Final Cast List

Main Character

Age: 18

Nationality: British

Personality: quirky, intelligent, quiet, excitable and fun.

Occupation: Student

Hobbies: Reading, hanging out with friends, drawing and camping.

Relationship Status: In a relationship

Played by: Mollie Walker

Why I casted Mollie: Mollies personality is very much like the characters so I thought it would be a great fit. Mollie is confident and enjoys acting, she is also very much into music and we are very good friends, so she was eager to play the part.

Actors Age: 18

Costumes the character will wear: Casual clothing throughout, as the music video is almost a documentary style genre filming the everyday life of the main character and her relationships.

Main Character's Mother

Age: 45

Nationality: British

Personality: Caring, worrier, maternal, sensitive and emotional.

Occupation: Nurse

Hobbies: Reading, taking care of people, watching TV, and interacting with family.

Relationship Status: Divorced

Played by: Alison Walker

Why I casted Alison: I wanted the relationship on camera between the mother and daughter to appear genuine, therefore I thought there was no better person to play Mollie's mum, than her mum. Alison is very practical and confident, and she has a strong maternal instinct matching the one I was looking for in the main characters mum.

Actors Age: 40

Costumes the character will wear: Casual clothing throughout, as the music video is almost a documentary style genre filming the everyday life of the main character and her relationships.

Main Character's Boyfriend

Age: 19

Nationality: British

Personality: Quiet, loving, fun, straight forward, simple and encouraging.

Occupation: Roof Thatcher

Hobbies: Exploring, travelling, playing xbox and theme parks.

Relationship Status: In a Relationship

Played by: Matt Tierney

Actors Age: 19

Why I casted Matt: I casted Matt, again as I wanted the couples relationship to appear genuine and he is Mollie's real life boyfriend. Again, he also matched the description of the character quite well in that he is quiet and simple, yet very affectionate towards Mollie. For the shoots I plan to film in such a way that the couple don't notice i'm there, in order to make them feel more comfortable.

Costumes the character will wear: Casual clothing throughout, as the music video is almost a documentary style genre filming the everyday life of the main character and her relationships.

Main Character's Bestfriend

Age:18

Nationality: British

Personality: Fun, loud, confident, strong and independent.

Occupation: Student

Hobbies: Partying, hanging out with friends, going to the gym and going to the cinema.

Relationship Status: Single

Played by: Caroline Lovick

Actors Age: 19

Why I casted Caroline: I casted Caroline because she is a very bubbly and fun loving spirit, she is confident and has been doing drama for a number of years with a  passion for performing arts. As me and Caroline are also great friends I thought she would be perfect for the role, and she jumped at the offer to play it.

Costumes the character will wear: Casual clothing throughout, as the music video is almost a documentary style genre filming the everyday life of the main character and her relationships.

Main Character's Brother

Age: 10

Nationality: British

Personality: annoying, loving, caring, loud and fun

Occupation: Student

Hobbies: football, spending time with his family, playing with his friends and playing on the xbox.

Relationship Status: Single

Played by: Talib Aldris

Actors Age: 12

Why I casted Talib: I casted Talib because he fits the stereotype of a younger brother perfectly, he has that cheeky yet cute look about him and he himself is quite affectionate so I don't think he would have any problem playing that role in my music video. I have also gained consent from his mother as he is under 16.

Costumes the character will wear: Casual clothing throughout, as the music video is almost a documentary style genre filming the everyday life of the main character and her relationships.

Main Character's Older Self

Age: 65

Nationality: British

Personality: wise, easy going, kind, happy and fun.

Occupation: Retired

Hobbies: Knitting, reminiscing, visiting old friends and travelling.

Relationship Status: Widowed

Played by: Corine Walker

Actors Age: 60

Why I casted .....: I casted Maurine Walker to play Mollies future self because I think she fits the role incredibly well, she looks graceful, elegant and wise and is a very happy and upbeat individual too. She is confident and put herself forward when I was advertising the role, which was ideal as it showed she really wanted to do it - which told me she would play the part well.

