Explaining intentions behind my music video

1. Directors Pitch

2. Genre of the music video – Protest
Automatically I knew I wanted to protest for equality for
the LGBTQ community, as its something that is
unfortunately still a prominent issue in our society, and I
realised that using a drag queen as my protagonist would
be the best way to do this.

3. How drag protests for equality
• No one commands attention quite like a drag queen. Drag queens then channel this attention into
doing what is right for their community. In the queer community it is known that drag queens are
kind of looked at as leaders and mouthpieces.
• The act of dressing in drag has long been a political statement — it’s an act of rebellion against
societal norms and an art form that elevates the voices of the LGBT community.
• Drag queens have been fighting for equality since the dawn of the modern LGBT rights movement.
Even after these flashpoints in queer history, many continue to do so, using their prominent
community status to champion equality.
• One of the most well known drag queens in history is Lady Bunny who is no stranger to political
engagements. She says “We’re the ones walking out in the street in drag, so we’re the ones that
people know are gay,” “So if there is homophobic and drunk person out on the town to harass
anyone, they might not know if the straight-acting gays are gay. But if you see a drag queen, that will
be who will get the harassment, as they are clearly part of the LGBT community.”

4. Stonewall
• In the ’50s and ’60s, gay clubs and bars weren’t welcomed in the US and police raids in such
establishments were common. In 1969, the raid in the Stonewall Inn created tension between the
New York City police and the LGBTQ+ patrons of the bar. Some drag queens were also arrested by
police because “masquerading as a member of the opposite sex” was considered a crime then. Due
to the fact that drag was once considered a crime has lead to people believing that its wrong, and
this
• This prompted the Stonewall riots where members of the LGBTQ+ community gathered to fight back
against discrimination. Drag queens were a central presence at the Stonewall Riots in New York,
fighting for their rights and a year after the Stonewall riots began, the US had its first Pride parade.
• This movement influenced countries across the world to become more accepting of the LGBT
community, and therefore inspired the creation for the stonewall charity here in the UK, which
campaigns for rights of the LGBT community In a number of different ways such as changing laws,
transforming institutions and empowering individuals.

5. Deciding on the song
To begin with I had 2 songs that immediately
came to mind once I knew the protagonist of my
music video was going to be a drag queen, "Born
Naked" and "Man! I feel like a woman"
I had thought about a rough idea on how I would
film each music video and the concept behind it,
as I knew both these songs could be used protest
for equality for the LGBT community
The next 2 slides will give an insight towards my
thought process for each music video.

6. Man I feel like a woman
This song is viewed as the ultimate "Girl Power" song, with lyrics showing this very clearly such as "The best
thing about being a woman is the prerogative to have a little fun” . The song tells a story about getting ready
for a night out, and how women can basically do whatever they feel like in order to have fun.
Even though the original meaning behind this song wasn’t about drag queens, the lytics can very easily be
interpreted that way, due to lyrics such as "I ain’t gonna act politically correct” could be referring to how
drag isn’t seen as a norm yet in our society, and how being gay is still a crime in so many countries across
the world.
The narrative of my story would all be based upon a group of friends all getting ready for a girls night out,
but the main focus would be following a mans journey of turning himself into a drag queen, and the hate
she gets for being in drag from certain homophobic members of society.
My inspiration for this story line came from the stonewall riots but recreating something similar that would
happen in the 21st century, as a police riot wouldn’t happen nowadays in a gay bar in the UK, but there's still
other members of society who show their hatred for this community.

7. Born Naked
Born naked is a song all about the art of drag. The song tells a story about one's journey discovering
they want to be a drag queen, how drag makes them feel, and how anyone can be a drag queen
regardless of societies views.
The narrative of my music video would be based upon a man's discovery, realising that he's a drag
queen, and how being a drag queen can feel so empowering. Most importantly I would focus on how
society's negative view of him in drag – and that’s how the song would therefore be a protest song, as
drag queens aren't widely accepted in society today. Being a drag queen is one of the most visual ways
to protest against homophobia which will therefore lead towards equality.
When researching the actual song, there were many lyrics that stood out to me, indicating that it is a
protest song, for example:
"I'm telling the truth now, We're all born naked, And the rest is drag" - these lyrics showed me that the
message behind the song was that everyone is born equal, as we are all born the same. Then becoming
a drag queen is a choice everyone can make for themselves, not a choice society should make for us.

8. Chosen song:
Man! I feel like
a woman
• After comparing my 2 options I decided on
"Man! I feel like a woman"
• This was because there seemed to be more to
work with, as the lyrics work nicely with what I
aim to protest in my music video, and I believe
I can produce a more in-depth storyline with
these lyrics.
• I believe the reference to the stonewall riots
will make the music video something mire
powerful, as it's based upon real events.
• The song was originally released in 1997,
where attitudes about women would have
been slightly different than they are today,
but there are still people in our society who
would benefit from the same
message behind it.
• A main factor which made me decide
against "born naked" was the fact the song can
be a bit repetitive, whereas with my chosen
song I have more ideas to create more moving
imagery.

