EVALUATION - Character Analysis

After planning out our basic intentions for our trailer we began to expand on our ideas of our characters. For the lead role, the vulnerable victim, we decided to create the impression of a typical teen aged girl, with the idea that as many members of the audience as possible could relate to her. Without revealing too many details of the girls character in the trailer we will hopefully be able to match her personality and life style to the majority of the viewers. For the sake of the trailer the names of our characters are irrelevant, however we decided on the name "Megan" for the lead female, so we could refer to her by name in our analysis, and to build a clearer image of the ideal character in our head. We were determined that the actress we found to play her would not have the look of a stereotypical Innocent female victim (blond hair, blue eyes) but would have the common appearance of brown hair and brown eyes, this again allowed us to relate to more of the audience, but also meant that it would put across the point that the girl in the story was not being victimised because she was weak and defenseless, and that any girl could have been targeted. As most modern films contain a strong female lead who is perfectly able to defend herself and does not need the aid of a "knight in shining armour", we decided to re-enforce that role, and put her in a position where it was the seemingly perfect typical male lead which was putting her in the danger rather than defending her from it. By using camera angles and lighting to show our independent female in a vulnerable light it makes the audience feel insecure, as they cannot sit back and say "That would never happen to me; I'm safe". Jen was perfect for the part as she has short, fashionably, but distinctively cut brown hair, showing that the character is not so girly but interested in her appearance. We dressed her consciously for the shots of her with Raf (Eric), showing her in more dressy but comfortable clothes with a bit of makeup, showing she is relaxed but making an effort for him. However, she is dressed casually for the scenes when she is running away, dressed in a casual long sleeved top and jeans, with no make up and her hair practically tied back.

For the strong male character we obviously wanted someone who was going to be taller than our female lead so as to seem intimidating. We had planned for him to be tall, attractive, and preferably dark haired to subtly re-enforce the image of him being dark and mysterious, and possibly dangerous. We decided he should also be dressed in dark coloured clothes, and have an overall smart but casual appearance, jeans and a dark shirt were a perfect compromise. Since the character of Eric was meant to come across as the stereotypical "hero" to begin with, we needed him to have a gentlemanly nature about the way he stood and dressed. However, the darker elements of his appearance suggest that there may be something hidden behind his civil exterior. He is designed to be the "knight in shining armour" in reverse.

Both Raf and Jen, as drama students, were perfect for the parts and kindly agreed to act them for us.
Lucy :)