Green screen's are an important part of music videos as they provide a way to add special effects that might not be able  to achieve without, for example having footage of a car going down the road but not having the time or budget to be able to actually film in the road.

The narrative of a music video is vital in creating a memorable video, to create a video that sticks into the audiences mind there are numerous ways to go about it;

This post is Continuing from the last post on costume for the micro element of mise en scene, this time focusing on the 1975.

While deciding on costuming for our video, we decided it was a good idea to research similar artists and the use of costuming within our genre. 

Being a band that falls under the bracket/genre we were leaning towards, I felt it would be a good idea to take a look at one of Don Broco's Videos for a micro element that they always utilise for effect heavily : Mise en scene. 

In all of their videos there is obvious evidence of the setting ,costuming, lighting, scenery, props and much more to create the desired effect to match the song. I have chosen to focus specifically on "Money Power Fame" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHcEFB7D6WU

For starters, the song is one of the bands "heavier" ventures, opting for a more metal feel in some elements however at the same time keeping to the bands routes and staying relatively Indie/rock throughout the majority of the song. The song fits onto their newest release "Automatic" which itself was said to aim to a more "diverse and refined don broco sound" to their fans. 

Upon listening to the samples from their album: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/automatic-deluxe/id985952418 , it is easy to come to the conclusion this song and "what you do to me" are designed to be the songs blared out through fans speakers to release pent up anger and frustration, which can cater towards the darker side of rock as a genre, and more of a nod to older sounds of green day etc, instead of more modern "rock" bands who go for softer sounds. From this we could expect the video for the song to be darker, grittier, and more "in your face" than the slicker "Automatic" which has a more contempary "pop/rock" feel.

Right from the start, the mise en scene sets up this darker, grittier feel, as we see shots of a lone car, in a run down parking lot, with dark, wet weather as the backdrop. Already this sets the tone serious and moody to go along with the strong heavy opening of the song.

Just as the songs main riff comes in right at the start, we see the main actress in the video's eyes shown close up with dark full on eyeliner, fitting the image of what fans of this heavier sound, would possibly be attracted to, or aim to look like themselves. we come back and see her in the rest of the video, with over the top make up and hair, which is typical of the rock genre to almost objectify females, and the band have been critisized before for purely using women as "sex symbols" in their videos. Which could be suggested coming from "hold on" , and "whole truth" 's respective videos. That also use heavy make up, underdressed, and raunchy representations of women. 

As the video transitions into the main riff of the song and then throughout the video, we see  shots of the band performing, one by one, in what is presumably the parking lot shown at the start. There is heavy use of smoke, and the ground is visibly soaking wet and covered in grit.  All of which fits the songs image of being a more hardcore track on the release. The band are all wearing dark clothing, again to fit in with the image of the song, and the setting ; as being in summery clothes with the same backdrop would be a completely different message and feel for the video. 


Throughout scenes of the video we see the girl in the car being showered with money, this can be seen as referencing the title of the song and the lyrics, being about societies need and craving for money, power and fame, and the darker elements such as the use of alcohol, explosions, and fire (exploding the car) hinting at the corruption and things people will do to obtain these things. However some people could again refer to the use of the money shower referencing prostitution/ strip clubs linking into the objectification of women through this genre. Combined with her outfit (large fur coat etc) it is hard not to make the connection, which could also tie into my aforementioned point on how the themes are to do with the corruption and dark things people will do to obtain "money, power, and fame" which could be heavily linked to prostitution, human trafficking, sex slavery and even worse, darker parts of the world we live in. There is always huge controversy when it is discovered that now famous celebrities and figures, have in the past been involved in darker, shadier, and sometimes illegal activities on their rise to fame; take for example a high profile actress' like Marylyn Monroe, Julia Roberts, Catherine Zeta Jones and many more have all been tied to prostitution and hollywood casting scandals. This look can be reflected by the main actress in the video, and could be even mocking the criticism of the bands use of females as sex symbols, by hinting to an argument as to why the media today is riddled with these accusations; mostly to do with the pre 20th century hollywood's shady history of women and how they were landing top roles as actresses. 


As the song moves to more of a bridge element, where the heavy guitar lulls, we see a change in the setting, now to sunset, this mirrors the change in sound and welcomes the more soothing part of the track nicely. It would be odd to flip the settings round , as the sounds would completely not match, and would give off a different meaning. As the song moves towards the end, we see the actress rolling out what looks like a "det cord" , and then eventually detonating the car,
which transitions the setting into a nighttime scene, where pyrotechnics and more fire is used to continue the new elements of fire and explosions to contrast against the darkness. This provides a traditional , "rock" element, where in the final scenes the band or the set they are performing on often is seen to burst into flames, linking back to original themes behind the rock genre, such effect has before been seen by green day and a host of other bands.