The Use of Props in Music Videos

Props used in 'High By the Beach' by Lana Del Rey

In Lana Del Rey's music video 'High By the Beach', the gun is one of the main parts of the video. One reason is because it goes against gender stereotypes in the music industry- females are not seen to be strong or powerful therefore it may act as  shock to the viewer which attracts a larger audience. In our own video, our artist will probably 'abide' to gender stereotypes as she may be seen as a typical heartbroken girl. However in other areas of the video, she could be seen as less feminine in terms of the clothing she wears, which could be more of a tomboy look. This gives our artist are more androgynous appearance which could be more relatable to a target audience of both boys and girls. In terms of props, we don't think we are going to include any with a gender stereotype attached to it, a reason for this could be so that the audience form their own opinions on the artist without social influence.

In the same video, there is a closeup shot of a note- a wave is then seen to take it away along with the tide. This could be a 'love letter' and the wave hitting it could represent the destruction of a bitter relationship. I think it would be a good idea to use the symbolism of the note being washed ashore in our own video, except in a different manner. We have already discussed the fact that we like the idea of a bonfire scene in our video, therefore we could think about burning away a letter from our artist's lover as a representation of their breakup. I believe that this could be effective as it would provide the audience with a very symbolic clue of how the artist is feeling at that time so that they can follow the story along. 

In the next scene of this video, a medium shot shows Lana flicking through a magazine. I feel that the symbolism of her reading the gossip article comes from the fact that the paparazzi have had a negative impact on her life and she is turning over a new chapter in her life. A prop such as a magazine can be seen as effective as it shows the artist distracted and makes them look more intriguing to an audience as there is no direct eye contacts with the camera, mystifying the viewers. We aim to use either books or magazines in our music video too (such as in a cafe during the breakup scenes) as it can make the artist look very interesting and enchanting- something that could make an audience want to continue watching which is one of our main goals.

Props used in Lana Del Rey's 'National Anthem'

 A prop used in many areas of this video is the American flag, be this subtle or obvious. In this closeup shot of the flag, for example, it emphasises the significance of it in the song there is a very patriotic theme. This prop is particularly successful in this video as the visuals are representative of the lyrics- this is something we may consider in our own video as we very much plan to tell a story meaning that an audience can follow it along. The American theme runs throughout many of Del Rey's songs. An example in the song we have chosen ('Without You'), states 'live on the dark side of the American dream' which means that there is a very patriotic element existing in her music. We could put our own spin on this by including our own national flag in order to make it more personal to our British artist.

In Lana Del Rey's 'National Anthem' music video many props are used. A frequently seen prop that is used throughout the video are pink roses. Roses are typically shown to represent love- with the colour pink linking to romance. Also the fact that nature is a re-occurrence throughout presents raw emotion to an audience- this is something that we would also like to include in our own video as I feel that it makes the connection between the viewers and artist much stronger. A more personal relationship between the two could lead to increased popularity as it can show that the artist is very grounded which is a trait we would like our own artist to have.  

A microphone is used in this section of her song in a music video. We do not plan on using a microphone as I feel that that would be more suited to a performance based music video with lots of lip syncing which could prove difficult to look professional. As we would like more of a narrative music video I do not feel that this type of prop would be appropriate because we are going for a natural, more story telling appearance.