My Treatment

Artists Name: Simple Plan

Members are Pierre Bouvier (lead vocals), Jeff Stinco (lead guitar), Sébastien Lefebvre (rhythm guitar, backing vocals), David Desrosiers (bass guitar, backing vocals) and Chuck Comeau (drums and percussion).

Album: Simple Plan (2008)

Song Title: Your Love is a Lie

Duration: 03.41

Director: Hannah George

Record Label: Atlantic Records


Overview

There are a range of different things that I wish to contain in my music video to keep the audience interested and make the video more visually exciting. I am planning to have some special affects involved such as changing the speed of certain shots, and different lighting and tone for flashback elements. There will be few areas of performance, where the video will contain the band ‘performing’ and playing the instruments heard in the audio. The lyrics will match the visuals in a narrative structure and there will be certain areas where the video cuts to the beat.

Style

The genre of the band and song in particular is alternative rock; therefore the clothes and style of the actors/band will be very casual, such as jeans and a plain t shirt, maybe with a bands logo on. There will be no make-up involved for any male actors in the video; however a small amount of makeup may be worn by a female actor. I do plan for the female actor to dress attractively, in fashionable clothes with styled hair. The colour scheme of the video will be generally realistic colours, however for the flashback elements and sections of the video where the male actor is imagining; I may use a soft focus or sepia tone to show that it is in his mind. The lighting will sometimes be dark when the male actor is inside by himself, as it will emphasise his mood and reiterate the fact it is mostly set at evening/night time, and also contrast with what will be brighter lighting of his flashbacks and the outdoors. I plan to have quite fast paced editing through the song, particularly in the chorus, and also use as many different camera angles and movement as necessary to keep the audience’s interest on the narrative, and make the video more exciting. I would like to have a small section of the video in split screen, to show two different situations occurring at the same time, (the girl cheating on her boyfriend with someone else, and the boyfriend home by himself at night). At the last chorus, the editing will be quite choppy and fast paced to reflect the anger that the male actor will be feeling at that point. Also a lot of camera angles will be used in this scene also. The visuals will all match the lyrics and the cuts of the editing will regularly match the beat and rhythm of the song.

Concept

My music video will fit into Andrew Goodwin’s classification of Illustration; there will be a structured narrative which matches the lyrics in the song and tells a story to the audience. I believe that this will keep the interest on the video for the viewer.

As the first 15 seconds of the song do not contain any lyrics, I will start the video with an element of performance by a ‘band’. This section will contain a few different camera angles instead of the camera being in one place so it will keep the audiences interest. There may be a few close ups or mid shots of each band member to introduce the artist to the viewer.

Next, as the first verse comes in, there will be a shot of a male lying on top of the covers of a double bed, on one side of the bed; to connote he is on his own, however maybe has a partner. The first verse will be lip synced by the male actor, and there may be some cuts to various items in the room such as a phone and a clock, to emphasise time and the fact he may be waiting for something. Then the actor finds a note under the pillow of the opposite half of the bed to which he is lying. There will be a flashback element in the second verse, as the male thinks back to his girlfriend joking about and blowing him a kiss and laughing. The second verse will not be lip synced. The scene will then change to the male imagining his girlfriend with another man, being close and laughing together looking like a happy couple. It will be filmed so that to the viewer, it looks as though he is watching them but they cannot see him. The line ‘but don’t take me for a fool’ may be lip synced, as the male actor turns away angrily.

The first chorus will contain a scene with the male actor and his girlfriend arguing, as he accuses her of cheating. As they are arguing, there will be shots of the girl and the other man she is with, hand in hand together, walking into a house. There will be varied camera angles such as close ups, extreme close ups, long shots and mid shots involved in this scene, which will be quite fast paced to reflect the negative situation. ‘It’s nothing but a lie’ may also be lip synced by the male actor as he walks out on the girl, slamming the door behind him.

I would then plan to have a split screen element; in one half, the girl and the man she is having an affair with together, and in the other half; the male actor alone at his house at night looking constantly at his watch or a clock. The split screens will continue following the two scenes until the next chorus.

During the chorus, the male actor will be walking alone along a street at night time, so it will be dark with not many people around. Each line will be lip synced, however interrupted by the backing singing of (but I feel it) and (but I see it). As the backing voices occur, there will be flashes of the male imagining his girlfriend and the other man together with each other.

After this chorus, there is a 16 second interval where the band plays with no lyrics. At this point, I will have another element of performance by the band, with different camera angles involved.

The last chorus and scene of the video will contain the male actor walking up to his house, about to discover his girlfriend with the other man. Just the first line of the chorus will be lip synced and the final ‘your love is just a lie’. The editing will get faster and choppier at this point as the chorus speeds up. The man will find the girl and other man together and get angry and aggressive towards the other man; this is where the fast editing will occur. When the last line of the song comes in, (your love is just a lie), it will be lip synced as the male actor out and slams the door in time with the word ‘lie’ of the song. The music video will then fade out to black as there is no further music after the last line – the song and video will stop abruptly.

Summary

I believe that the style and concept of my plan for my music video will be successful, as there is a clear narrative which matches the visuals of the song, and the editing will also match the emotions felt throughout the song. There will be certain sections which contain special effects such as slow motion, and some changes in lighting and colour which will also add to the interest for the audience. I think that this video will be a good way to promote the band due to the concept and style of the video.