The Big Issue

 Production: Defining your artist

artist: 

genre: indie, indie pop

brief summary of artist: female artists, Duet. 18-19 years old; in the article, the artists could talk about her own representation in the video as a femme fatale; similar to the Russian duo  t.A.T.u; feminist artists going mainstream, even though the song is indie 

Biography of the duo:  

similar artists: Lana Del Rey, Halsey, 

song to use: Carmen - Lana del Rey 

initial narrative: the artist's performance in the video will be inspired by the "femme fatale" trope and it will have a similar narrative to a film noir with a femme fatale lead; similar timeline to Aerosmith - Crazy with Liv Tyler and Alicia Silverstone; As they are a duo, one of the girls will have a bad influence on the other and that will show throughout the narrative of the music video; I could do a similar narrative to Cruel Intentions

Narrative Update: an actress being abused by men in the industry; she is trying to help and warn a younger actress, just like Marilyn Monroe warned Joan Collins. The main character (Carmen) sees thew younger girl she's taken under her wing taking the same path and starts to get mistreated as well, which leads Carmen to expose the industry. Carmen is given an exposing red dress and provocative make up to wear to a premier, however she changes the dress into a suit herself so she is taken more seriously. At the end, she poses and shows her temporary tattoo, either saying "F*ck Harvey" like Emily Ratajkowski did on the premier, or a slogan connected to the Me Too movement; 

Narrative Update 2: As I don't have many actors to work with, the video will be  just about Carmen's story. The references to Malena, Film Noir, Basic Instinct, Girl Interrupted, etc. would still be there but the "protégé" narrative is gone. Carmen will be showing her own story in the narrative. As the song is about substance abuse an heavily related to Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita and the Poem "Wanted" I will talk about these references in the article and also show them in the video. The song is like a cautionary tale, just the way Lolita is. 

subversions/ genre conventions: I will use similar cinematography and narrative to the following music videos - Lana Del Rey - Chemtrails over the country club; Aerosmith - crazy; 

I will use intertextual references to some films that would fit into the genre and narrative:

Girl, Interrupted - 1999- my character would have a similar narrative of a troubled young girl, like Angelina Jolie's character, Lisa;

The Love Witch - 2017 - Samantha Robinson's character - Elaine, is a witch, that's obsessed with finding love, and that would relate to the troubled and slightly delusional portrayal of the artist.

Basic Instinct - 1992 - Catherine Tramell (played by Sharon Stone) is a good example of a modern day femme fatale, and i will try to incorporate a similar narrative into my music video

Film noir - Gilda - 1946 - I want to explore the "femme fatale" media trope as I consider them a more dominant and feminist representation of women, especially in the 1940s' and 50s'; they were demonised as they did not fit into the stereotypical idea of an obedient woman, they normally had a narrative of disobeying their husbands and plotting behind their back. This idea and representation of women being cunning and dangerous would intimidate men in the 1950s, therefore this media trope was demonised. I want to explore the femme fatale portrayal but in a way that is not misogynistic. 

Malena - 2000 - The portrayal of Malena in this film could be another very misogynistic idea i could try to contradict, as Malena is blamed for everything that has happened to her due to her beauty

Marilyn Monroe and Joan Collins story - "be careful with the wolves in Hollywood" - warns her about the exploitation of women in the industry in the 50s/60s. 

Megan Fox - demonised and over-sexualised by the media for years, even female journalists were misogynistic towards her, even though she tried to speak out many times.

technical codes:

I like the aesthetic of the film noir, so i will have some shots that are black and white; Lana Del Rey also tends to use black ands white film in her videos, which would further help me fit the video into the indie genre; The 60s aesthetic that is in The Love Witch, and cinematography done by M. David Mullen would be the something i will use in the video. 

I will use a variety of shots, but especially close ups for the lip singing; By the end of the song, the artist sings in French so that could be a part that is done in black and white, in order for the video to have variety, but also the beat changes; that part of the song could be used as a plot twist or have a climax and something dramatic happens - a femme fatale tends to have shady intentions, so something could happen at that part of the song.

In terms of costume, I will use clothes that re quite vintage but would still be considered fashionable in 2020; the femme fatale tends to have a very attractive appearance, even when not showing skin, so i will try to balance out the costume and makeup in a way that the character is not sexualised and subjected to the male gaze, as my artist is openly a feminist. 

In terms of props, i will be using a lot of shot of the character using perfumes, makeup and getting dressed; i could have shots of her putting her heels on and then walking away and leave the diegetic sound of the heels stumping. 

In order to not dehumanise my character i will have full shots of them and not just body parts or many shots where their face is not showing; 

Magazine cover Ideas: