The Weeknd - Heartless
(The Weeknd - Heartless (Official Video), 2019)
The music video for the song Heartless by The Weeknd (The Weeknd - Heartless (Official Video), 2019) has definitely inspired my FMP this year because of how the music video has parts where the male in the video is walking around the city of Las Vegas in a very intoxicated and unhinged state which I feel without a doubt has worked its way into my FMP with it being about a male who wonders around a village/town but instead of under the influences of any substances he is just very confused and overwhelmed, causing him to become very delirious as a result of the amount he is having to process while not necessarily being healthy enough, both physically and mentally, to actually deal with what he is encountering in his dazed frame of mind.
I also want to use a lot of Dutch Tilt shots in my FMP to put an emphasis on how overpowering the emotions are that he is feeling and I think the use of close-up shots at a fairly low angle will do an effective job of putting across the loneliness and sadness that the male is feeling due to the seriousness of how debilitating it appears to be on him. The other part of the music video that I want to try and incorporate into my FMP is the part right at the end where his reflection is distorted as he looks at himself after he has come down from the rush he was on for the whole night which is now over and the longer he stares at himself the more menacing and demented his grin becomes, however I feel like I will use distortion in my music video to represent a feeling of spiralling into despair with the video effect Lens Distortion enhancing the uncertainty and uncontrollable feeling that comes with losing your mind to what feels like inescapable misery at the appropriate times in the song/video.
The Smiths - How Soon Is Now?, The Smiths and Strangeways, Here We Come
(The Smiths - How Soon Is Now? (Official Music Video), 2014)
(The album cover of The Smiths by The Smiths, 1984)
(The album cover of Strangeways, Here We Come by The Smiths, 1987)
The music video for the song How Soon Is Now? by The Smiths (The Smiths - How Soon Is Now? (Official Music Video), 2014) has inspired me and my FMP because of the shots of different buildings in the music video as the way they are filmed is very similar to how I am planning to film the buildings in my own music video as I feel the more chaotic and busier the shots are will make for a better contrast compared to the more tranquil and calmer shots of grass fields, shots of clouds, shots of roads that will be superimposed underneath the hectic shots of the male descending into a darker mental state. The Smiths' music video also uses the method of superimposing to put footage of an industrial site over a woman dancing to the music in a very eloquent and relaxed manner which isn't why I decided I wanted to superimpose originally but seeing the way in which it has been utilised in this music video makes me wants to use it more in my FMP to see how creative and innovative I can be with the already well established image/video technique.
The main aspect of the music video that inspires me though is its use of colour to create an aesthetic, from the light blue on the band for the majority of the time they are seen performing (as well as the shots of people dancing too), the tint of red on the woman when she is dancing in an expressive but also chilled out way, the use of black and white to induce a more cryptic, mysterious feeling to parts of the music video. Green and yellow represent feeling scared and alone and the colour purple is used to indicate curiosity and aspiring to achieve more than you already possess in my opinion.
The same type of colour and distinct style can be seen on the album covers for The Smiths' albums The Smiths (The album cover of The Smiths by The Smiths, 1984) and Strangeways, Here We Come (The album cover of Strangeways, Here We Come by The Smiths, 1987) with the pink/purple found on the former and what I'd say is light cream found on the latter album, it is clear that in all of their work visuals and artwork are heavily prioritised but the focus is definitely worth it because once you become familiar enough with their music and music videos it is easy for you to be able to know if something is made by them purely based off of their aesthetic which is why I want to achieve a similar goal of creating my own personal aesthetic that is similar to The Smiths' with their use of colour but different with the actual style itself so that I can have one that I am known for too.
Bibliography
YouTube. 2019. The Weeknd - Heartless (Official Video). [online] Available at: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DpH-icPpl0> [Accessed 2 April 2020].
YouTube. 2014. The Smiths - How Soon Is Now? (Official Music Video). [online] Available at: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnpILIIo9ek> [Accessed 2 April 2020].
1984. The Album Cover Of The Smiths By The Smiths. [image] Available at: <https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/13/The_Smiths_The_Smiths.jpg> [Accessed 2 April 2020].
1987. The Album Cover Of Strangeways, Here We Come By The Smiths. [image] Available at: <https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/37/Smiths_-_Strangeways_here_we_come.jpg> [Accessed 2 April 2020].
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