Before the song starts, we open on one long 20 second shot of our main character, Kayslee - a 20-something year old girl, walking down a long open road just before sunrise. We can hear her footsteps and the cold air of the quiet morning, and nothing else. It is not clear where she is, nor where she is going.

Song begins:

-Int. Bathroom of house around 8pm

We can hear the shower water turn off, the curtain opens and Kayslee grabs a towel. She's hopping out of the shower and getting ready to go out for the night. We follow her, down the hall and into her room (which is lit warmly by a couple practical bedside lamps and a closet light). We cut through different shots of her getting ready (throwing her clothes on, putting her make-up on and checking herself out in the mirror). It kinda feels like she's in a rush, but she's not too worried about it. She's in a good mood and has a subtle confidence as she looks in the mirror putting her lipstick on. As she's in her room doing finishing touches, we see a car through the bedroom window pull up to pick her up. 3 of her friends are in it.

-Ext. House

Kayslee comes out of the house walks down the driveway. The windows to the car are down and she says something friendly/jokingly to her friends as she walks up and gets in the car and it speeds off down the street, which is lit by the warm streetlights.

 

-Cut to home video footage of Kayslee as a little girl playing and talking to the camera, etc.

-Throughout the video we will show Kayslee growing up and going through different moments in her life. We will use real home videos so that it feels like we are there with her in that moment. Different moments throughout the video will include things like: learning to ride a bike, playing sports, dressing up, first day of school, arguing with her mom, school dance, moving to LA, etc... These are quick visuals and we never hold on these too long. It's a glance into her life. (Reference: Apple commercials do a good job at this.)

-We cut back to present day iphone footage of her out partying with her friends that night in LA (or whatever city we decide)

-We'll cut back and forth from her iphone footage from the night to actual cinema quality footage that we started the video off with. 

-We'll follow Kayslee as she and her friends run-around town doing fun things. (Riding in shopping carts, going to a liquor store, riding bikes/skateboarding, looking at epic views from rooftop or truck bed, pool hopping, going to a club or a show with crazy lights, etc...this will be high energy, fast paced and handheld. We never stay in one place too long. The goal is just to show them having an epic time. 

-We continue to cut back and forth from this present day footage of her out with friends, and "moments" from her in the past, growing up. The longer the song goes on, the "moments" of her in the past are showing her getting older, and going through more mature things (smoking with friends at a house party, breaking up with a boyfriend, crying in her room, etc..) In these moments we are seeing real emotion from this girl and we can feel her pain. We're watching her grow up and go through real life things. Again, these are quick glances into her life. We're never spending too long on one scene, but it's enough to follow her story. 

-When the song comes to the end, we hear the audio of her footsteps return and cut to the first shot of her walking alone for about 10-15 seconds and then cut to black. To me, this shot is showing her reflecting. She's not in a rush - just walking casually. It's simple, and up for interpretation. 

Notes:

-In post production we can experiment with adding a sound design throughout the video. So hearing little moments like the shower turning off, and the car door shutting and taking off down the street, etc... I've found that the use of sound design almost always helps take a video to another level of quality. It could add a cool element to make the video feel a bit more like a short film and draw people in. It's something we can try, and if it doesn't feel right then we don't include it. 

-This video is an open conversation and a collaboration. Nothing needs to be completely set in stone. I'm open to any and all feedback to make it great. 

Video References: 

Apple: "Moments" example https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ujsq1nZAheQ

Puma: High Energy example- https://vimeo.com/60179322  + https://vimeo.com/38603344 

Color Mag: example for opening/closing shots of her walking- https://vimeo.com/33287414