Floria Sigismondi was born in 1965 into a Canadian-Italian family. Whilst growing up in Italy, she discovered a passion for Photography. A few years later, she found that she had a love for directing. After directing a few low budget films, Sigismondi was approached by 'The Revolver Film Company' where she became more well known. Alongside her directing passion, she hosted numerous exhibitions to display her art work and photography. After writing and directing 'The Runaways', she began to get more involved in directing music videos. She has worked with people such as Justin Timberlake, Katy Perry, Ellie Goulding, Pink and David Bowie. People can also recognise her work by the dilated and jittery camerawork she replicated throughout most of her videos. In 1993, she directed her first music video and it was called 'A Certain Slant of Light' by the Tea Party. I have choose to analyse 3 of her music videos to be able to identify the similarities between them. I choose to analyse Ellie Goulding's 'Anything Could Happen', Katy Perry's 'The One That Got Away' and Pink's 'Try'.
I chose these particular music videos because of the unique camerawork and the lighting that was used throughout. I also like the fact that they aren't linked in that many ways. There is a signifiant different between the three. Ellie Goulding's 'Anything Could Happen' is a concept based video involving Goulding turning into a queen with the beach as her kingdom. This is the way she is portrayed but intact she is an angel looking down on the beach and its happenings. Like Gouldings concept based video, Pink's video for 'Try' is also concept-based. This is shown through a very aggressive dance routine performed by Pink herself and another male figure. Unlike the other two videos, 'The One That Got Away' by Katy Perry is very much narrative based. By showing a story that connects Perry's past to her future and how life has changed and all the grief she has gone through.
One of my main focuses for this essay is the sound elements Sigismondi chose to use throughout the three music videos i have chosen. The elements that are used really compliment the lyrics with a creative use of tempo and pitch. At the beginning of 'Anything Could Happen' there are some shots of waves crashing into rocks. Diegetic sound is used here to build up some tension for the following shots It also helps to set the scene. If you listen carefully it seems almost that there is an element of sound that sounds like breaking glass been added to the wave sounds adding a more striking effect.
The settings used in all three videos are quite similar. The way they are away from any civilisation and there is no one around to bother them. They are free to let out their emotions in whatever way they feel necessary. The beach setting used in 'Anything Could Happen' shows no form of society around meaning she can form into anything she wants and also relating to the song's title, anything could happen to her. In 'The One That Got Away' Perry is shown in a rural surrounding portraying to the audience that she is in the middle of nowhere and no one is there to be any form of aid or help. Also in Pink's 'Try', she is shown with the male character in a wooden shack which you don't usually find in the middle of a community. The locations in all three videos are portrayed before the music even starts playing, making the audience familiar with the setting before having to move on to the amount of focus needed to listen to the lyrics.
Sigismondi really takes the titles of the songs into consideration when it comes to making the video. Another similarity I noticed was the way the lyrics linked together. 'Anything Could Happen' is almost a quote about doubt, in this case, doubting about what could happen to the persons involved in the relationship. 'Try' is a common word used throughout a relationship , trying to make things work or trying to impress someone. 'The One That Got Away' is one of the more emotional feelings felt by a person who has lost someone through a relationship. After linking them all together in the way of a relationship, I noticed that they told a story, from beginning to end. Anything Could Happen shows doubt at the beginning of a relationship, people 'Try' throughout the relationship process to make things work out the way they wanted too and also 'The One That Got Away' is showing someone has gone and left the other person upset and even distraught.
All of Sigismondi's videos include the same lighting and colour schemes. The lighting she uses throughout most of her videos is very natural and either very light or very dull. She uses colour well when she is trying to portray different emotions. Although the lighting is quite dull throughout 'Anything Can Happen', it portrays the emotion that she is in two minds whether to go ahead with what she is planning or not. The colours in 'The One That Got Away' are also dull but used to portray a different emotion. The feeling of loss is apparent in this video as you can tell that Perry is trying to move on but is still grieving for the one she loved in a previous time. Pink's video isn't as dark as the other two but it can also be seen as quite an upsetting emotional video. Even though not a lot of colours are used, the splashes of paint on the actors brings out some of the emotions and makes it more interesting. It allows the audience to read between the lines and maybe see some underlying feelings and emotions the actors are trying to portray.
