Kinga Burza

Who is Kinga Burza?

Kinga Burza is a Polish-Australian (born September 26th 1980) music video director and she moved to London in 2006. She completed a BA at the University of New South Wales . Whilst studying she practiced making amateur videos for her then boyfriend, Jack Ladder and other bands which she was friends with. After moving to London she signed up with respected film production company, Partizan of Micheal Gondry. Since being in the U.K. Achievements:-

• Winner- Best Pop Video- MVA 2008 (Kate Nash- ‘Foundations’ • A Young Gun award for Music Video Director in 2007.• I-D, Confused Magazine, Vogue, Rush and many more ran features on her.• She got nominated for Best New Director by the CAD Awards in 2007.• Also Katy Perry' s "I Kissed a Girl" went No. 1 in the BillBoard charts.

'the next wave of up-and-coming directors'- Promo Magazine

Who did she work with?Kinga has worked with many well known artists/ bands and also less mainstream artists/ bands. A few are: Kate Nash, Katy Perry, Calvin Harris, James Blunt, La Roux, Marina and the Diamonds, The teenagers, Will young, Girls Can’t Catch, Mika and Zarif. All of the following artists are pop orientated weather it's indie pop ( Kate Nash, Marina and the Diamonds) or electro pop (Calvin Harris, La Roux) or pop, pop rock. This shows a clear sign that Kinga is interested in pop music which will help me because I will be doing a pop music video. In all the videos she has produced, Kinga put the main focus on the artists with, lots of close-ups. This connotes that the audience obviously show interest to the artists image probably because they aspire to be like them.

Why did I chose her?I would say that Kinga has a very unique, quirky, creative style throughout her work which I find really interesting. The artist/ bands she has worked with are rather odd and they have their own unique style and they like to stand out. Her style mainly captures what the lyrics are saying and produces a narrative video but I think she adds an interesting twist. Almost all her videos are narrative videos and some have elements of staged performance for example: Kate Nash-'Pumpkin Soup‘.

Kate Nash- ‘ Pumpkin Soup’In the lyrics, Kate, says: “I just want your kiss boy” which through out the video the couple do kiss. This shows narrative elements. In the video there are dancing cats which show staged performance elements.

Her work gives me inspiration and I am sure that I will take elements of her work to help me with my music video. Most of her videos are feminine rather than masculine. This is based on the fact that she uses a lot of colour, dance routines and many more aspects from her videos. After looking at just a few of her videos I have noticed a theme recurring, the video either has a toy or an animal or both. This is like her signature symbol, a mark for the audience to recognise that she had something to do with the video. Toys and animals usually portray that the person is caring or young at heart. For example: -

1) Katy Perry-I Kissed a Girl

3) James Blunt- Love, Love, Love2) Zarif- Over

Continue…I would say that almost all her videos have a child like manner and a sense of how great being young is. I say this because for example, Calvin Harris-’Merrymaking at my place’ and Marina and the Diamonds- ‘Hollywood’ has partying and fun scenes.

Although most of her videos are very random and out there, she has some videos which have a very clear sense of reality and everyday life. For example, Zarif- ‘Over’. And in those videos she tends to use a vintage style of mise-en-scene.

She also likes to experiment with her range of use of colours which is what I would like to do with my music video.

Also Kate Nash- ‘ Foundations’ has a sense of being young, naïve, childish.

Analysing The Teenagers- ‘Homecoming’ (Kinga Burza)This is a perfect example of Burza’ s work. She captured what the lyrics are saying but used a twist (because the lyrics are a bit strong) . E.g. lyrics say: “She’s a cheerleader”

She also loves, as I said before, using toys.

Also she loves the fact of being young, innocent, child like. This is per sued in the way the girls act and look.

Being young. Partying.

Analysing The Teenagers- ‘Homecoming’ (Kinga Burza) continue..The video is focused on the artist with close-ups of the band members but also eye level shots to show what the main artist is looking at. This gives the viewer and insight on what is going on.

It has a unique, vintage style of mise-en-scene.

In this video there is a sense of voyeurism towards the girls. This is not the usual style that Burza uses but I suspect she did this because of what they say in the lyrics. An example is the one below where you see the girl looking at the screen as if she was looking at the guy and then there is a shot of the guy looking at the screen as if he was observing the girl.

Editing?Kinga uses a lot of editing in the videos she produces and normally the editing techniques are not very discrete, they are very obvious in most of her videos. They vary from really cartoony, eye-catching, artistic, fun, colourful and child like. For example:- Kate Nash Marina and the Diamond

OverallI think that Kinga Burza has given me a lot of inspiration and a step closer to a clearer view of what my video could be like. The fact that she has directed a few of my favourite videos , including one that I looked at previously on my music videos analysis, gives me greater confidence that i can take elements from her videos and develop ideas to produce in my own music video. She has also mainly worked with the genre of music that I want to work with in my video. She has focused on the music and has created a video that fits with the lyrics and the artist/ band. From looking at the videos she has produced I have noted that there is a link between the lyrics and the visuals which, is something I would like to do.Even though her work is rather unusual, I would say that it is not as odd as Chris Cunningham. I feel that I can relate to her work and produce something similar but make it my own.

To a bit more serious and intriguing but still rather random. La Roux- ‘Quicksand’