Choosing the right actor

An image of an older, business man.
Our original intention for casting.

We took much consideration when determining who would be suitable for the main character within our production; the protagonist needed to be able to portray two roles well, having a look and attitude that shows diversification in class/status without major adjustment to appearance. Firstly, we understood that it would be difficult to bring in a older, more experienced actor, due to the time constraints; therefore, me and my colleague turned to narrowing down people we knew would suit the part well. Our first idea was the consideration of middle aged males we knew i.e. fathers and uncles, the reason behind this being that they would be able to portray great reflection of the notorious corporate bankers. However, although their portrayal of the stereotypical, middle-aged business men would most likely be spot on because of their appearance, we felt that their opposing role as the protestor would be less than convincing and so we went back to planning; this was in order to find an individual who had characteristics similar of each character, so that the message about which path you choose in life could be as strong as possible throughout the video.

Moreover, we turned to looking at individuals of a similar age to ourselves (17-18 years) to perhaps play a character in their late teens/ early twenties as a young entrepreneur type, as well as a budding social activist. The reasoning behind this decision is that at the portrayed age, individuals would be in a stage where they have a set of morals in play and are at a point where they will be choosing what path they will lead in their life i.e. do you fight for your right, do what you want to do and enjoy yourself or go out ruthlessly, making yourself richer by cheating others. Therefore, the idea of having the same person playing each character, as well as the conflict created through the split-screen is a metaphorical device for this notion of pathways in life.

Furthermore, we approached a class mate (Robbie Morris) about whether or not he would be willing to be both characters for our production, we were very appreciative that he was happy to partake. Robbie's tall height, good build and beard all aided our ideas as he looked a few years older than he actually is, giving the realism of a young entrepreneurial character. Additionally, his neatly short hair helped to give the impression of a smart, young man looking to break in to the business world; whereas, his beard gives a hand to both roles when costume is changed. Moreover, Robbie was also available when we needed due to our similar sixth form timetables. Another bonus of using Robbie is that his appearance lends to our ideas of print production for the album, this is as we plan to have a split-screen of him on the album (half of himself as the business man, the other half as protestor).

A quick knock up of what our album cover may look like to demonstrate the point above;
this is a very rough first idea, and not all features and colours have been aligned/synched yet.