Portishead‘Nylon Smile’

By Tom Millett forHollow Records

Tom MillettHartlepool 6th Form CollegeBrinkburn, Blakelock RoadHartlepool, TS25 5PFtom.millett@hotmail.co.uk

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ConceptThe concept for the video will be one that will focus on the artist of the video who is trying to run away from something. It is never made clear what it is and why she has run away from it but the video will show a masked man following her through a forest and a field to try and find her for whatever she has done. It will be made clear that the man following is physically imposing and is working for someone throughout the video but the video in itself will follow the artist as she tries to run away and the man chasing her. The video will use a lot of horror elements to show the tension of the event at hand but it will not be showing graphically any weapons or violence between the two characters to create the sense of ambiguity that is also present within the song. It is important to keep the video minimalistic for the song to converge with the quiet but tense nature that is within the production of the song. The goal is to create a video that will explore the fear of the unknown within an individual’s life and the consequences of disillusionment on people. It will also explore how isolation and loneliness can affect an individual mentally when they put themselves in isolated situations for a long period of time. The video in itself will be left on a mysterious note where we never discover the true fate of the artist and the man. We never discover what he does to her, what he doesn’t do or if he is even real. This is done to play with the psychological affects it may have had on the artist in the video by being alone for far too long.

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Narrative and PerformanceThe narrative and the performance will combine with each other directly within the video. The camera will show the artist lip-synching when she is in shot most times while the narrative will be occurring. It is worth noting that she never actually looks at the camera so the lyrics she is saying is not to the audience but rather to herself. The performance in itself will be a very subdued one there will be no voyeurism or choreographed dance routines as there are not required as they will just take away from the narrative and be a distraction.On the narrative side of things, the camera will show shots of the man in the distance or behind the artist to give the impression that he is following or chasing after her. There will be moments where the man will be in shots on his own to create a sense of tension and fear around him. There will some shots of the artist running away from nothing or the man depending on what moment or scene is present within the narrative. It is important to keep the mystery if he is actually there if is not. The artist within the video will look nervous, paranoid and scared to coincide the emotions that she is feeling due to the terrible situation she has put herself in. The man will presented by showing no real emotion only walking as his most physical characteristic. The narrative is deliberately minimalistic to create an interpretation of events for every individual who will watch the video.

Many themes will be used within the video and will presented in different ways.

Isolation

The video will create its main theme around isolation. This will be presented by showing sweeping scenes of landscape with only the artist in shot. This will be done to reveal a sense of dread that nobody will be able to save the artist if she dies there in the isolated location. It will also be shown by showing the fear and paranoia on the face of the artist when she realises is all alone in the narrative briefly. It will also be shown by showing scenes where the man is in shot with the artist in a large environment. It will almost be like a vulture waiting for its prey to stop moving.

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Psychological paranoia

It will be a key component to the narrative that it is entirely possible that the man following the artist may not actually be there. It is important to make unclear if he is real or not. This will be initially done by not having him show any emotion but it can be expanded on by having him not touch the artist or speak. His only physical interaction will be him walking towards the artist or stand still and stare at them. However, the man will be deliberately visually imposing and stand to make him seem incredibly imposing. This will all link in with the paranoia of the artist as it may be possible that the man is just a part of her imagination to keep her moving away from whatever caused her to leave her home and walk constantly trying to escape something.

Fear

The fear that the artist will be experiencing while she is in the music video will mainly be shown through shots of her hiding with a panicking facial expression. It will also be shown through the lyrics of the song which will reveals themes of fear in lines such as “Cause I don't know what I've done to deserve you.” It is important to keep the narrative as tense and as fearful as possible throughout to make the most out of the narrative.

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Camera and Editing

The majority of shots will be shown at half-speed to emphasise each shot individually and give the video a slower pace which combines well with the slow pace of the song. The camera will occasionally use some elongated shots, which will zoom out to show the atmosphere and scope of the loneliness of the artist in the video. There will a lot of close ups and angled shots to show the fear and the vulnerability of the artist. There will be some wide shots featured to show how large of a space the artist is in without anyone to talk to at all. It also reinforces the ideas of the artist being isolated too. There will be a considerable amount of medium shots specifically when the camera is only focused on the man to emphasise how physically imposing he can be. The medium shots will be done to add to the sense of fear that surrounds him. When both characters ae in shot, the camera will be using either deep focus or shallow focus to create a more cinematic feeling to the video either only focusing on the man in the background or only the artist in the foreground.

As far as editing goes, a lot of thought beats will be used within the video to give a smooth flow within the video as well as a good way to put in as many varied shots as possible within the narrative. There will be some post-production used to show the title of the song in the opening shot but outside of that no major post-production editing will be needed. More intense moments within the narrative will have less cuts in the video to emphasise the impact of importance of the actual event at hand in the narrative.

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Lighting

The lighting within the music video will be mainly focused on the sunset on the forest in the first half of the narrative focusing on dark colours and the idea of fear creeping in. When the location eventually becomes darker, streaks of light will used on the man and the artist to create an eerie terror like loneliness between the two. Some of the earlier shots in the video will be incredibly bright but as the narrative progresses, the video will get darker and darker to symbolise what the artist is supposedly running from is coming closer and closer to her. Lighting will be used selectively for the final moments in the music video to show the climax of the song in dark and disturbing way by doing flashes of light to change the vibe of the entire scene and narrative.

Mise En SceneThe Mise En Scene for the music video will be massively for the video. The location will of large grassy fields that will be in the daytime at least, vibrant with greens and yellows to give a natural and somewhat peaceful impression of the video. As the narrative goes on, the forest will become a dark and desolate place where it would seem like there is no escaping from it at all. The artist’s clothes will be warm, large clothes that will be in theory used to keep her warm while she is running away from the danger to her. The man will be wearing a wool, pea coat that will be used to make a more imposing and mysterious figure that could look like he could harm the artist. He will be wearing a mask of some sort to hide his and his emotion. The mask will be important as it can create the illusion that the man might not even be fully human or sane. Certain landmarks in the location include the use of a large rock or a hay bale that will be used for the artist to hide behind from the man and create a sort of a dark hide and seek aspect between the pair.

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