Footprints Treatment (Draft 2) Gracie Jones

Outline
ARTIST NAME: Sierra Young
SONG TITLE: Footprints
RECORD LABEL: Sony
GENRE: Pop
TARGET AUDIENCE: Fun-loving 16-25-year-old mass market demographic
STYLING: Hybrid of narrative, performance and concept
COPYRIGHT APPROVAL: Yes
Overview/ Concept
The music video will follow a hybrid approach composed of both narrative and performance
elements where the narrative will follow a naturalistic approach to portray the story of the
friendship between a teenage boy and girl who have become distant following the boy
moving away. This will be in order to capture how the loss of such a strong-bonded
friendship can have a lasting effect and how it can impact two people’s lives as well. The
narrative will primarily focus on the female character by presenting her reflection of the
friendship as she looks back on old photos of the two or goes to places that remind her of
him (for example). Embedded within these scenes will also include flashback scenes to a
beach location (acting as the main location in the video) that portray the couple as they
enjoy the beach and seafront, acting as a prime point in their friendship where they both
felt joy, happiness and comfort in each other’s company. In addition to the focus primarily
being on the female character and her grief on the friendship, towards the end of the video
the male character will be introduced in scenes beyond the flashbacks as it is implied that
he equally misses their close bond. However, his representation will include hints (i.e.
change in location) that build up to the end of the narrative that shows his return to his
hometown as he reconnects with his old best friend, an upbeat aspect of the video that a
fun-loving demographic will be able to connect with. This dominating notion of “footprints”
found within the lyrics will also be reflected within the video through scenes shot on a
beach/ at a seaside where the final shot will portray two footprints to relate the visuals to
the lyrics. These scenes will show the two running around the beach and enjoying the
scenery (ending on a shot on the beach beginning with footprints in the sand tilting to the
couple sitting on the beach watching the sunset and then tilting further to show the sunset
itself) and also in the arcades/seaside front. Ultimately, the aim of the narrative is to aid
people of a similar demographic to the two characters whilst also addressing the 16-25 year
old target demographic who are most likely to relate to the idea of being in a close
friendship and experiencing pain for the end of that friendship and the naturalism within the
representations and mise-en-scene will also make this empathy more likely to occur as they
would be able to relate to these characters more. Simultaneously there will also be scenes
of the female artists lip syncing in a blank room where the full focus is on her and to reflect
upbeat and creative pop video conventions, during her performance there will be a range of
Footprints Treatment (Draft 2) Gracie Jones

different colours of lighting surrounding her. This lighting will also be used as a form of
symbolism in which the colours will change depending on the tone of the narrative at that
point (for example, blue lighting will be used at points where in the narrative the female
protagonist is reflecting over the friendship that she is missing, yellow lighting will be used
towards the end when the two friends are reunited and an emotional resolution is formed
for them.
Characters
The main characters will include

 One protagonist, a teenage girl aged around 17/18/19 who acts as the main
character who the narratively predominantly follows as it portrays her reflection
over her past friendship that she is still grieving over. To capture the naturalistic
element I was intending in the video, her appearance will reflect that of a regular
teenager’s in that she will not wear any heavy makeup, if not, any at all and her
costume will be of a casual natural by consisting of items such as jeans and a jumper,
for example. Such a naturalistic appearance will ultimately present her as a regular
teenager that allows the narrative to appear more likely to occur in a realistic setting
(i.e. through the lack of heavy and artificial-looking makeup and appearance).
 One protagonist, a teenage boy aged around 17/18/19 who is presented as the
female character’s best friend who moved away, causing the pair to become distant
in their friendship. Although his appearance will primarily be through the flashback
scenes and towards the end of the narrative as it develops to portray him as he
comes back to his hometown to see, to purposefully reflect the naturalistic nature in
the video, he will be also be dressed in casual clothing such as jeans, a t-shirt, a
jacket, etc..
 However, both characters’’ costumes will differ between the flashback scenes and
the current-time scenes to create an obvious contrast between the two times for the
audience.
 A female artist who is shown to lip-sync to the lyrics and whose life experiences
found in the song’s lyrics and the video’s narrative are represented. In contrast to
the two protagonists, she will wear a more predominant amount of makeup and will
appear with a more stylish costume and semblance. This type of appearance will
highlight her as a pop artist especially as female pop artists are often seen wearing
an abundance of heavy makeup and detailed costumes within their music videos.
However, to reflect the smoother nature of the song, her makeup will not appear
extremely heavy (i.e. winged eyeliner, heavily overlined lips, over-emphasised
features) rather than appearing relatively natural with warm toned makeup and
sunset-like eyeshadow shades (i.e. yellows, reds, oranges). This warm-toned makeup
will reflect the warmth of the beach and sunset as well as reflect the comfort in
which both characters found and miss in this friendship. The constant reflection of
calm, warmth and serenity present in her makeup will also highlight the narrative as
hers by creating this subconscious link.
Footprints Treatment (Draft 2) Gracie Jones

