Casting

Films Plots

When thinking about casting for films our class was given 11 films plots to choose from and we had to pick 2 and say how we would cast them and why...

1) Brief Plot (Plot 1): The first film plot I have chosen is set in America and sees a young girl called Stephanie with a dream of being a Moulin Rouge dancer when she grows up. When she is 14 her mum dies of cancer. She has a bad relationship with her dad as he is an abusive alcoholic therefore her and her sister are put into care, and during this process they get split up. Stephanie ends up living in Washington where her foster family encourage her to be the first female president, and so to please them she follows this future, pushing her previous dream behind. However many years later she is reunited with her sister, who helps her rediscover he old self and they move to Paris together and she follows her dream of being a Moulin rouge dancer.

I would cast Dakota Fanning as young Stephanie and Kirsten Dunst as grown up Stephanie.

Why these Actresses? The character of Stephanie is very driven, ambitious and strong. I think it is a very hard part to play as the actress would have to convey convincingly to the audience her change from dreaming of dancing to politics and her change of heart back to dancing, as well as the heart ache of her mother dying and having an abusive father. Both of these actresses are very established and have proven that they can perform in a wide range of genres. Dakota Fanning has performed in light hearted comedy children’s films such as ‘The cat in the Hat’ 2003, but has also proved herself as a serious actress in box office hits such as ‘War of the Worlds’ and ‘Hide and Seek’ both released in 2005. Similarly Kirsten Dunst has acted in comedies; ‘How to Loose Friends and Alienate People’ 2008 and well as more serious roles such as ‘Spider man’ 2002 and ‘Marie Antoinette’ 2006. Furthermore we know she can dance due to her role as head cheerleader in ‘Bring it on’ 2000.
Additionally I chose these two for the role as they look alike making it more plausible and realistic for the audience, to see them as the same person.


2) Brief Plot (Plot 4): The second plot which I thought was really good is about a very wealthy woman in her mid 20’s living in London. The woman’s name is Elle, she enjoys having money but wants to feel normal so she has a normal job and takes the tube to work everyday, and her train driver observes this. He is a disturbed man in his 40’s named Ross who becomes obsessed with Elle. He finds out everything about her, including where she lives and steals small items from her house including a single stud earring. One day when she is alone in her carriage he goes insane and ties her to the train tracks, she is crushed. In the train driver’s cabin we then see rows of single stud earrings each representing one of his victims.

I would cast Angelina Jolie as Elle and I would cast
Sean Bean as Ross

Why these actors? The character of Elle has to be strong, stylish and caring. Additionally she should be pretty. Angelina Jolie is described by many as the most beautiful woman in the world therefore is would be very plausible for the audience to see why a man like Ross would fall in love and get obsessed with her so easily. Like Dunst and Fanning, Jolie has proved herself to be a fantastic actress in a wide range of genres; romantic comedy’s such as ‘Life or Something Like It’ 2002, action adventure movies such as ‘Lara Croft: Tomb Raider’ 2000 and even spy films such as ‘The Good Shepard’ 2006. In most of her films Jolie plays very strong characters, heroines, so I think she would be great at this part because despite her death at the end, Elle is the heroin of this film.

I have chosen Sean Bean to play Ross in the film because he has a slightly sinister look about him, perfect for playing the villain and he has done in many of his films; ‘The Lord of the Rings’ 2001, and ‘The Hitcher’ 2007. He is a very talented actor and I think he would be able to play a depressed, troubled man very convincingly making the movie far scarier for the audience.

Psycho

Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Screenplay: Joseph Stefano
Music: Bernard Herrmann

Norman Bates: Anthony Perkins
Marion Crane: Janet Leigh


In media we watched the classic suspense/horror ‘Psycho’ as the
first of four film screenings. ‘Psycho’ was directed by
Hitchcock in 1960, and is probably the most famous and best of his films. I had already seen the
film before, and even the second time watching it considered it one of my favourites.

Two scenes really stuck out for me as being the scariest. The fist of which was obviously the iconic shower scene. The jumpy cuts and quick, disorientating pace was in my opinion quite shocking. The scene runs for 3 minutes and features 50 cuts and more than 70 different angles. Most of the shots are Cu’s. These close shots draw the audience into the scene making the scene feel longer and more intense. Additionally it makes it feel more uncontrolled, and more violent than if the shots were just presented alone or at wider angles.

The second scene that stuck out for me was the very final scene (video clip below), in my opinion this is the scariest. Just after the conclusive scene where the detective is explaining what happened, we think all the scary parts to the film are over, but then the camera forward tracks down a corridor, and into a plain white room. Norman Bates is in it wrapped in a blanket. Here we hear his mother’s voice in his head. The scariest line of the film in my opinion is; ‘I’m not even going to swat that fly, I hope they are watching, they’ll see, and they’ll know, they’ll say why she wouldn’t even harm a fly’ this sentence shows how truly insane Norman Bates is, as he says this he bows his head slightly and gives a haunting devilish smile to the camera, that really lingers in your mind.

