Research into lyrics - Miss Georgiou

Analysing the lyrics obviously gives a great insight into the meaning and the reasoning behind a song, having an enormous influence of the video itself. The lyrics can greatly influence the style of the video; with more meaningful lyrics a song may need more concept and narrative. However, with less lyrics and more music the style may sway more towards the use of performance. They may also be seen to influence the uses of micro elements within a video. Micro elements are often used in order to elaborate upon a narrative or concept and the lyrics often determine this narrative. This is due to the incorporation of Goodwin's theory, seen in most music videos, where the video aims to match and follow the lyrics of a song. This emphasises the importance of lyrics as they simply conduct the production of the video itself, having an enormous impact on the progression of the video. In the production of my specific video the analysis of the lyrics to my song, 'I know' by Shift K3Y, will prove to be very beneficial to the making of the video. The lyrics portray the emotions and storyline that the artist is trying to create. My group and I are then able to analyse the lyrics and convey these concepts and emotions through a narrative that portrays the meaning behind the song itself.

The lyrics are written in relation to a narrative that can be related to by the teenage target audience for the genre. The lyrics talks about a relationship in which the artist is involved in; he 'knows' what the girl wants but is stating that he is 'not that type'. This could be interpreted in numerous ways but through the use of the fast tempo music I feel that the artist is trying to show how he does not want to live the conventional boyfriend lifestyle; it shows the artist as wanting more freedom and ability to enjoy his youthful, vibrant life. This can be related to by the younger target audience of 15-25 year olds as they are often seen to participate in light hearted relationships. We may aim to present this concept and detailed storyline through our narrative based video, also aimed at this young and conventional target audience. Additionally to this, we have evidently analysed the lyrics by writing ways in which we may portray parts of the narrative and concepts through our video; for example, the opening scene was shown to be set at the gherkin as the artist thinks about his girlfriend.

The annotations we have made will have great influences upon the use of codes and conventions seen in the video. Throughout the song my group and I are seen to take aspects of the limits and transfer them so that they link into the conventions of the dance genre that the song belongs to. This is especially seen in the chorus as we aim to switch to a club setting when the lyrics repeat the phrase 'I Know' alongside fast choppy music. Here a club setting is shown as he enjoys life with his friends whilst drinking, dancing and happily talking to people. This is used to represent the vibrant lifestyle he could have without his girlfriend; it reinforces the narrative in the lyrics as it emphasises decision of whether to live a happy comfortable lifestyle with his girlfriend or fulfil an exciting party lifestyle with his many friends and success. This is seen to both comply to the conventions of the dance genre and the needs of the target audience as it portrays the party lifestyle that the genre is based upon and that the young audience aspires towards.

Additionally to this, we were also able to roughly annotate what aspects of cinematography may be used throughout the video and the progression of the song. This is specifically evident towards the start of the lyrics as we made annotations that show us using cinematography in order to clarify the narrative for the audience. For example there is an annotation showing the use of an over the shoulder shot presenting a text from his girlfriend as the lyrics state 'I know what you're looking for'. The text may consist of a loving message emphasising how she misses the male artist; using the over-shoulder shot, the artist is then seen to firmly place the phone down and walk out of the shot. The over shoulder shot is used here in order to link the artist with the phone, showing him to be thinking about the girl and his decision over whether to stay with her or not. Although having little coherence with the conventions of the dance genre, this form of cinematography will have a great effect with supporting the lyrics and helping the audience. The over shoulder shot adds to the personal insight that the audience gets into the artists emotions; this helps engage the audience as they build a relationship with the artist, allowing them to further understand the meanings behind the song.

On top of the annotations for cinematography, we have also pointed out where specific editing styles might occur within the lyrics and the song. This is evident through the annotations showing the use of jump cuts and fast paced editing seen in the choruses. This will be used in the club setting as the music becomes quicker and choppy. The editing styles itself are allocated for this section of the song in order to elaborate upon the narrative set in coherence to the lyrics. The fast paced editing combined with the use of jump cuts emphasises the fun and excitement he is having in his vibrant party lifestyle outside the life he has with his girlfriend. It supports the lyrics by showing his personality to oppose the one wanted by the girl; it also supports the narrative for our video by showing the lifestyle he could enjoy without his girlfriend. Also, this use of editing can also be seen to comply to the needs of the target audience and the conventions of the dance genre as it evidently elaborates upon the faced paced atmosphere within the club setting of which the young audience can relate to.

In relation to mes en scene and the aspects it involves, we have not annotated in detail. This is because as a group we feel that some of the smaller details often seen to be involved in mes en scene are most likely to be better addressed in other aspects of planning. For example we are not seen to make annotations for costume, hair and make up as collectively we felt this could be far better dealt with when referring to planning characterisation. This is similar to the planning of facial expressions and character positioning, this has been addressed in far more detail within the planning for cinematography opposed to the lyric analysis as we felt we could refer to more details in this section. In contrast to this however, one area that is evidently mentioned in the lyric analysis is the use of setting and lighting. This has been done these two aspects could be seen as key when portraying the emotions conveyed within the lyric of the song. Setting has been address through stating which locations will be used for which areas of the song. This will have a large influence when attempting to clarify the narrative for the video to the audience. The verses will consist of flashbacks to happy memories with the artists girlfriend, whereas the chorus will show the lifestyle he leads without her. This emphasises the ultimatum of whether he should live the conventional lifestyle of a boyfriend or live the vibrant party lifestyle of a single man; therefore signifying the concept of the song as it focuses upon this decision. Also lighting is focused upon in the analysis of the lyrics as we state when the video will utilise strobe/neon lighting. This helps elaborate upon the party lifestyle that the artist could have without his girlfriend. It is conventional to the dance genre as it emphasises the party atmosphere, also it appeals to the target audience as they can relate to this atmosphere often seen in clubs and bars.

In conclusion, the annotations made alongside the lyrics for the song has been highly beneficial when planning ways In which we will convey the narrative chosen to represent the themes and concepts of the plot itself. This is seen as we have annotated where different scenes and settings will occur throughout the song in order to represent the lyrics at these certain sections. Overall the analysis has given us far better indications into what the concepts of the song consists of and the ways in which we will present these themes through the use of the different micro elements seen in the video.