 Two teenagers (a boy and a girl) located on a bus to act as a reminder to the female
protagonist of her own friendship with the male protagonist and how much she
misses both the friendship and him.
Locations

 A sandy beach will help to reflect the notion of the “two footprints in the sand” and
will also act as a location that the couple are able to reflect upon in a time where
they didn’t have the hurt caused by the separation and where they both remember
being a high point of their friendship. During an ending shot that presents the sun
setting, a sense of calm and serenity will also be provided by the extreme warm
lighting and cosiness naturally provided by sunsets.
 Arcades and shops alongside the seafront will allow the two characters to interact
and act carelessly reflecting a comforting and fun aspect of their friendship (i.e. by
playing arcade games, eating ice cream).
 Various local locations (i.e. bus stop, train) where the boy will be found during the
build up to the reunion.
 Secluded room where the artist can perform with different lighting (allows all focus
to be on her and her performance).
 Bedroom where the female character will get the box of memorabilia from.
Visual Elements/ Mise-en-scene/ style choices
The video will take a very natural approach to a narrative styling in relation to the
naturalism that is associated with sand and the beach as connoted to in the song and its
lyrics. This notion of “footprints” will only be directly associated within the narrative until
more towards the end of the video as the final shot will begin with a close up of two
footprints in the sand and then begins to tilt up showing the couple sat on the beach
watching the sunset as the camera then begins to move closer towards them but tilts up to
focus and conclude on the sunset. However, the connotations towards the beach (created
by lyrics such as “two footprints in the sand”) will be explored within the narrative, for
example, when the couple are presented on the beach in flashback scenes, as well as
through establishing shots shown towards the beginning of the video to foreshadow the
later events at this location. As well as referencing the lyrics of “two footprints in the sand”,
the links to the tone of the lyrics (i.e. how the narrator is discussing how another person has
helped them to “carry” them out of a tough situation) will not be direct rather than through
the implications of how the characters portrayed feel such a close bond to one another that
they are able to connect with this notion.
Friendship is a key motif within my music video and so to reflect that theme there will be a
variety of intertextual references to Stephen Chbosky’s “The Perks of Being a Wallflower”; a
coming-of-age novel based on a teenage boy through his experiences in high school. A
major component of this narrative surrounds the male protagonist’s journey with building
friendships, particularly with two other characters, where he feels a similar close bond,
similar to the friendship I want to portray in my video. These references will appear to
reflect key moments in the novel and its 2012 movie remake at which the friendship
Footprints Treatment (Draft 2) Gracie Jones

elements are highlighted (i.e. during the roller-skating scene, the two characters will pose
referencing to multiple scenes in the movie, shots portraying two songs referenced in the
novel and movie and the green tissue paper in the memorabilia box references a scene
where the character gives his friends Christmas presents wrapped in green tissue paper
among various others). Within the narrative of this text, the musical “The Rocky Horror
Picture Show” is another text that is commonly referenced as being a movie that all of the
friends share an interest in as they recreate the movie to audiences. Therefore, to reference
both texts, during multiple scenes the male protagonist will appear wearing a t-shirt
referencing the musical.
Equipment and resources, you will need

 Camera / Phone
 Drone (?)
 Tripod (with wheels, if not a board with wheels attached to it to allow swift camera
movement)
 Editing software
 Microphone and stand (artist performance prop)
 Earphones
 Phone
 “Perks of Being a Wallflower” book
 Large box
 Green tissue paper
 Roller skates or Skateboards
 Polaroids
 Polaroid camera
 Tickets
 Bag
 Rocky Horror T-Shirt
Possible Struggles and how you will overcome it
 Non-consenting people may appear in the background if I am to film in a public
space; Try to film scenes set in public locations in areas where there are less people and
refrain from filming is other people are in the frame
 Times and light levels may change during filming of a scene; make sure that the
weather broadcast is the same during time of shooting and that the filming locations will
receive a consistent level of light
 If a shot needed to be re-filmed at any point, the shot angles, character
positioning and light-levels may change; I will need to make sure that all scenes are shot
how I want them to be whilst all conditions are the same and the camera is in the same
position
 If filming of a scene in one location needed to take place over multiple days, light
levels may change depending on the time of filming and the weather may also change; I
will need to ensure that filming of a scene was to be around a similar time over different
days and that the weather is roughly the same over filming days
Footprints Treatment (Draft 2) Gracie Jones

 Participants may not be available on certain days to film or may not turn up to film
on time; I will need to construct a suitable production schedule that all participants must
be able to attend and make sure that all participants are reliable and will stick closely to
the production schedule. If not, reschedule filming to when all participants are available

Summary
Overall, the narrative will follow the story of two teenagers both individually reflecting over
their friendship of which although appears to have come to an end, they both miss and
reminisce upon. This narrative is aimed to encourage audiences ranging between 16-25 to
reflect over their own personal friendships, past or present, and hopefully reflect over and
appreciate those who are close to them. Within the video, it will follow a primarily narrative
approach in which it will relate to its lyrics primarily through the beach location within it
whilst simultaneously making reference to both “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” and “The
Rocky Horror Picture Show”.