9. Creation of artist.
My artist will be a drag queen, this is because I want the lyrics to
come from a drag queens perspective but is a gay man
underneath the drag persona.
I decided to name my drag queen Juliher. This is a play on the
girls name Julia but with an intended pun calling the drag queen
a "her", as that’s what most drag queens name tend to include.
(for example, there's a famous drag queen called Farrah Moan,
which is a play on words of pheromone, a female hormone)
Juliher is a British solo artist, aged 24. She's originally from
Northamptonshire, which is where the video will bet set. Her
music has been massively influenced by the stonewall charity and
has chosen to use her platform to help empower the LGBT
community like charity do.
The artist, Juliher, will also be the main person staring in the
video, as the song will be sung from her perspective. This shows
that there's a true connection between the artist and her lyrics,
and it’s a journey others can also relate to.

10. Narrative explained
• The music video will follow a linear narrative and will start out as 4 girlfriends all on the phone deciding they want to go out tonight, and
then the video will focus on the guy transforming into Juliher.
• It will show the whole process of getting into drag: showering, shaving, applying makeup, getting dressed and wearing a wig. After research
there are also many more elements to this process but wouldn’t be appropriate to film and include in a music video e.g tucking. This will
show how much enjoyment drag queens get out of expressing themselves, and the joy they have will be clear and make the viewers feel
uplifted.
• Once the drag transformation is complete, the music video will focus on all the girls having fun on a night out in a gay club. However, the
equilibrium will be disrupted when one man in the club expresses his hate towards Juliher, which obviously causes her a lot of anger and
upset which will juxtapose the emotions from previous scenes.
• Juliher will stick up for herself and be the voice for the rest of the community who are also in the bar, and put the homophobe to shame.
This is where the title of the song comes into play, as Juliher is literally saying to this man “Man I Feel Like A Woman”
• The idea that people disagree with drag, yet drag queens continue to be themselves is a protest movement, as by continuing to get into
drag is expressing their disagreement of homophobic opinions telling them what they can and cant do.

11. Audience
• I hope my video can help educate wider society about the fact that there should be no judgement towards
drag queens, as they are just ordinary people expressing themselves how thy choose and shouldn’t be
hated for it. There video will build up to a specific scene which will feature later in the video where a man
expresses hatred towards Juliher in a club because of her art. The aim of this is to hopefully provoke
sympathy amongst the audience and allow them to realise for themselves that that’s not okay.
• My video is also aimed at possible drag queens, in order to empower them to be themselves regardless of
society's attitudes towards them. Not everyone is born knowing they want to be a drag
queen, its something you realise as you get older through exposure to their culture. Therefore my video is
aimed at people aged 16-25 because this is when most people truly find themselves and decide how
they want to express that. Hopefully, my video will inspire people to do this.

12. Costumes – Juliher
before drag • At the start of the video juliher will be
in her boy, everyday clothes, which will
simply be a plain mans tshirt. The
outfit will be clearly masculine which
will prove Lady bunnys point about
you don’t know which men are gay,
but you do know drag queens are gay.
• There will also be a shower scene, so
juliher will have to be wearing a towel,
but will be wearing a towel how girls
do around their chest – this will be the
first sign of julihers femininity.
• Then juliher will be wearing a dressing
gown whilsy getting her makeup on
like most girls do.

13. Costumes
• When juliher is in drag she will be
weaing a bright blue dress and high
heels which will draw attention to her
as that’s what all drag queens crave.
The dress will be very short as juliher
will be quite a fun and flirty character.

14. Costumes
• The 3 friends will have fairly
simplistic outfits, as I don’t want their
dress sense to be a distraction
from Juliher, but all outfits will be fairly
"girly" eg, dresses, skirts.

15. Makeup
• When male, Juliher will be wearing no
makeup, which will highlight the
difference in appearnce in comparison to
drag. When in drag juliher will have very
excentric makeup, including long false
eyelashes, glued down eyebrows, contour,
highlight, and extremely bright
eyeshadow.
• The 3 friends will also be wearing makeup,
as makeup is associated with girls, but it
will be much more natural in comparsion
to Julier. For example, instead of wearing
long false eyelashes they will just wear
mascara.

16. Sound
• Throughout most of the song there
won't be any diagetic sound, and this
is because Juliher will be lipsyncing
ther majority of the lyrics so diagetic
sound in terms of speech won't be
needed.
• However, there will be certain parts
where diagetic sound is used. For
example, when juliher is turning the
razor on to shave their beard.

