Casting Information

Casting Information

Casting is vital to the success of any movie. In order for me to ensure that my product is the best it possibly can be it is important for me to take into account relative narrative and character theories as well as the common conventions. This then enables the audiences to get a greater understanding of the characters. Whilst striving to get the design right for my film I also would want to bring a unique aspect to it. As my film focuses mainly on youth it is also important for me to represent them in the correct way.

Goffman’s (1959) character theory is one of the theories I looked at in order to help me further develop my production. I have outlined the roles in terms of relevance to my film below.

The Protagonist – The leading character of the film. I believe the character of “James” would best suit this role in terms of my script and plan for the film as a whole. He would offer the leading defense of the other characters even if it may not appear so at first.

The Deuteragonist – This is the secondary character in my movie that offers assistance often to the protagonist. I believe that the character of “Jason” would suit this role best. He does not offer assistance directly to the protagonist so to say but does serve as a large part in the film assisting the group.

The Bit Part Player – The minor character that there is not a lot of information about.  In terms of my own production I believe the character of “Sydney” best suits this role as he is the one that is constantly arguing with the rest of the group and placing blame. He adopts the “every man for himself” approach. This character is often killed off in horror films and I plan to follow this convention in my own. The trailer will have a scene depicting “Sydney” being/ about to be attacked by the killer.

Another useful theory I have looked at is Vladimir Propp’s character roles (1969).

Villain – The most importance of these roles in terms of my own production is the villain. This is clearly the antagonist in my film in the form of Travis Smith. As this character he needs a fear factor about him that identifies him as a scary to the audience. In order to do this they must be willing to attempt various costume and make up designs.

The Princess – Acts as a reward for the hero (protagonist) and is often the object of the villain’s plot. I believe the best character that suits this role is “Jessie”. She does act as a reward for the protagonist as it goes down the conventional route of her being taken by the villain and it is up to the protagonist to save her.

Now that I have defined my character roles under character theory my casting will need to take into account the specific characterizations of the individual roles.