Costumes the character will wear: Casual clothing throughout, as the music video is almost a documentary style genre filming the everyday life of the main character and her relationships.

Props

I have planned the props I will need according to my storyboard, I will name the item and put in brackets the scene number I will need it for (make reference to my storyboard).

• Clock (1)
• 2015 memory box (3,4)
• Penny (6)
• Camera (8)
• Book (9)
• Mobile (as an alternative to a letter in scene 11 + 12)
• Letter (11, 12)
• Photographs in frames (13)
• Birthday Cake ( 14 )
• Car + Ribbon (16)
• Photos from memories (scenes taking out of the box)
• Drinks (21)
• Paper (23)
• Skateboard (24)
• Saucepan / other household appliances (25)
• Boxes/Suitcases ready to move (29,35)
• Balloons (30)
• Photo Album (30, 31)
• Laptop/Phone (38)
• Letter (40)

The above are the only props I should need to use according to my storyline. There are no costume guidelines for any of my characters.

Storyboard + Explanation

Above are photos of my storyboard, although I may not 100% follow the pattern when it comes to the end product, I wish to get every single shot you can see. In pink there are basic stage directions, and in purple you can see the lyrics I intend to time each shot with. I have also labelled each square/shot in terms of the scenes you can see, in order.

As you can see, before the lyrics begin in the song I wish to have an intro in time to the music, the first shot would be a clock ticking representing time moving forward, showing that we are only getting older and we must make the most of it. We then see a sped up version of people walking round the city, showing there are many different kinds of lives and stories. Then the shot moves onto a 2015 memory box with old hands opening it. This introduction shot sets the tone for the rest of the music video as it gives away the fact the video could be an entire flashback of this modern day, with an older character from the future. After this we see flashbacks of a young girls life (the audience aren't aware at this point the older lady and the young girl are the same person), with her boyfriend and family. To conclude the introduction we see a camera flash as in the flashback we see a family photo being taken. I think this is a perfect way to conclude the intro, particularly as the song itself is called 'Photograph'. It is meant to show that life should be captured, because all that is left of us after our time is our memories.

After this, there is a scene with the girls little brother for the first half of the first verse, she is uneasy about whether she should leave the family home if she gets accepted into university, and the same follows with her boyfriend. However when she see's that she has been accepted she is ecstatic and realises that it is a good thing. We see her tell her mum in an emotional embrace too. Scene 11 shows the older woman take out her university acceptance letter from the 2015 memory box, this is a continuity feature I would like throughout the music video - the older woman relating back to things that happen in the flashbacks of the video, taking relevant objects out of her memory box.

For the pre-chorus I just have some of the main characters memories being shown, even from when she was younger (this will be done using one or two home videos). In the next part of the chorus we see Mollie hanging out with her boyfriend before she leaves, then the same but with her best friend. We then see a diary entry of hers (scene 23) where she says she feels better, due to their encouragement. The next few scenes would be of her playing with her little brother, where we see him pick up a good luck penny which he will give to her later. So far we will have seen an equal amount of footage between her relationships with her mother, friend and boyfriend and the next part is very much about preparation for university.

In scene 25 we can see Mollie university shopping with her mother, having laughs, and then as we go into the pre chorus there are more flashbacks to memories with her boyfriend and friends. Her mother/father will also be seen to be giving her a bracelet, which she will treasure as she leaves.

As we see the girl move her belongings into boxes, the good luck penny her brother gave her comes into play. I think this adds a sweet touch as it shows solidarity between the two siblings, and a strong, important bond.

Finally before Mollie leaves for university, her family throw her a surprise leaving party where they reminisce - almost like an inception type video, the music video is the older mollie reminiscing, but the younger mollie is also reminiscing. We see the girl leave and going into uni with her parents saddened. We then see the old version of mollie stand in the same spot mollie was just before she headed into the next step of her life (uni), which I think is very powerful, also being a moment where it would click with the audience who the older woman actually is.

