The Creative Process

We first got the idea for our music video by listening to the lyrics. It’s a story line for an abusive relationship, so we thought we’d match the video to the lyrics. But then we listened to the female version of the same song and we decided that the music video would look a bit better if we added the beginning verse as it would make the video more original, we agreed that the music video should focus on the female protagonist as she is the first one to sing and the actor the audience would want to see more of as they follow her struggle in life. We decided to use the stereotypical story line of a weak female standing up to the abusive partner because a lot of people can relate as that is how most abusive relationships end, they either get help or fight back, fighting back seemed the better choice to use in the music video as the lyrics don’t show her getting out, they show her getting more involved.

The outfit ideas for the female protagonist were based on the emotions vulnerable and angry. Whilst someone feels vulnerable they dress comfortable to take away any stress they can from their life, so we dresses the female protagonist in baggy simple jeans with a black tank top and little make-up. Making her look simple and difficult to read or it can be seen as her copying her partner to be like him. Whilst in the scenes where she is fighting back she is dressed in clothes that represent anger, the idea for these clothes came from my (Sarah) life, as I used to be a weak person but when I got stronger I dressed ‘louder’. So we dressed the female protagonist in a black, layered, punk mini-skirt with fishnet tights, big black boots and a white tank top. Whilst the bottom half of her outfit consist of mostly black ( showing mourning and anger of lost time) her tank top in this scene is white meaning a new start ( e.g a blank canvas). While the male protagonist clothes are the same styled outfits throughout the video showing no change in his emotions or character. We dressed him in baggy jeans ( showing his comfort in the situation) and dark t-shirts which represents his anger throughout.

To get our location ideas for our music video, we fist watch the original music video produced by Eminem and Rihanna. We decided on using Costa Coffee in a flash back as Costa is a good meeting place for new couples. Next we decided to use James' house as the prime location, as it fits the settings very well. Finally we decided to use a back alley for the choruses as it fits the lyrics very well, the grimy streets fit the anger of eminem. Then Sarah came up with the idea of filming at a beach to show how secluded her character is.