FINAL EXPLANATION OF VIDEO - (statement of intent)

My objective for the music video I have created is ultimately to raise awareness for the struggles that immigrants / refugees / foreigners / those of an ethnic minority may experience when arriving to not only the UK, but anywhere where they may feel excluded. This is a protest for an issue that is not widely spoken about which is why it is so important to make it relevant, especially in these uncertain times when we should all be supporting each other.

Firstly, the main character is clearly the artist herself who comes from Eastern Europe and is arriving to the UK (London) and is in search of a new life, or opportunity. However, when she arrives to the UK, things become a lot less exciting and she starts to feel out of touch. This is signified by her attempt to find a job and she is instantly rejected, followed by her struggles with money. Whilst considering the impact of COVID, I was not able to film in London so all these shots are from online sources (apart from the drawing!), however they are a clear depiction of my vision for the video. 

The climax of the video is the chorus and I have devised a number of real protest videos, paired with the artist protesting herself and this is to convey not only the severity of some protests, but also what may happen in the future if these issues are not solved. It is worth mentioning how you may notice that the majority of the video is in black and white, with the only colour coming from the artist herself; this is to make it clear to the audience that there is some form of opposition and isolation between her and society. The negotiated reading may be that the artist is quite literally the only 'colour' in the video, shining a negative light on our society and the way immigrants are viewed.

As the video progresses, I have attempted to depict the ways in which one may feel excluded or out of place in society; for example, the POV shot at eye level displays members of the public staring as they walk past her. I have included a few close-up shots of a few people to highlight some of the verbal comments that may disparage anyone with an accent for instance. "Can you repeat that?" "She's foreign, she won't understand." are comments that may be said to someone speaking with an accent. As the video progresses, I have included a reference to Trump's infamous decision to build a 'wall' in between Mexico and America. Whilst this is not strictly relevant to the narrative of the artist, it is worth touching on an issue such as this due to its prevalence on a global scale. 

After the second chorus, I have included a little paragraph for viewers to read as I would like them to understand what the next few shots mean; from what I could find online (due to COVID) I have included a variety of different ethnicities, and my main focus was to highlight those who are key workers. This is relevant for the time period and it just shows that everyone has value to society and should not be disparaged by those who think otherwise. I then displayed real footage of the 'Thursday clap for carers' as a way of lightening the video and proving that it does not all have to be negative. 

Finally, the ending of the video is not a way of shining a negative light on British tabloids and the UK's treatment of migrants, but it is just to highlight the mere quantity of how many derogatory newspaper covers that exist and are published constantly. It is to simply end the video on a slightly ambiguous note as it is not an issue that has been solved and so the artist does not end with a conclusion; she is just one of many foreigners who feel excluded.