We can then see Mollie communicating with her parents whilst she's at uni, and see the old lady carry the memory box away at the same time we see the girl come home with the end shot being the memory box. This is all tied in with the year ending, showing it was a year of change, reminiscence, learning and being content. I feel like ending on the note of the girl coming home as the lyrics actually say  "wait for me to come home" right at the end, I think its good closure ending it this way and is also technically positive as I feel this way the video does a full circle.

As of now I am very content with my idea, theres nothing about it I particularly want to change however I know that when it comes to filming I may have some better ideas and might slightly change it a bit, nothing too drastic however.

Audience Research /2

In this blogpost I will show you the results of my audience research survey. 12 people took part in this survey all together, 3 of which being outside my target audience, just to see out of interest if the idea also appealed to them.

1) Do you like my idea?

over 90% of the individuals stated that they liked my idea, which is a great relief as it tells me my target audience would in fact be interested in watching a music video such as the one I plan to make. Under 10% stated they like some parts but not others, with 0% saying they didn't like the idea. This gives me confidence that overall I have a good base concept for a music video and will not need to change much of my original idea.

2) Do you like the use of flashbacks in my idea?

As predicted, my target audience were in favour of the use of flashbacks, I personally really like this aspect of my music video plan too, therefore it is definitely something I would like to keep.

3) Out of 3, (3 being the highest score) what would you rate my idea in terms of creativity, originality and meaningfulness?

As you can see, the bar chart above reveals my average score/3. I scored the highest for creativity, then 2/3 for originality and just below a 2 for meaningfulness. I am overall fairly happy with the results as it is an average of 12 different opinions. I also think once the audience see the music video they could change their minds on the meaningfulness. However, I am happy with my scores on the top two.

4) Would you change anything about my idea? 

The majority of people (11/12) said they wouldn't change a thing about my idea, which I am so pleased about. In question 5 I asked those who answered 'yes' to elaborate. This is what the individual said...

I may take into consideration the part the individual said about showing the character from a young age, however not much more because my target audience overall liked the idea of the girl moving to university. I personally think its something relatable that a lot of people in my target audience go through, whether its moving to university or moving out.

Overall I am very pleased with the response from my audience research, like I have stated, I will take some aspects into consideration however it seems to be that the majority seem in favour of my plan for the video.

Audience Research #1

To compose my audience research on my video idea I am conducting a survey on surveymonkey.com I think this is the best way to conduct research as it is done anonymously so people have to reason to lie, they can give as much constructive criticism as they like without feeling too shy to do so.

At the beginning of the survey I have written the following description of the music video I intend to create...

"The song I am making a music video to is 'Photograph' by Ed Sheeran. It is about a young girl moving away to university, she is anxious yet excited but is saddened by the fact she will be leaving her family behind. Throughout the film we see the story from beginning to end of the girl being accepted into university, her struggles, packing, actually going, and then her coming home. We also see her different relationships she is leaving behind at home, for example her relationships with her mother, brother, boyfriend and friend as they congratulate her. The plot twist is; it is all a major flashback, we see an older version of the main character and realize she is looking back on 2015, the year she left home. She looks at the year 2015 as a 70 year old woman, she is very grateful for all her wonderful life experiences and looks back with a smile. Overall the music video's meaning is showing how important close relationships are, how people can make us so much happier with their support and that it is okay to move forward."

In another blogpost I will talk about the feedback.

Target audience + Ancillary Task Planning

The ancillary tasks I have are as follows ...

1. Produce a digipak for the album's release
2. Produce a magazine advertisement for the digipak

For any music video, a digipak and magazine advert are two things that can help promote it. Therefore it is important that they are very appealing to the target audience.

Because my music video is very much about reminiscing what has happened in the past, I want to attract my audience by having a very old/antique aesthetic, however one that is fashionable and vintage - something that is coming back into fashion today. I want any photos on the two above to be interesting and meaningful, to entice the audience, rather than being random photos of anything.

Currently I am liking the idea of including polaroids of Mollie's life into the digipak and advert, with shots from the music video on them as I feel this would tie in nicely. If possible, I would also like there to be photos of Mollie with the other characters in character, as this would add some continuity throughout all finished products.

