Aice Media Studies (Planning)

Today we make a planning blog of our choice!

Why is good casting needed?

• The topic I'll be talking about today is the castings. Casting is a really important part of the production process as it helps truly raise the quality of the story and the film's overall believability. Having good actors that fit the characteristics, personalities, and traits, helps allow for better meaning in the characters as well as boost the audience's connections to the overall storyline that me and my group are trying to convey. Being able to cast good actors to portray characters always helps translate the director's/author's true intentions or needs into reality.
• For example, a popular opinion that I believe to be true is the casting for MCU's Iron Man, Robert Downey Jr. to be an EXCELLENT casting choice for Tony Stark. Many comic fans had always wanted Iron Man, one of Marvel's most famous comic book characters to come to life. Robert Downey Jr. was able to make this happen. In comics, Tony Stark is originally known as a spoiled, rich, yet intelligent person. He'd always thought of himself as "better" than others, he was a genius inventor and the CEO of Stark Industries, which then after becoming kidnapped and creating his first suit of iron, redirected his genius towards helping the world. Robert Downey Jr. was able to play this perfectly, through Iron Man 1 being shown as this entitled, genius man who was arrogant and had an insane ego about himself. Even in comics, he's known as incredibly reckless, always going out to parties and drowning himself in the money he inherited from Stark Industries. Before his kidnapping all he really thought of was himself, but this changed in the movie once he was kidnapped and learned he could use his intellect to create suits of armor that could save people. After all he really wanted to do was build a "suit of armor around the world." Through the countless movies he played as Tony Stark, Robert Downey Jr was able to show depth in the growth Tony Stark had as a hero, enough so to even sacrifice himself in Avengers: Endgame. This is a great example of good casting.

Now for the actual castings: 

The Father (Jason Gray): 

• For Jason Gray, me and my group decided it would be best for me to portray him.
• Actor: Luis Vasquez
• 
  We decided to choose me because I was able to fit most of the body characteristics we had in mind for Jason Gray, showing him as an average-sized man (5'11)
• I do believe I'll be able to play him out well, showing emotions like fear, shock, and adrenaline as he faces his wife being murdered in front of him, as well as the rising tensions of attempting to escape the zombie chasing after him. 
• I'll do my very best in trying to integrate audiences into the story being played, showing depth in the events being played, and trying to introduce the viewers to the world that'll be set for the remainder of the film. 

The Mother (Heather Gray):

• 
  For the mother, Heather Gray, me and my group chose it would be best for Shira to do it.
• Actor: Shira Cykert
• We've given her lead female roles on past projects before, for example, the Music Marketing Project.
• We'll be instructing her to try and convey the most emotion she can for these scenes, trying to make sure the essence of the fear provided by this event is illustrated in the final productions.
• I know she'll be able to accomplish this well.

The Son (Owen Gray)

• For the Son, we chose that Nic's younger brother, Anthony would partake in the filming of the opening.
• Actor: Anthony Mazone
• The main reason we chose him was because he obviously has younger features like height, facial features, etc...
• We also decided to choose him since it would be most convenient since as Nic's younger brother, he'll be in the house whenever we need him for filming instead of needing to wait for an extra person to get to Nic's house.
  

The Zombies:

• 
  For the zombies, my group and I thought it would best be to choose Nic as our two zombies
• Actor: Nicholas Mazone
• I have acted on previous assignments with him before, so I believe he'd be a great pick for a more antagonist character like the zombies.
• I mainly chose him for the fact that he has a more lean type physique. He's around 6'1-6'3 so it adds to the slender appearance that a monster like a zombie could have. 
• We've already filmed some scenes where he's acting as the zombie and as I mentioned, the physique he offers does enhance this character's appearance. 
  

The only other person who's needed for filming is Hannah, but she isn't acting as an actor in the film, she's contributing by acting as the cameraman for the opening.