One aspect of the film that I think is outstanding and that has a huge impact in the overall effect is the acting. Anthony Perkins who played Norman Bates is fantastic as he really portrays the Psycho well and really believably. I sometimes find acting in old films to be slightly over the top and over dramatic however this was not the case. At first Norman Bates comes across as endearing, kind and thoughtful, yet at the end we see him for what he really is, and Anthony plays both sides brilliantly.

Another aspect of the film which I think is very affective that really adds to the tension, is the music by Herrmann. Even before Marion arrives at the Motel when she is driving to it scary, eerie music is played, building the suspense. It made me frightened and on edge before anything had happened. Then of course that famous high pitched music for the shower scene makes it far more dramatic, I think if you were to watch the film with the sound turned off, it wouldn’t be half as scary.

All in all I think Psycho is a great film, when we were watching it as a class, many people laughed at certain points that were meant to be frightening , i.e. the death of the detective falling down the stairs, as it did look amateur compared to the special effects we see in films nowadays. However what I love about this film is the way Hitchcock builds the suspense so affectively, and despite the lack of special effects it still greatly frightened me and had a big impact.

Psycho - End Scene

Influential Directors

Martin Scorsese
Born: 17th November 1942 (age 65), in the United States of America
Martin is one of the world’s most influential directors. He is also known for being a producer, writer, actor, and even film historian.
He attended New York University's film school where he began to make short films such as ‘What's a Nice Girl like You Doing in a Place like This?’ (1963).
In 1967, Scorsese made his first feature-length film with a fellow student called ‘Who's That Knocking at My Door’. Even in these incredibly early stages of his career the "Scorsese style" was already apparent; this was a strong feel for street life as a New York Italian American, very quick, rapid editing, a troubled male protagonist and an eclectic rock soundtrack.
He is a close friend of other famous, significant directors such as George Lucas and Steven Spielberg. In the 1970’s he was introduced to Robert De Niro to whom he quickly also became a close friend of, working with him for 8 films such as;
‘Taxi Driver’, ‘New York New York’ and ‘Goodfellas’. Their partnership created for both of them some of their biggest successes. More recently Scorsese has found a muse in actor Leonardo DiCaprio working with him on 3 films such as the Oscar winning ‘Aviator’.
Scorsese’s style has developed and his films have many trademarks such as starting his films with clips from the beginning or middle eg; ‘Casino’ (1995), frequent use of slow motion eg; ‘Raging Bull’ (1980) and frequent use of long tracking shots.
Achievements; Scorsese received AFI Life Achievement Award for his contributions to the cinema, as well as winning awards from Golden Globe, BAFTA, and Directors Guild of America.
Associations; Scorsese is president of the Film Foundation, (a non-profit organization dedicated to film preservation). He is also the founder of the World Cinema Foundation.

Tim Burton
Born 25th August 1958 (aged 50) in Burbank, California USA
Tim is an American director best known for his dark, gothic, quirky films. He is also known for being a screenwriter and set designer.
During his teen years Burton found home life and school difficult, so watched horror and low budget films as a form of escape, this is where his passion stems from. Burton was highly influenced in his childhood by many film figures such as Vincent Price and Ray Harryhausen (who was known for stop-motion films). After school, Tim won a Disney scholarship to attend the California Institute of the Arts. He studied the Character Animation program for 3 years and not long after was hired by Walt Disney Studios as an animator’s apprentice, but he was dissatisfied with the artistic direction of his job.
In 1982, Tim made his first short film called ‘Vincent’, a six-minute black and white stop-motion film based on a poem he wrote himself. He soon moved on to live action productions such as ‘Hansel and Gretel’ and ‘Frankenweenie’, which although won praise at film festivals, Disney was concerned the film was too scary for children. Although Burton's work had not yet been released, he began to attract the attention of the film industry.
Like Scorsese, Burton made close friendships with actors and used them frequently in his movies. The most famous example of this is his friendship with Johnny Depp. Depp has been in 7 of Burtons films including ‘Edward Scissorhands’, ‘Sleepy Hollow’ and ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’. Additionally Burton’s wife Helena Bonham-Carter has featured in 6 of his films such as ‘Corpse Bride’ and ‘Sweeny Todd’.
Burton’s gothic, individual films have a huge cult following as well as mainstream support, and many view him as a very influential and inspirational director. Although he hasn’t won any awards himself, his films in total have won 6 Oscars with more than 15 nominations.

