Actors

Protagonist (Nerd/Jake): Jake Barnes. I chose Jake to act as my lead male character because I used him as my protagonist in my AS-level 2-minute film, 'Mobster from Manhattan' and he did not fail to impress me. Having performed the lead in various school productions and concerts, his acting ability is outstanding and his characterisation truly helps to bring my characters to life. I and other students alike are always impressed with his talent at immersing himself into the character in question. Therefore, because he can adopt different facial

expressions this means he can look right for the ‘nerd’ and the ‘cool’ phases of my character.

Lead girl (Sophie): Sophie Carey. Sophie has also acquired a lot of acting experience throughout the years, being the lead role in school productions and a lead singer in numerous school concerts, thus giving her great confident when performing in front of an audience and camera. Her acting ability is of a high quality and she has a thoroughly radiant screen presence, being perfect as the lead female due to her characterisation as being able to appear desirable for the nerd in the school scenes.

Cheating girl (Mabel): Mabel Collins. Mabel is, by nature, highly reliable to work with as she always appears on set on-time and is a very reliable actress. Amongst looking right for the part, Mabel is

versatile in her characterisation which means she never fails to deliver great acting. She is an elaborate performer, thus confirming to the audience why the nerd was attracted to her flamboyancy. Similar to Sophie and Jake, Mabel has also played the lead role in various productions at the school.

Bully 1: Gideon Lax. Gideon has a strong physical presence and his rugged facial looks make him appropriate for portraying a rough, stereotypical ‘school bully’. Furthermore, though he is a non-scripted role in my music video, his personality off-screen endured my to cast him as

he is confident and able to communicate himself well; this therefore will come across on-screen.

Bully 2: Dexter Gibson. Dexter has had numerous acting experiences in school – also being the lead role in the production and carol concert. Similar to Gideon, he has confidence in his abilities and ensures his persona on and off camera is noticed. He is very suitable for the role of the second bully as his physical ability and gestures enable him to have a dominating presence.

Students in corridor/laughing and pointing at protagonist: Faegan White, Bella Rix and Mabel Collins. All 3 of these people have acted previously, with Bella and

Mabel being lead roles in a large number of productions and concerts. Because of their years of experience and talent within the subject, I really had no hesitation when casting them because I knew they would be reliable and deliver a good performance, characterising themselves as to how I wanted. I also

worked with Faegan on my AS film opening and, because of his success, I knew has ability would be carried through to my A2 music video.  

Costume

The costume choice for any music video is essential because it enables the filmmaker to convey a specific meaning to the audience. Moreover, the costume is effectively a window into the characters’ personality which therefore reveals the motivations for their actions.

1. Nerd: • Pink t-shirt with white strips. This conveys his uniqueness and how he is slightly out of sync with the general trends of his fellow students. I chose for it to be tucked it to his trousers to represent his reserved nature and his inability to be relaxed and ‘cool’ when in the presence of other students, especially those he likes. • Dark trousers with grey Converse trainers. I made this costume decision to convey the subtle hint that he will soon adopt two different personalities, one that conforms to his unimpressive and quirky nerd lifestyle, and the other to underline the darker aspect of his character. ‘Cool’ stage: • Grey suit. A stark contrast to the nerd’s unpopular and safe clothing – I wanted him to wear a suit immediately after winning the Lottery to convey this difference in not just his clothing, but the way he acts in the suit. • Brown Shoes complete the formal look and the colour brown complements the grey suit very nicely, unlike his grey trainers with his pink top during his nerd stage. • Swimming trunks and no shirt. Though the trunks are not too visible, the audience can clearly tell the nerd has reached a point in the video in which he feels comfortable in ‘loosing up’ and letting go what others think of him. This is supported by the fact that he has taken his shirt off, obviously conventional for when going swimming however the nerd may not have previously used a lilo, being shy and unadventurous.• Smart/casual blue shirt. For the speed boat scene, and his general ‘cool’ look, I wanted the nerd to stay casual but also retain a semi-formal look. Therefore, to

convey this, and because it was a warm day in August, I told him to wear a sky-blue shirt to represent his ‘cool’ stage.

2. Sophie: • Leather Jacket. This demonstrates how she is much more ‘cool’ than the nerd and a stark contrast is made between Sophie and the nerd’s adventurousness in their costume choice. Leather also symbolises what a traditional rouge or perhaps a rebel would wear, representing the fact that she is romantically unreachable to the nerd. • Scarf. This underlines Sophie’s good sense if fashion and trends and creates the image that she is desirable.

