Settle Down (The 1975)

Lyrics-

A soft sound
To the way that she wears her hair down
Covering up her face.
And oh what a let down,
And I don't seem to be having any effect now
Falling all over the place.

But you're losing your words
We're speaking in bodies
Avoiding me and talking 'bout you.
But you're losing your turn
I guess I'll never learn
'Cause I stay another hour or two.

For crying out loud, settle down!
You know I can't be found with you
We get back to my house
Your hands, my mouth
Now I just stop myself around you.

A small town
Dictating all the people we get around
What a familiar face.
Do you get what I mean now?
I'm so fixated on the girl with the soft sound
And hair all over the place.

And you're sure that I'd learn
I'm pushing through bodies
Avoiding me and walking 'round you.
And you're cold and I burn
I guess I'll never learn
'Cause I stay another hour or two.

For crying out loud, settle down!
You know I can't be found with you
We get back to my house
Your hands, my mouth
Now I just stop myself around you.

A soft sound
And to the way that she wears her hair down
Covering up her face.
And oh what a let down,
I don't seem to be having any effect now
Falling all over the place.

But you're losing your words
We're speaking in bodies
Avoiding me and talking 'bout you.
And you're losing your turn
I guess I'll never learn
'Cause I stay another hour or two.

For crying out loud, settle down!
You know I can't be found with you
We get back to my house
Your hands, my mouth
Now I just stop myself around you.

For crying out loud!

-

The reason we chose this song is because we thought it would give us a lot of potential to work with the themes explored in indie pop codes and conventions. It is also a challenge for us as it allows us to deviate slightly from the typical indie pop music videos due to the double meaning of the song. Rather than going with the most obvious interpretation which is mainly based around the themes of sex, alcohol and (most of the time) a happy, beautiful relationship, we wanted to explore the other interpretations of the lyrics; we came up with the idea that the song is about a dysfunctional couple and the lyrics emphasise his anger and frustration with her ("For crying out loud!"), as well as suggesting that they argue a lot which only angers him further ("Avoiding me and talking 'bout you").

It is obvious that the song is about a relationship, but the band have an abstract sound and the lyrics are abstract too, so it allows us to illustrate our own interpretation while sticking to the codes and conventions of the genre. There are times in the song where the lyrics indicate that the relationship is imbalanced - he makes a lot of angry comments ("For crying our loud, settle down!") however at the same time there are areas where their relationship is depicted as good and normal ("I'm so fixated on the girl with the soft sound/And hair all over her face").

Costume, hair and makeup

Costume, hair and makeup

(click to enlarge)

The items of clothing we have chosen for our male lead are a pair of ripped, black skinny jeans and a bomber jacket.

The reason we've chosen such dark clothing is because it's typical of the indie genre codes and conventions - the artists generally dress this way to show that they don't want to stand out and the simplicity shows that they want people to focus on their music, not on their appearance. Males in indie pop music videos generally look quite casual and they don't style their hair, leaving it quite messy. This is what we've gone for here because we feel like this highlights the fact that indie pop artists don't concentrate on how the world perceives them; all they care about is the music that they make and they are comfortable the way that they are. We also let him wear his own black trainers as these worked very well with the rest of his outfit and followed the codes and conventions. Additionally we also allowed him to keep his earrings in as it further emphasises the recklessness and carefree nature of this genre. Traditionally boys do not wear earrings, so looking at it in terms of that it can also portray the people who enjoy this type of music (as well as the artists themselves) as rule-breakers and not conforming to society. This links to the codes and conventions of the genre too because generally people associated with this genre do not care about what others think of them. Although he is wearing a white t-shirt under his jacket, the black clothing clearly dominates over the white which implies that there is a dark side to him.

As opposed to the pop genre, the indie genre does not sexualise or voyeurs its female actors or performers which is why we chose to make her wear clothing that she was comfortable in and didn't attract the attention away from the song. As opposed to the male, she is wearing relatively colourful clothing to show her innocence and perhaps naivety given that she has chosen to be with somebody who represents something bad, something dark. The checkered shirt and jeans that she is wearing can fall under the "hipster" category, and we wanted to make her wear it because hipsters are generally associated with the indie genre so we believed that people could relate to her more and would be able to put themselves in her shoes and understand her as a character.

