Reasons for casting

Cast List

Our Target Audience member

This is Savannah Montana, she is our perfect audience member- she is 20 years old, and from the USA. She was born in Florida and is now at College in Florida as she can stay near by her friends, family and boy friend. She is interested in new music as well as current music from pop and indie pop genre. She wants to continue to work hard at college so that she can get her degree and eventually get the job of her dreams. Her Facebook cover photo, shows her taking a selfie with her boyfriend during their summer holidays. This conforms to the VAL of our audience members: traditionalists as well as makers, as she lives an ordinary teenage life as she is studying at college, whilst spending her summers on holiday and chilling with her friends and boyfriend. In addition, makers are practical people who are self sufficient so even though she has a boyfriend she has gone off to university as an independent person to pursue her dreams. Hence this is the practical and traditional way of living for someone her age. Secondly, in her profile photo: you can see her taking a selfie which is a popular trend at the moment. She is also wearing minimal makeup and casual clothing which relates to the way we are presenting our star. So therefore Savannah would be someone who will watch our music video as she could associate her self with the young girl due to her style but also as she can sympathise with her as she broke up with her boyfriend.

She is further presented as our perfect audience member because of the fact she has shared a link for a recent Taylor Swift video. She is sharing with her friends her 'love' for the song 'Style' by Taylor Swift; and our artist is very similar to Taylor Swift as our artists is partly synthetic and is presented as the 'girl next door', just like Taylor presents herself. So hence the fact she is sharing a Taylor Swift song which is part of the pop genre, demonstrates that she will be a perfect audience member as the music video being created by us is also in the pop genre, with an engaging narrative just like Taylor Swift's music videos. This conforms to the VALs of our target audience as they are makers who are motivated by self -expression, but also strivers where they value style and try to mimic the style of people they admire. The fact that Savannah picked up on Taylor Swifts style and look in the music video, conforms to the VALs that I mentioned before, especially Strivers. As she would possibly strive to emulate the styling and fashion of Taylor and pop artists, like our artist.

Furthermore, Savannah is our target audience member because of her favourite films. She likes watching rom coms and classics. The film 'Grease' is a classic favourite that shows a summer love that no longer exists- which is similar to our music video. Grease is also a musical about love, which means Savannah enjoys listening to songs with a strong meaning and message, like our song 'Brave'. The films 'The Fault In Our Stars' and 'Valentine's Day' are your typical, soppy, love films about falling in love, breaking up, and getting back together. This means that Savannah clearly enjoys watching films that portray a journey in a relationship, which is relatable to our music video. Lastly, paper town displays the adventurous and outgoing side of a friendship which connotes that Savannah is a fun, chilled and laid back girl, who just likes having fun with her friends and boyfriend. Similarly in our music video, even though we our showing a break up, we still include the joyful times of the relationship when their hanging out together and doing cute activities like riding their bikes and going on picnics.

Lastly, what makes Savannah an ideal target audience member is her music taste. The artists that she mainly likes are part of the pop genre, and possibly the indie pop genre. The fact she enjoys listening to One Direction and Justin Bieber,shows she likes their music but also their style as a typical boy band look. They are trendy and current, just like how we will make the boy in our music video look like. This therefore shows she would watch our music video, as she clearly likes watching music videos with other handsome males in. Moreover, as she likes listening to other pop singer such as Ellie Goulding and Ariana Grande it means she will be interested in our music video as we are going to achieve the same look as these artists of the 'girl next door'. In addition, these artists generally sell themselves based on youthfulness and playfulness, rather than on sexuality, which is clearly what Savannah looks for in an artist, and so she will be our perfect audience member. The artist which mainly relates to Savannah's VAL is the fact that she has likes Taylor Swift, who in this day and age is known for singing about her relationships, and heart breaks. She is mainly a synthetic artist, but used to be an organic one as she used to write more of her songs back then. This is very similar to how we are portraying our artist as organically synthetic, so it is evident as to why Savannah is our perfect audience member if she appreciates and values all these artists above.

