The document outlines Laura Coggin's treatment plan for a music video for Lorde's song "Royals". The video will illustrate the song's criticism of mainstream music culture by portraying celebrities living ordinary lives in lower class settings. It will use creative camera techniques and quirky performances to contrast typical celebrity videos. The performers must embody the meaningful lyrics and ideology of not following fake reality portrayed in mainstream media. Lighting will use natural low-key lighting outdoors and bright studio lighting to further this contrast. Camera shots and editing will keep the focus on the three performers while applying techniques to impersonate and criticize typical mainstream music videos.

1. LORDE
‘ROYALS’
TREATMENT SHEET BY LAURA COGGIN ON
BEHALF OF GALAXY RECORDS
LAURA COGGIN
HARTLEPOOL SIXTH FORM COLLEGE
BRINKBURN BLAKELOCK ROAD
HARTLEPOOL, TS25 SPF
lauragracecoggin@gmail.com

2. CONCEPT
The themes underlying my music video will be illustrating the lyrics of the track.
‘Royals’ basically criticizes mainstream music culture and about how it gives society
a high expectation of life when in reality nobody lives like that. The main features of
my music video (Isabelle Soupe, Holly Hutchinson and Grace Lilley) will be playing
the role of celebrities that don’t follow the whole typical celeb life. This means that
the whole video will be shot in lower class places so that it juxtaposes the
mainstream videos of glamour and luxury. As the idea of my video is very bizarre I
will need to use creative camera and editing techniques with unique mise en scene.
I want a jerky feel to my video therefore I need the performers to show quirky
characteristics to fit with the genre and the meaning of the track. The ideology of my
music video is that society must stop feeding off of fake reality and that what I am
portraying is reality.

3. PERFORMANCE AND NARRATIVE
The performance of my three main features is key, as they need to commit fully to
showing quirky personalities with confidence to the end product, matching a song
that is unique in its sound and lyrics. Delivering the meaning of the lyrics is crucial in
this music video therefore putting a lot of pressure on my performers; if they do not
portray the ideology of my video the meaning of the whole thing will become
pointless. The theme of my music video will reflect Lorde’s previous music videos
however will be very different to the original ‘Royals’ video. I am hoping to create a
conceptual video, it will intertwine the performance and narrative, in this particular
track the lyrics are compassionate and meaningful and I need to portray this to
create a successful conceptual video. The key theme of my video will be giving a
laid back approach to create a different image compared to mainstream artists. The
performers need to be serious at times to emphasise how you need to take life
serious (unlike typical celebs) however need to be happy and jolly at most times to
show how you can be happy without a life of luxury.

4. LIGHTING
The lighting of my video will be mostly natural lighting when shooting outdoors. My
aim is to shoot when the weather is quite gloomy and miserable so that I have a
natural low-key light when outdoors. I also hope to make a silhouette of the 3
features in my video either for an establishing shot or for my end shot or maybe
even both to express Todorov’s cyclical narrative. For the parts of my video when
the girls are in the studio, I will be using bright lighting with a shadowy background
so that all focus is on the girls and creates the typical pop sensation music video
look. This will show glamour and beauty of the girls, which juxtaposes the rest of the
video and basically impersonates the mainstream music industry.

5. CAMERA AND EDITING
Due to my music video featuring 3 people, the majority of my shots will be medium
shots so that all 3 girls fit into the frame. To apply a unique effect to my video I will
be using rare camera shots such as a low angle, high angle, point of view and
extreme close ups. The editing will be pretty simple as the point I am getting cross to
the audience is that living a basic lifestyle is good. I may apply some more advanced
editing techniques to my video when the features are located in the studio. In order
to exaggerate the impersonation of mainstream celebrities my editing needs to
impersonate too.