By Harriet Denial

TREATMENT – HEAVY STONE BY KYLA LA GRANGE

SONG BACKGROUND• Kyla La Grange (born 25 July 1986) is a singer-songwriter from Watford, England. She

has released two albums, 2012's Ashes and 2014's Cut Your Teeth.

• Heavy stone is a song by Kyla La Grange, which is featured on her ‘Ashes’ debut album which was most successful in the Swiss charts, where it peaked at number 18.

• ‘Ashes’ was produced by Brett Shaw at a studio in East London, with two tracks produced by Marky Bates, and was released on 30 th July 2012. All the songs on the album were written by La Grange, except ‘Love You Better’, which is a cover of a Maccabbes song. ‘Been Better’, ‘Heavy Stone’, ‘Vampire Smile’ and ‘Walk Through Walls’ were released as singles.

• The music video for ‘Heavy Stone’ is set in a swimming pool. Throughout, many of the shots have a black and white filter. This is to make the video appear more dramatic. Kyla herself features in the majority of the video. Although there is little sense of a narrative, by relating the lyrics to the video, the audience can from their own narratives as to why the shots are shot and placed the way they are.

THE ARTIST – KYLA LA GRANGE• Kyla La Grange (born 25 July 1986) is a singer-songwriter from Watford, England.

• She studied at Rickmansworth Secondary School in Croxley Green, Hertfordshire. Her mother is South African and her father is Zimbabwean. She was never heavily influenced by religion whilst growing up but she achieved a 2.1 in Philosophy, studying at Pembroke College, Cambridge from 2004-07.

• In June 2012 Kyla headlined her first major performance in the Guardian New Band of the Day gig.

• The genres of her music vary from indie rock, Folk rock, Folk, indie pop, Electronica and synthpop.

MY MUSIC VIDEO• The main setting for my music video will be in a garage. I plan to place pictures on the grey walls of the room, with dim

lighting from the lamps. Within these scenes, I plan to shoot the main character in this environment. During the beginning of the song, when the pace is relatively slow, I plan to shoot her curled up in the corner of the room. I have chosen to shoot this because it means that I am able to capture the emotion of the girl as she is going through her break up. I also plan on adding props such as alcohol bottles and burnt out cigarettes. When the music picks up pace nearer the end of this music video, I will shoot shots of her coming to realization and emotion taking over her, thus causing her to rip the photographs off of the wall relating to the lyrics ‘Your face has followed me home, with unwanted grace I leave you lonely and, we would never make a perfect piece to fit, we will remain unfinished puzzles as we sit‘. I have chosen to film in this location because it related to the lyrics, ‘hide me safe away, I wanna see myself painted an invisible grey.’

• Also, when shooting the artist singing the song, I plan on keeping the shot simple, due to the fact that the other shots within the music video will contain action. By keeping this shot simple by just showing the artist singing against a white background, I can allow the audience to connect with the lyrics and the emotions of the song, as well as being able to relate the artist to the music.

• Much like Kyla’s original video, I have chosen to use a small amount of ‘montage’ shots to fit between the narrative aspect and the singing shots. This will include shots in various locations to add a dramatic effect to the final piece. I also plan on using a black and white filter over the top of the music video to emphasize the emotions.

IMAGE• I want my artist to have an edgy, grunge messy look. This would include lots of dark

coloured layered clothing when in public, and baggy clothing when being shot in the garage. My artist will be ages 19 to 22, to keep the innocent young look within adults while still having a hint of maturity. Within this age, the idea of love is common, thus meaning that heartbreak is quite a focal point of emotions. The ‘soft grunge’ look that I wish to create will allow the music video to seem more emotional and allow the filter to connect with the video footage. The photographs below reveal my stimulus to create a character around.

INSPIRATION• Give Me Love – Ed Sheeran – Within this music video, we can see that the main

character follows the same sort of emotions that my main character would follow. When looking at the setting as well, mine would be similar, only with less props and in a much more simplistic area. Also, the costume shown on the angel (baggy dress) helps to add to a soft grunge, edgy feel that I hope to achieve in my music video. When adding all of these aspects together, I believe that I will be able to create a moving and convincing music video.

• Take Me To Church – Hozier – The music video for this song is shot completely in black and white, much like I wish mine to be. In my opinion, I think that this colour filter helps the video appear to contain more emotions. When videos are shot in black and white all the colour is replaced by a series of greys from black to white with mid tones at around 18% grey. The viewer had to work hard to imagine the colour, thus engaging the audience.

• Chandelier – Sia – Within this music video, the young girl is dancing in a dark and messy area. By using the colour of her hair against the dull and dark grey tones of the background colours, the main focus is drawn to her. This idea has inspired me to include in my music video, due to the fact that, by drawing the attention to the main character with the use of colour to make her stand out, you can indirectly promote the artist.

CAMERA WORK, EDITING AND LIGHTING• Due to the dramatic nature of this song, I plan on using a strong emphasis on lighting. This means that I

will be heavily reliant on the shadows created by the lamps to create a lonely and isolated sense. This also helps to add emphasis to the ‘grunge’ effect. By adding smoke (from the cigarettes that will be featured as a prop) I will be able to distort the light and create interesting shadows.

• As I am creating a music video, I plan to use movement within my camerawork. This means that, when shooting in the garage especially, I will need to use a Steadicam to make my shots look smooth. I plan on using long shots to establish the location and the props, and close-up shots to create the emotion. Also, by using close up shots, I will be able to promote the artist. When focusing on the shots against the white wall, I am going to use a mix of close up shots and mid shots, at a straight on angle to allow the audience to focus primarily on the artists facial expressions.

• For editing, I plan on making soft cuts within the softer parts of the song, and speed this editing up when the chorus and the final verse come in. During the faster shots, I also plan do using montage editing to fit together a series of dramatic shots, relating to the artist. By doing this, I am able to add both dramatic and emotional effect. As previously mentioned, I plan on editing the video with a black and white filter, as well as a soft film grain to give it the desired grunge and edgy effect.

MOOD BOARD/THEMES/PROPS