How do you envision music videos for Lana's songs?

[Escapism 5,431]

Basically, when you listen or think about one of Lana's songs and imagine a music video for it, what do you see or what would happen?

I haven't seen a thread like this yet, but my bad if there is. 

[SissyReed 577]

this thread exists

 

[Thunder Revenant 20,695]

Black Beauty

The Sun rises on an old villa during the intro. We see a close up of Lana singing the beginning of the first verse. Her look is similar to the black-dress one in the GQ MOTY shoot. She is standing between some semi-transparent curtains that create some rusty light. During some moments you see her sitting at a dresser singing into the mirror. During the chorus we see the "black Beauty" - a very stern looking man in a black suit. He's looking out of the windows. Lana is standing behind him and leans on him, singing over his shoulders. He's not looking back though. Multiple shots from different angles.
At the beginning of the second verse, we see her standing in the living room, a room featuring wallpaper similar to the "the Family jewels" cover. She literally holds a paintbrush in her hand, stained with black paint. The "Black Beauty" sits in a vintage-armchair and again does not seem to take notice of her. Shots from her singing in front of the curtains and on the dresser again.
For the second chorus, they are at the cliffs surrounding the house. She wears a dress that's streaming in the wind. He sits on a stone, looking down the cliffs into the surge of the waves.
When the bridge kicks in we see a small chapell. We see a shot from the inside of the chapel - the benches are empty and Lana and her man are standing at a coffin that is laid out at the altar. We see a shot of them from the front side - he seems to be emotionally for the first time. They are holding hands and it seems that she is comforting him. We see a shot of the coffin. Lana is laying inside the coffin. We see a shot of them holding hands, she's holding tight on his hand. We see a shot of both of their faces again. Another shot of Lana in the coffin. Then we see he's holding the corpse's hand. A shot of only his face and then we see that he's alone in the chapel - alone with the dead Lana laying in the coffin.
During the last chorus, we see the shot of both of them standing between the curtains with her singing to him. We see a shot from the backside and it shows that there is no Lana singing to him, he's alone, looking out of the window. A shot of the empty dresser. A shot of him sitting in the living room with the walls painted black. At the end of the chorus we see a shot of him sitting on the rock all alone. During the outro, we see her face one last time, the same shot from the very beginning. She's looking down. Then we see the sun setting on the house,

I hope it kind of makes sense, I ha dthis in mind ever since I heard the demo.

Money Power Glory

We see a stormy beach. The intro of the songs starts to play. At the part where the synths start, we see a short fade-in of Lana. It's similar to the Tropico-shot - she's laying on the floor, 100 dollar bills are "raining down on her". She has her eyes closed, yet opens them at the end of the intro.
The first verse starts. We see the same beach during sunset, the sun reflects on the ocean. Lana and her boyfriend walk the beach (West Coast-style). He's talking to her, he seems to be very enthusiastic. She smiles, yet she does not really seem to listen to him. At the "you talk lots" part, you see how she's letting his hand go (similar to the one shot during the Body Electric part of Tropico) - he walks on and keeps talking, she seems to be kind of distant. She's turning to the ocean, with her eyes closed. She opens them exactly during "I want ..."
During the chorus, we see her dressed in a dress made of black veils (very cult-esque). She's standing in front of a blue sky. They veils flutter around her, pretty dramatic. The camera works a bit like during the Shades Of Cools chorus,circling all around her.
Second verse - it's night. We see a street with streetlights. Lana is wandering around (Ride-Style). During the pre-chorus, she gets into the car of a man. You see them driving, none of them seems to be interested in each other on a personal level. he's smiling, she seems to be bored, it's pretty obvious where this is going. During the chorus, we have scenes similar to the first chorus, but the sky is cloudy this time. Some shots of her sitting in the car and looking out of the window. At the end of the chours, there is a shot of the car arriving on the beach boardwalk that belongs to the beach from the start of the video. The palms are shaking in the wind, it seems like it's getting stormy.
During the bridge, we have Tropico.esque shots. First one is from her standing under a tree. You don't seem much more than her silhouette because the main subject of the image seen is light falling through the green leaves. There is an apple hanging on a branch. Scenes of her laying on the ground with money raining on her. Shot of her looking towards the apple. More money-rain. We shortly see a scene of her and the man from the car making out at the broadwalk. At the end of the chorus she grabs the apple and seemingly picks it.
Last chorus is again her with the veils, however everything seems stormy and there are dollar bills blowing aorund her. At the end of the chorus we see her laying on the ground, the money rains on her. She closes her eyes. The image fades to a shot of her lying in the smae position. However, she lays on the beach, seemingly near the water, you can see the foam of the surge. She was obviously beat up and possibly even killed by the man from the car.