Star Image of our artist

Lana Del Rey Star image

Lana Del Rey is an American singer, songwriter and model and portrays different elements that are stereotypical of organic artists. Her first recording contract was with ‘5-Points Records which released in January 2010 her debut studio self-titled album ‘Lana Del Rey’ .The album was self-titled in order to help sell Lana’s star image and brand name across to her target market, by trying to build a loyal fan base by creating a buzz and increasing her awareness in the industry. Unfortunately the album received little recognition and minimal success and didn't retrieve her breakthrough in the industry.

In July 2011 she signed with a joint recording contract with Interscope, Polydro and Stranger Records which released her major- label debut album called ‘Born to Die’ in January. The internet played a huge role in the albums success as it aided her single called “Video Games” become a smash hit by generating an internet buzz, which helped increase the awareness of the single. Moreover it helped selling her as an artist as it could easily reach every target audience group on a worldwide scale at no cost which made her more recognised and dominant in the media. This helped Lana gain identification in the industry and contributed to the albums achievements making it the fifth best-selling album of 2012 , reaching number 1 in 11 countries and resulting in the single peaking to number 2 on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart. This increased her popularity in the media tremendously as it is a worldwide viewed chart hence it aided Lana to widen her target audience by having people from all ages and both genders listening to her song and gaining an interest in her which helped sell her star image as her songs aren’t targeted at a tailored audience.

Lana wearing natural clothing in some of her videos

Lana is an artist Negus would refer to as organic because she portrays different stereotypical elements found in organic artists such as being involved in the in the song writing process of all her songs as well as writing most by herself illustrates that her actions in the media aren’t micro managed by her record label as she has power over the art she makes and performances as well as the sound and tone she wants to convey in the industry. Furthermore this shows that thematic she writes about is genuine and is from her personal life experiences which makes her more genuine honest which applies to Dyers paradox 1 theory. As Lana is simultaneously ordinary and extraordinary for the consumer, where she is nominated for awards and has smash records yet still goes through genuine encounters she has experienced which people can relate to, and shares them from her prospective to her fans through her music. This adds a sense of humbleness and realism to her and increases the consumers interest hence sales and demand other music.

Above is the CD cover for ‘Born to Die’ it has a vintage style and colour simplicity where a medium close-up of Lana is found dominantly in the centre ,with a blurred background which ultimately ensures the viewers focus is on Lana. This is considered as a counter type in comparison to album covers in the pop genre as they usually contain distracting mise en scene, extraordinary effects and backgrounds  to catch the viewers eye. In addition Lana staring directly at the viewers which gives a sense of realism and honesty, that helps draws their attention as well as sell her star image and character to the media. This reflects Negus’ theory on organic artists as she is selling her star image and character rather than her sexuality and voyeurism which is a counter type for albums in the pop genre by not showing a lot of skin. Furthermore Lana’s album cover doesn't follow Dyers’ conception that the artist should have a sexual appeal that will attract the desired target audience as her album received massive recognition and outstanding outcomes such as having a music video released through H&M helped reach a youthful audience by increasing the chances of a target audience of mainly teens and young adults (who are H&Ms target audience) listening to her song.

The font is in bold and in capital letters which makes it easy to read where her stage name is bigger than the singles name which shows how she's trying to sell her brand name to the media and gain more recognition as well as increase her awareness. This is a similar image we will convey with our artist through simplicity so that the main focus is on the artist herself rather than having the viewers getting distracting by irrelevant effects as we would like to sell their star image and their stage name to the media ,as well as help establish and expand their target audience and increase their popularity and awareness in the industry by making their persona more familiar.

Lana's voice is known to be one of her unique selling points as an artist as her vocal range has been described as captivating and highly emotive due to her 'expansive contralto vocal range' and distinguishable and identifiable voice and sound. Her sound has been noted for its indie and pop genre as well as hinting the hip hop, rock and trap music as well as having different cinematic references in both her songs and her music videos. Her target audience is very broad and appeals to both genders mainly females with a variety of ages from late teens to middle aged. Similarly our target audience is mainly females targeting the youth ages- ranging between 15-25 years of age.