17. Lighting
Lighting will vary depending on the
scene.
In most of the scenes showing
juliher getting ready, the lighting will
natural, apart from when she's
applying makeup, there will be a
spotlight in her face, which is
necessary to do makeup but will also
highlight how important the process
of putting makeup on is to her.
In the club scenes the lighting will
be quite dark, but there will be lots
of flashing colored lights to recreate
a club atmosphere.

18. Props
• Throughout my video, a range of props
will be used, including:
• Phone
• Razor
• Tweezers, eyepatches
• Makeup
• Drinks
• Bras
• Mens shirt
• Eyemask

19. Locations-
Bedroom
This location will be used throughout the
video, its where juliher will make the
phonecall aranging plans which sets up
the narrative of video and will also
be where she mainly transforms into her
drag persona.
The bedroom will be fairly feminised to
show how drag is actually a lifestyle.

20. Locations-
Bathroom
(including
shower)
This is where the process of getting
ready will begin as he enters the
shower, where he washes his hair,
shaves his armpits etc.
Once hes out the shower he will
stand facing the mirror, and the
camera will be positioned from the
point of view of the mirror. This will
be where he gets rid of everything
manly such as his beard, so he can
start from scratch almost to transform
into a female.

21. Locations -
Street
This will be after the Jumpcut from
julihers bedroom, as its where all 4
friends meet each other, ready for their
night out.
They will all walk together down the
street, on which is the club they will
spend the rest of their night in.
The red X shows where
the club is potitioned on
the street
The red arrow shows the
street and direction the
girls will be walking in

22. Locations -
Street
The street is right next to a bus station,
which means there will be buses driving
by, and on the buses will be adverts from
the stonewall charity, along with
stonewall posters tied to lampposts
which will be in shot as they walk past
them.

23. Locations-Club
Obviously, I cannot film in an actual club,
so instead I will make my own using a
room in my house, and decorate it using
coloured flashing lights to create a
similar atmosphere.
However, I will use the outside of a gay
club in Northampton to show the
audience where they are, but then
create the illusion they have actually
gone inside by creating a club set-up in
my living room by using lots of flashing
lights.

24. Scene
#
Shot
#
Location Shot type Camera angle Camera mov
ement
Shot description Characters
1 1 Bedroom Close up Eye level static Split screen of all 4
friends on the phone
Juliher and
3 friends
_ 2 - - - - titles -
2 3 Shower Close up Eye level static Julihe washing their
hair
juliher
2 4 Bathroom Long shot Shoulder level Tracking shot Walking out of shower
and pushing chest
together
juliher
2 5 Bathroom Mid shot Eye level crash zoom
in the
middle
Turning on the
electric razor and
shaving
juliher
2 6 Bathroom Extreme
close up
Eye level static Combing and
tweezing
eyebrows
juliher
2 7 Bathroom Mid shot Shoulder level static Mimicking lyrics
to camera
juliher
3 8 Bedroom Mid shot eye level static applying makeup juliher

25. Scene
#​
Shot
#
Location Shot type​ Camera angle​ Camera movement Shot description​ Characters
3 9 Bedroom Full shot ​shoulder level ​static, but crash
zoom mid way
​choosing between
mens and womens
clothes. Throws mens
tshirt on the floor
juliher
3 10 Bedroom full shot ​hip level ​static ​showing off her outfit juliher
3 11 Bedroom Medium
close up
​hip level ​small boom
downward movemet
​feeling her curves juliher
3 12 bedroom Full shot low static Putting her wig on
upside down
juliher
13 Bedroom Close up - Static Lipsyncing seeing her
face fully in drag for
the first time
3 14 - Extreme
close up
- static lipsyncing juliher
4 15 Street Master shot ​shoulder level ​static juliher and friends all
meeting eachother on
the street
juliher and 3
friends
4 16 Street ​ground level ​tilt upwards ​all walking down to the
club in sync
Juliher and 3
friends
5 17 Club Master shot ​shoulder level ​tracking shot ​all walking into the
club and rejecting a
guy
juliher, 3
friends and
random guy

26. Scene
#​
Shot
#
Location Shot type​ Camera angle​ Camera movement Shot description​ Characters
5 17 Club Extreme
close up
- - lipsyncing juliher
5 18 Club Master shot Eyelevel ​zoom in ​man judging juliher
whilst shes dancing
juliher and
judging guy
5 19 Club Full shot Shoulder level
from side
profile
​static ​confrontation between
juliher and other guy
juliher and
judging guy
6 20 Club Full shot Shoulder level ​arc ​everyone praising
juliher and dancing
​julier, and
crowd of
strangers