Probs a bit dramatic, but I always have that in my head when listening to the track.

Music To Wach Boys To

Vocal Song Intro - We see the ocean. The gamera goes underwater and we see the famous underwater girls which are seemingly emerging from the deep. One of the women is obviously Lana.

Instrumental Intro - We see a beach promenade.When Lana starts to sing, we see a close up shot of her. The cmaera goes back and we see she's sitting in a beach chair, reading a magazine (HM photoshoot style). Other women are sitting in beach chairs around her. They seem to observe the people passing by. During the pre-chorus, Lana pulls her glasses down. She looks at a surfer-esque dude. He looks back and smiles. Close up of Lana smiling back.

Chorus -

"I like you a lot" - we see Lana and the surf-dude on a jetski, curising around the ocean near the beach.
"Putting on my music while I’m watching the boys" a close up on Lana from the beach, she's lip-synching the lyrics with a resting, unamused ":)face"
"So I do what you want" Another shot of Lana and the guy on the jetski, they laugh
"Singing soft grunge just to soak up the noise" Beach-Lana lip syncs again
"Blue Ribbons on ice" - Lana and the dude on the jet-ski, she shakes her hair
"Playing their guitars, only one of my toys" lip syncing

During the last two lines, you see the two on the jetski, which leaves the camera angle. The camera goes underwater and we see that the swimming girls are floating there, seemingly following them.

Second verse. Lana is sitting in a tropical restaurant, wearing an elegant dress, makeup similar to that. SHe looks at the camera and lip syncs the first few lines of the second verse. A man in a suit enters the restaurant. She observes him and they make eye contact. A waiter brings her a drink with a note. She reads it and looks up. The man in the suit has turned around and smiles at her. She smiles back. and her smile fades during the last line of the pre-chorus.

Second Chorus - Shot from below. Lana pushes two curtains aside and exits a door. The camera goes back and shows that she's on a yacht. The man from the restaurant stands at the railing. Both wear casual yet elegant white clothes. She walks towards him, they hug and laugh.

During the first part of the bridge ("live to love you") both get into the water, wearing swimming suits. The situation seems quite erotic (Blue Jeans vibes). During the second part of the chorus ("nothing gold ..." we get a shot of Lana from the beach promenade again. She is sitting in her beach chair and looks over her shoulder, lip syncing in the camera. We get some shots showing the swimming girls appraoching the two lovers from underwater. During the last line of the bridge, we get another shot of Lana in the beach-chair. She sings the line and turns around.


Last chorus - the underwater girls, Lana and the man float around underwater (Freak-style). At first, everything seems quite ok and the guy seems to enjoy the female attention. however, the underwater girls start to drag him down towards the bottom of the sea. During "No holds barred, I’ve been sent to destroy, yeah" we see a shot form his perspective - he looks at Lana, who is still floating underwater and looks down on him, smiling, while the view is dragged deeper and deeper.

During the outro, we see Lana walking the beach promenade, She still wears the swimsuit, however she is dry. She also wears her sunglasses and the guys shirt and has a bag thrown over her shoulder. She enters a cafe. the guys sitting there look at her and she looks back at them, smiles in a sinister way as she walks towards the cmaera and the image fades out.

