Inspiration for our Music Video

For the coming up of using the idea of switching between reality and dream scenes, this was partially inspired by the dream scene's used in the film American Beauty (1999) directed by Sam Mendes. In total on YouTube there are four different dream scenes, all using the recurring image of red rose petals, which of course connote love and sexuality. The first dream scene is of Lester Burnham (actor Kevin Spacey) lusting after the female protagonist Mena.



This first dream scene sees Mena conduct a very sexual dance in front of Lester, with Mena in a Cheer leading outfit. This image of Mena doesn't argue against the typical female stereotype that females are in fact strong minded and not only judged on by how they look, as Mena is clearly manipulating Lester and teasing him. However, this dream inspired us by the way that Lester is clearly idolizing Mena, which is how we want our actor to look in our music video about our female protagonist Izzy Davies. This lusting after Mena is portrayed in all four dream scenes, and what we particularly liked as a group in this first one is the recurring images of roses. As in our music video, we are planning on using a recurring image of masks throughout, to connote a warped sense of reality. What we also liked in this clip, is the way the female protagonist is shot against black, which looks very effective as it makes her features of the typical blonde hair, red lips stand out, making Mena resemble being on a pedestal, and Lester lusts after her. This video clip also inspired us for our opening beginning shot, of Izzy being dressed in vibrant red against black scenery, as we wanted to begin our music video of portraying an image that Izzy is strong and powerful.



What particularly stands out in this second dream scene is the first close up shot of the red rose petal falling down from we learn to be the ceiling. As the bright red stands out boldly against the black mise en scene, and the petal is made to look delicate and picturesque. Again, Mena is made to resemble a sex object in which Lester is clearly idolizing after her petite and "perfect" body, which represents an idea that males do really look at women like sex objects. However, the whole scene is shot very artistically, which is the type of angle which we want to use when shooting our music video, as we want to portray Izzy in a tasteful way, and not dirty or ------. Whats also good about this clip is the way Lester is portrayed to look completely infatuated by Mena and obviously can't take his eyes of her, which is achieved by using a birds eye view shot of Lester and his bed, which exchanges throughout the clip to another birds eye view shot of Mena on the ceiling coated with rose petals. Ideally, in our music video we would like our actor to wear the same expression of infatuation, as it looks effective to the audience.



This third dream scene is again shot very artistically, as the whole scene is shot through a close up of Kevin and Mena's kiss that they share, as the camera pans round them, engaging the audience into the intensity of the moment. Like all the previous dream scenes, the mise en scene is jet black, making Mena's stereotypical blonde hair and red lips stand out. If we do decided to include a kissing scene in our music video, we would use this as inspiration; thereby having the camera panning round them, and the kiss being portrayed as delicate, yet intimate. At the end of the scene, again the image of the red rose is used, as we see Kevin draw just one out of his mouth. By watching all the previous scenes, you now begin to link the symbol and beauty of the red rose with Mena, as clearly this is how Kevin thinks of Mena throughout this film; beautiful, strong, bold, and delicate.



This scene is by far my favourite, as what particularly stood out to me and my group is the powerful lighting used in this clip. For example, the light streaming in through the window allowing the audience to focus purely focus on Mena in the bath tub, is very effective as it connotes an idea of Mena being perceived as a shining angel by Lester. The way that Mena is sexually spread out in the bath tub and her intense expression adds to the idea of Mena portraying the image of a beautiful angel. By the fourth scene, Lester is clearly filled with sexual frustration as he is lusting after her. The ending of this clip where she beckons him into the bath tub and his hand is drawing near her, is made very intense for the audience at home as we are left with the experience of watching the intense build up finalise into a climax. The idea of the shining light has inspired us to perhaps use some sort of lighting system for the beginning of our music video, as the lyrics at the beginning of the song reference shining light.

Overall, there are very strong debates associated with the idea of the female protagonist in American Beauty being portrayed as simply a sex object. In our own music video, we shall employ voyeuristic shots in order to represent our female protagonist as very attractive and being desired by our male actor, exactly like it is in American Beauty. The debates associated with this theory is whether or not females should be objectified, and whether it is demeaning to portray females in such ways. However, stereotypically, females are always a object in males imaginations.