The fact that Lana sings about deep depression songs makes her stand out in the industry as it identifies her as a counter type to other pop artists in the industry who sing about more happier, generic topics and concepts.

Lana's costume is very like the ‘girl next door’, its very casual and simple which usually consists of simple white summery dresses in her concerts and jeans and a t-shirt in her day to day life which reflects her humbleness. 

Tori Kelly Star image

Tori Kelly (born December 14, 1992), is an American organic singer and songwriter. Tori begun her career at a young age by starting to upload videos on Youtube showing her musical talent at the age of 14 through making covers of popular songs. This helped Tori gain recognition, as Youtube appeals to a wide range of viewers from ranging ages and interests, it helped her to start building a core fan base by allowing them to view numerous videos and subscribing to her channel, allowing them to keep up to date with her latest videos.

Her breakthrough in the industry occurred 2 years later at the age of 16 where she auditioned for the singing competition television series called 'American Idol'.Which offered a major exposure in the industry as well as having her talent judged by experts in the business, receiving constant feedback and guidance to help improve her performances and vocals as well as help create her star image. This increased Kelly's awareness in the industry by having millions of viewers watching her from the US as well as from all over the world as it is a very popular TV show.

Even though she didn't make it too far in the competition, as she was eliminated before reaching the 'Top 24 artists', she was very driven to succeed in the industry and immediately begun writing her own songs in order to still have her fan base and stay on the buzz the show created around her by increasing her popularity and awareness.

In 2012 she released her on EP which was self titled 'Handmade songs by Tori Kelly' to help sell her star image to her target audience by having her name on the title of the album, to remind her fans and her target audience who the album is by after receiving the recognition from the show. The EP contained only 6 songs on her own label called 'Toraay Records', where Kelly wrote, produced, engineered, and recorded the entire EP by herself in her bedroom, as it was on a low-budget. Nonetheless when the EP was released on iTunes it made it to the Top 10 Pop as well as selling more than 14,000 copies and reaching 'No. 9 on Billboard's Heatseekers Albums chart'.

 

Tori wearing natural clothing in some of her music videos

 

As a result of her astonishing success in April 2013, Kelly performed at eight different venues across U.S. for her "Fill a Heart" tour, which was named after a single she released to help increase the awareness of child hunger. This helpes sculpture her star image showing that she is like the 'girl next door' helping her build a connection with her target audience by allowing them to identify with her. Furthermore she has also been featured in magazines such as Teen Vogue, Elle and Glamour which are stereotypical magazines her target audience reads. Kelly's target audience is mainly females ranging from the ages of 15-28 which is very similar to the target audience our artist would have.

During mid-2013, Kelly's newly assigned manager Scooter Braun introduced Kelly to the heads of Capitol Records which released her second EP titled Foreword. The EP has sold more than 16,000 copies and "debuted at No. 16 on the Billboard 200". Kelly was the sole supporting act to Ed Sheeran at Madison Square Garden and supported Sam Smith on his 'In the Lonely Hour' UK tour which further contributed to her popularity and success in the industry by having her perform for one of the biggest pop-stars in the business at their biggest venues, helped create a buzz around her.

Kelly's fashion and make-up tens to be very minimal enhancing her natural beauty, as she doesn't use voyeurism or her sexuality to help gain recognition and sell her star image, but rather through her character and music. Which emphasises and matches to Richard Dyers paradox 1 theory where she is seen as both ordinary and extraodinary to the consumer. As she writes her own songs which come from personal and relatable encounters and experiences she has had, which portrays her geniuness and stereotypical a girl her age would come across. However having her performing at the largest venues with pop sensations artists, as well as releasing her first EP by herself under her own record label which is unusual.

Taylor Swift Star image

Taylor Alison Swift is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Her career begun when she moved to Tennessee at age 14 where she signed with an independent label called 'Big Machine Records' and became the youngest songwriter ever hired by the Sony/ATV Music publishing house.

