Evaluation of Actors, Costumes and Locations

When producing the video for the Blighters, I wanted to create a video that appealed to the audience and that they could easily identify with. To make sure I did this, I wanted to create an original and familiar Mise-en-scene to encourage the identification of the male audience.

The man who played the lead singer and guitarist in the music video was Owen Taylor, who loves his music and has been scouted to be a model in the past. The cool image, along with the good looks, makes the audience aspire to be like Owen in the way he dresses and his style. This aspirational idea that Owen conveys is linked with the 1980’s style of the casuals and the yuppies. With 1980’s fashion coming back around again in 2010, the image of casuals is quite common today. The style (jeans and jackets) was created by the working class supporters of Liverpool football club, who travelled Europe with their club. They travelled to style capitals of Europe such as Milan, where they aspired to wear the expensive and fashionable makes on sale. The casuals look is an unconventional style for the skater image, with the casuals being described as pretty boys. The look of the yuppies also has close links to Owen’s style, which involves the blazers, jeans and shoes which he wears in the music video. The yuppies were young and a wealthy business man in the 1980’s who dressed similarly to that of Owen. Furthermore, they would listen to music of the same genre of the Blighters. The indie pop genre, with bands like The Police, was at the forefront of the yuppies culture. Sting, the lead singer of The Police, was a famous role model for the yuppies to aspire to. I have used this example and used this in my music production, with the lead singer taking the aspirational figure.

The bassist and drummer for the filming was taken up by me and Jake Mardell (another member of the group), as it was much easier to have us playing in the band than finding more people due to us always being around when filming. The dress sense and costumes of the bassist and drummer are slightly different to that of Owen, the lead singer. As I wanted the lead to stand out, I dressed the other members of the band in a more casual style. Both me and Jake wear polo shirts, jeans and skate shoes in the shoot. This style connotes more towards the skater image and can be related to the target audience, who mostly wear jeans and polo shirts as they are in-fashion with the target audience of our band at the moment.

The last members of the video are the skateboarders, who fill in between the live performance shots. I decided to use the ordinary look of baggy jeans and hoody to help make the production look authentic. This part of the production is easily identifiable and the dress sense is something that the target audience can relate to. The use of the ordinary look of the skaters makes the video very much an identificational production instead of an aspirational one. The skaters in the production could be seen in any part of the country as the look is popular and quite ordinary. Furthermore, the look of the skaters connotes their way of life. Their clothing isn't very flashy or high maintenance, which is reflected in their life style and this is represented in the target audience. Another way in which the skateboarders are quite ordinary and easily identified with is the tricks that are in the music video. None of the tricks performed take your breath away but are solid. These tricks could be performed by many experienced skateboarders and this makes the video more realistic to ordinary people.

When producing the music video, I wanted to create a male homosocial film. I thought this would be a better way of targeting the audience (mostly male) and helping them to identify with the band/skateboarders easily. Some people will see that as a criticism as I am only focusing on the male audience, but I believe this is best way to create a successful video. If I was to use females in the video, then would most likely be used as objects and show in a poor light. By keeping to the original line up of the band (3 males) and only having male skaters, it makes the video seem more realistic as males are in the band and most likely to use the park for skating. A theory to back this idea up was created by Jacques Lacan, who agree that my music production acts as a mirror for the audience, serving as a mode of identification by which they form their own sense of identity, negotiating who they are with the aspirational figures represented.

The location for the shoot, Hethersett skate park in Norfolk, provides continuity in the fact that the location is an ordinary skate park which could be seen anywhere in the country. However, the location is used for its comedy value as well. As you can see in the video, the skate park seems to be in rural location in the middle of the countryside. Unlike the stereotypical skate scene in an urban city location (see Lostprophets ‘Shinobi Vs Dragon Ninja’ or Sum 41 ‘Fat Lip’) the rural location of a village makes the video identifiable with the ordinary skater in a smaller village or town where this kind of skate park in the shoot is the norm.

After looking at the Lostprophets and Sum 41 videos, I wanted to use skate footage as the title of the song ‘Boys in Motion’ connotes the sense of movement and freedom and it appeals to the target audience, which hopefully will make it a success. Another reason for the use of skateboarding in the music video is also to keep the interest of the audience. If it had just live performance, then the audience would lose interest before the video has finished. When I introduce skateboarding tricks and shots into the video, it should help to keep the audience engaged with the production. Furthermore, the use of skateboarding can be used during the narrative to connote certain lines of the song. Lines such as "Better get used to being lonely", we would shoot the lead skater on his own at the empty skate park. Furthermore, the 'soldier' in this song will be the skateboarder. Another reason for the use of the skateboarding is to show that males are active and this video reinforces that idea. In the media, males in my target audience (16-25) can be seen as lazy and not have enough drive for life. However, this is not true for the majority of the target audience. My video proves that youths can be active and not cause trouble like so many publications make out.