2. Actor profile.
On the 12th November I observed a performing arts lesson at the
College of West Anglia as I wanted a person who was able to act to
be in my film trailer, not just a friend or family member. When
attending the session I was looking for key qualities; these were,
lots of power put into their performance, great facial expressions
and the ability to take on what is thrown at them. After their warm
up exercises the pupils began acting in groups, I observed from afar
and at this point there were about 5 actors in the class that had
caught my eye because of their ability to suggest ideas and make
changes where necessary. To me this shows commitment and
passion. As the 2 and a half hour session continued, I eliminated 3
of these pupils as their enthusiasm at this point had dropped and I
was going to need a person willing to work throughout the filming
session. The one pupil that stood out to me the most was called
Kingsley, he made valid suggestions, worked very well on trial and
error, gave encouragement to fellow pupils and had the ability to
adapt to many roles. When the session finished I pulled Kingsley
aside and told him what I had been doing and asked for his
contacts details in case I decided to contact him. I did contact him
and the email i sent is on the following slide...
3. He replied to me via phone call saying how he would be delighted to take on
the role and agreed to meet with me to talk more about the characters
profile od which i have explained on the next slide...
4. Characters profile.
• Looks: tall, dark hair, wears a suit and nice shoes and this does not change even when he becomes
a killer.
Personality, emotion and lifestyle: Kingsley will be playing the role of Shaun, a friendly business
man whose wife, Lyla, was recently murdered. At the beginning of the film Shaun will just be an
ordinary man, the audience with have no real opinion on him so there will be little use of facial
expression, just simple, straight forward acting of a typical businessman. Before the murdering of
his wife, Shaun was a very content, straight edged person and his wife was the exact opposite. She
wouldn’t care about dangers of anything and she lived life on the edge. When Lyla dies, the
audience will have empathy with Shaun and there will have to be a great deal of emotion seen in
the character. These emotions will range from anger to sadness to anxiety and to numbness.
However, after this grieving time passes for a while, Shaun feels a change in himself, he begins to
live like her, he quits his job, he stops caring about healthy eating, and he starts loving the rush of
adrenaline. The character here will have to show signs of confusion, especially when sat at home
having the realisation of what he is doing. Here the wide range of acting skills will take place as
there are so many different emotions in one character. Eventually Shaun realises his change and
this is where the audience will realise that his dead wife’s mind is living inside of him so that she
can get vengeance on her murderers. This is where Shaun turns into a violent, merciless killer; he
gets the revenge his wife’s mind desires. This is the explosion of the character, he becomes
something you never expected and the audience will see the contrast between him and the
business man he once was. The audience will see him as a guy that will never get caught as the
opposites of the two minds in his brain make for the perfect killer. In the film, Shaun will show that
he never has recollection of the actual murders; he is just the one holding the weapon and standing
over the body. This produces a twist in the film where his personality is split once again.
Speech: Well spoken, may often talk quickly, aggressive and loud when necessary.
Iconic props: Often has a cup of tea, wears a tweed jacket white shirt and black trousers.
Family: Dead wife, No father, Mother has dementia, No children.
Lives: Small bungalow, nice garden.
5. Email to music management.
• After much deliberation I decided to use a section of the Chase and Status song
‘Machine Gun’ for my film trailer. I plan to use the music from 40 seconds in to 1 minute
20 seconds because, that way I get 40 seconds of drum and base music that will fit
perfectly with the fast moving action clips I plan to put in the trailer whilst the music is
on. Although this may not go totally to plan, it is my idea for not and I believe that the
chosen song will fit the trailer particularly well. This is something that will be confirmed
in the editing stage.
To the left is
an email I sent
to the
manager of
Chase and
Status
explaining my
situation. I
used a formal
tone and put
my request
simply.
6. Outfit ideas.
• I would like my main actor to be dressed in a smart but casual manner. I want him
to be in a crisp white shirt to show his formality and how proper he is. But then I
would like him to wear a nice tweed jacket like the one below, instead of a suit
jacket because it shows quirkiness of character and a recognisable fashion. I will
probably have him wearing a tie or bow tie at to once again show formality but
also personality. I like the idea of having a green tweed jacket. The bow tie I think I
will use as it adds quirkiness to the character and shows that he isn’t afraid to
stand out from the crowd; this is his wife shining though as at the start of the
trailer it states how he liked to live his life by the books.
Green tweed jacket. Dark green
suggests connotations of nature
and I wanted this trailer to be
filmed in the countryside to
show the actor out of his
comfort zone of the city. Other
greens also add connotations of
envy or jealousy which works
well with the characters
personality as he is getting
revenge on his wife’s murderers.
7. ...
Other actors I will have wearing either typical casual clothes like
jeans and tops and some I will have in suits to show contrast of
character.
I plan to have my female actor in a long black dress to once again
enhance the theme of a business like attire and also add the style of
elegance that will coincide well with the location of the shoot (Elm
Hall Hotel). The type of dress I plan to use is one similar to the one
below.
8. Equipment list.
• Canon Eos 1100d Camera- for photo shoots.
• Panasonic AVC HMC1 HD camera with microphone and tripod.
