males and females liked as both boys and girls had four votes each for option two and three votes for option one. This shows that overall, the preferred song was option two which is the live cover of the album version. I expected this as it conforms to the indie genre more with a slower beat and more mellow tone.
the reasons people preferred the cover were:
• ' I feel a deeper connection with the artist, i can use the music to reflect on and help me think about the problems in my life, I understand the lyrics and i am able to relate on an emotional level.'
• 'It sounds more natural'.
• 'There’s more tension in the song, it feels like it has a darker meaning to it even though it’s the same lyrics.'
• Its 'slower' and 'less loud'.

How can this help me:?
I now know, based on my indie target audience feedback, that my target audience prefer the live cover. This means this will be the song we use in our final product. Moving forwards, I will be able to use this cover as a point of reference for how Lorde performs the song, how she is represented and begin to finalise our own narrative ideas.