Director Study for A2 Media Studies

1. Music Director Study

2. Basic Biography
• Lawrence was born to American parents in Vienna,
Austria on 26th March 1971.
• He moved to Los Angles at the age of 3.
• He worked as a 2nd Camera Assistant on the set of
‘Pump up the Volume’, directed by Allan Moyle.
• He also gained a Bachelor Degree in Film Production
from Loyola Marymount University Film School in LA.
• He then went on to work as Assistant Director on the
feature ‘Marching out of Time’, directed by Anton Vassil.
• Lawrence then went on to join his ex-classmate, Mike
Rosen; and co-directed many music videos.
• He directed his first music video for Michael Blakely,
this was ‘A Man Rides Through’.
• He is currently signed to DNA Inc.

3. Key Artists
Francis Lawrence has worked with a number of well known, number one
artists, here a just a few -
Missy Elliot
Gwen Stefani
Britney Spears Jennifer Lopez
Lady Gaga
Avril Lavinge
Aerosmith
Janet Jackson
Pink
Black Eyed Peas
Jay-Z

4. Other Work
• Other work that Lawrence has directed includes
directing the major block buster hit, ‘I Am
Legend’ (2007), featuring Will Smith.
• He also directed ‘Water for Elephants’ with
Robert Pattinson in 2011.
• ‘Touch’ was a hit TV series, directed by
Lawrence during 2012.
• Lawrence won a Grammy Award for Best Music
Video, Short Form; this was for Lady Gaga’s
video of ‘Bad Romance’.

5. Two Videos from Lawrence
Lady Gaga – Bad Romance
Pink – Just Like a Pill

6. Lady Gaga – Bad Romance
Mise en Scene Camera
• Contrast of light and dark lighting
sets mood and tone.
• Similar setting throughout
(white/modern).
• Cat/Drink/Bed are used as props.
• The white setting suggests
connotations of cleanliness and
purity which contrasts the narrative
of the video.
• Lady Gaga has at least 16 costume
changes during the sequence of this
video.
• There are lots of other
‘characters’ involved with the
performance side of the video
(dancing etc).
• Futuristic mood to the video which
can be seen through costume, make
up and hair, this conforms to Gaga’s
stereotype of being unusual.
• Many symmetrical shots are used.
particularly during performance parts.
• Close-Ups of Gaga to show detail
and prehaps to emphasize her many
costume changes throughout the
video.
• Mid –Shot of Lady Gaga in the bath,
paying particular attention to her
extravagant make up and hair.
• Long Shots used of Gaga and
dancers, this is used aswell as a point
of view shot, to show that the men
who are ‘bidding’ on women are
seeing them as ‘a whole’ and to
perhaps show that a man will look a
woman ‘up and down’ when they find
one attractive.
• Establishing Shot is used at the very
beginning to show the setting that the
video is in and creates a slightly weird
mood due to what the setting is.

7. Lady Gaga – Bad Romance cont.
Editing
• Lots of Jump Cuts are used between
shots to show the unpredictability of
each scene.
• Lady Gaga has the most prevalence on
screen as this shows she is the centre of
attention.
• Action Match when Lady Gaga creates a
gun with her hand, it switches from one
shot to another with her doing the same
action.
• Suggestion of Male Gaze through use of
editing, for example, lots of scenes are
through the eyes of a man and there is a
particular focus on the women dancing,
which links to some sexual connotations
of the video.
• Freeze Frame is used when diamonds
are mid air surrounding Gaga, this
suggests that she is worth a lot of
money, as we see when the man buys
her for a large amount of money.
• Digital Editing is used to show the bed
catching fire, and Gaga standing in front
of it, this suggests power on Gaga’s part.
• The editing is motivated towards Lady
Gaga and there are very little shots that
she is not in.
• Fast Paced Editing to show how
dysfunctional the concept is and
random.
• Gaga is always centrally located in
whatever shot she is in, this presents her
as being powerful, which contradicts
stereotypes of women,
Concept
The concept of the video is both
narrative and performance as we see
both play a part, e.g. The dancing and
the storyline.
It is also symbolic and suggests sexual
references and power.

