my choices of the actors, costumes and props for my music video.

1. 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, he can adopt different personalities, such as the ‘nerd’ and the
‘cool’ phases of my character.
 Lead girl (Sophie): Sophie Carey. Like Jake, Sophie has acquired a lot of acting
experience throughout the years, also 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/camera. Her acting ability is of a high quality and
she has a thoroughly radiant screen presence.
 Cheating girl (Katy): Katy Barrett. Katy 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, Katy is versatile in her characterisation which means she never fails
to deliver.
 Bully 1: Gideon Lax. Gideon has a strong physical presence, making 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 presence on and off camera is noticed.
 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.
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

2. 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 makes him popular (or he at
least is trying to be popular). 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.

3. 6. Katy: • White top with black stripes (and jeans). Like Sophie, Katy’s character is also
to have a good taste in fashion. To convey this, and using my knowledge that a white
top with black horizontal stripes is on-trend at the moment, I have made Katy comply
with modern trends.
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 tragic 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 typical-ness of the nerd’s 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.
 Lotto cheque – The fact that he begins to manhandle it roughly conveys the first sign
of his aggressiveness towards power.
 Glass of champagne – 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 –

4. foreshadowing later events. He will dispose of anything he does not need anymore
(like his cheating on Sophie)
 Watch – The fact that the nerd parades his nice watch around
demonstrates his desire to be perceived as a powerful, wealthy
figure.
 Sunglasses – These make a stark contrast to his
normal glasses and highlight his effort to look cool.
 Audi A6 – He now has won a lot of money, so I wanted him to spend it
on a new, expensive and ultimately masculine car the underline his power.
 Silver tray with olive dropped into a glass of champagne – This represents his
extravagance after he wins the Lottery.
 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 anymore.
 Rib (speedboat) – This demonstrates the nerd’s new sense of power and suggests
how he is almost accelerating out of control.