Treatment for music video

1. MUSIC VIDEO TREATMENT
Maddy Allen

2. Visual
Inspiration

3. Treatment
The video for “Breathe Me” by Sia has a linear narrative structure but without the story flowing through it, it’s a
concept video. I chose this structure because I really want the focus to be on the abstract visuals and the
emotion behind the lyrics. The narrative is going to follow the emotions of the person in the music video as
well as travel through the song lyrics. Due to filming underwater in a swimming pool the body movements will
be very fluent yet deliberate which will link to the tone and pace of the song. The settings of the scenes will be
very simplistic, a white and black background in a studio, a swimming pool and a white bath (with opaque
white water) to ensure that the focus is on the girl that I have cast and her body language along with facial
expressions. As the music video goes on I want it become more and more emotive, this is why I want the
visuals to be so strong.
As the song begins, Emily will slowly emerge from the white water in the bath, fitting to the beat of the music
as the camera is above her getting a close up shot of her face. As I want the attention to be on her I am going
to make her lips dark and keep the rest of her face simple so that it contrasts with the white bath water. As the
beat of the music starts to play Emily will open her eyes and look straight ahead, her blue eyes will contrast
with the rest of the shot but also by looking into her eyes the audience will begin to build a connection towards
her. The video will then cut to a close up of Emily’s face in a studio, so that the theme of having a white
background carries on and the transition from the previous scene is smooth and fluid. In this moment I want
the emotion on Emily’s face to be understand and felt by the audience, so it’s important for her gaze to be
directed straight into the camera making a connection with whoever is watching. There will then be a cut to a
close up of Emily jumping into a swimming pool, for this I will be underwater using an underwater camera to
show the flow of her movements underwater. There is an eerie feel to this part of the music video, its dark and
close ups of Emily’s face will show the emotion that she is feeling and along with the lyrics the audience will
begin to sympathise with her. As the line ‘breathe me’ is being sung, Emily will come up to the surface of the
water and take a gasp of air matching the beat as well.
Short clips that act as metaphors will be shown throughout the video. The camera will pan across a heart being
squeezed and pulled apart, the only objects in this shot will be two hands, the heart itself (made of gelatine)
and a black background. Black holds connotations of upset, anger, loneliness and sadness so it helps to show
the emotion behind the song and keep the flow of the video going. A shot of Emily about to throw a plate at a

4. wall will be cut just as it leaves her hand so that with the
beat, a close up shot of the plate hitting the wall can be put
in slow emotion to have more of an impact. This will suggest
to the audience that Emily’s feelings are hurt and the
smashing of plates will allow the audience to understand her
panic and anger.
As the camera glides past, a close up shot of Emily’s hair
blowing in the wind is shown before the camera pulls back so
that we see Emily looking straight into the camera. This
shows her vulnerability. Just as we’ve had enough time to
register what Emily is feeling and relate to that, the shot
switches to her hands ‘dancing’ in the shower mirroring the
swift movements from the swimming pool.
With the use of a Kryolan theatre makeup ‘tear stick’ Emily’s
eyes will water, tears will roll down her face and as it’s the
closing shot it will have a lasting impact on the audience
because as the line ‘and breathe me’ is sung, she will lip sync
to those lyrics whilst crying. This is significant because that is
the only lip synching in the whole video and due to those
specific lyrics along with the raw emotion shown through her
facial expression and tears it concludes the whole meaning of
the song.

5. Production Details
Production and wardrobe design is limited for the music video due to the
budget, however, because they will have such an impact on the quality of the
finished product I have specifically picked out locations, props and wardrobe
to fit it to ensure that the video will still have the same outcome. A swimming
pool is cheap to hire out, and a bath is easily filled so I picked these locations
because of their easy accessibility but also because they fit with the flow and
pace of the song. The contrast between light and dark between each of the
shots holds meaning but also draws attention to Emily which is important.
I envision a girl in her mid to late teens, blonde hair with striking features to
intensity the contrasting element of the video. As Emily is working to be a film
director herself, models and has done a lot of acting I decided that she would
be perfect for the role due to her understanding of production but also the
importance of acting in order to play a role and portray a character to the
audience.
The music video will be shot on a Canon 700D with the use of two different
lenses (one specifically for close ups), soft box studio lights, a tripod and an
underwater camera. The crisp detail of the two cameras will ensure that the
colours are rich to bring out the contrast but also so that the details in the
water scenes show texture and depth well.
Makeup and styling will be done by me before filming, specific makeup will be
used for the underwater shots to ensure that it doesn’t come off and a tear
stick will help to bring out tears.