3. Bully 1: • Grey top (and jeans). The lack of colour denotes the bully’s lack of style, yet it is not unfashionable. He does not need to make a statement, but he remains in a neutral fashion, boldly dominant over the nerd.

4. Bully 2: • Green Hollister top (and jeans). Hollister is a popular brand, which therefore means he is trying to be in-keeping with modern trends. The colour green is almost a sickly colour and I wanted this to represent him almost as a monster in the nerd’s eyes.

5. Extras (laughing and pointing in background): They wear typical student attire – tops and jeans – to represent the general trends of most students, also holding folders to convey the school scene.

6. Mabel: • Purple dress. Like Sophie, Mabel’s character also has a good taste in fashion. To convey this, and using my knowledge that purple dresses are in-trend at the moment, I have made Mabel comply with modern trends to demonstrate how the nerd was attracted to her.

Props

3 books: 'Macbeth', 'Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde' and 'The Great Gatsby'. I wanted the nerd to carry these during the school scene at the start of my video. This is not only because they represent his 'nerd'-like persona and intellect to the audience, but also they all symbolize greed and power in one way or another, and how it can be misused, therefore foreshadowing to the audience what will happen to the nerd. For example, Macbeth greedily will do, under the influence of his wife, whatever he can to become king, just like the nerd during his sudden accumulation of wealth. Also, Gatsby uses his power to get the girl of his dreams, Daisy, just like the nerd does with Sophie. Furthermore, he relates to Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde because he completely shifts his role and position by becoming a completely different person, much like Dr Jekyll, and it happened almost momentarily.

Glasses: I decided to have the nerd wearing glasses as it conveys the

stereotypical, constructed identity of a 'nerd' to the audience and it makes his position bring sympathy to the audience - soon to be shattered by his juxtaposing actions upon winning the Lottery. During the school scene, they become a key focus point in conveying his unfortunate social situation - coupled with the blurred camera I use the glasses to show the audience what it is truly like to be him and to be laughed at, therefore by bringing up the lens to the camera in a POV shot I am giving the audience a new perspective of his situation.

Newspaper – This represents the nerd’s average life and the sense of routine that he is in. Going to the shop to buy a paper will soon be a stark contrast to what he will do when he obtains a vast amount of money.

Lotto cheque – I have used the design of the official Lotto cheque to increase the realism of my video and to make it an item that audiences will recognise and associate with wealth. The fact that he begins to manhandle it roughly conveys the first sign of his aggressiveness towards power.

Watch – The fact that the nerd parades his nice watch around demonstrates his desire to be perceived as a powerful, wealthy figure. I have made sure the watch used is of a very high quality and, more importantly, gold which is a striking colour to the audience and it is associated with wealth.

Sunglasses – These make a stark contrast to his normal glasses and highlight his effort to look cool. I have chosen for him to wear the ‘Aviator’ style of sunglasses as they are stereotypically worn by cool characters – also made famous in the 1986 film ‘Top Gun’ starring Tom Cruise who wears them in the film.

Audi A6 – The nerd, at the stage of the Hotel scene, has won a lot of money, so I wanted him to spend it on a new, expensive and ultimately masculine car that underline his power.

Silver tray – This represents the extravagance he has entered. A waiter will lift this up in the foreground of the shot during the hotel scene because it is a symbol of decadence and represented his sense of rejuvenation within his life.

Lilo – Loosening up, the lilo conveys the sense that the nerd is relaxed with his life – in fact he is care-free - and he does not need to worry about bullies or his previous troubles anymore. I have chosen for him to lie on this because it is an object which essentially appears to float and I wanted this to symbolise how content the nerd is with his new

life. Rib (speed boat) – I wanted the nerd to travel in a speed boat because it is a clear

sign of his new sense of power. The acceleration will highlight to the audience the sudden dynamic shift in his life but also suggests how he is almost accelerating out of control and becoming wild.

Glass of champagne – This will be used for the back garden scene with the Lotto cheque and also at the Passford House Hotel. After receiving the cheque, the fact that he swigs it down in one and chucks the empty glass behind him represents his first sign of, not just aggressiveness, but also greed – foreshadowing later events, almost like he will dispose of anything he does not need anymore (like his cheating on Sophie at the end of the video).