Miss Georgiou - Lyric Analysis

There is a number of purposes behind analysing the lyrics within a song. It can be useful to establish who the lyrics are trying to be catered towards, through doing so Through deciphering the lyrics themselves, it enables for ideas to be built upon this, which would enable my group and I to develop towards through the included visuals. 

This demonstrates certain planning techniques as it is evident that my group and I have analysed the lyrics of the song, finding out whether or not certain macro meanings are being conveyed, and through discovering this planning to include visuals alongside this that further show this message towards the viewer. This will make the production more appealing towards the target audience as the visuals and lyrics will relate towards each other, providing with a better viewing experience, and making it more appealing towards them through making the meanings clearer.

As the song belongs to the indie genre, the lyrics appear to relate towards personal accounts of the artist. Within this, there doesn't appear to be any clear cut message which is being portrayed, although it could be argued that the lyrics relate toward the struggles of leaving home. More specifically connoting the message of not leaving to become independent without having a stable  in come, which is evident as the lyrics relate towards this idea, saying how he was a lucky one to get away with coming out alive and fine. 

The planning sheet which my group and I used to analyse the lyrics of the song, and how they will apply towards our music video production

My group and I have annotated the lyrics of the songs by doing a number of things. Firstly, we allocated two different colour highlighters to differentiate between what points we will focus upon within the music video my group and I will go to create; yellow indicating the chorus where a change in location with the visuals will occur, blue and blank segment linking towards the narrative of the song and the parts where the narrative will develop in our music video. Alongside this, we have made notes besides significant scenes, where we matched them with what time within the lyrics they will occur. One example of this can be seen before the stanza of the last chorus, where the scene we established to be the scene where the rich and successful artist will come on screen, where the contrast between them and our artist will be seen.

The annotations my group and I created will assist towards planning genre codes and conventions. This is as we can establish what codes and conventions would be suited towards what lyrics and sections of the song. One example of a genre convention which we will include is evident with the annotations of the change in location. This is as a large array of locations will be present throughout, all of which being conventional to the indie genre due to the diversity within the genre. For the first change in location, we will use Liverpool street station to be the basis of the visuals at this point. This is conventional to the indie genre as it is a built up and busy urban area, within the city of London, which is a common location to be expected within an indie genre music video. Annotating this clearly establishes what location will be present at the time, giving me and my group a definitive insight towards what locations the visuals will be in at this point, which should give us a better idea with the narrative of the lyrics, and assist towards filming.

Another instance where annotating will be helpful with the planning of the codes and conventions which will be included is present with the blue highlighting at the top of the sheet. This is where me and my group established a potential meaning behind the beginning of the narrative, how the artist is referring to how his life has change, and how he has gone through both the bad and good, but comes out alright in the end and that things are improving. Annotating this will help with planning as a common convention of the indie genre is to have a meaningful and personal narrative present. As we identified what the lyrics were conveying, my group and I can go about planning what the best way to go about starting the visuals of the narrative of the visuals, to correlate with  the personal accounts which are told.

The last instance where my group and I annotated something which will assist towards the planning of codes and conventions is evident through the notes of the fourth stanza. This is as we read the lyrics and found what they related towards, which appears to be more about the artists hard times where he is struggling. From knowing this and marking it down, we have planned a scene which we believe would be suitable for this segment, which would be the scene where our artist will be seen busking in London, where he will be shown getting no money off anybody, and that he has resulted to living on the streets. This will therefore allow us to relate the visuals and lyrics towards each other, which in itself is expected to be present throughout indie genre music videos, as this will allow for the viewer to get a clearer perspective on the theme which is being portrayed, being the artists struggle to get into the music industry.

