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.

Video Clips

I have made notes on a series of video clips about what to consider when film making. These clips were from the website 'launching films.tv', if you would like to view these clips, the website is linked to my blog.

Release of a film
* Who is the audience?
* How much money are we going to spend – set appropriate budget for how much we think its going to take in UK box office
* To promote it; speak to media partners, radio, Are talent going to travel? Should we have a premier? Shall we spend the money on outdoor posters, Tv, newspapers, online.

Positioning & Audiences
* Define audience – does the film speak to a certain age group?
* What’s its Specific genre?
* Who directed the film? In Specialised films the audience know a lot about certain director s and actors, you must target your film to that audience.

Target Audience
* For smaller films identifying and focusing in on target audience is even more important
* Huge amount of research. Comparisons with past films – Who has gone? (age? gender?) How frequently they went. Where they go to view films.
* You can never be certain of target audience but try to pinpoint it as best as possible.
* Film decision making process is very different for different ages. 45+ need advertising reinforced in TV and newspapers, it takes them more time to make the decision to go. Whereas teenagers will make spur of the moment decisions.

Competition
* Huge amount of films, you need to stand above competition to get noticed
* Why do they want to see yours? Why is your poster more exciting?
* Lots of factors such as Holidays and weather affect audience viewing patterns. If there’s school holidays or bad weather people go to the cinema more. When its sunny people are outside more so it’s good to use more outdoor poster advertising.

P&A Budget
* All costs of film prints, all technical elements, shipping etc.
* Advertising costs; designing posters, press ads, Tv ads, trailers
* Deciding where we want to advertise and how best to use money
* What is target market? Where are they going to see the advertising? Tv ads, if these are too expensive then radio ads – reach wide audience.

Word of Mouth
* Critical! It depends when you want word of mouth for your movie. If they get the movie early and they are sure it will receive strong positive word of mouth then preview screenings can be arranged up and down the country.
* Work with media partners, newpapers, radio, Tv programmes, cinema chain to run the advanced screenings.
* Positive word of mouth from a friend is far more likely to inspire a trip to the cinema than, for example, reading about a film.
* How long a film runs for depends on whether it received positive or negative word of mouth.

Marketing Plan
* Two main methods Advertising and Press more expensive
* Adverts are more expensive - in magazines newspapers, Tv, radio, internet
* Press (free forms of advertising) support from director and cast. Features in magazines and newspapers. Interviews with directors etc.
* Out door adverts, billboards, buses, bus shelters etc.
* Word of mouth – screening programmes
* Internet; email, viral campaigns – eg. funny film clip, provokes interest

Film Trailers
* Trailers most important key for selling film – audiences first exposure to
what your buying into.
* Must have right image - down to the way the graphics, sound, concept of
concept of film is portrayed.

Link Between
* Convince cinema to take film – you need to sell it
* Independent films are more difficult to sell

Digital Marketing
* Viral marketing is creating something (video, quiz, game) that because of its nature you send it on if it’s sent to you.
* Most effective marketing is word of mouth.

Test Screening
* Research is important but comes into play in different times.
* You can research Poster ideas, ideas of visuals, trailers, if it’s meeting people’s expectations, communicating in correct way.
* Test screening of movies in advance with target audience – questionnaires at the end. Focus groups asked in depth on their views. Movie endings or parts may be changed because of these results.

Persuading Cinemas
* Convince cinemas to take film – you need to sell it.
* Independent films are more difficult to sell. You need to find somewhere to put it.

Opening Weekend
* Very important. Exhibitors work on 3 day figure, all films opening day is Friday. 3 day figure is across Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
* If your film has made the least amount of money then it is taken off. Holdovers are based on how much money you make on opening weekend so it determines whether the film continues playing.

Piracy
* UK piracy had escalated in the last 5 years – in 2006 it counted for 20% of DVD sales.
* You think your getting a bargain, but you’re getting ripped of for inferior quality and money is going to criminal elements.

Shot Sequence from Sin City

Shot 1

Low-key lighting, black and white, MCU. High angle shot and wooden panels for background show he is lying on the floor, this makes the man appear very weak and vulnerable and also suggests he has been injured.
He is pointing a gun upwards, as if about to aim, suggesting someone is above him. The gun means he is either attacking someone or defending himself. His hand is holding his ear, possibly because he is trying to block out the sound of the gunshot, or because of an injury.

Shot 2

High angle, low-key lighting, black & white, LS. We now see a man standing over the lying man. The standing man also has a gun and is pointing it directly at the lying man, the high angle shows the standing man has more power and makes the lying man seem even more defenceless. We now see that the man is lying on a pier, this makes him more vulnerable as if the standing man was to kill him, he could dispose of the body easily and quickly by throwing it in the sea. The lying man has changed position slightly - no longer holding his ear, this could be because he is no longer planning to shoot as the other man has threatened him.

Shot 3

ELS, black & white, and low-key lighting. Now there are 2 men standing, making the lying man even more vulnerable as he is outnumbered and on the floor. One man is leaning over him menacingly, as if he is shouting at him, and the lying man has his knees bent upwards, as a form of defence. The man further left looks like the boss, he is wearing long black coat, which makes him seem more threatening. Also, he’s standing back, as if getting the other guy to do his dirty work. The “Boss’s” left hand is raised – it is unclear, but he could be talking into a mobile phone, or walkie-talkie further implying that he is the boss. The sky is dark and cloudy showing it is night, making the scene scarier and more eerie. You can see dim lights in the background from buildings and boats but they seem very far away, so the lying man is very isolated. We can now also see a girl on the edge of the pier, suggesting she has been kidnapped and that maybe the lying man came as an attempt to rescue her.

Shot 4

LS, black & white, low-key lighting, same angle as the previous shot but zoomed in, a tighter frame, this increases the tension of the sequence. Now only one standing man, directly pointing a gun at the lying man’s head, as if about to shoot. The standing man’s long coat is flared out, so it must be windy. This adds to the eerie dark weather which directly reflects an eerie scene. Additionally the flowing coat makes the man seem all the more powerful, dominant and frightening
We can see the girl in the shadows still her head is bowed, as if she could be crying, or looking away as she doesn’t want to see the man be killed.

Shot 5

CU, black & white, and there is low-key lighting. The girl is very young only about 7 years old, and she is crying. This is most likely because the lying man (who she may know) is about to be shot or has been shot, and also because she is scared and lonely and probably the victim of a kidnapping. She is looking longingly slightly downwards and her line of sight indicates she could be looking at the lying man, implying they have a connection.

Shot 6

ELS, black & white, and there is low-key lighting. The lying man no longer has his knees up, implying he could have just been shot. One standing man is sitting on one of the poles, making it a less intense situation as he is no longer being threatened and threatening the man. Both men have their hands in their pockets. This relaxed pose suggests it hasn’t fazed them at all, implying they witnesses murder regularly and have done it all before. The smoky background enhances the sinister atmosphere making the photo more atmospheric and eerie.


At first we read the images by making assumptions as to what the story is and how it will turn out. The director has greatly varied the shot types, distances and angles. He has done this to give more information to the audience but not all at once, nothing is made completely obvious, things become clearer slowly – this way the audience stays interested and the suspense and tension are built up to make the experience more thrilling and exciting.