Characters:
We have decided to use actors that are already a couple in real life to enhance the realistic sense of a relationship. After watching many videos featuring a couple/friendship, we thought that the most successful were those who appeared natural and believable, therefore, thought this was essential to the success of our own music video.
We are going to use a teenage couple so that our target audience can relate to this and the actions included. Obviously, when selecting the actors we have to chose actors primarily based on availability and who is willing to cooperate, rather than based on appearances because we are not in a position to be selective.
If we are unable to find a couple suitable and willing, or in the situation that the couple we select breaks up, we can adapt our narrative to centre a friendship instead, as this will be easier to find actors to fill these roles.
Location:
Although ideally we would like to film in typical music video settings, such as as a sunny, American style beach, we understand that this is dependent on weather and money. So, for convenience, one of the locations we have selected is a local park as it is geographically close and will cost nothing. Other areas that we intend to film in are: Domestic setting, a lake and fields, which are all close by and easy to access.
Mise-En-Scene:
Costume:
For the shots that include the couple together, and therefore, past tense, the costumes the characters will wear will be brighter colours and clothes that suit warm weather reflecting the warmer, happier atmosphere to the shots. This is in contrast to the present tense shots, here the girl protagonist will be featured wearing a dark colored dress which will reflect the change in atmosphere, symbolizing the death of her loved one. When she returns to the same scenes alone, she will be wearing black to symbolize her mourning.
Lighting:
The lighting of the past and present shots will also be at contrast, and determined by different weather conditions, When the couple are together we are hoping to shoot in natural, bright sunlight - although we obviously cannot depend on the English weather alone. Again, this will reflect the happiness in the relationship. However, when the scenes move back to present tense, the lighting will become more dim and these scenes will be shot in fall/winter seasons so that naturally the shots will be darker. This will also represent the passing of time.
We also experiment with different filters and effects, to again make it clear and show the transition between past and present.
According to Andrew Goodwin's theory, genre iconography is an element that is key to the success of a music video. We hope to meet the genre expectations of our song choice through the natural lighting mixed with artificial fair lights and lanterns.
Narrative:
Following feedback we have decided not to follow Todorov's theory of narrative - Equilibrium, Disequilibrium finishing with a resolution. We decided not to use this structure because we thought it would be more symbolic and convey a deeper meaning if we use a non-linear format. Our target audience also highlighted a dislike for cliche, mainstream narratives, and therefore we want to take a different approach. We plan to begin in the present tense, move to the past, and then return to the present for our beginning, middle and end structure.
