Ian Kirkpatrick is the songwriter of the song, as well as Caroline Ailin and Emily Warren. The director of the song was Henry Scholfield and Dua Lipa is and English singer, who is the singer of this song... New Rules. EDM, Tropical house and electropop is the genre of this music video. It was filmed in the USA, Miami, Florida.
The moral of this music video and the reasoning behind it (from Dua Lipa's view) is how you should keep your distance from someone who is bad for you. She had recently said in an interview with the BBC that "I'm setting some rules down so that I won't go back to that person."
Lipa's main verse of the song is...
"One: Don't pick up the phone, you know he's only calling 'cause he's drunk and alone.
Two: Don't let him in, you'll have to kick him out again.
Three: Don't be his friend, you know you're gonna wake up in his bed in the morning. And if you're under him, you ain't getting over him!"
EDITING:
I really enjoy the use of the continuity editing at the very beginning of the music video. (and also used throughout) The amazing aspect of the continuity editing which is really beneficial, is that the neat cutting enables a continuous and clear narrative action by following a set of rules.
- The rules for the continuity editing consist of the establishing shot, shot / reverse shot, 180 degree rule, 30 degree rule, cross cutting, match on action, eye line match and also the re-establishing shot.
- These shots were vital to have in order to emphasise the smooth and coherent transitions between the shots, which look invisible.
Personally, I find that it was easy to point out that the narrative has a structure, the shot sequences flow very seamlessly into each other, and also it makes it more simple to watch the music video on a whole new level, whilst being able to understand the lyrics and situation. My favourite part of the editing is when Dua Lipa can be seen inside her hotel room, drawing the curtains, but once the curtains are being opened up, she (and her friends) are outside in the pool area. Whilst Dua Lipa was in her room, we see her hair opened up loose, her black and silver high heeled shoes, her purple baggy collared shirt with a black bra and a shiny mini skirt. However, as soon as we see a mid-shot of her outside in the pool area, her look has transformed to silky tied up hair, orange / yellow tinted sun glasses, golden neck chain, a light blue patterned shirt with her black bra, and also a black mini skirt with red laced high heels. Her physical appearance has completely changed, which has ultimately had an influence on how she acts. She is seen to be a more rebellious character, setting new rules for herself, whilst strutting away in front of the pool. Overall, the editing for this music video is very seamless, as it flows well with the beat. It runs at a moderate medium pace and is absolutely delectable and engaging.
COLOURISATION:
The colourisation in this music video is highly - lit, from the beginning to the end. In the hotel scenes, the main source of light are the actual light bulbs, lamp shades and also the use of making skin tones and colour of the clothes brighter and more richer via editing. From the first 15 seconds to 35 seconds, Lipa's bedroom has very high lighting, but as soon as she gets up and walks to the bathroom in front of her, the lights rapidly die down. Whilst she was in the bathroom, I could see that her bedroom had very low-key lighting. As she had came back in to her room, the lighting instantly increased and it was back to the usual highly-lit.This may be because her presence in the room brings a joyous and bright feel to the room. The first 12 seconds of the video were just showing us the location, which had low-key lighting (night scene) with Dua Lipa's name and song name is seen in the middle of the screen in illuminated bright white lighting. At 10 and 11 seconds, wee see a flashy bright red tint on the 2 swans and the hotel like party mansion. We also see crisp white lights on the barks of the palm trees. This could be reflective whilst shooting.
At exactly 2 minutes 7 seconds we finally get to see Lipa and her girl friends outside in the open. The lighting has become even more brighter as there is natural light coming in from the sun. I felt that the natural lighting is the best type of lighting that suits this music video because it really brings a glow on their faces, alongside some natural sense, increasing the realism and the verisimilitude of the location and setting.
SPECIAL EFFECTS:
These were outstanding, as they had added more depth to the situation and visuals. We see Dua Lipa's name and her song name illuminated in a bright white neon light at the first long shot of the video.(showing the location and area at the same time) We see a red neon tint at 10 and 11 seconds. This could tell us that there might be a party holding later on in the music video, as the mood changes. The other type of special effect we see is when her location, physical appearance and attitude to her situation all change completely, as she is opening up the curtains. To an extent we are able to see a before and after shot of her. At 2 minutes 20 seconds, the camera goes down in and under the pool, showing us a flipped over (upside down) shot of the platform Dua Lipa is standing on. (with her friends) Before this, herself and all her friends were keeping a still position and as soon as the camera rises from below the swimming pool, they all walk towards each other, forming a line between one another. The second part to this swimming pool scene is where Dua Lipa and her friends are seen to be walking on the swimming pool. Ripple effects are shown every time a step is taken. They all take a moment to stand on the water, but eventually systemically all except Dua, fall in to the pool sideways, splashing about. Almost instantly, that particular shot and shots before, were all reversed. As soon as they fell in to the water, themselves and the water all rose up to their starting position. The final shot shows the camera going under water again ( but 180 degrees) showing them standing before and then disappearing after.
PACE AND RHYTHM:
The pace tends to vary, but seems to remain constant when there are high intensity scenes, compared to the not very intense scenes. At the beginning of the music video we see that the beat is quite slow, hence why we see more long shots, close ups and extreme close ups of Dua Lipa. This enables us to catch and read her facial expressions and body language for a longer period of time. The first 50 seconds are slow, equating to a slow pace and a slow rhythm. At exactly 51 seconds, the beat, rhythm, tune, and pace has drastically increased. This is evident as Dua Lipa's facial expressions and body language as well as her friends become more abrupt, with a bit more enthusiasm. Therefore, we are able to identify that the pace and rhythm adopt and adapt to the on screen visuals. As this is a song about break up, we see that Dua Lipa has a sluggish body attitude, which reflects on the pace and rhythm being slow. However, as she comes to realisation that she has to let go of her past and forget about her previous relationship, she begins to appear more confident in herself, which is shown through her body language, and also in the increase speed of the tune and beat of the song, as well as the performance of Dua and her friends. The pace and rhythm increases and decreases throughout the entire music video.
