Potential Casting List

The Boss
Devin Escobedo

Body guards/hit-men
Andrew Sapienza
Camryn Wigglesworth
Maliek Alterno
Justis Nevaro

Shawn Cacciola

Hackers
Cameron Cabral
Mary-Margaret Steber
Allie Carr
Lissi Strom

Runners

Brady Zimmerman
Thomas Townley

Casting Process

For casting my partner and I discussed what we would like our characters to look and act like. We based our decisions off of our main character, "The Boss," Devin Escobedo. She will play our boss and was chosen based on acting talents and "threatening" appearance. The rest of our cast will include around 5-6 hit-men and possibly 2-3 computer hackers. We want these character to fit the look, more threatening for the hit-men and a little smaller for the hackers. Based on characters in other movies we have decided on a general look for the character.

For the hackers:

For the hit-men:

Genre Research- American Pyscho

American Psycho- 2000
Directed by: Mary Harron
Starring: Christian Bale, Jared Leto, Guinevere Turner and Reese Witherspoon
The budget for the film was 10 million and the film grossed 34 million worldwide.
The film received mixed ratings ranging from "brilliant" to "disturbing."
Christian Bale won several awards for his performance in American Psycho, including "best actor" for ACCA and for the Chlotrudis Awards. The film itself was nominated for many awards and won several, including "best movie" at the IHG awards ceremony.
The opening of the film begins with the company logos of Lion Gate Films and Edward R Pressman productions. A white background is shown with something dripping, it is red and appears to be blood. Incidental music is connected with the dropping, and then continuous. The droppings, which now look more like food fall onto a white surface, associates are named and the title of the film appears. Close-ups of sauce being poured and food being prepared are shown. The red sauce splattering and sharp knife chopping the food appear to be foreshadowing for some kind of murder. Next, the main actors names appear on screen as more food falls onto a plate. The plates are brought to a table and a close-up high angle shot of a precisely organized table is shown. The music could also be an orchestra in the restaurant. Dialogue is heard from several waiters who are listing the specials. The opening ends with three men sitting at a table in suits. The opening makes audiences wonder if the film will be about a murder or a "psycho" and makes them intrigued.

Genre Research- Black Swan

Black Swan- 2010
Directed by: Darren Aronofsky
Starring: Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis Vincent Cassel and Winona Ryder
With a production budget of 13 million, the film grossed over 106 million in the U.S. alone and over 329 million worldwide.
Reviews were generally positive with an 85% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Natalie Portman won an Oscar, a BAFTA award and a Golden Globe for "Best Actress" from her work in Black Swan. The film also collected many Oscar and Golden Globe nominations for best film and directing. 

In the opening of the film, the first image is the company, Fox Searchlight pictures and then fades into a close-up of someone drawing with black chalk. The screen is dark still and appears to have a vignette around it. The chalk is moving very fluidly and the camera follows it around the canvas. The incidental music is a orchestral song, similar to the music from the Nutcracker, and is beautiful yet haunting. While the chalk moves around, the directors name, associates, writers, producers, screenwriters, and music directors names are presented. The screen dissolves between the chalk moving around and continues the fluid movements. As the lines on the paper become darker, the incidental music begins to intensify and the main actors' names are shown. The music becomes louder and even more intense as the canvas is covered more with black the the person drawing moves the chalk harder and faster. The person drawing eventually breaks their chalk and the screen fades to black. A loud crashing sound effect is heard and the title Black Swan  appears on screen. Finally, the music and picture fade away. This opening poses many questions and makes the audience wonder what the drawing was and why the person was so aggressive. The incidental music and editing techniques create a thrilling mood and intrigue the audience. 

Genre Research- Split

Split- 2016
Directed by: M. Night Shyamalan 
Starring: James McAvoy, Anya Taylor-Joy and Haley Lu Richardson
With a budget of only 9 million, Split, grossed over 278 million dollars worldwide.
The film received mostly positive reviews, including a 76% on Rotten Tomatoes. 
It was also nominated for a variety of awards such as the London Film Critic's award for performer of the year and the MTV award for best actor. 
The opening begins with the production company, BH productions, and fades into a mid-shot of a girl sitting alone at a party. She is staring off into the distance while everyone else is having fun in the background, showing that she is either upset about something or could possibly be an anti-social person. This shot is held for a few seconds and the camera is focused on her to emphasize that she is by herself at this party. Next, an over-the-shoulder shot of another girl and her dad looking at the first girl, who is in the corner on her phone. The dialogue between the girl and her dad explain that the lonely girl gets in trouble a lot and doesn't have any friends. The dad offers her a ride home because she cannot get picked up. Then, a wide shot of the group walking to a car and putting food into the trunk. The shot then appears to be a point-of-view shot from an unknown person who is watching the girls get into the car. The father notices the person and says "can I help you," but no response is heard. The camera, now inside the car shows an eye-line match of the lonely girl looking into the re-view mirror, which is looking at the empty ground. The girl looks again and sees spilled food on the ground, which causes her to slowly turn around. She sees a different man in the drivers seat who is cleaning the car, and when the other two girls realize it is not their father he sprays them with something that knocks them out. All of this is shown from the point-of-view of the lonely girl who is sitting in the passenger seat. The source music from the car radio become louder but more muffled, which signals the danger and intensity of the situation. The lonely girl, still awake slowly attempts to leave with mid-shots of her hand trying to open the car door. Once she opens the door, the car makes a noise which alerts the strange man and he also sprays her. A close-up is shown of her crying before the screen quickly fades to black. This opening makes the audience worry about the girls and wonder why the man is kidnapping him, it is a very thrilling opening that poses many unanswered questions. 

