Blog 5: Initial ideas

1. ‘Chemtrails Over The Country Club’—Lana Del Rey

Official music video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBHild0PiTE

Lana Del Rey is an American singer-songwriter who has been noted in the genres of Alt-pop, baroque pop, rock, and dream pop. ‘Chemtrails Over The Country Club’ is from the album of the same name released in 2021. This album features the genre of folk-country music and the music video utilizes a visual style and setting reminiscent of 1960s Americana with Lana Del Rey driving a bright red convertible, hanging out with friends alongside the pool, and putting on jewelry. Overall, the video is considered to be characterized in the genre of a concept video as many representation imageries and further emphasis on lyrics are present.

The song was inspired by one of her sister’s poetry collections, and talks about her group of friends living their life, ignoring the world’s problems, and enjoying their time together. The chemtrails act as a metaphor representing the problems in the world that seem not to affect the rich’s privileged lifestyle. However, Lana Del Rey does realizes that the problems of the world will eventually catch up with them, and the longer they ignore the problems, the more severe it gets.

If our group were to film this song, representation examples could be abstract or direct and would predominantly be the main style dominating the video. Representation could be either explicitly or implicitly showcased. This will be a central and interesting aspect to establish in a music video. This form of concept video can keep the audience entertained and constantly have their attention on the screen.

Pros:

1. Interesting cinematography could be explored, such as the unusual camera angles showcasing representation and the element of ‘concept’ in the video.

Cons:

1. Props, setting, and costume are set in the context of the 1960s. Therefore, items and styles are hard to recreate, which requires a lot of work and budget.

2. The piece’s central idea is not something students could fully understand or relate to; therefore, our version of this plot’s narrative might be shallow and incomplete, not capturing the essence of this piece of music.

2. 'Living Hell'—Bella Poarch

Official music video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCPm55hqA3k

Living Hell is in the pop genre and has a concept music video where Bella Poarch aims to delves into her internal struggles in this song. She explains in a Billboard News interview: “The music video is about her childhood. Living Hell’ is about the toxic relationship I have with my mental health. I am diagnosed with PTSD, and that’s something I’ve been struggling with for most of my life.” The use of yellow connotes happiness; this colour made her feel happy even if she wasn’t inside. In one of the scenes, she was covered in yellow paint, metaphorically representing herself, covering up the negative emotions and the fake reality she presents to the public.

Pros:

1. The song has a repetitive and syncopated beat in the drums. The rhythm is distinctive and will be easier to edit between shots by following the rhythmic flow.

2. A strong central idea (the fake reality of emotions) is established in the lyrics, which helps to assemble the scenes in the video in unity.

Cons:

1. The lyrics reflect her unhappy experiences as a PTSD individual. As performers, it will be challenging for us to act realistically (through our facial expressions and behaviours) since we haven’t been through those feelings and emotions.

For our final choice, we chose neither, instead we went for “get him back” by Olivia Rorigo. This song appeared to us while researching and listening to songs and especially lyrics gave me inspiration of how to structure a storyline to this song. Therefore, our final project will be in the style of a narrative music video with elements of concept and performance as minor part.