Francis Lawrence

Music Director Study

Basic Biography• Lawrence was born to American parents in Vienna, Austria on 26th March 1971. • He moved to Los Angles at the age of 3.• He worked as a 2nd Camera Assistant on the set of ‘Pump up the Volume’, directed by Allan Moyle.• He also gained a Bachelor Degree in Film Production from Loyola Marymount University Film School in LA.• He then went on to work as Assistant Director on the feature ‘Marching out of Time’, directed by Anton Vassil.• Lawrence then went on to join his ex-classmate, Mike Rosen; and co-directed many music videos. • He directed his first music video for Michael Blakely, this was ‘A Man Rides Through’. • He is currently signed to DNA Inc.

Key ArtistsFrancis Lawrence has worked with a number of well known, number one artists, here a just a few -

Missy Elliot

Gwen Stefani

Britney SpearsJennifer Lopez

Lady Gaga

Avril LavingeAerosmith

Janet Jackson

Pink

Black Eyed Peas

Jay-Z

Other Work• Other work that Lawrence has directed

includes directing the major block buster hit, ‘I Am Legend’ (2007), featuring Will Smith.

• He also directed ‘Water for Elephants’ with Robert Pattinson in 2011.

• ‘Touch’ was a hit TV series, directed by Lawrence during 2012.

• Lawrence won a Grammy Award for Best Music Video, Short Form; this was for Lady Gaga’s video of ‘Bad Romance’.

Two Videos from LawrenceLady Gaga – Bad

Romance

Pink – Just Like a Pill

Lady Gaga – Bad RomanceMise en Scene Camera

• Contrast of light and dark lighting sets mood and tone.• Similar setting throughout (white/modern).• Cat/Drink/Bed are used as props.• The white setting suggests connotations of cleanliness and purity which contrasts the narrative of the video.• Lady Gaga has at least 16 costume changes during the sequence of this video.• There are lots of other ‘characters’ involved with the performance side of the video (dancing etc). • Futuristic mood to the video which can be seen through costume, make up and hair, this conforms to Gaga’s stereotype of being unusual.

• Many symmetrical shots are used. particularly during performance parts.• Close-Ups of Gaga to show detail and prehaps to emphasize her many costume changes throughout the video.• Mid –Shot of Lady Gaga in the bath, paying particular attention to her extravagant make up and hair. • Long Shots used of Gaga and dancers, this is used aswell as a point of view shot, to show that the men who are ‘bidding’ on women are seeing them as ‘a whole’ and to perhaps show that a man will look a woman ‘up and down’ when they find one attractive. • Establishing Shot is used at the very beginning to show the setting that the video is in and creates a slightly weird mood due to what the setting is.

Lady Gaga – Bad Romance cont.Editing• Lots of Jump Cuts are used between shots to show the unpredictability of each scene. • Lady Gaga has the most prevalence on screen as this shows she is the centre of attention. • Action Match when Lady Gaga creates a gun with her hand, it switches from one shot to another with her doing the same action. • Suggestion of Male Gaze through use of editing, for example, lots of scenes are through the eyes of a man and there is a particular focus on the women dancing, which links to some sexual connotations of the video.• Freeze Frame is used when diamonds are mid air surrounding Gaga, this suggests that she is worth a lot of money, as we see when the man buys her for a large amount of money.

• Digital Editing is used to show the bed catching fire, and Gaga standing in front of it, this suggests power on Gaga’s part.• The editing is motivated towards Lady Gaga and there are very little shots that she is not in. • Fast Paced Editing to show how dysfunctional the concept is and random.• Gaga is always centrally located in whatever shot she is in, this presents her as being powerful, which contradicts stereotypes of women, Concept

The concept of the video is both narrative and performance as we see both play a part, e.g. The dancing and the storyline. It is also symbolic and suggests sexual references and power.

Pink – Just Like A PillMise en Scene• Provocative Costumes such as underwear and very little clothing.• There are lots of other performers in the video such as band players, and extras.• Dark and Grungy setting relate to the costume that the artist is wearing and sets a gothic mood.• The setting is a dark, worn down house that sets a depressed mood, this can link to the connotations that the song sets about the use of drugs. • Desolate setting can link to the songs meaning.• Costume, Make Up, Setting and Lighting conform to the stereotype of grunge/punk.• Not many props apart from band equipment.• Dark Lighting is used pretty much through out, again to set the tone.

Camera• Direct Address is used – Pink often looks at the camera and acts as if she is singing to the audience, perhaps to tell her story?• Low Angle Shots – when Pink is performing after assumingly she has taken drugs; this shows the power she believes she now has.• Extreme Close Ups of the artists face in particular, especially her costume to show detail. • Shaky/Distorted Camera Shots are used, this again links to drug use and shows life through the eyes of Pink, this is combined with a POV shot. • High Angle Shots – when Pink is laying on the ground after assumingly taking drugs, show how little power she has over her body and emotions. • Mid Shots, Close Ups and Symmetrical Shots are also used.

Pink – Just Like A PillEditing• Fast Paced Editing – can also represent effects of drug use.• Lots of Jump Cuts create a distorted vision and confusion amongst the audience. • Montage of lots of different scenes suggest that the artist is trying to represent chaos and unpredictability, the range and varied events of each scene is symbolic to the meaning of the song.• Drained Colour from the video, creates an unhappy mood and reflects upon what Pink is singing about and why. • Digital Effects – use of many white rabbits surrounding Pink have been digitally copied to create a hallucinogenic like feel to the shot, again relating to drug use and linking to ‘Alice in Wonderland’. • Male Gaze is used as the main character ‘Pink’ does not wear much clothing, therefore attracting male attention.

• The first shot is of the singers name, so we instantly know who the artist is. • Pink is usually centrally located in each shot and is in a majority of the shots in the video. • Digital Editing is also used when the audience see Pink running down a corridor, which is very distorted (also link to song meaning and connotations).

Concept• A mix of both performance and narrative concept is used in this video. For example, in some shots; Pink is singing the song with a band. But, in others she is telling a story to the audience. • The video carries a very symbolic meaning to what the artist is singing about, as we can see in a number of ways.

Lawrence’s Style• I have found that there are connections in both the videos I analysed in his style of work.• Firstly, both videos are set in the same setting throughout, neither change from the setting we see in their establishing shot apart from maybe a different room etc. But still in the same house, for example, Pink’s video is set in a deserted house and she stays within that house throughout but she does change rooms. • He also likes the artist to be the most prevalent on screen, there are very minimal shots where the artist is not there, and they are usually centrally located within the shots. • It is also clear that Lawrence likes to use both narrative and performance in his videos as we can see from the dance and band performances in Lady Gaga’s and Pink’s videos, this shows two sides to each artist.• Digital Editing is also used in both his videos I analysed as this can help enhance meaning and create mood and tone, for example, the fire used in ‘Bad Romance’ creates power and the rabbits used in ‘Just Like A Pill’ create downfall and hallucinations.

My Response• I enjoyed both the videos I watched that Lawrence has

directed, both portrayed the meaning of each song really well and I particularly liked the way he always kept the artist at the centre of attention. I also liked the way he used settings to create mood and set tone. Both videos were very different but similar but not in obvious ways; but it is clear that both videos were directed by the same person when you look at the way they both used the same concepts of performance and narrative. I didn’t really like the way he used fast paced editing in both videos, it left me confused, but then again this did relate to the meaning of both songs and helped represent them well which I did like about his style.