Joanna – aged 9

Joanna has very distinct features which relate to the movie genre and appeal to the target market. Joanna has very big eyes, dimples and a very cute smile this works in contrast to the character we are asking her to play. This works because she’s very striking; she grabs the audience’s attention. If we recruited a girl with ordinary features and who was overall average looking it would take a lot from our thriller. Her cute

features allow the audience to be more stunned at her actions the fact that an adorable child is capable of such menace really adds to my opening and is really one of my unique selling points. My target audience have big expectations and for my as media opening, to have any resemblance to a big budget thriller opening, then I would need to recruit characters which could possibly feature in their movies. The audience like connecting and in fact watching the “cute kid” and that is what Joanna is. She is Portuguese which also relates to the diverse ethnicity of my target audience. Overall Joanna was picked for the “evil role” because we want the audience to be in disbelief and astonished at her actions; she is in conclusion the “bombshell" in the whole opening. Picking the right actress was essential taking into account current child actresses and previous films which are of our genre and are similar to our story line I believe Joanna was close to perfection.

Lucy –aged 6

Lucy is also very sweet and beautiful looking however she doesn’t have the sharp features which Joanna possesses. Which in fact makes her ideal for the other major role, Lucy has softness to her face which makes her more appealing for the role we asked her to

play, and we want the audience to feel sorry for this character and bond with that innocence. Lucy is also Portuguese; this again relates to my audience’s diverse ethnicity and her role as Joanna’s sisters. The fact that they are both Portuguese adds to making this thriller opening more realistic as an opening and the storyline more believable. Lucy also appeals to the audience expectations once again of what they expect actors/actresses to be in terms of looks. Once again Lucy is the “cute kid” and my audiences understanding of society and the cinematic world is that you rarely often see nothing less, the “cute kids” are normally the ones that are cast the leading roles regardless of the character being portrayed.

Eleanor aged 19

Eleanor with her previous acting jobs suited the role really well as she would be capable of acting at a mature level and really portraying that emotion of fear really well. Eleanor also has very attractive features which again make her appealing on screen. Eleanor was chosen not only because of her skills but also because she completes our target audiences needs and wants. I have previously talked in the other profiles about how ethnicity was one of the key elements I looked at when deciding on my cast of

actors/actresses. Eleanor being of a Ghanaian origin really helps accomplish our diverse ethnical cast, Which my target audience will be happy seeing as they now know we have taken into considerations thing in which they favour.

I knew from the audience research that the audience find un realistic storylines more interesting the fact that they can experience a situation in which they don’t have to face every day but still want to be able to relate to the characters makes choosing cast such an essential part of production but also taking consideration that if the opening was to be aired it will be aired in the western part of the world and that makes it important for the characters and audience to have that connection so it would be unusual to have an all African cast innless the movie is predominately based in Africa but the west will still want that character with that leading role to connect with them.