If my ancillary tasks stand out, yet still fit in with the theme of my idea, whilst being aesthetically pleasing (my goals for the products), my target audience would be much more likely to want to watch the video and find out more. So that is exactly what I plan to do.

Target Audience

The target audience for my product is teenagers/young adults, the age range being 16-25 years old. This is because these are the typical ages when individuals begin of thinking about, or actually, leaving home (which is what my music video is about).

I think this target audience would engage very well with the music video on an emotional level as it highlights the importance of different relationships and teaches us to cherish them. The main character and the situation itself is also very relatable and normal in my target audience's age range so I think the entire storyline will go down well with them.

Location Research

Based on my initial idea right now, I know that I want regular locations of places where a teenage girl would hang out as well as different rooms and places she would need to be in order to prepare for university.

I have come up with different location ideas depending on which relationship is being shown/who Mollie is hanging out with.

Friends

• Norwich City
• Norwich Underground
• A coffee shop
• Shopping (Chapelfield)

Boyfriend

• Home
• Resteraunt (Romantic Meal)
• A field (for a picnic)

Mother

• Home
• Shopping for university

Little Brother

• His bedroom
• Home
• The Park (they would play together)

Other

• University
• A Bus

All the places above would be available to film in, I may have some trouble filming in a shopping centre depending on security however different shops have different policies therefore its something I can get around. As far as weather conditions go, I will be cautious of the forecast and only plan to film on days that have suitable weather for the video I want to film.

I will need many different rooms indoors, for example I will need a fake university room and a room at home for Mollie. Therefore we have decided to use different rooms in each house when filming indoors.

I'm using interior and exterior locations as i'm trying to capture different aspects of Mollies life, especially as she leaves for university, I want to capture both her home life and her life outside with her boyfriend and friends. I think this would give the music video a good overall balance and gives me the potential to make my music video as good as it can be.

My cast don't all have to be in the same places at once however it would be easy for them to if I changed my mind. All of the filming locations are in Norwich which is ideal as every single one of the characters live in Norwich.

The locations above are good for the feel I am trying to achieve, they're places a student could possibly go in their everyday life and make my music video have a more documentary feel to it. They're also very easily accessible locations which makes them practical too.

Dragons Den Pitch

Casting

Casting is extremely important, its important that the message of the music video is portrayed and that the characters deliver a fantastic performance in order for this to happen, so they must be confident and professional individuals.

I am looking to cast people I know so that they feel comfortable acting around me. I also want to cast people the main character knows and has to work with so that she feels comfortable too and so the relationships shown in the music video are actually real relationships - making the video more natural and believable.

Main Character

For the main character I am looking to cast my friend, Mollie Walker. We are very good friends so she would feel comfortable performing to her best abilities in front of me. Mollie is confident and a very family/friends orientated person with a desire to have fun and create amazing memories - therefore she is perfect for the role of the girl in my music video. I think she really fits the look of the characters image in my head too, a very regular and ordinary girl, who could be anyone.

The Mother

Alison is Mollies mother, therefore I felt it would be suitable to cast her as the mother in the music video, particularly as the two of them have a close relationship. I think casting Alison Walker as the mother is a very good idea as the acting between her and her daughter would be a lot less forced - which is something the audience would be able to pick up on. Alison is very maternal and caring, exactly like the mother I imagined when I created this character, so I think she would be perfect for the role.

The Boyfriend

Again, going on the theme that I am casting a real family to act as a family in the video, I have chosen to cast Mollie's boyfriend Matt Tierney to play the boyfriend. He is quite a shy individual and not very confident however due to the fact he doesn't necessarily have to act or speak, and instead just act naturally - I feel as though it could work.

The Brother

I have decided to cast my own brother as Mollies younger brother in the video, this is because he's quite a confident young boy and I think he would perform well compared to others in his age group. His personality also matches the annoying / cheeky younger brother stereotype which is what I imagined the 'brother' to be.

The Best friend

One of mine and mollies friends, Caroline Lovick, does Drama. She really enjoys performing and acting and is very confident, due to this I think it would be suitable to cast her as Mollies Bestfriend. She also matches the 'crazy/fun' friend, I wanted the best friend in this video to be, so I imagine her to be fantastic and well suited to the role.

