Visual Style And Composition

What i think is most important to the music video we are creating or any music video is the visual representation of an artist and his song. I feel that some music videos which go for a narrative approach over a unique look generally fail to create a memorable image that can primarily exhibit and secondarily advertise.



In this music video for R.E.M's Losing My Religion, director Tarsem Singh and band frontman Micheal Stipe are the creative source behind the composition. Stipe envisioned a mere performance video of the band, whilst Singh wanted to bring a more exotic look to the video. What is evident here is the isolation and closed-off mood of the song, which is shown through a plain room in which Stipe sings. Yet, we also see a lot of Indian imagery, undoubtedly a product of director Singh's nationality and influences. The video is artistic without being overly flamboyant, but really carries through an edge which parallels perfectly with the song.

One big idea for our music video was to have a water theme. I think this is the perfect opportunity to express the colour and reflective nature of the song. Because of the unpredictable way in which water moves, we can use it to create interesting light effects with the camera. I would say that the song has a similiarly fluid nature and the water will work well as an rhythmical counterpart



This stock footage shows the way in which a bright light becomes completely twisted and distort by water. It makes for a really eye-capturing motif in music videos, and i think will work well in ours.

Another idea of the video was to shoot in slow or fast motion, syncing words to the track slower or faster and then returning the footage to normal speed. Obviously, the video will not be a stop motion video, but may look similar to this:



Stop motion often creates a completely unnatural feel to footage, and is extremely eye catching. If we can re-create these effects with live action, we will have the perfect chance for something more standout.