• Sony PJ650VE HD Camera with tripod
• Tealights
• Matches
• Empty beer bottle
• Bow tie
• Tweed jacket
• White shirt
• Black shoes
• Black trousers
• Black cocktail dress
• Tie
• Cup and saucer
• Tea set
• Table cloth
• Foundation
• Fake Blood
• FX make up wax
• Rope
• Axe
• Knife
• Cocktail glass
• tablet
I don't have an extensive equipment
list as I don't feel the need to rely on
a lot of props to make my trailer
effective. I believe I can do this
through the content of the clip,
clothing, location and audio. The
technological equipment ensures for
good quality images and filming.
Everything else just adds style,
formality and reinforces the action
genre.
9. Locations
Location will play an important role when filming as I don’t want it to look as though it
is set in a busy city; even though the main character is meant to be a high flying
business man, I want the trailer to show him out of his comfort zone and
therefore, show him in the country looking for the murderers of his wife. Therefore
I thought that simply using outside of houses, a hotel room in Elm hall, country
roads and so on will be more effective than shooting in public or around buildings.
My first location example is out the back of my
friends’ house, he has this small pathway leading
to the back of the house and I thought that would
make for quite a mysterious shot if I decided to do
a long shot. Also this would be good for a low
angle shot because to the left there is actually
some high trees and this would symbolise country
location. So that I don’t use the same location for
too many shots I also plan to use my garden for
some outdoor shots so it shows a change of
location but keeps the theme of the countryside in
the audiences mind.
10. ...
My next location idea was the docks
at kings Lynn, here I thought I
could film some of the more
distressed shots in the trailer
such as when the actor is deep
in thought or angry at himself; I
could do long shots that provide
a good outlook across the water
to enhance this.
The next location is actually at the actors’ house,
because of the rocking chair and window I
thought that this would be good to do any dark
shots needed such as the lighting of the candles
(on the fire mantle piece on the left of the TV) or
perhaps the dark scene of the actor drinking his
tea/ putting his shirt over a cut back an any others
that provoke questions. Any dark scenes that do
not look good here I will suit in our families
workshop as it is very dark (and messy!) and will
create this same effect.
11. ...
Another location I thought would be good to use is a
church as the countryside is quote often known for
the beautiful rural churches and the isolated areas
they lie within. This is Walpole church; I thought it
would be the best local one to use as if I was to do a
low angle shot I would be able to get the steeple of
the church looking very majestic. I was thinking I
could probably do a fight scene here or a threatening
scene to show the contrast of something so horrible
happening in front of something so beautiful.
This is a picture of Elm Hall Hotels
honeymoon room and I plan to do
some of my filming here, especially
the filming with the female
character as they have a lot of old
fashioned furniture that will
thoroughly suit the style.
12. ...
The tea party scene is going to be a very
iconic clip in the trailer as it is going to
be right at the end and therefore I
needed a good location for it that still
kept the country theme running. I
decided that my Nan’s table would be
best as it is small and therefore quaint
and just the totally wrong thing to put
in line with an action trailer. This is
what I want, I want to confuse the
audience and make them wonder why
I have chosen that specific place, like
at this point they would question why
I used such an old fashioned and
grandma style table and it is to show
his wife’s style come through him and
show the point in which he really gets
taken over by her and he falls into an
almost psychotic state.
13. Budget
estimations
Equipment
Canon EOS 1100D
Camera
Mine from home.
No cost.
Panasonic
AVC HMC1 HD
camera with
microphone
and tripod.
Sony PJ650VE
HD Camera
with tripod
Borrowed
from college.
No cost
Props
Cup and saucer
Tea set
Table cloth
Borrowed from
Nan.
No cost.
Tea Lights
Tesco- £1
Foundation
Matches
Empty glass bottle
Tie
Bow tie
Axe
Knife
Rope
Fake blood
Tablet
All from
home
No cost.
Savers £1.
FX Make up wax
EBay
£2.95.
Cocktail
glass
Borrowed from work.
No cost.
Location
Elm Hall
Spoke to them and
agreed to film.
No other
locations require
admission fees,
they are mostly
at my house,
friends houses
or in open
access areas.
Clothes
Tweed jacket
White shirt
Black shoes
Black trousers
Black cocktail dress.
All actors own or
used from home.
No cost
No admission fees.
Travel
Uncertain on how
much travel costs will
be. Lots of different
locations and places to
drive to.
Estimated between £5-
£10 on petrol each
time I go out filming.
I plan to be able to film with a very low budget which is seen worked out below.
14. Shooting schedule
• 09.12.13: Poster photo shoot: location, college studio room, Main actor
meeting at college at 2pm bringing suitable attire. Make-up artist
contacted and products bought ready. DSLR camera and lenses ready.
• 26.01.14- magazine photo shoot: location change due to weather
predicted at this date, now at Elm Hall Wisbech. Main actor is being picked
up at 12pm and told to be wearing suitable attire. DSLR camera once again
ready with any other lenses required.
• 02.02.14- filming: smaller HD camera, purely action shots, no sound. 3
Actors required, contacted and arranged to meet at main actors’ house at
11am, two wearing smart clothing
• 09.02.14: filming: Large HD camera, shots with sound. Two actors
required, both wearing smart clothing, filming from 11am-4pm, time slots
for different clips allocated according to location and weather looking
promising.
• 02.03.14- final filming session, finishing touches, do over’s and voice
recording. Female actor arranged to film with main actor later on, attire
organised and Elm Hall contacted to ensure we are still okay to film in the
honeymoon suite.