DIEGETIC AND NON-DIEGETIC SOUND:
We hear Dua Lipa's voice on screen which is clearly visible to us, and is the diegetic sound. For the digetic sound, Dua Lipa had also lip-synced parts of her song. The non-diegetic sound is the music... The beat and the tune itself. Dua's voice really changed accordingly to the song. (At some points, high pitch and also low pitch)
TRANSITIONING: The main transition shot was seen when Dua Lipa had opened the curtain in her hotel room, which was then followed by another transition shot of Dua opening another curtain, which was being opened outside of the pool. The other clever transition was when the camera was under the pool, and then showed Dua and her 8 girl friends all dancing. The shot before this showed them disappeared at the same location, and the shot before that had showed them as still, but striking a pose.
SHOT DURATION AND SCREEN TIME:
Dua Lipa had the most screen time out of everyone on set, as she is the main singer, and also because she is telling her story. She is the backbone of the music video, hence why she is able to explain her situation very cleverly via her words and actions. Her 8 friends had less screen time than Dua, as they were only helping and guiding Dua. The longest shot which was a long shot, had lasted 8 seconds. This was when Dua was sitting on her bed at the beginning of the music video, with only 2 of her friends. The shot duration time limit tends o decrease as the pace and rhythm of the music increase. The shots are cut much quicker... At 2 minutes 47 seconds, we see a close up / eye line shot only lasting 2 seconds. Especially towards the end of the music video, the shots are taken much quicker, due to Dua and her group of girls dancing and performing at a higher intensity, showcasing different dance moves.
PERFORMANCE:
Despite there being an amazing narrative, this music video is filled with performance. This is something that I really enjoy to watch. In terms of dancing and showcasing numerous dance moves, they were very well rehearsed and well choreographed. At 3 minutes 1 second we see an amazing dance scene of synchronised dancing, which shows Dua and her friends all participating. There is also quite a few parts of natural movement as Dua is getting up to sit on her sofa, to open the door and just walking about. The main aspect of this is that it is arranged very well. Throughout the whole music video, the girls are always together as a group. For the first 1 minute 9 seconds we see Dua Lipa walking up to her friends in her room, whilst seeking advice about her self and her relationship and learning it. After this we have an interval of dancing in the hotel passage outside Dua's room. At 3 minutes 24 seconds, we see Dua and her friends holding hands in a circle, and all pulling in together beat by beat. This shows how they all support each other. At 3 minutes 27 seconds we see Dua and her friends saying "Don't let him in", which shows that they are giving advice to one another on keeping your ex boyfriend out of your life.
At 1 minute 26 seconds we see Dua and her friends helping on another glamour
CAMERA SHOTS:
A various number of camera shots were used. These shots consist of...
- Long shots
- Close ups
- Establishing shots
- Panning
- Wide shots
- Mid shots
- Eye line match
- Master shot
- Two shot
- Big close up
- Long continuous shots
- Out zoom shot
The mixture of shots had worked really well, ultimately complimenting one another. The main shot of this music video was the long continuous shots, where everything was flowing smoothly. An establishing shot was shown at the very start of the music video, showing the location, name of the song and of course, the singer... Dua Lipa. A panning shot was used to show the entrance of the hotel,then leading to a wide shot, showing the rest of the hotel area. A mid shot was shown of the flamingos which could be seen as a welcoming sign for the audience to come on the journey and actually enter the hotel. A close up was shown of Dua Lipa's face and also an extreme close up of her lips. This allows us to deeply observe her facial expressions, feeling and emotions for added emphasis.
PROPS:
The props used in this music video consists of:
- Sun glasses
- Jewellery
- Huge mirror in the bathroom
- Classic pick up telephone
- Hairbrushes
- Lipsticks
- Sofa
The 3 main props which were used, were the hairbrushes, Lipsticks and also the Huge mirror in the bathroom.
The lipsticks and hairbrushes were used to simply to loom sexier and prettier, as well as gaining self confidence back again.
The Mirror was used by Dua Lipa, when she had drawn a love heart on the glass of the mirror, indicating that she misses her ex boyfriend. However, later on in the music video, she believes in herself and forgets about her previous relationship.
LIGHTING:
There is Highly lit lighting in the hotel room, and Low key lighting at only 2 parts of the music video. The lighting that looked really well was the natural lighting coming from the sun and sky, as soon as Dua and her friends were outdoors near the pool area. This depicts a change in mood.
COSTUMES:
The costume changes were very consistent and clever. Dua Lipa's friends all wore some sort of coloured, tight, short and revealing pieces of clothing... and then a coloured bikini near the pool area. Dua Lipa however, adopted the same look throughout the whole music video with a bra and an open baggy shirt crossed over one shoulder, or a dress and an open baggy shirt crossed over one shoulder. There was one point where Dua Lipa and her friends all wore lightly colour shaded bath robes.
I absolutely adore this music video in all aspects and it is my favourite song to listen to and music video to watch. Out of 10, i would give it a solid 10 out of 10. I feel that the mise-en-scene was spot on. This is such an amazing music video, an has a very naturalistic and linear narrative which has been completed to such a high standard.
Here are some images from the music video itself...
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