In order to first gain inspiration, I read through and analysed the lyrics of my chosen song 'Fumes'. By doing this I was able to understand my own meaning behind the words and begin to envision a story-line for my music video.
The morning light shines a lifeline
Escape is what I need
I should've listened last night girl
This is beyond belief
That we keep falling for the lure of
Liquid confidence and lies
And we skydive from walls we built
Dying just to feel alive
The first line of the song helps establish a setting: early in the morning, perhaps him just waking up - the lyrics reflect the same meaning as the well known quote a new day is a new chance. Here EDEN is thinking about the night before and how he should of listened to the girl that he was with. Combined with the line 'this is beyond belief', it is evident that, due to him not listening to her, he has caused alot of pain and destruction within their relationship. The lines afterwards reveals that he acknowledges the fact that they are no longer feeling that they are in love, but, instead, they keep acting as if they are what they used to be. In reality, they are both in love with confidence and lies that keep destroying this relationship. Moreover, liquid confidence could mean alcohol indirectly quoting the lines of "liquid courage". As well as this, I think that both the man and the female want to believe the lies that they tell eachother, choosing to play off the dwindling downward spiral that is their relationship and exchange it for comfort and confidence, playing as the couple they were before and not the ones they are now. It is evident that the apparent relationship acts as a comforting factor for both of them, especially with the metaphorical comparison to their love and skydiving; When you skydive, you have adrenaline. You feel “alive”. He is comparing this to his relationship and saying that they are jumping into something they know will end, but they want the temporary feeling of being “alive”, or being in love.
On the way down screamin'
Woah
The pre-chorus acts as a continuation from the verse. As they are experiencing the thrill of the fall, they realise the true danger they are in: They’re losing the love in their relationship, and it scares them enough to make them scream.
If all we have is time then we'll be alright
It's not much but it's better than nothing
We're running on fumes but we'll make it through the night
It's not love but it's better than dreaming
Desperation, a seemingly common theme throughout the song, is apparent in the first line of the chorus. EDEN is trying to console himself, persuading himself that everything will work out. 'It's not much but it's better than nothing' highlights that their "love" isn't real but it's better than being alone. The title of the song, 'Fumes', is first mentioned in the following line. A possible meaning to “running on fumes” could be a form of metaphor of their relationship, to that of a factory “running on fumes”, it is an artificial way of work, and in the long run is bad for everyone. He is desperately trying to make the relationship work, and has gotten to the point of “running on fumes”, with trying to make it work “artificially” and doing things that seem romantic, with no passion behind it, but just to try and make it work, and in the long run for their relationship will ruin it, if they keep “running on fumes”, and right after it says “but we’ll make it through the night”, which is him trying to comfort himself reminding that they’ll make it through the night, but it is only one night, and not good for the long running relationship. Additionally, Fumes could mean substance abuse, perhaps drugs and alcohol, conveying how when they are under these fumes everything seems good, however when they sober up the harshness of reality hits them. It is confirmed that the couple do not love eachother in the last line, where EDEN clearly states 'it's not love'.
Oh I'm on fire
There's a burning in my bones
And in my eyes these dreams they're taking hold
I just need time
The rest of song consists of the chorus repeated twice.
To formulate ideas, I created a mind map full of themes I gathered from the lyrics of the song. By doing this, I was able to envision a story-line for my music video. I have chosen to create my video in an illustrative format in order to bring the lyrics alive, a style that is common in a variety of indie music videos.
Inspiration
LANY - WHERE THE HELL ARE MY FRIENDS
Within my music video I want to experiment with lighting. In LANY's 'WHERE THE HELL ARE MY FRIENDS' lighting is used in an extremely effective way, the red wash portraying how he is stuck in time (also shown with freeze frames) as everyone else is having fun without him. Additionally the blue wash displays how he is alone, walking by himself. The colour blue was a powerful choice as it comes with connotations of sadness and isolation. This has inspired me to use lighting within my music video to create a symbolic meaning.
Lighting was also essential in order to create a confusing sensation for the audience by the use of strobe lights. The constant flicker of white light to darkness makes it more difficult for the audience to distinguish what the artist is doing.
The fact that there isn't a prominent performing element to the music video forces the audience to focus more on the symbolism and story being told. This style has intrigued me as I want my music video to be mainly focused on the illustrative format.
The montage editing at the beginning creates the sense of dreaming. I feel as if this would be effective within my music video for the flashbacks of the night before. It would also create a feeling of disjuncture which would contrast nicely with the illustrative content later on.
At 2:00 the lyrics of the song are incorporated through the scene as the actors mime the words as dialogue. This unique way of lip-syncing really intrigued me as its different and makes it visually interesting.
Within this video, the topic of difficult relationships is discussed which is a common theme also apparent in my chosen song. The ups and downs of the couples relationship within this video is emphasised by the use of transitions which cleverly juxtaposes what they used to be like compared to now. Within my music video, I wish to also use transitions to contrast the love between the two main characters.
Music Video Ideas
Idea No.1: A troublesome relationship featuring very elevated and extremely low emotions. Both of them need comfort but aren't exactly in love and heavily rely on alcohol.
Idea No.2: The protagonist is madly in love with a girl, however he and everyone else knows that she is bad for him. Within this idea, she acts as he's drug - he is addicted to her presence.
Idea No.3: The protagonist of the song is suffering from depression as he tries to recover from his girlfriends death.
Idea No.3: The protagonist of the song is suffering from depression as he tries to recover from his girlfriends death.
