Video Project - Brainstorming

Next project: Together with the music department (specifically opera), we will be creating a live performance. All songs will be from Gian Carlo Menotti in honor of his 100th birthday. The artists that will be helping this creation have been instructed to create a accompanying video to go with the opera singers' performances.

I was assigned to "Don't Cry, Mother Dear" from Amahl and the Night Visitors. It is a short song in which Amahl comforts his mother when she is feeling extremely stressed because of their financial status. Here are the lyrics:

Don't cry Mother dear; don't worry for me.
If we must go begging, a good beggar I'll be.
I know sweet tunes to set people dancing.
We'll walk and walk from village to town - you dressed as a gypsy, and I as a clown.
We'll walk and walk from village to town.
At noon, we shall eat roast goose and sweet almonds.
At night we shall sleep with the sheep and the stars.
I'll play my pipes, you'll sing and you'll shout.
The windows will open and people lean out.
The king will ride by and hear your loud voice and throw us some gold to stop all the noise.
At noon we shall eat roast goose and sweet almonds;
at night we shall sleep with the sheep and the stars.
Mother: "Kiss me good night."
The mother and son to each other: "Good night."

For the opening scene, I want a more clear, crisp picture of Amahl and his mother, perhaps him going to comfort her. Then for all the scenes in the middle, I would like a more faded or scratchy type of style to show that these are a child's thoughts rather than reality or premonition. In the end, Amahl and his mother come back to end in a mini-duet and I want to end with the clear images before fading to dark as they say "Goodnight".