Planning & Research - Dawn Shadforth

Dawn Shadforth

A British music director, as well as a director for documentaries. She is also an editor and an artist. She joined the Sheffield Hallam University and studied sculpture, but after graduation, she was accepted onto a video training course.

She has directed many music video's, such as 'Drumming Song' for Florence and the Machine (2009), 'Can't Get You Out of My Head' by Kylie Minogue (2001) and 'Wonderful Life' by Hurts (2010).

She reached fame when she directed the music video 'Can't Get You Out of My Head' for Kylie Minogue in 200. She is also well known for her tight choreography in the music video's. This is shown clearly in 'Drumming Song' for Florence and the Machine (2009), as the choreography clearly shows the themes of the song and represents it through the movements. She still edits her music videos, which is very rare for a director to do.

I like her use of choreography and the way it links to the lyrics within the video subtly through the movements, and it is something I will have to consider when doing my own video. Also, the artist is the main focus of the video, with the dancers side-lined as second. I like that the artist is the main focus of the music video. The movements in the choreography clearly show the mood and rhythm of the song. The lighting is also used well and illuminates the dancers and the artist, especially in the music video 'Wonderful Life' by Hurts (2010), where the dancers are shown dancing in front of the setting sun, which has a brilliant effect on the video. The dancers on both video's are also very monochrome, wearing black frequently, contrasting with their surroundings.