Actors and costumes in Insomniac

Insomniac focuses solely on the activities of a technically nameless and troubled young male aged roughly between 16-25 (placed more or less on the lesser end of the scale) of white English nationality, middle to middle-working class background and secluded in nature. For reasons involving convenience and seizing full artistic freedom in the video, along with the protagonist being planned as the only active character in the video, I will be playing my central role. The appearance of the protagonist is consistent with my target audience: a young person, visibly within the 16-25 demographic, who is of mostly average build and passable physical health, wearing their hair down in a relaxed, unconditioned yet clean fashion at a length still widely socially acceptable on males. Because The Jubilees are an all-male band and far from a manufactured vocal group, their audience will statistically contain a higher ratio of males, therefore this section can relate easily to the protagonist. Females can still be appeased by the video, possibly in sex appeal, but most likely in sympathy or even concern for the protagonist. Both genders in the audience can relate to the protagonist's Indie/rock style and thus focus in on the primary product of the band.

The protagonist

               Name: Unspecified
               Age: 17 (born in 1994)
               Gender: Male
               Nationality: White British
               Place of Birth: Norwich, England
               Profession: Unemployed/student

The protagonist of the video is a primarily middle class, white British male who lives with his parents in a Norwich suburb. His daily routine, in his opinion, is monotonous, boring and repetitive. He often has trouble sleeping due to this overbearing feeling of dissatisfaction with his life, as well as the stresses of the adult world. He takes a variety of pills to get up in the morning, get to sleep at night and generally cope, though not all of these pills are prescribed or taken in the correct doses. Though he leaves the house for walks into town or to the graveyard his lifestyle is a solitary one. He has a history with underage drinking and has used alcohol with his pills on more than one occasion. His sleeping problems have recently worsened: for him the boundaries between dream and reality have blurred and he is standing on the brink, sleepless and erratic.


Costume consists of:

Mid-range, unbranded slim-fit Primark t-shirt, black
Pair of North Coast (M&S) regular straight-legged jeans, slightly worn, darker end of blue
(image of jacket to be added)





The dark lack of colouration in the shirt mirrors the general negative mood of the video and the protagonist's emotional state. The absence of brand labels eliminates any copyright issues. The slim style of the shirt is fairlu contemporary, being a common item of clothing in the fashion of the last decade and the casual feel of a t-shirt  fits in with the up-to-date and relaxed style of the Indie/young alternative demographic. The jeans are similarly linked to the audience in their immense popularity for use in everyday life. The choice was made not to use skinny jeans so as to allow access for the less die-hard fans of the Indie fashion. The coat is practically designed for use in Winter, which reflects the somewhat careless choice of clothing that the protagonist makes, wanting clothes that are as cheap and practical as possible. The weather in the morning shots is deceptively mild, with bitterly cold air, reflecting the protagonist's grim state of mind, whilst the night shots have no coat, distancing them from reality. The plausibility of the protagonist owning such clothes is high as both the shirt and trouser pieces were bought locally and cheaply, the coat being slightly more expensive (roughly £30). The protagonist's hairstyle is of a typical length for boys and young men who are fans of the Indie niche, a style popularised in the current generation by bands such as the Strokes. Make-up will be minimal, mostly to cover up blemishes as they arise during filming. For some of the night scenes I have planned to darken the area underneath the eyes subtly to give the impression of shadows or bags under the protagonist's tired eyes. The shape of my eye sockets allows for very accentuated lines and shadows, giving the impression that the protagonist has been awake for an unhealthy amount of time, or is in a general state or ill health.