Horror Genre Convention List

•Sounds; creaking door/floorboards, whistling winds, screams, howling wolves, thunder & lightning, rain, banging on doors, hacking, echoes, crackling tv/radio signals, crying, (evil) laughter, rustling leaves, silence, breathing

• Characters; psychopaths, beautiful girl, hero, idiotic girl/boy, smart independent heroin, monsters, ghosts, detective, spirits, possessed people/children, cute children (often kidnapped), recluses, cowardly witness, bully, police, privat investigators, the best friend

Iconography; blood, gore, knives, axes, guns, night, dark, full moon, Lighting; backlighting creating silhouettes, low key, dark, shadowy, Camera Movement; handheld e.g. ‘Blair witch project’, zooms, Bad Weather; night, moon, stormy,
Camera; Close ups in extreme scenes, long shots to establish scary setting and show remoteness and isolation, photographs, candles, masks, long dark corridors

• Music; eerie, build up of tension- change in tempo, very high pitch e.g. Shower scene ‘Psycho’, Very low pitch e.g. ‘The Shining’, sudden changes in tempo and dynamics, often orchestral instruments, violins, organs etc.

• Setting; forest, remote/derelict buildings, old houses, hotels, basements, attics, alleys, dark dingy places, country side, long empty roads, night time

Themes;< High body count, Chase scenes, jealousy, lust, revenge, anger, death, secrets, lies, love, passion, obsession, mental illness, torture, betrayal, mystery

Mood Board - Genres

This is a mood board of the different genres of film.

Mood Board - Favourite Films

This is a mood board of some of my favourite films and ones that have inspired me. It includes a wide variety of films from different time periods and genres.

Atonement - Clip - Broken Vase scene

Atonement - ANALYSING CONTINUITY

This is a scene from the film Atonement, I chose this clip because Atonement is one of my favourite films and also because I think this clip has really good continuity. The continuity of a film is very important as it is what makes the audience believe the story, as with good continuity editing the scene appears more plausible and professional.
The first thing I noticed about this clip was that at the beginning up to 0:14 the shots are much longer, taking the audience steadily through the surrounds and opening, setting up the narrative. However as the scene develops and the tension between the two characters grows the shots have far quicker pace and choppier cuts making this part more intense, and bringing the audience into it more.
The first shot is an ELS of the large estate and gardens owned by the family of Cecilia Tallis played by Keira Knightly where Robbie Turner played by James McAvoy works. This ELS works as an establishing shot for the scene, as the audience can clearly see all of the two characters surroundings. This shot shows them both in the garden, and Cecilia walking towards the camera to the fountain in the foreground. It then cuts to a MS of Robbie runs towards the camera, this is good continuity as we can clearly see that he is following Cecelia. The camera then cuts to a LS of the two of them by the fountain showing he has caught up with her.
Then at 0:16 we see a CU of their hands struggling over the vase and break a piece off and we hear a splash. In the next shot the camera is under water, we see a MCU of the broken bit of vase floating down into the pond. This is a motivated cut as although the audience might have been able to guess, the reason for the noise, it is fully revealed in this shot. At 0:21 we see Cecelia shout at Robbie – the camera then cuts quickly to Robbie’s reaction (laughter) then back to Cecelia. This is a cutaway reaction shot as it briefly cuts away from the central focus so the audience can see another person’s reaction, as an indicator to how they should react. As well as this, the speed of the cuttings tells the audience that he was laughing at the same time she was speaking, it shows that the time hasn’t changed or moved on.
At 0:25 Cecilia leans over to her right, and as she is sitting at that side of the fountain we know she is peering into the fountain. Then she looks over her left shoulder and shouts at Robbie, reinforcing his position. To reinforce what we’ve just seen there is an over the shoulder shot at 0:30 allowing us to see Cecilia sitting by the fountain with a broke vase next to her.
At 0:31 there is another example of a motivated cut, or match on action as Robbie shouts “careful” at Cecilia. This holds the audience attentions and adds some suspense as we want to know why she needs to be careful. Then it is revealed with a CU on her feet that she was about to step in broken vase.
At 0:35 seconds we see Cecilia begin to take her top off, then the camera cuts to being behind her so we can see Robbie’s reaction and she is at the same stage of taking her top off. Similarly she begins to undo her skirt when the camera is behind her, but before she pulls it down the camera cuts so we see the front of her. All this is a match on action sequence, as although there is a lot of camera movement Cecelia appears to take her clothes off smoothly and seamlessly making excellent continuity. Additionally the camera movement is to keep the audience interested and it allows us to see both Cecilia’s and Robbie’s reactions to her action.
At 1:02 and 1:11 we see eye line matching shots of Robbie where his eye line clearly suggests he is looking at Cecilia, first down into the pond, then up and she’s standing on the fountain. The meeting eye lines make the story far clearer and more plausible as we as the audience know where Cecilia is and therefore know where we would expect Robbie to be looking. This happens again in one of the final shots at 1:53 as Robbie looks regretfully on at Cecilia as she storms off. Once again the CU brings the audience into the scene, putting them right in the action.
At 1:17 there is an example of the 180˚ rule as Robbie turns left to look away from Cecilia, then the camera position cuts to being behind him and he is looking right, however this is way he should be facing, as he is still looking to his left, this shows great consideration for direction and great continuity.