Older Mollie

I am looking at a few different people to play the older version of Mollie. Either her grandmother, or my aunties mother. I am not looking for anything specific personality wise however am looking for someone with an old yet gentle look to play the stereotypical 'grandmother' type.

Initial Character Idea

Below, you can see a list of characters that will be in my music video along with their profile and a photo of what I imagine them to look like. Highlighted, you will see what I think these characters can bring to my construction and how the audience will engage with them.


GIRL - main character

Name: (irrelevant as its a music video)
Age: 18
Nationality: British
Profession: Student
Relationship Status: In a relationship
Personality: happy, but quiet and a worrier. She loves her family and friends dearly and whilst she is excited to go to university, she is very upset about leaving her loved ones behind.

As the girl is the main character, she immediately brings her youth factor to the construction of the music video. Because she is moving to university, which is similar for other people her age it also makes the music video more relatable to the target audience of teens to young adults. She is a regular girl and I think that's important for a main character in any media product.

My target audience will engage with this character through being able to relate, they will her struggle and feel empathy, while also being emotionally moved by the loving relationship and story of the girl.


GIRLS BOYFRIEND

Name: (irrelevant as its a music video)
Age: 19
Nationality: British
Profession: Roof Thatcher
Relationship Status: In a relationship
Personality: Fun and caring. He takes the whole situation with the girl moving away, as something that has to be done, he is very matter of fact, yet still comforts her whilst she is upset.

This character will bring an attractive and romantic appeal to the music video, attracting a larger and perhaps younger female audience. Romantics in the audience will enjoy this, and will engage with this character through possibly wanting a boyfriend like him.

GIRLS MOTHER

Name: (irrelevant as its a music video)
Age: 45
Nationality: British
Profession: Nurse
Relationship Status: Divorced
Personality: Loving and caring, she is incredibly close with her daughter and is heartbroken that her daughter has to leave, however she knows it is a part of life and encourages her daughter to follow her dreams, she will always be there for her.

This character will bring an element of love, security and comfort to the construction of the video, a mother figure is important in anybody's life, it will add to the emotion of the video and the heart-warming side to it.

Audiences will engage with this character by admiring the relationship this woman has with her daughter, the mother is a very likeable character and I think audiences will feel for her having to say goodbye to her daughter.

GIRLS BESTFRIEND

Name: (irrelevant as its a music video)
Age: 18
Nationality: British
Profession: Student, also going to university
Relationship Status: single
Personality: fun and down to earth, she is very close with the main character and is excited about going to university at the same time (not place) as the girl.

This character will bring an element of fun and light-heartedness to the music video, her and her bestfriend are both leaving for university, so they are more excited when around eachother. However this character may also bring an element of emotion as we see how close the friends are.

The audience may look at her as 'the best friend anyone could have' - again making the music video relatable. I think they will like this more upbeat character as she slightly changes the deep dynamic of the entire video.


GIRLS BROTHER

Name: (irrelevant as its a music video)
Age: 11
Nationality: British
Profession: Student
Relationship Status: single
Personality: mischief maker, secretly loves his sister and is sad about her having to move away.

This character will bring a lot to the construction of the video, he will make the girls family a unit of 3 rather than just a parent and daughter, which I think emphasises the concept and meaning that family is very important, as there is room to include more characters from the girls family in the music video.

A lot of people have an annoying younger sibling, however underneath all, there is some love there and I think that is quite relatable, the audience will find the little brother cute and silly, and he will add a more light-hearted feel to the sadness of the girl moving away.


GIRL AS AN OLD WOMAN

Name: (irrelevant as its a music video)
Age: 70
Nationality: British
Profession: Retired
Relationship Status: Married
Personality: Wise, likes to look back on her life, she has no regrets, is easy going and happy.

This character brings a lot to the construction of the music video, as she is what will tug at the heart-strings of the viewers as she looks back at one of the biggest moments of her life. The entire video is a flashback of this woman's life, she shows that she's happy now and even though she was worried about moving away, it was a very good decision. She also looks back comfortingly at everyone in her life in her younger years with a smile, bringing warmth and emotion to the construction.

