Exemplar Planning

Wings by Birdy

Lyrics

Sunlight comes creeping in
Illuminates our skin
We watch the day go by
Stories of all we did
It made me think of you
It made me think of you

Under a trillion stars
We danced on top of cars
Took pictures of the stage
So far from where we are
They made me think of you
They made me think of you

Oh lights go down
In the moment we're lost and found
I just wanna be by your side
If these wings could fly
For the rest of our lives

I'm in a foreign state
My thoughts they slip away
My words are leaving me
They caught an aeroplane
Because I thought of you
Just from the thought of you

Oh lights go down
In the moment we're lost and found
I just wanna be by your side
If these wings could fly
Oh damn these walls
In the moment we're ten feet tall
And how…

Birdy is 21 years old. She is English and comes from a wealthy family. She  won a singing competition, open mic, at 12 years old and started off releasing cover songs. Birdy is the music industry’s antidote to the commercial, superhuman likes of Taylor Swift, Katy Perry and Rihanna. She travels unnoticed on the Tube, is thinking of signing up for sketching classes in London, regularly queues up at McDonald’s (she has a weakness for McChicken sandwiches) and roots through vintage stores unaided by any celebrity stylist. Her stage name is a nick name from her parents.

Example: 

Target audience demographics for Birdy:

·                     Alternative music/rock/indie/folk fans. 

·                     Age range 15-30 but largely 16-25.

·                     More females than males (70/30). 

·                     Largely white British race/ethnicity.

·                     Largely middle class ABC1 demographic. 

·                     Likely to be educated at least to A Level with 60% at university or degree educated.

·                     Earnings above average and likely to do or have ambitions to do a degree-level job.

·                     Likely to live in towns and cities but not exclusively.

·                     Happy adopting new technology and regularly uses social networking sites and the internet.

Brands/lifestyle for Birdy fans:

·                     Very likely to own an Apple product/mp3 player and take their music seriously. Almost certainly owns a smart phone but could be Samsung or Apple.

·                     Enjoys a drink – likely to be beer or wine.

·                     Self expressive- likes to dress individually and visit vintage stores

·                     Sony audio/visual products.

·                     Red Bull.

·                     Jack Daniels.

·                     Levis.

·                     NME or Q magazine. Niche magazines.

·                     Probably be in a romantic relationship.

·                     Sky Atlantic, Netflix and Amazon Prime subscribers.

·                     Interested in singer/songwriters and emerging new talent.

·                     May also be fans of Mumford and Sons, Bon Iver, The Lumineers, Laura Marling.

Watch the original Birdy Video and note how the props / visuals link to the lyrics:

When the lyrics read ‘sunlight illuminates our skin’, there is a close up shot of the singer with sunlight reflected on her face. The video is a concept video, with the performance element introduced through fancy dress costumes and dream-like figures dancing and performing in a forest environment. This setting complements the ethereal, dream-like sound of the music. The artist appears in the narrative but she does not involve herself with the other people, therefore making her stand out amongst them. There is juxtaposition between close ups of her lying on the bed looking sad, and dramatic scenes such as people riding horses which matches the more dramatic beats. The smoke and colours are edited to the beat.

Now watch the A Level student version of the Birdy video and note how the props / visuals link to the lyrics: 

The video opens with a shot of a little girl staring at a grave in a graveyard. This suggests that the song is going to be slow and emotional. The song lyrics are about losing and finding someone and this person has interpreted that into a narrative about a little girl whose father has passed away and she is remembering the good times they shared together. A buried pot signifies the memories they shared. The use of the narrative is juxtaposed with the artist (singer) in the field lip-synching and this implies that she is the grown up girl represented by the younger actress in the memory scenes. Numerous close ups of the objects that mean something to the girl show the link between the little girl and her father and this is also reinforced by the close up of them holding hands. The emphasis is on ‘the rest of our lives’ as the girl will have the memory of her father with her forever. The location is mostly outside in a field and in the wood as this represents where she walked with her father and felt closest to him.