Contacting Sarah Blasko

We have attempted to contact Sarah Blasko in order to get her permission to use her song for our music video. Here is the evidence that we have attempted this. We used the social networking site Twitter to message her and we will also be using Facebook and other networking sites to do the same thing. While using Twitter we faced some difficulty with composing a message. Unlike Facebook you have a limit to how many characters you use, so we have to make 3 different messages to compose a decent length message for her.

Stars persona influence

Our stars image for your music video has been inspired and influenced from a range of British pop folk artists. Predominantly from the likes of Laura Marling, the runner up for the song choice, her soft earthy look is similar to what I believe we want to produce for our singer. Laura wears little make up and when she does its natural looking and elegantly applied. Additionally, we have looked at Florence Welch from Florence and the Machine as another person to take influence from. Unlike Laura’s simple and minimalistic look; Florence incorporates a vaster range of colours and a wider range of textures to her image. Despite their differences we have used these two because they both have the authentic ‘British look’ (maybe because they are British…), and they both embody the stars image that we will strive to achieve. In the case of Florence we will take her glamorous looks however tone them down to make them more subtle and approachable. 

Other than artist I have looked at Audrey Hepburn as a style influencer. Her prim, feminine image, predominantly her eye makeup and iconic eyebrows could be incorporated into our stars makeup, possible statement eyeliner such as Audrey’s. 

planning group availability

Lyrics Analysis

We Won't Run - Sarah Blasko

Pages turning,

lights are burning,

see what you could not see.

As plain as the day,

the night makes you pay,

for what was hidden underneath.

Longing to leave,

but begging to feel,

that something will make you stay.

You gotta believe,

that this all leads,

to somewhere we've never been.

We won't run,

we can fight,

all that keeps us up at night.

There is far,

to go now,

let's not waste a minute more,

in denial.

But I always thought,

you knew yourself,

better than anyone.

But the season was lost,

when you started listening,

to everyone else.

Cast in this devil,

I've got the metal,

the means to make things right.

Tired of guilt,

tired of being sorry,

haven't we suffered enough?

We won't run,

we can fight,

all that keeps us up at night.

There is far, x2

to go now,

let's not waste a minute more.

But oh,

that our eyes, x4

will be open.

We won't run,

we can fight,

all that keeps us up at night.

There is far,

to go now,

let's not waste a minute more.

We won't fear,

we can fight,

all that we can bring to light.

There is far,

to go now,

let's not waste a minute more.

We won't run,

we can fight,

all that keeps us up at night.

There is far,

to go now,

let's not waste a minute more.

Of our lives,

our lives, x2

our lives.

My Stanza anaysis 

• Saying that you’re learning something new and gaining knowledge

• Wanting to move on but too scared to actually make the leap of faith. You want to be held back by something so you don’t have to make that choice.

• Facing your demons and overcoming something in the past so to not leave it to fester. Accepting reality

• I thought you were different but clearly you’re not. As times gone past you’ve lost what I liked in you. You’ve followed the crowd

• I tired of feeling like it’s my fault. I will overcome this

• I can see clearly now

In a nutshell the song tells a story about someone who was in a relationship where her partner made her feel guilty about something/ something happened in the past that wasn’t resolved. Now after time she realises it was her fault and is fed up of putting up with his grief. She’s ready to face reality because she can see what type of person he really is and wants to move on, however he is not. She wants to feel happy again, and to do so she leaves him behind despite her reluctance to forget the past.

Moodboard

This is moodboard that I created from our group brainstorm of ideas and key words. I'e added some more that I believe would work well such as 'masks', 'dancing' and 'little red riding hood'. We will be updating our ideas as we continue to plan for ideas.

Looking at Other MV Codes and Conventions

For our final song we have decided to use a pop song (as labelled by iTunes) her music is soft to listen to and very feminine. Sarah’s voice is similar in some songs to the likes of Duffy but with a softer edge such as Feist. As a pop song we will take into account the different pop codes that come with making a music video for that genre of music. To do so we will look a range of different female sung pop music videos and analyse the motifs and repetitive styles used.

Dum Dum Girls – Bedroom Eyes

In this video there is a distinctive idea of looking established from the beginning. Predominantly the lead singer is looking at the camera establishing a connection with the audience. Furthermore, the idea of sexually looking at the band member’s is created through the use of body suits, semi-opaque tights and heels. It can also be said that the heavy makeup and pin-up appearance of the lead creates an overtly sexualised image. The band is the whole focus in the music video, and it is 100% performance. This is because as a girl group they play the instruments opposed to men, who would then stay out of the limelight and have focus on the female singer. In this case I believe the girls play to that and constantly show how good a female drummer, bass and guitar players are.

From this video I have learnt that sexualisation in pop videos are just about constant and that depending on the formation of the group a music video can be played out very differently.

Ellie Goulding – Your Song

In this music video Ellie wears little make up and looks very natural. It is set in autumn and as such she is wrapped up in coats, hats and scarfs in nearly each shot. This is a significant different to that of the Dum Dum Girls who do completely the opposite in costume. The feel of the video is windy, natural and very British! She plays to the British factor for the American viewer but also to the British viewers, who like me, like the see a less post production alteration and a more natural, believable vibe. This music video is a great starting point for our ideas as it coincided with the vibe of how we want our music video to be. From this music video I have learnt that vouyreistic tones are evident everywhere, in this video cameras are seen within the shots (a camera within a camera) and she still plays with her hair and looks wistfully into the camera. Moreover, I have learnt that music videos play to what is prevalent in popular culture such as vintage clothing and sepia camera shots.

Ellie Goulding – Starry Eyed (US Version)

Ellie Gouldings song Starry Eyed was initially directed by the UK but as she grew in popularity the US got their claws into the song and remade the video. I am using the music to show how different countries have different codes. Compared the Your Song, this music video is (in my opinion) a shameless attempt to create a British feel. Product placement is incredibly obvious with the Mini Cooper car (Known for being British); post production is again very obvious with Ellie Gouldings skin illuminated beyond belief. She is wearing strong sea blue contacts to enhance her eye colour and in close ups her ears are adjourned in diamonds. In my opinion I find this video terrible and an example of how different cultures perceive ‘good’ music videos. British find more subtlety’s appropriate in some cases, whereas the US use constant perfection the grade boundary. For our music video I will try and stay clear of this type of music video.