Genre Research- Gone Girl

Gone Girl-2014
Directed by: David Fincher
Starring: Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike
It had a production budget of 61 million and grossed over 167.8 million dollars in the U.S. and Canada as well as a total of 369.3 million worldwide. 
The film received many positive views, earning an 87% of Rotten Tomatoes.
Gone Girl was nominated for an Oscar and four Golden Globe awards, as well as many other awards.
The opening of the film begins with the Twentieth-Century fox and Regency company logos, which takes about twenty seconds total. Next, as we see the directors name, a male voice-over is heard and a fade in shows someone, presumably the person speaking, stoking a blonde head of hair. The internal dialogue from the voice-over makes the audience realize that something bad happened or will happen, and paired with the suspenseful music sets the tone. The blonde woman then looks up as the screen fades to black and the voice-over states, "what have we done to each other." This creates an ominous feeling and makes the audience wonder what happened. After the fade-out, the main actors names are shown as well as the title of the film put over a long-shot of a river or lake. Several establishing shots of the film show an empty suburban town and more actors names appear on screen. The names of the casting directors, sound and music designers, costume designer, film editor, production designers, photography director and producers are then shown over the shots of the town. Lastly, there is a mid shot of a man standing alone in front of a house. The names of the author, screenwriter, and director are put on the screen. As the man walks towards the house, the words, "July 5th, The morning of," appear and the screen fades to black. This opening has shown that something bad is going to happen on July 5th and it could possibly have to do with the blonde woman. It is a very intense and creepy opening that makes the audience want to know what happened and who did it.

Genre Research- The Boy

The Boy-2016

Directed by: William Brent Bell
Starring: Lauren Cohan, Rupert Evans, and James Russell
It started with a production budget of 10 million dollars and grossed over 68.2 million worldwide.
The film received mixed reviews, earning on an average 4.3/10. It was also nominated for 6 awards, including best actress and best film at the BloodGuts UK Horror awards.
In the opening of the film we can see first three production companies: STX entertainment, Lakeshore entertainment and the H. Brothers. This takes roughly one minute. After displaying the title, "The Boy," the shots begin. It opens with suspenseful music played on a piano. The incidental music is moderately paced and slowly gets louder to create the mood. The next few shots are mid-shots and close ups of creepy dolls and toys. Each of these shots also feature a name of one of the main actors. Then, a long-shots of a car driving down a long road, in what appears like the country side are shown. The black car is older looking, but well-kept and appears to be a taxi transporting a woman . The license plate of the car is white and on the front, signalling this might take place in Europe.  The next important shot is an over-the-shoulder shot of the taxi driver in which he is looking at the woman, who is trying to sleep. He looks concerned, making the audience wonder where she is going and why. More close-up shots of toys are shown with the job titles and names of the music director, editor, costume designer, production designer and director of photography. The opening ends with an establishing shot of a large, old mansion and the taxi letting the woman out. The dialogue between the woman and taxi driver imply that she was brought to the house by a very wealthy family. The costumes are modern but the house and car are much older and antique looking. The audience does not yet know why the woman is there, but it can be assumed that she is going to meet with someone very wealthy who lives very far away from others. The opening creates a suspense, as a remote mansion can usually be alluded to ominous things and keeps the audience asking why.

Project Selection-My Decision

I have chosen to do the film project for my AICE Media Studies class. This is the best fit for me because of my background in theater. My partner and I are interested in creating a dramatic or comedic film. My partner will be acting as the director while I will be the writer/editor. We will work together on all decisions so that our final product will make sense and be interesting for the audience. I have assumed the role of writing and editing because I am a skillful writer and have experience with editing programs. I am very excited to see my words come to life on screen and will work very hard to create a script that will intrigue the audience. My partner, who has theater and directing experience, is very motivated and has the ability to create a mood that the audience will remember. Our work ethic and determination to create the best film we can is what will make this duo very successful.

Project Selection-Film

In my AICE Media Studies class I have been introduced to many different types of film and have become greatly interested in the form of media. Watching the documentary on the making of "Ferris Beuller" was very interesting and I was intrigued by the process of trying scenes different ways and then having to edit it all, picking the best scenes to create one final film. Additionally, more dramatic examples of film such as "All the President's Men" showed me how it is possible to use angles and lighting to create a mood and I would like to attempt to make my audience feel a certain way. I have had lots of experience in theater, such as in plays, musicals, and Improv, which  would give me some prior knowledge on how to work with scenes and actors. I have also directed and edited many school projects and have knowledge of editing programs. I think I would enjoy a film project thoroughly, and that I would succeed with my experience and motivation. The timeline of the film might pose some challenges for me, as I have many different ideas and would need to condense my film to make the story flow. If I do the film project, my group and I will work very hard to create a captivating film and combine all of our strengths to work together.

Project Selection- Magazine

Based on my experiences in Media Studies I have an interest in print journalism. Watching "All the President's Men" and "The Newsroom" showed me how complex and interesting print journalism is. Through watching these shows, I became intrigued with the speed and importance of print media. Being able to inform the public of incoming news and to help a large group of people is something that I could possible be interested in as a career. The magazine would be a good fit for me because I am a well-written individual and have a sense of what information is appealing or important versus unnecessary. I enjoy analytical writing and am able to efficiently explain information while keeping the audience captivated. Additionally, I would be well-suited for the photography aspect of the magazine as well, because I enjoy photography and have taken several classes or courses. It might be a small challenge for me as I do not read magazines often, but if I choose this project I will do extensive research. Overall, the magazine project would be a good fit for me as I am able to intrigue readers and concisely inform them of any information that is applicable to the topic.