Stimulus and Music

My chosen stimulus is the song ‘The Moment I Said It’ by Imogen Heap. I chose this song because I feel it paints a beautiful story through the varying melodies and personal lyrics. Imogen Heap is an artist who creates musical artwork, straying away from traditional music as she ‘balances machine wizardry with startling humanity in her electronic pop.’ (Zhang, 2022) Because I’ve appreciated the song and I relate to the lyrics in my ways, I felt it was important to pay homage to Imogen Heap as her music has helped me through some difficult times throughout my adolescence. 

(Thompson, 2023)


The lyrics to the song have a powerful message and contain elements of heartbreak and sadness, with a build in the climax ‘to generate an uncertainty that helps us to feel the narrative more poignantly.’ (Shaffer, 2017) After analysing the lyrics, I decided to incorporate the themes of the stages of grief one may experience after a traumatic experience, which I will learn more through more extensive research to aid my understanding. I felt this would be a good basis for my choreography to focus on as I can utilise different choreographic devices and techniques to help portray these effects, and how they may impact someone in their day-to-day lives.

(Thompson, 2023)

Music has always been an important element within my creative processes, as there’s a lot to depict within musical scores that can help amplify the emotions I aim to demonstrate within the movement material. Thus, I have carried out extensive research to find an aural accompaniment that fits my themes and intentions the closest, to inevitably communicate these to my audience. For the first five minutes, I will utilise the instrumental version of the Imogen Heap song, as I feel the score is powerful and distinctly depicts a varying of emotions that I can connect to the movement material. I aim to isolate some vocals and lyrics throughout, to add depth to the music, as well as to complement some of the sensations and feelings, which I feel will create more of an impactful atmosphere. I aim to demonstrate the first stages of grief, such as denial and anger. The beats in the song are quite sporadic, which I feel is an element that will help convey the chaos and anxiety one may endure during the process of grief. I aim to transition into a spoken word poem used in Beyoncé’s video for the song ‘Sorry’ which I want to replicate a sense of depression spiralling into your mind, leading to, unfortunate, mental decline. After this, I aim to use a more melancholy piece of music that unravels into a beautiful yet simplistic orchestral type score that helps to paint the beauty of healing and discovering one’s self after a traumatic experience.


(Thompson, 2023)

Overall, I hope to educate my audience and raise awareness about grief, with hope to inspire anyone who may be experiencing these feelings that there is hope and a light at the end of the darkness.



(Thompson, 2023)

Bibliography

Shaffer, K (2017) How Imogen Heap tells a Linear Story in a Cyclical Song. Available at How Imogen Heap tells a linear story in a cyclical song (kshaffer.github.io) [Accessed 26th September 2023]


Thompson, B (2023) Photograph of Grief Mind Map. Hinckley, Leicestershire.


Thompson, B (2023) Photograph of Lyric Mind Map. Hinckley, Leicestershire.


Thompson, B (2023) Photograph of Music Quotes. Hinckley, Leicestershire.


Thompson, B (2023) Photograph of Sections. Hinckley, Leicestershire.


Zhang, C (2022) The Eternal Influence of Imogen Heap. Available at The Eternal Influence of Imogen Heap | Pitchfork [Accessed 26th September 2023] 


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