When casting people for a film, there are mainly three different elements that will allow the director to pick the right actors for the relevant roles.
Casting choices are predominantly made based upon three areas of an actor; their Characteristics, their Acting Ability, and the actor's Overall Suitability for the role at hand. Characteristics involves the actor's physical features such as voice, build and hair colour to determine whether they are suitable for the director's vision of the character being portrayed. The personality of the actor can also be taken into account to better decide on their suitability. Acting Ability is dependent on the actor's dramatic performance, which can include how well they bring a scene to life, whether they are enjoyable to watch, and whether they can give an engaging and realistic performance of the character. Overall Suitability is the person's general amount that they suit the role they are casting for. This can include if the person suits the overall genre of the film, and if they can perform horror-specific tasks; such as screaming or being able to deal with particularly gory scenes. |
Our trailer will include a total of eight characters to cast. This consists of the Detective, three office colleagues, two Black Eyed Kids, an old woman and an old man. These are the only characters that will feature in the trailer; however there will ultimately be more in the final cut of the film.
The Detective - This is a confident character who leads the agency that she works at. She serves as the main character and protagonist of the film, so is featured most prominently in the trailer. She follows up on the case of the Black Eyed Kids to unravel the mystery behind their appearances. For this role we require someone who is confident at acting and can bring the assertive but level headed character to life.
Office Workers - These are featured within the start of the trailer, and serve slightly different roles from each other. These characters are ordinary people who work with the detective on cases that come to the agency. For this role, the actors don't need a lot of experience as they are mainly static and have only a few lines to speak. They just need to be fairly confident on camera, but otherwise will not require much else to perform well.
Black Eyed Kids - The Black Eyed Kids are young children who act as the antagonists of the film. They are the cause of distress in the neighbourhood, and the Detective ultimately seeks them in her quest to solve the mystery. We will require young children to perform this role, and must be obedient so we can get the best performance from them. They do not necessarily need experience in acting, but would be preferred if they were happy to be filmed.
Wise Woman - Provides the Detective information regarding the Black Eyed Kids and their origins. She has a crazed personality, but provides key information for the plot. For this role we need a person who is able to act well, and must also not be too young, otherwise the illusion of their wisdom in the film will be doubted. They should have some confidence in performing on camera, but isn't necessary to bring the role to life.
Man - This is a character who has seen the Black Eyed Kids, and has witnessed their effect. He provides the detective with information on his witnessing of the Kids, and so is not featured much at all. He is fairly young (in his late teens), and needs some experience in performing to bring the role to life effectively. He does not need any particular skills for this role, and basically has a similar role to the Office Workers.
Our Group
Matt
Witness |
Hele
Detective #1/Victim |
Rose
Detective #2 |
Jess
Black Eyed Kid/Villain |