G321 AS: Main Task - CASTING, COSTUME AND MAKEUP RESEARCH

Characters required:

• Hayden - Female aged 18 who due to her superior intellect in the scientific field she was invited by the government to work on a project to ‘increase resources for a growing population’. However unaware to the deceived Hayden the project took a more sinister turn, a vaccination causing instantaneous but painless death, in order to decrease the population and protect vital resources. Upon discovery of this, she attempted to publicise the information she knew in order to prevent the programme from being put in place. She is strong willed, quick witted, intelligent, determined and brave. Idealistically we want the actor playing Hayden to look younger than she is, to enthuse the audience that despite being young she is willing to stand up for what she believes in. This age would be more relatable to our certificate 15 and above age group. Due to our choice of having a female protagonist in the action genre that is stereotypically overrepresented by men, we envisage Hayden having shorter hair; this more boyish cut in coherence with a more feminine mannerism will emphasise that she possesses masculine traits such as strength and agility.

• The Guard - The actor playing the guard must appear threatening, as he will be representative of the stereotypical ‘bad guy’ or ‘goon’ within the action genre. Ideally, he will be very tall and of a strong build. The guard is middle aged, this age is representative of power and being in the prime of your strength, therefore meaning he will transgress a menacing view. 

Who have we cast?

We have decided to cast Emily Bullock as Hayden. We felt that she would be an excellent choice as she has vast drama experience. She has featured in many productions at local theatres, including Hairspray and received an A* at Drama GCSE. She was also our main actor in our preliminary task, therefore we know that she works to a professional standard, and performs well in front of a camera. 

We shortlisted Gareth Millard to play the Guard. We felt as if he would be an excellent choice as at his height of 6ft 6 he physically appears much larger than Emily, displaying his higher power and authority in the opening scene; this will also make him seem more threatening, due to his towering height. He has also featured in short film's that I have created before and listens well to instructions, following them to a good standard. 

In cessation, we decided to cast Rebecca Bradley as the guard. Primarily we chose her as she is an excellent actress, who works to a high standard in front of the camera, with evidencing of her skills of drama shown after she received an A in her Drama GCSE. Logistically she was the best choice for the piece, as she was available on every shooting day, and was also available for post-production recording of foley sound. She is quite tall and when trying on the costume, she appeared threatening and convincingly portrayed the guard. 

Costume:

Hayden's character is required to give the impression that she has been forcibly tied up and therefore possess some scratches or bruises on her face and arms; from this, I believe that she should have slightly ripped clothing as a result. However her character is eighteen therefore, her costume must be stereotypical of a teenager that age and be recognisable for our fifteen-year-old target audience. 

She will be wearing a dark blue hoodie, the connotations of blue includes strength, stability, confidence, intelligence, and truth. We decided primarily to use blue because of its association with truth, which is an important theme in our opening scene as Hayden is attempting to reveal the truth. She will then be wearing ripped knee jeans, as the pre-ripped holes will allow us to create fake gashes as if the guard has created those rips through force. Ripped Knee jeans resemble the age group we are primarily targeting. The most important part of Hayden's costume is the rope covering her mouth. Rope over a hostage's mouth is featured in various action films and is a well-known concept, therefore we decided to incorporate it into our opening. Upon assessing the health and safety precautions of our opening scene, we knew that it may be a risk to Emily tying rope around her mouth, so we will ensure it is tied loosely, Emily is able to speak and alert us if there is a problem, and it is removed between takes to allow her to recover.

One option for the Guard's character will be a black t-shirt and black motorbike leather trousers, or long dark black trench coat. The colour black will emphasise his evil nature and in coherence with the low-key lighting creates a darker and more ominous appearance. Another idea is that the Guard wears a black suit, as this is a representative feature of the action Genre. 

Makeup:

Hayden's makeup will feature scratches and bruises on her face and arms. On her face, we will use face paint and special effects makeup to place one cut on her left cheek, or a purple bruise under her eye. She will not use any other makeup on her face, to display that she is stressed and highlight her pale complexion and enraged state, that has caused her to lose the care for anything apart from the desire to stop the euthanasia programme.

The makeup will be done by Rhiannon, as she has experience of fake special effects makeup from taking classes, this will not affect our budget as the makeup used will be our own. My sister, Ella, is also extremely good at makeup and could easily aid us.