Her first album was released in 2006 and was self-titled which was done in order to start a buzz and increase her popularity by making her name more known and dominant in the media. This helped to create a fan base by getting her star image and name across to the media by selling her name. The third single of the album called 'Our Song' made her the youngest person to single-handedly write and perform a number-one song on the Hot Country Songs chart.

Swift's second album called 'Fearless' was released in 2008 which included 2 singles called "Love Story" and "You Belong with Me" that were sensational due to the success of combining both the pop and country genre in one song. This massively contributed to triumph resulting in 'Fearless' becoming the best-selling album of 2009 in the United States. The album won four Grammy Awards, making Swift the youngest ever Album of the Year winner which is a huge accomplishment.

Swift is a synthetically organic artist who's music has evolved over the years as when she started her career, she mainly focussed on the genre of country, however now elements from different genres such as pop, pop rock and country are found in her songs, making her sound very significant and unique in comparison to other artists in the industry.

Taylor wearing natural clothing in some of her music videos

Taylor's target audience when she first begun at age 17 ,where mainly young females up to the age of 18, however now Taylor's target audience appeals to both genders (mainly females) and widely varies in their ages, from the childhood years to adulthood as you can find 4 year olds and 40 year olds enjoying the beat and sound of her music, making it very rewarding and successful. This is a very broad target audience yet similar to ours which is also mainly females ranging between 15-25 years of age. As Taylors albums changed through the years from her first album being released when she was 17 to her recent album being released at the age of 25 show how her maturity has prospered through the lyrics in her songs and music video concepts. As oppose to her first 2 albums where she sang about teenage-like relationships making it seem kind of fairy tale-like, she now sings about more adult relationships, experiences and being more independent as a women. Moreover, this makes her music more relatable to her dedicated fans who grew up listening to her music and are dealing with different situations and but can still connect with her songs and the meaning behind them. This makes Taylor seem more genuine,vulnerable and relatable as it shows she experiences similar situations as typical people her age even though she's a famous singer and is in the industry. This is the kind of image we would like our artist to have to enable our target audience to have a closer relationship with her and feel connected to her music and lyrics, as her music will portray ordinary experiences females her age encounter. This applies to Richard Dyers paradox 1 theory, as she is simultaneously ordinary and extraordinary for the consumer, where she releases smash hits and wins Grammy awards yet still has to go through stereotypical encounters and experiences.

In Taylors music video for her single "Love Story",Taylor acts as the main character in her music video, where there are many close-ups of her which helps to sell her star image and make her more memorable and dominant to the fan base she is trying to create. Therefore our artist will have many close-ups in her music video as her image still hasn't gained the popularity it needs in the media for our artist to gain the fan base it deserves. As oppose to her most recent music video she released for her single "Bad Blood",where instead of having her as the main character, she is seen as the 'narrator' of the video where it seems she's telling a story of an experience she has had. As she already has accomplished her popularity and awareness in the media there's no need for her to be the main character in a music video and require many close ups, as her star image is already achieved.





Close-ups of Taylor in 'Love Story' to help sell her star image

Taylors make up is very natural and ordinary however bold red lipstick is knows as one of Taylors signature looks. Her look has evolved and changed slightly through the years, as in the early stages of her career a typical outfit she would wear on stage would be a sundress and cowboy boots emphasising her country style and embracing her youthfulness and her 'girl next door' image. This is a similar style we would like to adopt for our artist as she should portray energetic and young performances which will appeal to our target audience. Even though her costumes and style has evolved over the years, her makeup and hair has always stayed very minimalistic making her target audience feel even more similar to her, just like how we aim to make our target audience feel towards our star. Her fashion sense has stayed very girly and pretty, as she wears nice patterned dresses and outfits, which illustrates how she doesn't sell herself through wearing minimal and sexy clothing like Rihanna or Beyonce, but rather creates an innocent and mature look for herself, as she knows her audience can relate more to that. Hence, she is selling herself through her talent and originality. This is the type of star image we are creating for our pop star, just like Taylor Swift the 'girl next door'.

Taylor's style has changed over the years but her make-up and hair have stayed natural