Camila Cabello: Havana
Havana is half performance, half narrative - just like our idea for our video. It is actually quite similar to what we want to do in a few ways
- the half performance/narrative style
- the same person with multiple different personalities
- the party side of someone
At the start of the video it begins with an over the top telenovela character, dressed in bright yellow with curled hair, looking like a stereotypical telenovela character. Her makeup and jewellery are over the top for what appears to be a normal day in the telenovela. It also isn't the beginning of the backing song. It's purely dialogue and Latin music, it is literally the beginning of a telenovela, which is made clear when it cuts to the same shot on a TV screen.
The next character in the video is the reality version of Camila. She's dressed more normally, in t-shirt and jeans with no make up or jewellery. She's presented as kind of sad, stay at home and watches telenovela's all day. The way her hair is very messy and natural is a contrast to the telenovela side of her, and the glasses show that she isn't as perfect as her either. The scene continues to be an insight to her life, with more Latin music and dialogue between her, her sister and her abuelita. The actual song begins at 2.29.
Her final character is a movie star in a film called Havana. She's bolder, like the telenovela, but less over dramatic and more seductive. This Camila is the one that everyone wants which is seen throughout the video. It's also the performance section of the video, the song being part of the film that Normal Camila is watching. It makes sure to cut between her in the movie and her watching the movie to remind everyone that despite these two being the same person they are polar opposites.
This three different versions of Camila are similar to our idea of having one person with multiple sides. However, in Havana it is slightly different, her characters are all individual and separate from each other. They don't interact or show that they are the same person, they're all their own person despite having the same face. The only time they interact is near the end when Movie Camila speaks to Normal Camila when she complains. Other than a brief five seconds they never acknowledge that they're the same.
The performance and the narrative are also kept quite separate, the only performance is in the Movie side of things. This again is different to our idea because we meld the performance into the narrative, keeping them side by side to make sure it's clear that this character is the one experiencing the things talked about in the song.
The Telenovela Camila is useful for how the more expensive and fancy side of a person comes into play. As our idea needs that colourful more manic side, Telenovela Camila is a good example for what we could use. A bright dress, extravagant make up and gaudy jewellery like earrings or bracelets would work well for our idea. As well as the styled hair, that curl it has makes it look like it took time to get it to look as good as it does.