A bit messy, since I've already had it written completely and managed to delete it but I hope you get the idea.


 

[cheaptrailertrashglm 3,200]

i picture myself as lana being a goddess or a whore.

[DouglasReese 500]

"Sad Girl" is the major one. I have the entire music video mapped out in my head, and I absolutely adore it and envision it with every listen. May even be responsible for why it's my favorite song she's ever done.

[Escapism 5,431]

I've always had some kind of vision in my head for Off to the races.

I imagine when Lana sings in the higher pitch, she's reenacting scenes from the Lolita movies specifically the ones where Lolita's lying on the grass reading,  the one where Humbert and her are in the car (i'm having trouble thinking of more off the top of my head, but yeah) and she'd be wearing the red flowers in her hair and floral jumpsuit from British Vogue and when Lana is singing in her more seductive voice it has a vogue italia vibe and her in a more luxurious setting (i.e what she mentions in the song itself, casinos,  Chateau Marmont, something like that.

It makes more sense in my head

[Cashew 1,822]

I imagine Jealous Girl music video features a young blonde girl in a cheerleader outfit stalking a guy around school while there are shots of Lana singing in the gym with cheerleaders dancing behind her. The girl has strong feeling for the guy but the guy likes someone else. Music video ends with the girl kidnapping and killing the guy, with the final shot being Lana and the cheerleaders looking at the camera all covered in blood.  It's so much better in my head than how it is written down right now. 

[rdp 1,240]

I always think of this video when I hear Religion (probably 'cause the production is kinda similar). I'd love to see Lana do something like it 

[WaitForLife 5,031]

I think about Lana sitting on a bench with roses behind her when I hear Pretty When You Cry.

[Escapism 5,431]

I've always imagined Brooklyn baby to be Lana just hanging out in Brookyln with her man-Bradley is who I imagine, in this case.

I imagine the intro to be some old vintage clips of Brooklyn and then the rest (in no specific order) is her walking passed some graffiti filled walls, singing in a pub with her man's band, driving (or walking) on the Brooklyn Bridge, going by Coney Island (think Summer Wine), and like in the UV/Freak video where she's sitting in a room with a record player she's just listening to some Ella Fitzgerald and Lou Reed (the records are visible), writing/playing guitar, and getting ready to go out for the night.

As for the outfit/makeup I see it as the Fader shoot with the white shirt/hoop earrings and the brown jacket

 

Pretty When You Cry for me is basically the Complex shoot and Lana just waiting around and becoming more and more hopeless and there are flashbacks to their relationship with one another.

[Mind Melt 10,090]

never really had a full concept but for cruel world i'd always envisioned a music video of lana in the dreamland jacket and jean boyshorts with a guy doing peyote and they dance around in the vast desert with their hallucinations idk it always seemed cool in my head

[californianfreak 3,479]

For Sad Girl, I have always imagined Lana sitting alone at a bar with red leather stools, smoking a cigarette, and lots of grey smoke whirling around her 

[Doll Harlow 12,350]

For Mermaid Motel, I picture her stripping and lots motel/americana imagery during the chorus. I know it's obvious but that iconic song deserves an updated video (although I love the Lizzy one and it is certainly charming enough). It's one of her best.

[Miss Honeydew 615]

Off to the Races, in my opinion, could have been a cinematic masterpiece of a music video given the right production value and direction. (If she went through with it). 

 

I'd imagine her entwined with an older man, sitting alongside him as the intro starts. She'd have this exact Dazed look, talking the lyrics. Guiding the viewer over her man's cards, the poker table, the ambience of people gambling, the cigars and drinks. And as the song unfolds, I imagine her and her man just running havoc in a place like Caesar's Palace in Vegas. The chimes / lights of the slot machines, Lana standing in front of sculptures, laughing with wads of cash in her hands. Waving it in front of people, as if teasing them and the viewer.

