Character Profile

When planning our trailer, it was imperative that we research and compare different character possibilities in terms of the actors to play them.

Our Idea:

The idea for our trailer is based around social media, such as YouTube, whereby the antagonist, or killer, likes to film himself torturing and murdering his victims and then uploading them for the world to see. We have decided to use a male actor for the villain and a female victim as these conform to common conventions in Slasher horror movies. In terms of selecting his victim, our trailer will also feature clips where the killer is stalking young girls, deciding on his next victim. The following actors evaluated below are possibilities for acting in our trailer.

Villain:

We have chosen a male villain for the narrative of our movie trailer, which conforms to common conventions of Slasher horror movies. Ideally, he would be tall and solid built in order to emphasise the dominance against the timid victim when on camera; in terms of filming, low angled shots could also be used to portray this. On the other hand, to subvert common conventions, we have decided to use a younger actor to play this role in order to coincide with the modern outlook desired with the social media and use of YouTube in the trailer. Commonly, in Slasher horror films, the villain is an older male, often living alone, which helps build their character's personality in terms of the audience understanding why they decide to kill as opposed to the young male killer. Shown below is our chosen actor to play this role.

Jack Dickinson, Age: 17, Height: 6ft 1in

Victim:

 

In terms of the victim of the trailer, we have decided to use a shorter female victim with blonde hair. We chose this particular character in order to conform to common conventions in the Slasher s. The use of a shorter actress would be beneficial as on screen, it would visually portray the character as weak and vulnerable; this would also help to portray the antagonist as the dominant, evil villain. To further conform to common conventions, we have also decided to use a model with blonde hair to emphasise the fact that she is vulnerable; this is due to the fact that blonde hair is commonly associated with girls who are less intelligent and more sexualised, which would potentially attract the young antagonist more.

Kelsey Rice, Age: 17, Height: 5ft 0in

Evaluation:

• Both actors chosen will visibly represent the character types ideally portrayed, such as height and age.
• I am the female actress for the victim and thus, it would be easy to ensure that the actors attend the filming session since I am a part of our group.
• Both myself and Bethany have connections with the male actor and hence, it would also be easier for us to organise a filming session.
• The chosen character types both conform to common representations of Slasher horrors yet also coincide well with out chosen narrative.