The video to your music

Two music videos were released yesterday which are of particular interest to me. The first was 'Diamonds' by Rihanna, a standard mainstream tune but one that grows on you and which I now quite like. I'm sure you've heard it before.

The second was 'Give Me Love' by Ed Sheeran, one of my favourite songs and a particularly beautiful one to fall asleep to if counting sheep fails you. 'Give Me Love' is not a current song nor a new release, so the video was an unexpected but pleasant surprise. 

 Rihanna is one of my girl crushes and I absolutely love her; I love what she wears, I love her attitude and... I love what she wears. Maybe references to marijuana on her instagram or her overtly shameless sexuality don't quite make her the perfect role model for a younger audience but hello- this is the twenty first century- don't be so prude. Anyway, it doesn't matter because I LOVE WHAT SHE WEARS. Or did I already mention that?

What I particularly noticed in the music video was the fluffy, powder-blue jumper in a few shots, reminding me of the one from 'Only Girl in the World'. I love that jumper and it's currently my mission to find one like it.

I also admired the director's use of cinematography.  Rather than playing with a clear-cut storyline, the video focuses on imagery, creating beautiful and symbolic visuals which are always lovely to watch and inspirational for any prospective artist. As MTV news put it, 'Unlike her Instagrams and album covers, when it came time to shoot the video, she decided to rely less on exposed skin and shock, opting instead to create something of genuine beauty.'

Yes, I've always enjoyed Rihanna's music videos.

 With 'Give me Love' what I really admired was Ed's subtle modesty (which you can also read about in my previous post). You see, Ed does feature in his own video but only as a cameo. His decision to follow a specific storyline effectively highlights the difference between himself and Rihanna as artists; I don't want to generalise about nor discredit either artist, but if I had to I would say that while Rihanna focuses on the way her song sounds, creating commercial music, Ed is more of a heartfelt lyricist. He explores personal, emotional and meaningful experiences in his songs.

Ed referred to the video's 'gritty cupid vibes' and indeed when the girl pulls the feather out of her back...ewwww. It's a sweet tale about love however and the idea of a cupid who wishes to find love of her own is a tragic love story that follows after my own heart.

I also have to give a big thumbs up to Ed for the unconventional lesbian couple which adds a humorous twist to an otherwise haunting tale. 

Often I've found myself conjuring images and production ideas when listening to music and often therefore record my ideas so that eventually I can create these videos in my spare time. I enjoy cinematography, photography, music and, I have to admit it, being a bossy-boots director. I especially hope to shoot 'Wicked Games' by The Weeknd. It's difficult to describe their music- spiritual and ambient R&B? ephemeral wave? Well, I hope to transform this into a sort of slow-mo music video, capturing beautiful and delicate imagery just like in 'Diamonds'. The beginning of the plan is pictured below, and to give you a better idea (because bad drawings on paper doesn't quite cover the flashing images and fragmenting quality that I want to achieve), I created a short and basic video using images from Google. I'm afraid that it does look a little amateurish and it is difficult to picture exactly what I have in mind but I am hoping that you will overlook this and get the overall picture. Think flashes of powerful images, light and dark, ephemeral movement, slow motions with the camera.