MISE-EN-SCENE

COSTUME //

For this video, I gained inspiration from multiple current music videos, who have female protagonists.

A common theme between these characters, is the trend of denim jackets. This is also notable in todays fashion presently, in shops such as New Look, Primark and Topshop. Therefore this gave me an incentive to pursue denim jackets within my video. Also, as they are popular items, it can make the character and audience relate - it is a realistic item many young girls have in society. It is also a statement piece - giving an edge to a person's appearance and personality.

Shawn Mendes - There's Nothing Holding Me Back

Nothing But Thieves - Itch

Selena Gomez - Bad Liar

The shots above are film stills and behind the scenes imagery, which display the outfit my actress wore for the character.

We assembled together a collection of clothing, such as denim jackets, bomber jacket, jumpers, T-shirts and jeans. We started out with the leather style black jeans, with a baggy jumper and the denim jacket, but found that this did not sit well and seemed off. So we decided to change the jumper for the black 'Thrasher' t-shirt, which contrasted against the white denim jacket.

We left the hair and makeup natural, to give off a realistic day to day look. Only putting on mascara and foundation.

LOCATION //

Many of the shots I wished to collect consisted of Woods, therefore the majority of the locations were fortunately available near by, which saved time and transportation. We were able to use the woods behind my house and my garden for the vast majority of the scenes, therefore they were in walking distance.

The beginning of the music video, where the girl is sat tied up, was shot at the back of my garage in the garden. This was because, there was little light here, which with the altered ISO of the camera, allowed me to create a dark and sinister atmosphere. Since altering the video where she is no longer tied up, I also had to shoot a scene were the character is burning a poster. Therefore, for convenience and time management, we used the top of my terrace garden with all the trees and bushes to recreate the pine woods the poster was originally shot in.

The cycling scenes were shot along a path on 'The Green', which is also along my road. We shot here, as there was coverage of trees and bushes to give a forest outcome, but still a safe path to cycle along. After my rough cut and second draft, this was no longer used in the final video.

A majority of scenes were filmed within the Pine Wood Forest behind my house - Blake Hill Viewpoint, which is a small, steep area of land overlooking Poole Harbour. This was used for the running, walking and Missing Poster set locations. The footage where she runs out onto the road flustered, was also a path connecting to this area of land.

We then also shot down a footpath to The Foreshore along Old Coastguard Road, where I was able to collect footage along the harbour and sea, as well as Brownsea Island. I was able to get 'reflection' shots, of my character and the sky reflecting onto the sea. The tide was fortunately out for this to happen. Only one scene in this location ended up the final video.

Similarly we went down another footpath. However, along here we came across open land. With the sunset shining, I decided this would be an ideal setting, since it was eerie and mysterious to add to the story-line. With the shadows and lighting as well, the shots inside became cinematic too. Originally, this was not meant to be a main focal point for the narrative story, however after difficulty with the storyline, this became an alternative.

PROPS //

Missing Poster
As part of my narrative, I had to show a missing poster of the protagonist. Therefore, I had to create an A4 poster on Publisher to print off and use on the film set. To do this, Alex gave me permission to use a photograph of her, that she chose, for the identity of the character. We then came up with a fictional name and age for her, before writing a description that matches Alex herself. The typography of the headings was important, since it had to be legible for the audience from a distance, therefore clear, bold, large and distinctive. This poster was used to signify that the protagonist has runaway from something, which ties in with the rest of the story, showing that she's hiding by living somewhere else, not wanting to be found. It is up to the audience to infer what the character has done or is running from - the mysterious factors of music videos is that they are, the majority of the time: unique, confusing to comprehend and unfinished in a way that it is up to the audience to decide.

Food

In order to show the audience the hints that she is living elsewhere, in harsh conditions, I placed food which I took from home on the kitchen worktop. There was a cereal box with cereals, milks, bowl, spoon and biscuits. I wanted to create an atmosphere, where the audience can begin to see the gruesome conditions of where the girl has found, but then twist this to later show that it is being lived in. This was needed to continue the storyline that she went missing but does not want to be found. However, after Alex ate the cereals, we came to the realisation of how were we going to transport the wet bowl home.

Blanket
To continue the theme of making the area liveable, we placed a blanket on the floor. This was done to suggest to the audience that she is also sleeping there alone.

Bonfire

Since the song is called 'Arsonist's Lullabye', the underlying theme of the narrative story is 'fire'. Therefore, to symbolise this, I decided to hint the fascination of fire through the bridges between versus' for the audience to infer that this character can be associated with fire - a possible reason for her 'missing'. The main hint I used in order to link to the use of the lighter was a bonfire. This same scene plays throughout the video until the end, when the missing poster is burnt.

This scene was not actually filmed with my actress, rather it was filmed in my garden with my family. Therefore, we were responsible with safety measures, adults were also around too. The fire was made using kindling wood, papers and broken up wood.

Lighter
As well as the bonfire, the Lighter was an occurring object in the music video, first appearing early on to continue the hints of the fascination and meaning of fire. It was mainly used at the end though, in order to burn the Missing Poster of herself. We underestimated the risk assessment for this scene, as the lighter was hard to turn on, causing Alex to singe her hair and nail! The wind was also a factor we forgot to risk, since as I was trying to get the reflection of the flame in her eyes, the wind blew the flames very close to us - it also kept extinguishing the flame. All in all, we learnt how important risk assessments are and to be a lot more careful next time. Despite this though, I was able to get some good close ups of the flames and the poster, as well as the flickering of the flame upon her face as she watches it burn.

CASTING //

For the music video, the narrative story only includes one character, therefore I had to only find one actress to play the part. My audience research revealed that there was no preference on who the protagonist should be in the video, although female received 14% more votes than male.

Originally, I was going to ask Izzy Lidgey if she was able to participate in my film as an actor, since she was able to do this for our AS production and did an exceptional performance. However, due to circumstances, she was unable to be free to film when needed. However, she was able to help and assist with a reshoot and the revisit of my synopsis. After asking Izzy, I decided to contact my friend Jade Godby, who has experience in theatre and drama. As a drama narrative, this would have been fitting, since I wanted to have an actress with experience in order to fill the role of a missing person and the slight trauma. Despite this though, Jade did not feel comfortable enough to be filmed, which was understandable.

ALEX SANDERS

Age: 17

Height: 5'3

With a history of dance and shows, Alex was the ideal candidate as she had the experience of being in the spotlight and presenting herself to an audience. She was also free for filming, which was advantageous, as it so happened that we had to reshoot numerous times. She also happens to live close to me, therefore when there was issues and re-filming had to be scheduled, she was easily accessible. Another factor was that Alex had the features that one would associate with a model/actress in a video.
Originally there would have been no need to create a profile for the character, however after assessing and deciding to focus the story around this missing poster, I had to create an identity. Working with Alex on this, we decided upon Eliza Leonard, mixing together names from people we knew to get one that sounded 'normal'.