The annotations will assist with the planning of the cinematography use within my group and I's music video. This is as after identifying things such as significant plot points and scenes, relating towards both the narrative and concept we can begin to plan what forms of cinematography will be appropriate to be used to portray them. The first example of this could be the use of a establishing shot at the very beginning of the video, as soon as the lyrics begin to play. This would make it clear to the viewer what locations to expect to find throughout the further duration of the video

Looking through the lyrics of the song also enable myself to visualize potential ideas for what will take place in my group and I.s music video. This is as after identifying things such as significant plot points and scenes, relating towards both the narrative and concept we can begin to plan what forms of cinematography will be appropriate to be used to portray them. Another example of cinematography use will be the use of a close up taking place in the fourth stanza, where the artist will be shown busking in London, and their money basket will be shown to have no money in it. This will be used to make it clear to the viewer that the artist is struggling to get by, which through planning this use of a camera shot it helps to establish how we are going to portray an important theme/ message which is being conveyed throughout, and that being the struggle of getting by alone with no stable form of income, alongside the harsh reality of making it within the music industry.

Another element which will be planned out through analysing the lyrics within the song is the use of editing. This will be done through once again establishing what stanzas and lines will be used for the purpose of either showing the narrative or conveying a message, and to then try to visualize how the transitions of these shots will take place, which we can then note down besides the segment of song. One example I can take from our annotations is to have the use of jump cuts present throughout, to signify the change in locations in the visuals, which we have annotated by highlighting the chorus's, where the location will change every time the chorus plays again. One particular instance where this will take place would be a jump cut taking place to change the visuals from the suburban are, to the urban area of London, specifically Liverpool street, which would be used between the lyrics of "something is changing, changing, changing". This would make the change in location seem very drastic, emphasizing the shear contrast between the suburban and urban location, which would make the portrayal of the concept to be clearer towards the audience, which will be achieved through the planning that took place prior.

The next use of editing which was planned through analysing the lyrics is more for the purpose of assisting towards the portrayal of the concept, and helping convey this message. This was achieved through again establishing what stanzas and lines will be used for the purpose of either showing the narrative or conveying a message, which my group and I identified certain segments throughout which we deemed to certain editing styles to fit this scene and the lyrics. Another example can be taken from the second time the chorus changes, which will signify the change in location from Liverpool street to the streets of central London, where the use of a time lapse is intended to be used. This will be done to show how as the time passes as he is busking, no one is giving him any money, and that he is getting no acknowledgement or money. This form of editing will therefore enable for the artists representation to be clearly evident, which will show the concept behind the lyrics through the use of visuals to further emphasis the meaning.

The next element which the analysing of the lyrics has helped to plan is the use of mise-en-scene which will be present throughout the music video. The first element within mise-en-scene being setting and props. The annotating of the lyrics will assist with planning of this as my group and I can include certain settings and props to relate towards the lyrics of the song. An example of where I would include this would be to have the setting of Buckhurst Hill at the very beginning of the lyrics, where the artists home is referenced. This would make the lyrics and visuals to have a relationship between each other as they are both connected. This would enable for the visuals of the music video to flow better through the inclusion of this setting at this point, which is made possible through the planning prior.

The next element within mise-en-scene being costume, hair and makeup. Through the annotations, my group and I had to look at the lyrics and alongside establishing what scenes would take place during certain segments, we also had to consider what forms of costume, hair and makeup will be used to portray certain feelings, which are conveyed throughout. An example of where I will emphasis the importance of this particular type of mise-en-scene would be included in the third from last stanza, where the rich and successful artist will be seen wearing a bright suit coloured suit or just generally bright colours. This will be done to show how he is successful and well off, showing the comparison between them and my groups artist. Through this, we could therefore establish what segment this portrayal would be suited, being a significant scene with the portrayal of characters throughout.

The following element within mise-en-scene being facial expression and body language. As the lyrics within the song go out to convey certain emotions and feelings towards the audience, this can be emphasised and added upon through the use of facial expressions and body language, which is used to the same effect when it comes to the visuals of a music video. One example of where we have planned to include a certain form of body language is evident in the second stanza, where the artist will be shown travelling on the train. Within this scene the body language of the character will be slumped and layed back, with the purpose of showing how he is bored travelling. This relates towards the lyrics of the song as he is shown constantly changing locations throughout. This could connote towards the viewer how he is tired of being in the position which he is in, as despite all of his efforts travelling to multiple places in the hopes of his circumstances changing nothing happens, and that he is bored and fed up of it all.

