ROBYN

LOVE KILLS
A TREATMENT BY LIAM HEDLEY ON BEHALF OF Z RECORDS

Liam Hedley Hartlepool Sixth Form College Brinkburn, Blakelock Road Hartlepool, TS25 5PF liam-hedley@hotmail.co.uk

CONCEPT
The themes underlying this video will illustrate the lyrics of the song in a metaphorical sense. Love Kills talks about love and relationships hurting, but there is also mention of Stockholm Syndrome a psychological condition in which hostages develop empathy for their captors. As such, Robyn will assume the role of woman who is in the process of exiting a relationship, but feels constrained by her lover and the concept of affection. This idea arose from Robyns previous video Handle Me, where she is seen inside several boxes; it will serve as an intertextual reference. Creative camera and editing techniques, lighting and characteristic jerky performances of the actor will play a huge role, ensuring a quirky video that matches both the genre and star image of the artist.

PERFORMANCE & NARRATIVE

As in all her videos, Robyns performance will be key in that of bringing her quirky personality and confidence to the end product, matching a song that is unique in its sound. A conceptual video intertwining performance and narrative, the lyrics need to be delivered with real compassion and meaning in order to convey the emotion behind them. This will be crucial to the narrative, which will explore five different scenarios, based on what I feel are the different aspects of finding it difficult to walk away from a relationship, in the context of my interpretation of the lyrics. These five scenarios will be constraint, conflict, oblivion, escape and freedom. Most of these will be filmed in the studio, and "different approaches to camera shots, lighting, props and set-ups etc. will convey the meaning and tone of the scenario in question.

Constraint:

This segment will represent Robyn feeling trapped by her relationship and unable to take herself away from such a commitment. It will rely predominantly on camera, editing and lighting (see this section).

Conflict:

This segment will literally illustrate the title of the song Love Kills. It will show Robyn in the studio rolling around on the floor and awkwardly jumping around the room, holding a giant cardboard cutout of a heart as if she is fighting with it. This was inspired by the video for the 2001 song Another Chance by Roger Sanchez.

Escape:

In the escape segment I want to have a series shots of Robyn simply walking to the beat of the music. This will amplify the audio and reflect the singer walking away from a relationship, however jump cuts will be used to reflect this being a complex process. I want to film this in a built-up street, as this will make the mise-en-scene interesting. Bittersweet Symphony influenced me.

Freedom:

This section will entail Robyn dancing rigorously to the music in a spontaneous fashion, being a little less jerkier and more smoother with her movements to reflect being free. She will be happy and positive as a character here. A performance similar to the one in her video Call Your Girlfriend would be great.

Disjuncture / Car:

An additional non-performance set-up will feature shots from a car window/windscreen to reflect travelling away from a lover in the instrumentals of the song. This was inspired by Snow Patrols video for "Open Your Eyes", and furthermore I plan to at points superimpose Robyns performance from the Freedom and Escape segments over the top of this footage rather like Madonnas video for "Ray of Light"". I will shoot this footage at

night in built-up areas as I feel it will complement the electronic nature of the song and the lighting I plan to use for the Constraint segment.

Oblivion:

This segment will be filmed in a busy street where Robyn is walking slowly, but passers-by at twice the speed to show a cold hard world of feeling isolated and alone again trapped in a relationship. In all, Robyn will need to give strong visual performances throughout to show a real connection to the lyrics. Her characteristic jerky dancing is key in most set-ups, but Robyn is not afraid to just be herself and this is exactly what this video needs.

CAMERA & EDITING

It will be essential to use a variety of camera shots of different depths, distances and angles throughout the video in order to make it visually interesting for the viewer. Furthermore, the need for several set-ups reflects the fast tempo of the song where many cuts/thought beats will need to be made. Much variety is needed.

Constraint:

This section will consist of tightly framed extreme close-ups to show being constrained (and reveal the star image), which will also be emphasized in the facial expressions and movements of the singer. She will look apprehensive, but also jumpy - jump cuts will be used here. The camera will zoom out to a wide-angle long shot when Stockholm syndrome is mentioned, showing sympathy combined with the lighting. These shots will occasionally pan down and be interspaced with ones of her body covered in fairy lights. Robyn will need to lip-sync in these shots.

Conflict:

A general variety of camera shots will be used here. I really want to try and play around with focusing here; shallow focus, deep focus, and pulling between the two. I want to try and latch onto the trend of videos going out of focus, showing blurry lights a pleasing aesthetic. Also, I will try and use much camera movement to reflect the erratic nature of Robyns. The singer will need to lip-sync.

Escape:

I want to include lots of shots of Robyns feet here, showing how she is walking to the beat of the music, as well as filming from in front and behind the singer. Split screen could then be used to show the Robyn walking in two directions. Jump cuts will play a huge role here. I was really inspired by yet another Madonna video Live to Tell. It uses lots of pans around the singers head and I really want to try this technique to emphasise Robyns facial expressions. As such, Robyn will remain looking at the camera or straight forwards. Overall "Bittersweet Symphony" influenced this idea. Robyn will yet again need to lip-sync here.

Freedom:

A general variety of camera shots will be used here yet again. The camera will move around with Robyn to reflect her movement. Only one or two shots will be used. This will be used as the ritual celebration at the end of the song. Robyn will need to lip-sync here.

Disjuncture / Car:

I will shoot this section through a combination of long shots from a car windscreen, and low angle shots from a car window. This will make the world seem big and imposing intimidating now that Robyn is entering back into the real world. I will try and use a fish eye lens to do this also. Obviously, there will be no lip-syncing here.

Oblivion:

This will be achieved a long shot, where Robyn is centrally placed with people walking past her on either side. She will walk very slowly, and the footage will be sped up so that she is walking at normal speed and the others twice-as-fast. There will be no lip-syncing here.

LIGHTING
Studio lighting will be used extensively in the video given the shooting locations. I want to mainly use purple tones as I feel this will complement the nature of the song well, and creative quite dark connotations. In the constraint segment the shot will be especially dark, showing only some of Robyns face due to disco lights flashing on her. She will also be covered in fairy lights, to emphasise the constraint theme (this was inspired by the use of fairy lights in Rihannas We Found Love) As the camera zooms out, the light will grow stronger to reveal Robyns full body.

DANCE
In typical Robyn style, I want to utilise her characteristic jerky dance movements as seen here in Dancing On My Own. This looks always looks semi-spontaneous and complements the beat of the song well thus I want to incorporate it. It always works well with jump cuts that I am planning to include. Her typical style includes twitching her head and shoulders, waving her

arms around and stomping her feet. The only performance shots where this not required will be Freedom, where a more smooth form of dance will be used, and Oblivion where Robyn will just walk.