Casting

We decided to use ourselves in the music video as much as possible, because it is guaranteed that we will be available and reliable. However, since there are only five of us and six performers are needed (band members: lead singer, guitarist, bassist and drummer, and the lead girl), we need to use an external actor, too.

Knowing that we want to have two boys and two girls in the band, we needed to cast another boy, and decided to do a screen test - Brandon and potential lead Jacob would lip sync and perform to our track so we could see who looked better as the lead.

Brandon's screen test

Jacob's screen test

Filming the screen tests

We decided to use Jacob as the lead, mainly because with Brandon having less screen time, he will have more opportunities to work on camera and lighting, and his help actually filming the project will make it easier for all of us and more likely to turn out successfully. Also we decided Jacob has a more 'indie' look than Brandon, and while this is something we can create using costume and make-up, with Jacob it is more immediately obvious, and his performance was also more energetic and fun.

Jacob - lead singer

We cast ourselves as the other band members because we are all confident enough in front of the camera to perform, and we can create an indie pop look for us with costume and make-up. In terms of gender we also liked the idea of two boys and two girls in the band because firstly our genre is dominated by all-male bands, so our band would stand out, and secondly it makes us more relatable to more genders - boys aren't put off by a too female-centric image, and girls could be encouraged by seeing girls in an indie band, and think that's something they could do, too. 

DRUMMER: BRANDON

Brandon - drummer

We cast Brandon as the drummer because even though he doesn't play the drums, he would be better than any of us because he at least knows what the different parts of the drum kit are called and could identify from listening to our track more or less what the drummer was doing, so he could make it look the most convincing.

GUITARIST: AUDREY

I was cast as the guitarist because we wanted to have a girl guitarist. This would be a good idea because in mixed gender bands the girls are usually the lead...

Paramore - Hayley Williams is lead vocalist and does not play an instrument

Daughter - Elena Tonra does play the guitar but is also lead vocalist, and there is another guitarist in the band

...so to have a female guitarist who doesn't act as the lead of the band is something different, and shows that girls are capable of being the sole guitarist in a band.

BASSIST: CHRYSTAL

Chrystal - bassist

We wanted a female bassist for the same reasons as the guitarist, and we cast Chrystal specifically because she is confident in front of a camera and the bass is what she said she felt most comfortable doing.

LEAD GIRL IN MUSIC VIDEO: JULIETTE

Juliette - lead girl in music video

Out of the girls in our group, Juliette is most confident as a performer and was most comfortable with the performance required of this part, e.g. dancing, and lots of make-up and hairstyles.