Her hair is down and quite messy; as a result of our research we wanted to make her look as natural as possible because it links to the codes and conventions, which is also why we only wanted her to wear natural makeup, so she is only sporting mascara and has her eyebrows slightly enhanced. The simplistic makeup shows her to be a very real and authentic character, natural and perhaps showing that she has nothing to hide and she wants the world to see her as she is. Additionally her clothing and the colours of it also establishes her age - she seems younger than the male due to her brightness, while he looks older and more mature because of his black attire. Although her clothing is for the most part quite vibrant, she is still sporting a black coat over her checkered shirt; it is lined with white fur however again the black dominates the white and it can be interpreted as the male having some sort of control over her, almost like she represents the white and he represents the black.

It can also suggest that she needs that sort of protection that only comes from him, and that's implied through the fact that the coat matches his black apparel. We thought this would link in nicely with the narrative of our video and would emphasise how dangerous their relationship actually is. 

(our actors)

(click to enlarge)

Location Recce (Day 1)

This location is a public footpath in Swanbourne that follows along an old, abandoned railway line. We though this location would be perfect for the vision that we had. We want to use an outdoor location that is open and naturally beautiful to show the exterior viewpoint of the relationship between our characters.

This location has a lot of features for us to work with. Firstly, a large field means that we have a lot of space to film and it gives this open and bright feel that we are looking to portray, by allowing a lot of natural light in to the shots. The picturesque nature of the location allows us to represent the happiness and goodness that the audience, and outsiders will see in our two characters and their relationship, which will soon unravel and reveal itself as something very different and show a darker side.

This location also has a set of steps. These steps would allow us to shoot from different angles to convey messages about our characters. We wanted to shoot a scene where out male character is chasing after the female. The stairs will allow us to shoot this from a low angle (from the bottom of the steps). It would allow us to convey the power and dominance of the male character as he chases her down and shooting the chase from a low angle will present him in a predatory light, and foreshadow the later events of the music video.

Alternatively, another shot type we thought would be good to use on the stairs is a point of view shot using some handheld camera work. If the audience were to see the shot from the male's point of view as he chases the female in the descent down the steps, it would further the dangerous and quick atmosphere of the chase with jolting and camera movement. Again, this would give the audience an insight to the dark and predatory nature of our male lead.

This location has the interesting feature of an abandoned railway line. The railway line would convey a very interesting message to an audience. Indie Pop artists and their music often show rebellion, and highlight the unconventional and alternative ways of Indie Pop artists and their music. The fact that we will have the opportunity to film our shots here, is the perfect chance for us to symbolise and convey the theme of rebellion. Walking along a railway would be deemed as dangerous and unsafe. Having our actors walk along here will really highlight their rebellious and unconventional way of life and stick to the conventions of typical Indie Pop music videos.

Cons of this location:

When visiting this location we noticed how wet and muddy the ground was in places. This meant in areas it was slippery and we would need suitable clothes and footwear for the production team and our actors to keep them safe and clean.

Another thing that may be an issue with this location is the fact it is on a public footpath and therefore we may see some other people around who are in the area. We will be able to work around this because the area doesn't seem to be busy and when photographing it we didn't see anyone around. We will also make sure our filming times aren't on times where it's likely to be busier.

Copyright Permission Letter

Dirty Hit                                                                                      Miss Alexandra Cojocaru

32 Faraday Road                                                                                   16 Draymans Walk

London                                                                                                                Brackley

W10 5RS                                                                                                Northamptonshire
                                                                                                                        NN13 6DF

Dear Sir/ Madam

I am writing on behalf of my A2 Media studies group to request permission to use the song "Settle Down" by The 1975. Our brief is to create a music video and digipak that fits the codes and conventions of our chosen genre (Indie Pop). This will be done professionally and tastefully. Once the digipak and the music video have been created, they will both be posted on to the blogs of each group member and will be examined by an examiner.

My group and I would be grateful if you would grant us permission to use this song and we are very excited and enthusiastic about starting this project.

We look forward to hearing from you in the near future.

Kind regards

Alexandra Cojocaru

Album Poster Analysis

(click to enlarge)