Video Idea

Our idea for the production is heavily influenced by cabaret and the Moulin Rouge. This is because of the musical composition. As I said before, individual instruments are distinguishable and are not ones commonly associated with the pop genre such as trumpets and saxophones. Because these made us think of a show like a cabaret in a club, we felt Lady Marmalade was lyrically a good source of comparison and inspiration to plan the video around the lyrics.

We decided on a primarily narrative based music video, with the story running backwards and a colour theme of red and black to tie together our digipack. The colour choice was decided on through a game of word association. We started on cabaret which made us think of a dark club. The club made us think of suits as a type of clothing, which led us to James Bond. From there we got the idea of gambling. With gambling we thought of poker and roulette, with the two key colours of these games being the red and black of the numbers and cards. Love is frequently described as a gamble also.

Told chronologically, our lead female is performing in her cabaret style club when she sees the male character. Over the course of the narrative she becomes more obsessed with him and begins stalking and following him, with the behaviour culminating in her kidnapping and holding him hostage in an unknown location. 

However as it is told backwards the video will start at the end, in the unknown location. A worms eye shot will track a pair of red high heeled shoes as they cross the room. There will be a shot of the male tied to the chair to make it clear a woman has kidnapped him and kept him captive.  In keeping with our theme, a red polished nail will press a button on a stereo set before cutting back to the male who is tied and blindfolded with red silk - a reference to the song title. When the song starts the captor will start singing and dancing around him in a very revealing outfit comprised of red lingerie and an open black shirt on one,  removing the blindfold and eventually sitting on his lap. This will lead back to the theory that women are only there for the visual pleasure of men; although it seems that he is passive in this sequence being bound and struggling against said bindings, her revealing outfit and sexualisation proves that it is the male who is in control because she is dancing for him and him specifically.

At the first chorus the location will change to the male being openly followed down the street by the female, who is still singing to him, along with a costume change as they are a key convention of music videos. A title will come on screen telling the audience this was maybe several hours prior. This happens again at the start of the second verse, but with a "one week ago" title in the corner of the screen. In this sequence the woman is in her bedroom and in a bathroom, getting ready to go out for the day, still in the thematic colours. We see a collage of pictures of the male on her wall. She dances slightly for the pictures and blowing a kiss to them before leaving.

At the second bridge of the song we have another time title and a new location and costume change, with the male being followed or watched again, only this time more discreetly as if the female had lost care for discretion as time went on. The second chorus is when we plan to have the video format change from colour to filtered monochrome, letting only the colour red through. The shot is in a dressing room and the female getting ready to go on stage. A shot on the mirror she is using will show a picture from the collage in the frame.

We intend to stop the music at this point and have a live action sequence of the male either going up or down a flight of stairs to enter the club where the woman will be performing. A piece of red silk will be visible in the breast pocket of the suit through the filter. When he enters the room he takes a seat closest to the stage and awaits the performance. Playing cards in poker hands are visible on the table. She comes on stage to sing to the audience and walk through them, favouring the man before returning to the stage for the final chorus, although she seem to sing only to him. The final line of the song before the music cuts will be an extreme close up of her lips at the mans ear back in the unknown location with colour returning to the scene.

After the music has finished the man will fall out of a door, dishevelled and covered in lipstick kisses. He attempts to make himself look more presentable and walks off trying to look dignified but failing. He walks past the camera and the scene fades to black.