Artist in Test Costumes

From previous research of the indie style in clothing, we decided to test the costume designs on the main character/artist in the music video. As Danny (one of the members of my group) had some similar clothing at home, he (as the artist in the video) took some photographs of him in the styled clothing choices for the video.





















I think the all buttoned up shirt and the skinny black jeans works really well as well with the baggy t shirt. However I think the green parker jacket might not be right for the video as it make him look bigger than he is and that's not the intention. Although this style may be right with the cold looking scenes with the girl when shown in the past.

Male/Artist's Costume Ideas

Within my group, we started to think and research different clothing ideas for our music video. We intend to go down the Indie route for the male as it will match the genre (acoustic indie) of the song. Below demonstrates some ideas we researched on sites such as www.asos.com and on google images where different outfits have been shown in a 'Look Book' on various websites. 

This outfit above establishes the typical indie look with the all buttoned up shirt, the black skinny jeans and the black vans. Because on Asos it showed full male outfits, we didn't like the top half as much as the bottom half or vice versa, therefore we had to screenshot the top half (for example) and select a different bottom half that we thought would look more appropriate for our music video. I think the black skinny jeans work well as you see generally in the Indie genre artists wearing this sort of outfit but with a baggy or long top such as a shirt as we have shown. I also think that this outfit could be seen well with an acoustic guitar which we are including in our video.

Another outfit we thought worked well together was the one shown above, with the navy blue skinny jeans, brogues and a t shirt with a parker coat over the top, it represents again the
indie genre with a skinny bottom half and a baggy outfit on the top. I think the brogues work really well with the skinny jeans and due to research I found out that trends these days in mens clothing are very popular. I also researched various Indie artists such as Bastille (which is a indie rock group) who wear brogues sometimes when performing, doing interviews, photo shoots etc. As our artist is called Mike Dignam, I looked at his style to help ideas to incorporate together as he is an important part because his style will match his style and genre of music. I noticed from this research that he wears a lot of denim (e.g a denim jacket) and he goes for the all buttoned up shirt, sometimes short sleeved or rolled up sleeved.

<--Short sleeved all buttoned up shirt

Denim jacket used with indie acoustic guitar -->

 Brogues -->

Music Video Analysis

Mika - We Are Golden




'We Are Golden' by English singer Mika was released in 2009 which like his other music is known to have a very lively feel. It involves a variety of bright and bold colours throughout the video which tend to symbolise Mika as an artist and his unique style which always manages to attract attention. The main plot of the video consists of Mika dancing and singing about in his bedroom in which he expresses himself fondly by performing his music to the camera through lip synchronisation. He portrays the sense of 'fun' and 'freedom' whilst showing a collection of items and toys which seem to be vintage and old fashioned; representing the 'Golden Years' which the song is based on. The music video is cleverly done, as it successfully manages to attract a variety of people, from young to old through the bright colours and the contrast of currant and past times shown in the items and the design of the setting. 

Mika's genre is based on rock/pop music especially in this song which provides fast melodic music with the meaning of the lyrics being based around how to live life to the full and how our age group is the 'Golden' age therefore we should enjoy life. 

Camera:
- At beginning, first shot, close up of casset presenting 'Mika' on the front telling and reminding the viewers who the artist is. This also implies that the music video is based in the past, as cassets are known as old compared to Ipods or CDs.
- Establishing shot at beginning, showing the audience the setting of the video, you also see Mika jump of the bed implying he's like a child especially with the props in the room and the costume he's wearing.
- Another close up of the casset showing the name of the song to the viewers. -gives a long introduction to the audience, provides eager and interest.
- Low angle of camera to indicate powerfulness of Mika, child like as seems like camera is on the floor looking up at him.

- Aerial shot of him on the colourful carpet in his bedroom, showing the bold colours, he look up at camera, central and eye line is towards you as if he wants you to come and join.
- Shots displaying Mika (seeming to hang from the camera lens) and fly around when creating the sense of carelessness.



Mise En Scene:
- Gold boots shown in establishing shot at beginning, identifies the unique, adventurous and ambitious style Mika takes on. - recognition of a young feel to the video.
- Long shot of bedroom establishing the setting of the video. -shows the child like feel of the video, very bold and contrasting colours, individual style which creates the fun and freedom element of the video.
- Fairly messy bedroom, indicates the stereotypical boys bedroom.

Editing:
- Cutting rate fairly fast, cuts to each toy/item in room in time with drum/beat of song. -provides interest of toys for audience, -can't keep up, intriguing.
- Some shots are sped up demonstrating the child like approach that Mika is showing, like a kid running, full of energy.