Birdy Skinny Love

This is the song that I have chosen to do, this song was originally written by Bon Iver, I chose Birdy instead though because the song has a slower pace which helps flow to my storyboard. Birdy has not chosen to follow a constructed narrative, instead she has chosen to use a conceptual based theme also showing scenes of performance. Using a conceptual theme has enabled Birdy to be more creative with her locations, this is something that I would like to recreate in my own video.

The location appears to be an abandoned house, the wallpaper is peeling of the walls and looks very dreary, the windows are battered, dirty and smashed and there are also cobwebs that are captured throughout. The characteristics of this house add to theme of the song, the song is slow paced and represents loss of someone, again the house emphasizes this meaning as Birdy is perceived to be very lonely and sad in this big and abandoned house.  In the beginning of the video there are slow paced close ups of ornaments in the house, this is very effective as in the beginning there are no lyrics, these images help to build up the mood. The video seems to inc-operate performance, narrative and conceptual based themes. The performance based theme is shown at the beginning of the video as Birdy is introduced, the singer is hidden away by her innocent locks of hair and uses further close up shots to show the lip syncing. There is no clear narrative throughout the song, it could be interpreted in many ways. My own interpretation is that a loss of life has occurred and now Birdy is reminiscing on memories. The narrative tries to construct this through the matching of images to the words, for example the smashed glass on the floor. Finally the conceptual based theme is shown throughout the video, Birdy is captured wandering around the house in a very haunting manor, again this emphasizes the idea of loss.
The editing of the video has also been used very effectively to convey the haunting mood. Each show is slowed down to suit the tempo, this is especially used in the beginning of the video where there are no lyrics just images of ornaments. This is also used when Birdy is walking in the garden in the black boots. By using this technique it not only adds to the mood of the video but it also enables the audience to easily follow and relate.
Another technique which has also used been effectively in parts of the video is out of focus shots. They are important to use especially in this video as it creates a haunting mood, it conveys the idea that the loss of a loved one has left them weaker. In the beginning of the video when Birdy is playing the piano a hand held camera appears to have been used, this is very effective as it shows how simplistic the video is yet it has a very haunting theme. I also really like the scene when the camera is held on the ground and captures Birdy walking by, this is something that I have liked in Ben Howard's videos and is something I would like to create in my own.

Change of plan

I have now decided to change my song to 'Birdy Skinny Love'. I have decided to do this because I was able to come up with more ideas, also it was more realistic as the locations that I would have wanted to use for Ben Howard would have been difficult to get to.