Task 9: Casting

I have cast Reece Humphreys as the male protagonist in my music video. Although he has very little acting experience, I believe that he will understand the themes and emotions presented in the song and react accordingly in the video. I also trust that he will be responsive to my directing and creative ideas as he has also studied media studies and understands the requirements I have for the filming process. In terms of costume, I will have him wear a plain dark coloured t-shirt with jeans and a black hoodie. Although he does not own a pair of converse shoes that I specified in my storyboard, I believe that a plain black pair of trainers will act as suitable substitutes. Although they will lack the connotations and links to emo and alternative music genres that converse have, they will serve a similar symbolic purpose within the narrative of the music video. I may use headphones to create similar connotations that converse shoes would have provided. He will need to bring his phone and some earphones or headphones as props, although I can provide these objects for the filming process.
                                           
I have cast Lauren Cannon as the female "guardian angel" character, who is a physical representation of the help and support provided by the depression helpline used by the male protagonist in the video. I have known Lauren for a very long time, and have acted with and directed her in multiple previous performances and productions. Therefore, I can be confident that she will be reliable and understanding throughout the filming process. As she will be playing an almost supernatural character that the audience will be unsure of the reality of, I want to have Lauren dressed in a white or yellow dress. However, due to the cold weather conditions, I have adapted this to simply involve a costume of light coloured clothes. This should make my actor more comfortable during the filming process, as well as maintaining the connotations of light colours. Lauren will require the poster listing the depression helpline number as a prop. I will be creating and providing this. I was also hoping that some shots could show Lauren turning over tarot cards. These cards will have the connotations of the male protagonist's current experiences and future before and after seeking help and support for his depression. I have a deck of tarot cards that I purchased with the intent of using in such a scenario, so she will only need to provide her own costume.

I have intentionally chosen my characters to be dressed in predominantly light or dark colours, as this will create a representation of the binary oppositions of light and dark, happiness and sadness, hope and depression. Hopefully this will further clarify the messages within my music video.