Planning: Casting

After completion of the treatment and screenplay, we have decided that we need to include two characters in our opening. One of them being a male, the attention will be focused on him so we need someone with a look that is memorable and plays a victim role well. 

We also need a female character, Maisie. In our opening we only really see Maisie when her hands wrap a rope around our victim's neck down by the river, we decided on this method of killing because it is very personal and it conveys psychopathy.

I took some photographs of male faces and female hands.

I decided to cast the hands first. 

These are Emily's hands. I decided to have Emily in the shortlist because she has rather short fingernails. Men generally have short fingernails and I think that we should keep Maisie's gender hidden in the two minutes because men are stereotypically more feared in horror films. 

Emily, I noticed, also has a large hand-span which could look awkward in the film. Perfect for a horror film!

Secondly, I photographed Jerin's hands. Because Jerin has rather long and thin fingers, this means when they are in a fist, holding the rope, they will look bigger and stronger. However, with her long, dagger-like fingernails, it will be obvious that Maisie is a woman.

These hands belong to Agne. I particularly like Agne's hands in terms of horror because, to me, they look slightly out of proportion. Her short fingers don't compliment her rather large palms. Also, I see that her knuckles are particularly flexible, this means that she may be able to get her hands into some difficult, for some, positions.

Tonicha's hands are rather long, much like Jerin's; however, Tonicha has short fingernails. this means that the gender of Maisie will be kept rather a mystery. Also, her hands are quite skeletal and veiny. These would be good because the look rather supernatural and with the costume they would suit Maisie well.

And now for a male actor, the victim! 

This is Marshal. We decided that Marshal had a very innocent look about him and that is perfect for a victim. In this photograph particularly, he has a very distant look about him. This is good for our character because he is meant to be oblivious to the danger. 

This is Brian. He is a very happy man and I believe that this would go down well with the audience. He has a friendly aura and this will make the audience even more shocked when we kill him off within the first few minutes. 

This is John. He has a strong figure and this would then show how strong Maisie is and would make the audience wonder if she is supernatural. 

After looking at these different people and their specific features, myself and my team have decided that John and Agne are going to be our cast, as they have the desired characteristics for both leads in our 2 minute horror opening.  

Chelsea carried out the casting, and myself and the rest of my team have approved and agreed with her work.