The fourth element within mise-en-scene being lighting and colour. The use of lighting and colour is often to portray certain feelings towards the viewer and emphasising the presence of certain macro elements, which through looking at the lyrics of our song certain lyrics which appear to be used to the same effect or showing a certain message can be further re-enforced through the use of lighting and colour. Because of this my group and I planned to use low key lighting in the first stanza and beyond. This will be done to signify that the song is starting and that the events which are being shown on the visuals are taking place in the past, as before the song is played a short sequence based in the past will be included to assist towards the portrayal of the narrative; showing the artist in the present in present day as the remainder of the music video will show the events of the past. This form of lighting will therefore emphasis towards the viewer that the events are taking place in the past, which is re-enforced by the lyrics as they often relate towards the artist recapping on what's happened to him in the past with his previous life experiences.

The last element within mise-en-scene being positioning of the characters/ objects in the frame. Planning for this in relation to the lyrics were to establish if the portrayal of either a character or a certain macro meaning would be easier to show through showing characters in a certain way within the visuals. An example of where the positioning of a character will be done to this effect will be in the taxi scene which will take place at the very end of the lyrics in the last stanza, where the artist will be shown to be standing quite far away from the cab driver. This will be done to show how he is distant person, although as the lyrics say hey, hey its fine, I left it all behind, it will show how despite his portrayal throughout of being a lonely individual, he doesn't mind this as he intends on improving upon his situation by leaving everything behind

The annotating of the lyrics will assist with the planning of establishing what style of video my group and I deem to be most acceptable with the song. This is as we can see what style would be suited towards the lyrics of the song so that the lyrics and visuals correlate between each other, and if it fits with the genre of the song also. As a lot of the lyrics focus upon personal accounts of the artist, and heavily story based lyrics, this has made my group and I want to plan to create a heavily narrative based music video due to this. Although, alongside the clearer to see narrative, we wish to include a hidden concept behind the visuals also. This is as the lyrics of the song appear to be more open to interpretation when it comes to a potential hidden meaning behind them, therefore we can incorporate a concept which will be suited towards what emotions are being portrayed within the lyrics. As indie genre music videos are often diverse, incorporating a concept which relates towards the meanings of the lyrics, it will remain to be conventional to the indie genre and appealing towards the target audience.

Through analyzing the lyrics of the song, this will assist with planning how the music video will portray the artist, and the relationship the audience will have between the artist. This is as my group and I have established where significant scenes will take place during the song, being significant for the purpose of the portrayal of meaning towards the viewer. An example of this can be taken at the very beginning of the first stanza, where the artist is clearly recalling personal events and emotions which he conveying through the lyrics, and from identifying this my group and I will incorporate an opening sequence which will straight from the off establish the artists down to earth and relatable identity.

The target audience of my group and I's music video will be clearer to identify through the analyzing of lyrics which we have conducted. This is as through looking at the lyrics of the song, it can be seen whether or not there is any explicit content which wouldn't be suited for a younger audience. Alongside this, within the song it is clear to identified that the general vibe of the song emits a mature and gritty style towards it, telling of personal accounts of the artist. Because of this, we as a group believe that the target audience would be a maturer audience, potentially aged 15 and over. This is as the themes shown throughout and the connoted message behind the lyrics, about the struggles of leaving home alone without a steady income, alongside the harsh reality of the unlikelihood of breaking into the music industry would be more appealing towards an older audience. This is conventional to the indie genre as the target audience which the lyrics are catered towards is typically aimed towards an older group, which is evident here through the mature messages and themes.

I will use my planning of the lyric annotations to assist me with the creation of storyboarding my group and I's music video in greater detail. This will be as we have analysed another element towards our music video, beginning to plan more smaller details and how this will work in conjunction between the lyrics and the visuals which will be seen. This will allow us to gather a greater understanding of the narrative and what will take place, and will assist with the structure towards the storyboard. Alongside this, it will also provide us with more micro elements to include within the storyboard, as we have a better insight towards what we will include when, and when during the narrative and to what purpose.