As I decided to change my video concept, including the story, actors and locations, my star image had a drastic change as to what I expected it to first be. In the first 'Embrace This Day' story, lovers Alice and Charlie were a couple who had suffered a break up and were learning ways to get back together. Looking back, it was extremely difficult to place a 'star image' on the two, as my plan was to make the audience realize that these were two, very ordinary and normal teenagers. However, as I changed my plot, my star image began to develop. Zarenna Porter, my main actress was playing both the singer and the fallen angel where eventually at the end of the song, she becomes both people. My chosen song Embrace This Day is a dance song and therefore uses several upbeat and exciting sounds, however due to the narrative of the Fallen Angel, I wanted to contrast against the lyrics by using Zarenna's image.
Costume
The costume I decided to make Zarenna wear was simply a black turtle neck top for the singing shots, as I believe that the idea of her neck being covered up as well as her chest and shoulders enhances the fact that this person is very guarded off and is not embracing herself or the day she is in. However the fallen angel costume is quite different. I asked Zarenna to come to filming in all white/natural colours which will contrast heavily against the black angel wings and eye mask that she is wearing to present her angel characteristics. I wanted to show that this angel once embraced herself but experienced a lot of pain and therefore is now an angel with dark features to illuminate her upset.
Make up
In a few shots, I decided to draw black stripes down Zarenna's face whilst she was singing. I decided to do this as I thought that it would represent her 'otherness' to people and the song very clearly as it is not often you see people with stripes down their face. It was important to me that I showed that she was different to the audience by using this make up as I thought that the plain shots of her singing would not express her unique image to the audience well enough. In the shots that I have used the stripes I additionally added video effects on top such as a mild Gaussian blur to show how the stripes may be effecting her vision and her feelings are trapping her in a jail (represented by vertical lines going down her face). Zarenna also wears red nail varnish when she is seen touching her face to leave the audience wondering whether they represent evil or love inside of her mind.
Issues with the original plot
Although the plot was successful, the filming did not necessarily go to plan as I started editing. It was clear from the completed video that there was not enough lip syncing and was more like a short-film than a music video. There was additional problems with the light in many of the shots, as I filmed at night, I did not have any natural light in my shots, which posed to be an issue when on the editing programme. It was to much deliberation that I had to re-film, and possibly with a new story, and new characters.
The old and new story
The previous story line was a couple who are having a bad day and are arguing. Leading to the main character and singer (Alice Isaacs) storming off after an argument with the actor (Charlie Varney), which leads to him trying to find her in Central London. The main theme was that the couple are not 'embracing the day' and are having a bad patch.
The new story
When I thought about a new narrative, I wanted to keep the theme of not 'embracing the day' that the song title and lyrics suggest, however I did not want to use the relationship story as I believe that this may have become too complicated trying to portray this in such little shots. I therefore decided to cast a new singer, who would also act as the singer. I casted Zarenna Porter, a singer from Potters Bar. She is the singer in the video, and also the narrative which as a fallen angel, who is desperate to embrace the day and to not feel upset. I used a fallen angel idea with lyrics such as 'superstar, ease the pain' which can be interpreted as the fallen angel asking the stars to help her be happy.
Fallen Angel Costume
In comparison to my previous video, I used costume with the second plot. The Fallen Angel in the video is wearing black feathered wings and a black eye-mask, with all white clothes on. The use of the black eye-mask and wings suggest that she is desperate to become pure and happy, as white signifies purity whilst black expresses anger and fear.
I additionally believe that my second plot, relates a lot more to my existing artist research of Ed Sheeran and his video 'Give Me Love'. Refer to post for details.
Target Audience
The target audience for this song and video of Embrace This Day is of a younger generation from ages 13 - 30 years, including people who enjoy dance music. This is because the sound of the music is extremely upbeat and may not be suitable for a older generation who may enjoy softer music. However this does not apply to all elder people in society. I believe the music video would apply to younger people more due to the fact that my singer Zarenna is a young adult.
