Reasearch- Woodkid 'The Golden Age'

Woodkid, Video Directed by Yoann Lemoine. (2014). Woodkid- 'THE GOLDEN AGE' feat. Max Richter 'EMBERS' (Official HD Video) . Available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWMMdX6KYGM. Last accessed 26th March 2018.

Woodkid's music video of the song 'The Golden age' follows the fictional of a young boy's childhood in the deep south of the USA. The themes of this song and the 'Golden Age' album as a whole revolve around becoming a soldier and the loss of childhood innocence as one grows up. In a way this can be considered a form of grief, not grief of losing a loved one but the grief of losing ones childhood as they grow into the harsh world of adulthood.

Narrative

The music video starts with what looks like to a 3-D of a person's body, where it zooms in through the person, where we see the body of a child. This segment is meant to function as abstract visual, which echo the theme of growing up and the grief of losing your childhood. This is because both bodies can be considered already dead, as this 3-D scanning is usually used on analysing fossils. The image of the young boy's body inside the adults body is a form of symbolism that illustrates that the inner child in all of us dies when we become and adult. The video then transitions to they boy lying in bed in his home.

The music video begins to show imagery of the boy playing with his friends and being lost in pure wonder at the sight of the swamps he lives in, connoting the idea that children perceive the world in a much more fantastical manner. In conjuncture with the shots that represent the purity of childhood, other shots show the adults of the family doing things that would contrast with the purity of childhood. For example, we see an old man showing the kids the scars on his arms. This is meant to suggest that the old man is showing them his war scars he received as a soldier. We also see a young man showing the young boy how to whittle a stick into a spear tip, which again links back to becoming a solider, along with the old man's battle scars. Other clips contain the mother and farther romantically embracing each other. This is meant to connote the loss of childhood innocence when romantic and sexual thoughts influence the process of growing up. The video progresses to show the adults fighting, with the boy covering his ears, trying to block out the conflict he experiences. The conflict of the adults is meant to represent conflict that ultimately happens in and begins wars. The boy is shown to try and block this out as a metaphor for not wanting to let go of his childhood. The video begins to reach its climax, showing the boy and his friends playing and forcing the adults to join in on the fun. This part likely acts as a reminder for adults not to let their inner child die out, and that adults can learn just as much from children as children can learn from then.

The videos resolution falls back into abstract imagery of the boy looking out at the swamp trees at night. there distinct drop inn colour and lighting connotes a drop in tone. In contrast to the scene before. the message that follows is that the 'Golden Age' of childhood is coming to an end and the boy's perspective on the world darkens. This message is further signified by the accompanying lyrics "the golden age is over".





Cinematography


Close up to medium shots are prominent in most clips of this video. This focuses the audiences attention on the people in the film and their body language. For example, there are many close up shots of the main boy's face, as it clearly shows his sense of wonder and enjoyment for the world. A notion of normalness around the family is constructed through the use of muffled, handheld camera movement. Handheld movement is typically used in films when attempting to capture a sense of realism, as if the camera is self aware or that it is from the perspective of a participatory individual. In this film, the sense of realism it produces helps to make the theme of the golden age of childhood even more relatable to its audience.

Editing

The video uses both amplified and illustrative editing techniques to communicate the narrative. The rhythm of the cutting loosely matches the rhythm of the music. This helps to exaggerate the slow and nostalgic tones in the slow sections of the track and the aggressive percussion of the fast paced part near the end. the editing also illustrates what is being said in the lyrics, in abstract manner. An example of this occurs when the family are shown playing outdoor games together with the accompanying lyrics "boy, we are family". Illustrative editing is often used for narrative and story telling purposes and the music videos of Woodkid always tell narratives that are loosely  connected to on another. Therefore there lyrics need to be linked to the actions happening in shot.





Mis-En- Scene

The film has a strengthened link to nature and peace through the setting of the everglade. The characters are surrounded by swampy rivers and thick vegetation and tall trees. The natural setting gives something, which the boy can look at in wonder of, as children see nature in an imaginative way. The tranquil setting also contrasts with the conflict between the adults and the subliminal tone of the conflict of war, as nature is often portrayed as conflict is often portrayed in media as a man made problem and unnatural.

So in conclusion, I may use close to medium shots of the subject in frame, as these shot types seem to effectively convey emotion through attention to detail. Handheld camera movement will be experimented with, because it connotes a sense of realism and participatory involvement in the film, which engages the audience and so could be used to engage to audience into my personal story with grief. In terms of editing techniques, I will explore whether which illustrative or amplified editing is more effective in communication positive and negative emotion surrounding grief in my story. Long takes will also be included in the samples, as this music video has shown that long takes help to focus attention to detail, such as facial expressions.







This music video highlights some aspects that I can borrow to use in my own project about the positive and negative sides of grief in my own  life. I am thinking of focusing on this duality of emotions that this video shows, as I think that any kind of grief does not have one simple feeling. It is in fact, rather a chaotic mess of emotions that are different in any individual. I would like to experiment with using both amplified and illustrative editing styles for communication both narrative and tone successfully. I will research another example of Woodkid's work, as I feel that the music videos strongly marry emotion and narrative together. Illustrative editing may have to be used instead of amplified editing if I choose to not include music, as a voice over will already be present.