CASTING (RESEARCH)

CASTING INTRO (RESEARCH)

When casting the actors for our video we had to make sure they were relatable for the target audience. For example, the clothes they wore and the way they presented themselves must fit the generic conventions of the dance music genre. We also had to be realistic with our casting. With our low budget we couldn't exactly afford to cast someone with vast experience, however we did want someone who has previously taken part in some sort of visual. We also needed people who were available when we needed them and very accessible. You will see we have chosen 2 that fit this requirement perfectly.

POST BY: Geraint Padfield

CASTING RESEARCH: SIMILAR TEXTS (RESEARCH)

These images come from Disclosure's "You & Me" video - a similar media text to what we hope ours will be. We partially used the actors in this video as a template for the casting of our own video.

POST BY: Danny O'Brien

PROPS (RESEARCH)

Props research

Due to the idea of our video, we are trying to take the pressure off of actors by using good props. The key to a good visual is that it looks as crisp and professional as possible. It is very difficult to cast actors who can perform so professionally that it boosts our video, therefore the emphasis on good props is key to our success. For the majority of these props we have used Wilkinson - Afterglow as an inspiration because this video focuses the majority of its video on the actors and thats exactly what we are trying to achieve with our video. All of the props follow a slight narrative in the video and are parallel to the text used in the video and also synchronised with the music.

Props that will supplement our video well are things such as:

 Candles

This could be useful in our narrative because we could use it in a statistic such as “4 Birthday’s.” and then a shot of candles. This takes the pressure off the actors, whilst still maintaining a level of professionalism within our music video. Candles are very easily accessible from local shops and wholesalers.

Phones

Phones have a high importance in our video due to the diversity they bring diversity. For example we can use them in shots detailing missed calls or unread messages. Almost everyone has a phone in today’s world and our entire group does, meaning we won’t have to spend money and time purchasing this prop. It will also take little time to set this prop in our video.

 Games/Consoles

This is a prop that our male audience can relate to. It also brings humor to the video, just like Wilkinson did with the shot of the couple playing Call of Duty in the Afterglow. Our group has a Games console to use and we can easily get hold of a game such as FIFA 15 so we could use a shot relating to the amount of goals they’ve scored on FIFA during their relationship.

Clocks

  

A clock is again another prop which takes the strain off of the actors. A clock can be used in statistics such as ‘hours slept’, ‘minutes wasted’ etc. This is also a prop that most people have in their homes already, meaning its very easily accessible and cost effective. So far all the props mentioned are easily accessible because we already have them, saving us money for what already is a low budget project.

Animals

Animals may be slightly more difficult to obtain. The only person In our group with a pet is Danny which we could borrow for our video, yet this is still quite difficult depending on the location we shoot the video. Animals or pets will be useful when shooting a shot detailing the amount of pets they’ve had during their relationship. Maybe it would be easier if we used a smaller scale animal like a goldfish.

Glasses

Our target audience and demographic of age 16-25 with a low class rating are enjoying years or partying and drinking alcohol, so a shot of pint glasses will be very relatable. We have access to alcohol from our own homes as well as glasses.

COSTUME AND MAKE UP (RESEARCH)

 Costume and makeup research.

Male:

For our male character we will get him to dress in up to date clothing, such as skinny jeans, fashionable trainers and t shirts from places such as Topman and River Island because they’re arguably the two most prominent clothes retailers for our audience. We’ll try as much as possible to represent the male character as cool through the clothing that he’s wearing and fashion conscious, like most teenagers in this generation.

        Such clothing also helps to portray the artist as a young, trendy person which will ultimately help promote him as an artist, as teens will want to relate with a trendy artist.

Through the fashionable portrayal of both the male and female character it will draw in attention for a mass proportion of teenagers, that are conscious of how they look, in order to feel accepted socially and labelled as cool. By enabling our characters to be labelled as cool we have in turn allowed our artist to be labelled cool - which in itself is something that will help promote him in a positive manner.

Female:

With girls it’s a bit more difficult because of the different types of clothes available to them. I’ve researched a couple of music videos that share a similar target audience to ours and the clothes the females are wearing in them. The main video I looked at was Disclosure’s you and me video, where the female is dressed very stereotypically of our genre. You can see from the images below from that she is being represented as fashion orientated and someone that takes care of their appearance. This is what we want from our female actress. Clothing items we’re seeing is things like shorts, long coats and baggy jumpers. Brands popular with females is places like Topshop, urban outfitters and Zara. The trainers, same as males, we want to be up to date. 

When there are shots of the couple relaxing in the comfort of their own home, we will need clothes to reflect that in order to make the video realistic.

POST BY: Geraint Padfield

              

RISK ASSESSMENT: RE-SHOOT (PLANNING)

COSTUME AND MAKE-UP SUMMARY (PLANNING)

Realism is something that when efficiently created in a music video makes it a more interesting, worthwhile thing to watch. This means that the female may be wearing minimal makeup and the pair will be wearing clothes such as onesie’s, baggy t-shirts and tracksuit bottoms. This will also just represent them as stereotypical teenagers which is what we’re looking for essentially, as it will enable us to target a blanket audience among teenagers - our primary age in our target audience.

POST BY: Danny O'Brien