Treatment - Heavy Stone

1. By Harriet Denial
TREATMENT – HEAVY STONE BY KYLA LA
GRANGE

2. SONG BACKGROUND
• Kyla La Grange (born 25 July 1986) is a singer-songwriter from Watford, England. She
has released two albums, 2012's Ashes and 2014's Cut Your Teeth.
• Heavy stone is a song by Kyla La Grange, which is featured on her ‘Ashes’ debut album
which was most successful in the Swiss charts, where it peaked at number 18.
• ‘Ashes’ was produced by Brett Shaw at a studio in East London, with two tracks produced
by Marky Bates, and was released on 30th July 2012. All the songs on the album were
written by La Grange, except ‘Love You Better’, which is a cover of a Maccabbes song.
‘Been Better’, ‘Heavy Stone’, ‘Vampire Smile’ and ‘Walk Through Walls’ were released as
singles.
• The music video for ‘Heavy Stone’ is set in a swimming pool. Throughout, many of the
shots have a black and white filter. This is to make the video appear more dramatic. Kyla
herself features in the majority of the video. Although there is little sense of a narrative, by
relating the lyrics to the video, the audience can from their own narratives as to why the
shots are shot and placed the way they are.

3. THE ARTIST – KYLA LA GRANGE
• Kyla La Grange (born 25 July 1986) is a singer-songwriter from Watford, England.
• She studied at Rickmansworth Secondary School in Croxley Green, Hertfordshire.
Her mother is South African and her father is Zimbabwean. She was never heavily
influenced by religion whilst growing up but she achieved a 2.1 in Philosophy,
studying at Pembroke College, Cambridge from 2004-07.
• In June 2012 Kyla headlined her first major performance in the Guardian New Band
of the Day gig.
• The genres of her music vary from indie rock, Folk rock, Folk, indie pop, Electronica
and synthpop.

4. MY MUSIC VIDEO
• The main setting for my music video will be in a garage. I plan to place pictures on the grey walls of the room, with dim
lighting from the lamps. Within these scenes, I plan to shoot the main character in this environment. During the beginning of
the song, when the pace is relatively slow, I plan to shoot her curled up in the corner of the room. I have chosen to shoot this
because it means that I am able to capture the emotion of the girl as she is going through her break up. I also plan on addin g
props such as alcohol bottles and burnt out cigarettes. When the music picks up pace nearer the end of this music video, I
will shoot shots of her coming to realization and emotion taking over her, thus causing her to rip the photographs off of the
wall relating to the lyrics ‘Your face has followed me home, with unwanted grace I leave you lonely and, we would never
make a perfect piece to fit, we will remain unfinished puzzles as we sit‘. I have chosen to film in this location because it
related to the lyrics, ‘hide me safe away, I wanna see myself painted an invisible grey.’
• Also, when shooting the artist singing the song, I plan on keeping the shot simple, due to the fact that the other shots within
the music video will contain action. By keeping this shot simple by just showing the artist singing against a white background,
I can allow the audience to connect with the lyrics and the emotions of the song, as well as being able to relate the artist to
the music.
• Much like Kyla’s original video, I have chosen to use a small amount of ‘montage’ shots to fit between the narrative aspect
and the singing shots. This will include shots in various locations to add a dramatic effect to the final piece. I also plan on
using a black and white filter over the top of the music video to emphasize the emotions.

5. IMAGE
• I want my artist to have an edgy, grunge messy look. This would include lots of dark
coloured layered clothing when in public, and baggy clothing when being shot in the
garage. My artist will be ages 19 to 22, to keep the innocent young look within adults
while still having a hint of maturity. Within this age, the idea of love is common, thus
meaning that heartbreak is quite a focal point of emotions. The ‘soft grunge’ look that I
wish to create will allow the music video to seem more emotional and allow the filter to
connect with the video footage. The photographs below reveal my stimulus to create a
character around.

6. INSPIRATION
• Give Me Love – Ed Sheeran – Within this music video, we can see that the main
character follows the same sort of emotions that my main character would follow.
When looking at the setting as well, mine would be similar, only with less props
and in a much more simplistic area. Also, the costume shown on the angel (baggy
dress) helps to add to a soft grunge, edgy feel that I hope to achieve in my music
video. When adding all of these aspects together, I believe that I will be able to
create a moving and convincing music video.
• Take Me To Church – Hozier – The music video for this song is shot completely in
black and white, much like I wish mine to be. In my opinion, I think that this colour
filter helps the video appear to contain more emotions. When videos are shot in
black and white all the colour is replaced by a series of greys from black to white
with mid tones at around 18% grey. The viewer had to work hard to imagine the
colour, thus engaging the audience.
• Chandelier – Sia – Within this music video, the young girl is dancing in a dark and
messy area. By using the colour of her hair against the dull and dark grey tones of
the background colours, the main focus is drawn to her. This idea has inspired me
to include in my music video, due to the fact that, by drawing the attention to the
main character with the use of colour to make her stand out, you can indirectly
promote the artist.

7. CAMERA WORK, EDITING AND LIGHTING
• Due to the dramatic nature of this song, I plan on using a strong emphasis on lighting. This means that I will
be heavily reliant on the shadows created by the lamps to create a lonely and isolated sense. This also
helps to add emphasis to the ‘grunge’ effect. By adding smoke (from the cigarettes that will be featured as a
prop) I will be able to distort the light and create interesting shadows.
• As I am creating a music video, I plan to use movement within my camerawork. This means that, when
shooting in the garage especially, I will need to use a Steadicam to make my shots look smooth. I plan on
using long shots to establish the location and the props, and close-up shots to create the emotion. Also, by
using close up shots, I will be able to promote the artist. When focusing on the shots against the white wall,
I am going to use a mix of close up shots and mid shots, at a straight on angle to allow the audience to
focus primarily on the artists facial expressions.
• For editing, I plan on making soft cuts within the softer parts of the song, and speed this editing up when the
chorus and the final verse come in. During the faster shots, I also plan do using montage editing to fit
together a series of dramatic shots, relating to the artist. By doing this, I am able to add both dramatic and
emotional effect. As previously mentioned, I plan on editing the video with a black and white filter, as well as
a soft film grain to give it the desired grunge and edgy effect.

8. MOOD BOARD/THEMES/PROPS