Pre - Production Planning: Casting

Casting

Casting is a crucial part of the pre - production process, as the person I eventually cast will be the star of my music video. The star of my music video must be a female, and they must also have other desirable qualities to make them appropriate to feature in the piece, as they will be in almost every single shot of the video.

The person I cast will have to be very confident and not become self - conscious when placed in front of a camera. This element will be extremely important as if the person is uncomfortable, it will be evident within the shots and perhaps make the audience feel disconnected from the song and the video's message.

In addition, they have to be apt and efficient at lip syncing as that is also a major element in my music video. However, to really convince the audience that they are actually singing, I will have the actor sing along to the track during filming for authenticity. Plus, it makes it look more realistic and it will be easier for me to match the footage to the track during post production. Therefore, the person I cast will have to be comfortable performing the song in front of the camera and myself.

Furthermore, they will also have to behold the correct look that would appeal to my target audience of predominantly female young adults. I would also have to ensure that their schedule would fit my shooting schedule, and that they would not be available during times when I needed them for filming. I took photos of potential candidates I might cast in the role and explained whether or not they would be a suitable final choice.

This is Lydia. She is a very bubbly and confident individual, who is not afraid to act foolish or silly in front of anyone, which is a quality that I believe an audience would find endearing and comical - the video will have comical tones as well as serious ones and I think Lydia will be able to strike the balance between these. Lydia would have the confidence to sing the track whilst performing movement. She also has the right look for the music video and is a fashion lover, so the costume would be as important to her as it is to me. Lydia has already expressed interest in starring in the music video so she is already a willing participant. Her schedule is relatively free, therefore it would be easy to organise a time where both of us are free and we can begin filming.

This is Rebecca. Within her friendship group, she is a very confident, forthright and loud person. However, when it comes to situations where she is placed in an unfamiliar environment around unfamiliar people, she is not as confident. I believe that she would be too reserved and shy to star in the music video which would make the audience's viewing experience uncomfortable. Rebecca is also not a fan of pop music and prefers rock, so she may not be able to sell her performance convincingly. Rebecca has prior commitments that she has to fulfil such as a weekend job and school work, so her schedule may be a little restricting. In addition, her fashion sense differs greatly from the clothing I will be using in my music video so Rebecca may not be willing to adopt a different style and portray the character with conviction.

This is Mariella. Mariella's fashion sense and overall look closely matches the ideas I envisioned for my music video, and the clothing I would put her in wouldn't be too much of a departure from her own style. In addition, Mariella is a singer and would be comfortable singing along to the track. However, despite her ideal looks and singing experience, she lacks the confidence to star in my music video. She was hesitant to have her photo taken for my casting research and would not be a suitable piece of casting due to her reserved nature. Also, like Rebecca, Mariella has prior commitments which she can not defer such as work and school.

This is Agne. Similarly to Mariella, she has the ideal overall look to star in my music video. Agne has a very vibrant personality, especially when she is surrounded by her friends. Unfortunately, she shows a lack of enthusiasm to anything that she does not find interesting and would be distracted very easily during production. Agne also has no acting experience, so there is a risk that her performance in my music video would be lacklustre or underwhelming. Like Rebecca, Agne does not listen to pop music and would be unwilling perform to a song she does not like. Plus, she has a lot of school work to do and she spends the remainder of her free time partaking in other leisurely activities.

Finally, this is Emily. Emily is a comical and animated individual and her personality would translate well on screen. On the other hand, she does not like performing publicly and would be self - conscious in front of a camera. Plus, she is very excitable and could become distracted easily by other things beside the production. There are certain scenes that I may be filming outside of her home town and she may have trouble organising transportation to the multiple locations. In addition, Emily also has prior sporting commitments most nights and therefore will not be able to adapt to my scheduled filming time.

I decided that Lydia was the most suitable candidate to star in my music video. In order to see if she was confident enough to perform in the video and was capable of lip syncing along to the track, I asked her to sing along to the track in front of the camera. 

Lydia was able to lip sync along to the track with no trouble. However, she had only learnt the lyrics moments before filming, and in several moments, her eyes flickered away from the lens as she was trying to remember the lyrics. Once she has learnt the whole song, this should not be a problem and she should be able to look into the camera directly. Plus, when she is in full make up and costume, it should give her more confidence and help her get into character. 

If during production I feel the lip syncing will be a problem or not as effective as I was anticipating, I will ensure that I film as many takes as I can from different angles and shots, so when it comes to editing, I have a vast variety of creative choices I could make.