Then towards the end, I envision her man getting tangled into something he can't easily get out of with his charm. A fight breaks out. Guns are drawn, a chandelier shatters as the diamonds fall to the ground. People run away, but Lana keeps sitting there. Merely inches away from a possibly fatal attack. She won't leave his side because she loves him and the life too much. 

Then the outro, when the orchestra and strings start playing, Lana drives out of Vegas and onto the desert freeway. With a bag of cash in the backseat and mascara tears running down her face. 

 

One could only dream 

[jvcx 3,643]

I was bored so I decided I'd do some quick (and rough) concept stuff on what Lust for Life could look like but after a while I lost all of my motivation so I ended up doing only a few.

 

 

Click for larger image. These images are for the first verse, with the last close up image being for "Keepin' me hot like July forever" part.

 

 

But yeah, I could definitely image some shots of Lana and Weeknd sitting on the H like in the audio video, some close ups and the Schindler's List -effect where it's all black and white except for strong red colors (Lana's dress and lipstick). For the chorus I could imagine them to the flower field of the single cover (this time in color), Lana doing some slow-motion twirls embracing life with relieved-like singing and slashing some smiles to the camera while Weeknd's doing his parts. Why not a few adorable close up smiles too. I liked the setting of Weeknd's latest music video so I wouldn't mind if there were something similar and space-like, so it could be continuation to the Love video in a way but possibly just less obvious.

As the sound of the verses is darker than during the chorus, I'd follow the same pattern with the images. More black and white, more dark lightning and contrast, and as the song gets to the chorus, a quick white fade to sunshine and flowers and lighter mood with slow-motion for a few lines. Closer to the end they could just come off with some "behind the scenes" footage of Lana and Abel messing around and having fun in the set during filming lol

[nevada darling 540]

This pretty much sums up what OTTR looks like in my head:

 

[Beautiful Loser 46,094]

I imagine Old Money to be a whole, long shot. The camera is following her around and things changes in the background as she sings the lyrics. And it's in black and white.

 

 

First verse:

Lana sits on a porch or something (you know, those typically American ones, with a large wooden house) with hydrangeas around her. It could be raining. Some school kids (7-10 years old) are running on the street before her.

Lana looks up into the camera with a kind of hurt smile on her face ("where have you been, where did you go?"). She stands up and goes inside.

First chorus:

Framed photos are standing on a bureau, but she's not looking at them. She looks outside the window. When the "I'll run to you" part starts, the sun comes through and hits her face. She smiles happily now.

Second verse:

Turning the camera, kids toys are on the floor, like paper, crayons and wooden horses. She picks up one of the drawings and then walks to the framed photographs. A family photo with her father, mother and siblings. She looks at them, picks up the picture and then puts it back.

Second chorus:

She takes out an old photo from a frame and frames the kid's drawing instead. She opens a drawer to get her pearl necklace. She puts it on. Then she walks to the porch again, puts on some slippers and starts walking.

Bridge:

Passing the hydrangeas, she walks to the backyard for a while...

Last verse:

... where she meets her two kids and a man which is her husband and hugs them. They've been playing. She smiles. And everything gets in color.

 

Boring yes, and no deep meaning, but I just imagine it as being very calm and soothing.

[Stargirl 13,348]

I have such a vivid vision for Bel Air. Lana is in heaven walking through an ethereal garden and towards the second chorus she sees her man and "runs like mad", dropping a bouquet of flowers and they spin around and dance sort of like this scene from Freak 

[cherryblossoms 10,274]

 

starting at 0:32 is mainly what i envision for driving in cars with boys

 

https://www.shutterstock.com/video/clip-1677997-stock-footage-people-playing-pool-in-bar.html

and this is for hollywood. idk i get visuals of people playing 8ball idk

 

i think this could work too but if it was "less crazy" and more chill

[Terrence Loves Me 71,726]

Cruel World i always imagined her inside some trashed motel room dancing around in her red dress and drinking whiskey from the bottle with mascara running down her face.