Fashion is a big statement throughout Sigismondi's videos. All her artists are wearing the same form of outfit and in this case, floaty loose clothing. Pink is wearing a ripped up outfit which seems to be too big for her giving a loose feeling to it. Goulding is wearing a pale pink floaty dress and throughout most of the video, Perry is wearing a T-shirt that is clearly too big for her, It is more of a masculine top showing that it could belong to her boyfriend or family member.
The cinematography used in all three videos is also very similar. There are a lot of tracking shots used either moving closer to the artist or getting further away from them. The most common two camera techniques used are on a track and also handheld. The use of the moving camera can help the audience focus on the more serious points of the song and be able to make sense of the facial expressions used by the artists. By using mid-shots for when the actor is lip-syncing it helps the audience read what is happening and see what emotion she is feeling through her facial expressions. Also there is a good use of wide shots as it shows the location adding to the feeling of isolation and loneliness. This is more common in Goulding and Pink's video. In Perry's video, it is more common for the establishing shot to be used as it is showing the vast landscape where she lost her one and only love.
It seems that in most of her videos, Sigismondi likes the idea of transforming into something else. An example of this is when she chose to change Goulding from a normal girl into an angel looking down on everyone. This can be quite interesting when watching the video as it adds more confusion making the audience want to really focus in on what is happening allowing them to understand the concept of the video better.
Another similarity that I noticed between the three videos is the use of slow editing. Sometimes the tempo of it speeds up by only for a while then it goes back to the long takes and slow motion. During the instrumental section of 'Anything Could Happen', Sigismondi seems to make the edit match the beat of the music even though the beat is still clear. This helps the audience to think freely what their ideas of the video are.
Overall, Sigismondi has used a lot of similar techniques throughout her videos and these three in particular portray them really well. I personally like the way she has made her videos as she uses the same type of slow edit and a variety of shots. I think that the idea of a music video is to sell the artist as a sort of musical icon. By using all the different shots and edits in their music videos, it shows off more of their talent and musical skills. On the other hand, some people see music videos as a form of entertainment for their own personal viewing. Not all people watch music videos purely because they enjoy the song but because they can become hooked and obsessed with the artists. For example, people can become hooked of peoples looks or general appearance. A lot of entertainment comes from music videos alongside gaming and films.
One reason for creating a music video is to express the feelings and emotions of the artist. This allows them to connect with the audience through an easier type of media as things such as news reports and tweets can get generally twisted and sometimes completely made up. All songs have a meaning behind them whether it be falling in love with someone and being perfectly happy or maybe losing the person closest to you and you are using the song as a way of helping with grief. Personally I think that the theme of most music videos reflect the artists personality allowing the audience to get a clearer view on what the artist is like on the inside instead of just judging them on their appearance. An example of this is in Pink's 'Try' as she can be quite an expressive, outgoing person and this is portrayed in her video as she is expressing her feelings through lyrical dance.
Based on the age and gender of the artists, I predict that the target audience for these three videos are female aged between 15-25. If this guess wasn't based around the artist's age and gender, i would have taken a guess from listening to the lyrics and working out their meaning. Relationships are a common occurrence and females are more commonly effected. By listening closely to the lyrics, this helped me generate my idea for the target audience.
To summarise, after completing so much research on Sigismondi, I have noticed how powerful and how important a music video can be to the artist. Before completing this task, I used to watch a music video purely because i enjoyed the song but now it has taught me that there really is emotions being put across through these videos and it has really shown me to look at them a completely different than before. I believe that Sigismondi has created 3 amazing music videos all aimed at the same type of audience and all conveying the same sort of message all linking back to one topic. Relationships.
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