Conventions In Kate Miller Heidke's Music Videos

Words



Kate released this single titled "Words" in the Spring of 2007, her first single of the album "Little Eve" was described as being 'Incisive, fun, personal, confident' with 'poetic lyrics delivered with a vocal performance that is nothing short of masterful, 'Words' is one of the most memorable songs you?ll hear this year'. "Words" clearly has many similar attributes to the single "Can't Shake It" and therefore is very important for us to study carefully and analyze the main themes and ideas that Kate used in this music video, so that we can incorporate them in our own video.

Therefore we will be looking at how the music video was filmed, edited and how the aspect of mis-en-scene is vital in every music video.

In all music videos camera work creates the depiction of the artist and how they want to be portrayed in the song. Kate's video is a performance music video.

Conventions of a Performance pop music video

• Lip sync close up's
• Unusual camera shots and angles
• choreographed dance routine
• First person mode of address

Kate's video 'Words' is in the Amplification genre for music videos. This means performance and narrative may be used, however rather than simply illustrate the lyrics or sounds this director will amplify both with creative interpretation, unusual ideas and surrealistic approaches. However there is still a direct link to the song whether it is the beat, sound or connotative link to part of the lyrics or song title.

There is a clear change in the music video from the slow pace of the typing at the start of the video to the hectic madness seen in the middle of the video. Mid shots and close ups are regularly used at the start and the position of Kate is generally in the middle of the screen with no abstract angles. Her face, body and specific objects are made the centre of the music video and a therefore a central part of the song - light bulbs, typewriter.

However during the chorus the camerawork is much more shaky and whip pans, fast dolly track shots and handheld camera shots are used to represent the madness and insanity of Kate (a mental patient) in "Words".

The editing is obviously an essential part of any music video, the timing of the cut with the beat of the music makes the music video what it is and with bad editing a video can become a disaster. The slow editing incorporates with the lack of movement from the camera at the start of the music video to represent the beat of Kate typing the letter to her lover. However the extremely fast cutting rate of the second part of video further denotes the madness of Kate due to this man. The fast cutting rate certainly links in with the flashing of specific images within the videos.

Finally the mis-en-scene creates how the artist is presented and if a narrative music video how the story is presented. The costumes of Kate Miller Heidke's portray her style and are similar in her other videos. They are bright, vibrant and loud and in "Words" she changes her dress perhaps representing the change in feeling from calm to mental. Similarly the changes from normal to flashing lights to dark at the end of the video further represent the change in feeling. Obviously setting further links with the main theme/idea of the music video. The whole music video is set around a padded room in a mental hospital which is an original idea further advancing the idea of gone crazy over a boy.

However the music video all incorporates strange random ideas and objects which is similar to that in Lady GaGa videos. in "Words" strange ideas such as red strings, school boys and hunting rifles are used.

Compared With "The Last Day On Earth", both these videos are very different in there style and genre. Although this is because both songs sound different, there are also clear differences in the music video itself especially its conventions and techniques.

 This is seen with the difference in camera work between both music videos. Unlike in Words and Can't Shake it Kate takes a different approach to her style of video. The camerawork is mostly stable with slow movements and few oblique angles are used compared to Words. This is due to the serious theme of the video and instead completely concentrates on Kate's emotions. However the most common shot throughout the video is the mid shot which is also used in Kate's other videos. This is to show Kate's emotion while singing especially towards the middle and end of the song when her emotions are clear and to make it obvious she is crying. However the speed of the movement such as the tilts, pans and zooms is consistent in "The Last Day On Earth", it always keeps a slow steady speed when concentrating on either Kate or the background around her. Although the camerawork is very different in both videos, the fact that they  both stay consistent due to the theme of the song shows that Kate's videos are filmed in this particular way. The use of close up's is also very interesting in The Last Day On Earth, different parts of Kate's body are concentrated on and also specific objects around the house she is singing in. This goes back to the random objects that are seen in Words and therefore perhaps represents important objects to Kate. Another noticeable difference in both videos is the position of Kate and the fact that she looks at the camera considerably less in The Last Day On Earth compared with Can't Shake It. Kate is mostly made the centre of the screen in both videos but in The Last Day On Earth she can be seen in a lot of the shots to the side or at a slight angle. This is shown when she is by the fish tank to further represent the loneliness, which is the main theme of the song and video.

The editing is the clearest difference between each video and is certainly because of the beat of each song. The slow pace of the song means that the cutting rate does not have a fast pace unlike in Words.
The Mis-en-scene in The Last Day On Earth is very important similarly to that in Words. It creates the narrative parts of each video and portrays Kate in completely different ways. This is certainly shown with the lighting differences of each video. The lighting in The Last Day On Earth is very important because it further shows the emotion of Kate. Some parts are much darker than others, especially when going round the house it is set in. This further represents the loneliness of Kate and the emptiness of her house. This is very different to the lighting in Words where the lighting is bright on a white setting and strobes are used. Similarly in both videos the setting plays a vital part in both videos. In Words the setting of a padded room obviously links in with the theme of madness and in The Last Day on Earth the setting of an empty house links in with the theme of loneliness and isolation.