Character Profile

This is David. I have chosen David to star in my music video as he has performed well in all of my past video products for my media studies coursework (including AS preliminary and final product and A2 preliminary and current final product).
Here is a little information on David and why this made a perfect star for my music video:
- He is 19 years old. This means he is in the same age group as my target audience, making him a relate able character. Despite my audience appearing to not need elements of readability (based on the UGT questionnaire did for my audience), I still feel that elements of it are important. This is because my product needs to effect people in order to make them think a bout the message, so applying it to something similar to them and their lives will make it easier for them to understand as well as get them into the shoes of the character, thus taking the message on board.
- He is male, and despite this not being extremely important, I personally wanted a male because it is much more hard hitting for a male to take on any feminine attributes over a female taking over male attributes. This is because we see it all the time in women's style with androgynous models, baggy clothes and the tomboy style. We don't get this with men - society has a very set view on how men should look in regards to physique and clothing. This involves straying away from pink, wear over the knee shorts and to accentuate broad shoulders and muscles through clothing. Men don't get the best of both worlds like women do, so I felt that showing this side of a man as his true identity would hit harder than a women dressing from a woman to a man in a video.
- He is very confident in his sexuality and body, as well as understanding of all identities. This was a vital aspect I needed from the character of my music video because I do not personally know any trans* people, therefore my only option was to get a heterosexual male to play the role of the opposing gender for a video and do it confidently as though it IS their identity...which can't be easy for many people. However, David was more willing than most to participate and I know that he is a good actor as he has acted well in my previous videos.

Filming check list

Plain Background Equipment and Props:
- Curtain backdrop.
- Dark paper to black out doors and windows.
- Scarf.
- Makeup and makeup wipes.
- DSLR camera.
- Memory card.
- LED light.
- Camera charger and battery charger for light.

Bedroom Scene Equipment and Props:
- Drape for the bed to give it a lived in look.
- Books with titles such as "ugly" for symbolic codes.
- Male and female clothing items to be thrown onto and divided onto two sides of the bed to reflect the two realities of the character.
- DSLR camera.
- Memory card.
- LED light.
- Camera charger and battery charger for the light.

Male Character Items For Plain Background Scene:
- Checked shirt to show false masculine identity
- Feminine scarf and makeup to show the audience the true identity of the male character.

Female Character Items For Plain background Scene:
- Plain t-shirt and a checked more masculinely cut shirt to put over the t-shirt later.
- Wearing makeup initially to smudge during emotional scenes and then remove make-up all together

Male Items For Bedroom Scene:
- Grey t-shirt (mundane and boring to reflect characters feelings on being male).
- Baggy blue jeans (typical item in a male wardrobe).

Male Transitioning To Female Items For Bedroom Scene:
- Floral and colourful summer dress. The bright colours and feminine nature of a dress mirror the characters feeling to being dressed as a woman - it makes them feel bright, alive and happy.
- A bra - vital and personal to a woman, therefore making the character feel like a woman physically.
- Makeup: foundation, blush, red lipstick (staple piece for what society views as stereotypically beautiful for a woman to wear), liquid eyeliner, mascara.

Before Shooting Check

Before I begin filming I intent to do the following:

- Take a close look at my storyboard and see what elements I feel are the most important to include based on narrative and importance to the message of the video.

YES

- Book out my equipment ahead of time (I intend to film on the 27th and 28th of December, and the 10th and 11th of January, so I will need to book out the equipment about 3 days in advance in advance).

YES

- Ensure that I have everything on my filming checklist.

YES

- Ensurer that all equipment is charged and in working order.

YES

- Prep my actor with the song lyrics and a rough idea of what he will be doing during the filming beforehand so that he has time to absorb what he will be doing so that each section of shooting will be a little clearer to him.

YES

- Make sure that locations are free and set up so that no time is wasted on the day of filming.

YES 


As shown above, I had done all of these things before filming. This made the filming process run far smoother than it did during A2 as i had a much clear idea of what I wanted to do, I was far more organised and my actor was more comfortable with what he was doing. 

Video message reasoning and still image video content

These pictures depict a male applying make-up; the conventional contouring, highlighting, red lipstick and dark lashes worn by women (and often presented in the media with such makeup) whom want to feel more attractive, sexy and confident. It is not often that we see men wearing make-up in society unless he obviously belongs to clique that tends to demand it, such as the 'goth' clique. Here however this male is applying make-up conventionally worn by women because he wants to be seen as such. This is where the controversy and negativity roll in as we as a society find it hard to deal with change. 

However, in recent years the LGBTQ communtiy (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans* and queer) have been given masses of attention and support from the public, so much so that gay marriage has been legalized in many US states and the UK. However, most of this attention has been focused primarily on homosexuals and the legalization of gay marriage, and not so much on the "TQ" of LGBTQ, and I want to give them the attention that they need so that they can live like everyone else - as accepted. Many people depict trans* people as those whom like to play dress up alone and not as people whom were born in the wrong gender body at birth (most tarns* people are aware of this at a young age). This is however not the case - I am very passionate about the truth of the trans community and aiding people in seeing the truth the struggles trans* people face on a daily basis.

The pictures below are of the male I have chosen to be in my music video - he is not trans* but he is however very supportive of the community and very open with his feminine side so he is perfect for the roll as he will not feel shy or embarrassed on camera when dressing as a woman. I took these pictures in order to incorporate still images with moving images in my video to give it a few different dimensions. The quality is low as it was taken on a camera phone - this was intentional as I wanted these images to look more as though they were taken from real life in the comfort of a home and possibly with a friend (whom would have taken the pictures) rather than staged for a video (which looks more visually pleasing to gain viewers interest) so that the viewers of the video then get a second layer of reality and emotion in that this is very much real and it is happening - it's not something that's just been make-up for a video. 

I also decided to edit the image with a sepia brown filter because I thought that would communicate some meaning that this was in the past, and maybe subconsciously or consciously show the viewer that the 'charterer' in the video has been wanting to live as a woman for quite some time, and that being tarns* wasn't simply a snap decision.