Directors Commentary

Music Video Commentary Script

Song/Artist: ‘Good Girls’ 5 Seconds of Summer

Created by: Hana, Chloe, Taslima

0:00 – 0.31 seconds 

Scene: Girl in bedroom getting ready.

(Introduce group)

The video beginning is set in the girl’s bedroom. We wanted to create a girly atmosphere and show shots of different items in her room so that it can relate to our teenage girl audience and almost “welcome them”. 

To keep to the upbeat rhythm of the song, we changed shots often. 

0:31 – 0:50 seconds

Scene: Girl sneaking out house and meeting with her boyfriend. 

We decided that the actress should sneak out of the door instead of the window due to safety reasons. We show a wide mid shot of the boy whilst he waits to emphasize his loneliness without the girl. Then to add to the effect more, when the girl comes, the shot is close up as she walks. It almost looks slow motion and which gives further impact. The shot is wide again as soon as the couple embraces each other.  

This shot shows the back of the boy and the girls face as she ‘winks’. This expresses her secret bad girl attitude. 

The shot of the couple is wide and then there is another shot that is closer as they get physically closer too. This gives a closer more intimate feel for the audience. 

0:50 – 1:04 minutes 

Scene: Girl studying in library. Boy walks in and they meet. 

A mid shot of the girl studying followed by a behind the shoulder close up of her “study book” was shown to show the audience that she is not studying but drawing. This again expresses the bad girl behavior that we wanted to subtly imply throughout the video. 

A mid shot was used for the boy’s entrance to almost slow down his movement in contrast to the song to give a ‘grand entrance’ feel. 

1:06 – 1:08 minutes

Scene: Hand to camera. 

As the couples cover the camera with their hand, we added a distorted effect on final cut pro to look as if the tape got damaged.  

1:11 – 1:17 minutes

Scene: At the library, hidden behind a book. 

A wide shot was used to show the couple mischievously hiding behind a book. We placed a bookshelf behind them to emphasize the school setting and add colour to the shot. The shot adds humour to the video.

1:20 – 1:33 minutes

Scene: At the back of the school/Grease

We chose to shoot this scene beside an edgy background to reflect the rebellious attitude.  The body language and behavior in this part was influenced by a scene from ‘Grease’, which also connotes a similar meaning as the song. This creates entertainment. 

1:33 – 1:41 minutes

Scene: Park Documentary/ Self footage. 

To engage the audience further we included self-footage that the couple took. This is entertaining to watch as we get to know them more personally. To make it obvious that they are self-footage, the quality is different to the other scenes.  

The shots (of the boy) here are almost similar to how fashion adverts are shot. It appeals to the audience and syncs with the beat of the music. 

1:46 – 1:56 minutes

Scene: Photos

To suit the pace of this moment of the song, we decided to use photos. We added a frame onto the photos in final cut pro to make it look as if they are the couple’s own photos.

1:59 – 2:06 minutes

Scene: Girl putting on red lipstick. 

As the music builds up, we show different shots of the girl putting on dark red lipstick to connote romance and rebellious behavior as red is usually a colour used for warnings. The props were picked precisely, such as the heart shaped sunglasses, to look fun and appeal to the genre and audience. 

2:06 – 2:40 minutes 

Scene: In Camden 

We establish the location with an iconic part of the area ‘the Camden Bridge’. The upbeat vibe and setting in Camden gave the shots a colourful and fun look as well as fit the music.  It looks happy. The various shots show the couple together having fun. The shots change quick in able to look lively and engage the audience more.  Again, there are more self-footage shots to allow the audience to get more personal with the characters. 

2:47 – 3:02 

Scene: Final Shots/ White Background 

We decided to film the final shots with a white background. The boy wears a red bandanna to fit into the cool rock genre of the song and to suit the girl. The couple carry on having fun and the action is sped up so that it feels more exciting and lively. Instead of text credits in the end, we decided to show each crew member holding up a clapper board with their name on it.