8. Pink – Just Like A Pill
Mise en Scene
• Provocative Costumes such as
underwear and very little clothing.
• There are lots of other performers in
the video such as band players, and
extras.
• Dark and Grungy setting relate to the
costume that the artist is wearing and
sets a gothic mood.
• The setting is a dark, worn down house
that sets a depressed mood, this can link
to the connotations that the song sets
about the use of drugs.
• Desolate setting can link to the songs
meaning.
• Costume, Make Up, Setting and
Lighting conform to the stereotype of
grunge/punk.
• Not many props apart from band
equipment.
• Dark Lighting is used pretty much
through out, again to set the tone.
Camera
• Direct Address is used – Pink often looks
at the camera and acts as if she is
singing to the audience, perhaps to tell
her story?
• Low Angle Shots – when Pink is
performing after assumingly she has
taken drugs; this shows the power she
believes she now has.
• Extreme Close Ups of the artists face in
particular, especially her costume to
show detail.
• Shaky/Distorted Camera Shots are
used, this again links to drug use and
shows life through the eyes of Pink, this
is combined with a POV shot.
• High Angle Shots – when Pink is laying
on the ground after assumingly taking
drugs, show how little power she has
over her body and emotions.
• Mid Shots, Close Ups and Symmetrical
Shots are also used.

9. Pink – Just Like A Pill
Editing
• Fast Paced Editing – can also represent
effects of drug use.
• Lots of Jump Cuts create a distorted
vision and confusion amongst the audience.
• Montage of lots of different scenes
suggest that the artist is trying to
represent chaos and unpredictability, the
range and varied events of each scene is
symbolic to the meaning of the song.
• Drained Colour from the video, creates
an unhappy mood and reflects upon what
Pink is singing about and why.
• Digital Effects – use of many white rabbits
surrounding Pink have been digitally copied
to create a hallucinogenic like feel to the
shot, again relating to drug use and linking
to ‘Alice in Wonderland’.
• Male Gaze is used as the main character
‘Pink’ does not wear much clothing,
therefore attracting male attention.
• The first shot is of the singers name, so
we instantly know who the artist is.
• Pink is usually centrally located in each
shot and is in a majority of the shots in the
video.
• Digital Editing is also used when the
audience see Pink running down a corridor,
which is very distorted (also link to song
meaning and connotations).
Concept
• A mix of both performance and narrative
concept is used in this video. For example,
in some shots; Pink is singing the song with
a band. But, in others she is telling a story
to the audience.
• The video carries a very symbolic
meaning to what the artist is singing
about, as we can see in a number of ways.

10. Lawrence’s Style
• I have found that there are connections in both the videos I analysed in
his style of work.
• Firstly, both videos are set in the same setting throughout, neither
change from the setting we see in their establishing shot apart from
maybe a different room etc. But still in the same house, for example,
Pink’s video is set in a deserted house and she stays within that house
throughout but she does change rooms.
• He also likes the artist to be the most prevalent on screen, there are
very minimal shots where the artist is not there, and they are usually
centrally located within the shots.
• It is also clear that Lawrence likes to use both narrative and
performance in his videos as we can see from the dance and band
performances in Lady Gaga’s and Pink’s videos, this shows two sides to
each artist.
• Digital Editing is also used in both his videos I analysed as this can help
enhance meaning and create mood and tone, for example, the fire used
in ‘Bad Romance’ creates power and the rabbits used in ‘Just Like A Pill’
create downfall and hallucinations.

11. My Response
• I enjoyed both the videos I watched that Lawrence
has directed, both portrayed the meaning of each
song really well and I particularly liked the way he
always kept the artist at the centre of attention. I
also liked the way he used settings to create mood
and set tone. Both videos were very different but
similar but not in obvious ways; but it is clear that
both videos were directed by the same person when
you look at the way they both used the same
concepts of performance and narrative. I didn’t
really like the way he used fast paced editing in both
videos, it left me confused, but then again this did
relate to the meaning of both songs and helped
represent them well which I did like about his style.