Forever in Days - Pre Production (Characters and Cast)

Pre-Production is a process that entails preparing equipment, cast and other essentials for production of a film, play or series.

My pre-production process has involved most of these elements. Having finished my script and deciding to do my first two minutes, the first thing I did was search for ideal characters for my cast and locations to film in.

Maryanne: She is the central character of my film and all other characters and situations revolve around her. Given that she is terminally ill I need someone with a look gloomy enough to pull it off i.e her sad facial expressions, moody tones etc. However, she is also very poetic, and when she meets Jeremy the gloomy part of her fades away to reveal someone who is unlucky, innocent and inexperienced where love is concerned. I searched through actresses on casting call pro and was lucky enough to find some potential cast for Maryanne.

In the end I chose Marie Kemp (Middle) I felt she was the perfect fit. Her face has an innocence to it that I feel will evoke into the audience a sense of purity tainted by cancer. She also is in tune with the style of my film which according to Steve Coombes is Victorian and Gothic. Part of the pre production process is alerting the chosen cast of their roles and their lines. So,  I forwarded an updated version of my script following my tutorial with Steve.

Given that I am only doing the first two minutes of the film for assessment, Jeremy  won't be necessary. However I will be casting someone for his role later on as I wish to complete the entire film solely for my pleasure and portfolio.

In addition to Maryanne is Dr. Whittaker who will be in the opening two minutes. At first his character mainly did my dirty work which was to tell the audience that Maryanne was terminally ill. However, again, after my tutorial with Steve this changed. I decided to give a bit more to his character by including subtle tells and changing certain lines that were too obvious to the audience. Rather than hitting the audience straight away with an exact issue thus making it easy to determine the rest of the film; I left an air of mystery, allowing the viewer to decide for him/herself what would happen to Maryanne from this point. Below are potential cast I felt would suit the role in the end I chose Drew McGurren (middle).  He had previously played the role of a doctor and having seen his showreel I felt his delivery was exactly what I needed for this intense and dark piece.