I think the audience will be surprised to realize the old woman is an older version of the main character, I think it will entice the audience more and they will engage with this character on an emotional level.

Plot Synopsis for My Music Video

The plot synopsis for my music video is:

An 18 year old girl moves out of her hometown to go to university. She is worried and anxious about leaving her loved ones behind, but little does she know, her future self will thank her for making the move as it was one of the best times of her life.

From start to finish the video will be about the girl's anxieties over moving out, her telling her nearest and dearest she has been accepted into university, and everything in between until she moves out. I also intend to show the girl when she is at uni and showing her coming home back to her family in the holidays. The message behind the plot along with the lyrics is for her to not be sad and upset, her memories with all of her loved ones will last forever and she always has a place to return to with people that love her.

In the video I also want to include flashbacks throughout of memories the girl had when she was younger, to show her life-long closeness with the family/friends featured in the video. The entire video will be one major flashback too, with flash-forwards of the girl in her elderly age, looking back on her memories and the year she left for university with a smile, showing everything will be alright, even though the girl in 2015 may not have known it.

I came to this idea from developing many ideas from my mind map and brainstorming sessions. I wanted the video to focus on the importance of relationships and a hardship you can face in them, so I decided to put a positive spin on the 'hardship' making it the girl moving out to study. I also really like the use of flashbacks/forwards in music videos and film, and thought it would make an emotional addition to the music video and be very fitting with the lyrics of the song to include an older version of the main character looking back on her life - making the entire video one major flashback.

I really like my idea overall, I think if I manage to do it right and the way I picture it to be, it could turn out amazing. I think the idea itself has a lot of potential.

Success of Music Videos

I made a Slideshare powerpoint to talk about this, the link is below!

http://www.slideshare.net/aaldrismedia/success-of-music-videos

Consumption of Music Video's

Chronological Key History of Music Videos

Take a look at the Prezi power-point I made (instead of a blogpost) ...

https://prezi.com/onipkg0w3qrv/chronological-key-history-of-music-videos/

Sound in a Music Video + My Opinion

Usually,  the only sound in a music video is the song, however this isn't always the case...in my research I have found 3 different types of music video in terms of sound...

• dialogue in the music video - the music stops

An example of this type is in Jason Derulo's music video to 'What If', where right at the beginning before the music even starts there is solid dialogue between him and his girlfriend

• diagetic sounds over the music video (such as laughs etc, not in the audio track)

An example of this type is in Ed Sheeran's music video to 'Photograph'. This entire music video is filled with home videos of Ed, however at some stages in the song we can hear the diegetic audio of the home video over the music's audio

• 100% music in the video with no diagetic sound

There are many examples of this type of music video, for example Little Mix - Black Magic. Where the video has no diagetic sound apart from the actual music track.


It is very important that the balance between the music and the diagetic sound/the audio or dialogue coming from other places than the music, is right, particularly when it comes to including any dialogue - because the norm is to include none. You don't want to feel like you're watching a short film when watching a music video, and you also don't want too much sound overriding the actual song as it may become distracting. There is a fine line that should be followed.

I personally want no dialogue in my music video as I find it distracting, it makes it almost too easy for the audience to understand what is going on and is too obvious - I would prefer a more subtle approach to getting a message across in the video. However in saying this, I am interested in including at least one home video in my final piece, so if it is fitting to have some sound overriding the audio for a few seconds - such as a laugh - then I am happy for there to be more forms of audio in my music video than just the music.

All examples I have shown above (What If - Jason Derulo, Photograph - Ed Sheeran and Black Magic - Little Mix) are very successful professionally made music videos, attracting a lot of attention due to their uniqueness. Again, I believe the success of a music video will depend on the quality of the music video and if the producer has got the proportions of different aspects of the video correct, because obviously if a music video was 50% dialogue, it would be less successful as a music video, as the title 'Music Video' wouldn't match what the product really was, being more of a short film.