Choosing the RIGHT actor/actress

I haven't been asked to write about choice of actor but i feel it's important.

The actor/actress you choose must fit the character, and have a certain level of acting skill, they are representing you and you're script, so a bad performance could reflect a bad script to the audience.

I recently found the casting list for the proposed "Summer 2010 blockbuster" and found both mistakes in their choices and good choices in general.

"The Last Air bender" is a film adaption of the Nickelodeon cartoon "AVATAR: The Last Air bender" - Avatar is set in an Asian-influenced world of Chinese martial arts and elemental manipulation. The show drew on elements from East Asian, Japanese and Chinese culture, making it a mixture of an anime like and US domestic cartoons.
The series follows the adventures of the main protagonist Aang and his friends, who must save the world by defeating the evil Fire Lord and ending the destructive war with the Fire Nation.

SUCCESSES IN CASTING:

casting of Avatar Aang

"Last Air bender" Unknown Actor Noah Ringer as Aang, and the Cartoon Aang voiced by Zach Tyler Eisen.

This is a good choice of character, Noah clearly resembles the character, reflects the character's age, build, appearance etc.

MISTAKES IN CASTING:

casting of Prince Zuko

The entire series (Nickelodeon cartoon) is based in an Asian society, and out of the all of the characters it has to be said, Zuko is the teenage, banished, prince and his character reflects the most Asian qualities (dark hair), while the choice of actor is a BLOND, TANNED, AMERICAN, 20-SOMETHING YEAR OLD. When people think of Jesse McCartney, they think pop-singer, American teen, big cheesy grin.

Zuko is hard-faced, grouchy - a dark character, the casting for this is VERY wrong and could anger fans of the programming and it's deeper meaning.

And they did get angry.. which is why they realised the mistake as directors should and recast the part of Zuko to Dev Patel (Slumdog Millionaire), a realised actor who resembles the character Zuko and his strong exterior.

Another mistake i realise now, is that Noah Ringer is completely UNKNOWN as an actor, all i can find out is that he is from Mexico, this is a big risk for the Director to take, considering that he is not aware of the audience's reaction to the boy's acting until the film is released.It is a risk if you're making a high budget film to hand your main part to a new actor, you are unaware of reactions.
Concluding, I felt these points were important to include, as i will be more likely to be thorough in my consideration for actor/actress choice. The person NEEDS to fit the part comfortably and bring the character to life on screen.

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More Semiotics ;D

Semiotics can play a very interesting part in my opening sequence project.

As i only have up to 2/2:30 minutes maximum of time, signifiers can influence an idea or point very simply through bringing in a certain object, symbol, sound, action or colour. For instance, if i wanted to show haste in my filming, i could have sounds of heavy breathing or foot steps.

i watched a previous A level piece and they has a lot of haste/running and then stopping, in between these shots they has the traffic lights changing rapidly, this is a signifier, representational of the running and stopping.

i plan to use signifiers in my opening sequence as they encourage a deeper meaning to what is being shown.

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Sssssemiotics

What are Semiotics? Why are they important?

Semiotics is the study of sign processes, or signification and communication, signs and symbols, and is usually divided into three branches:

Semantics: Relation between signs and the things to which they refer; their denotata
Syntactics: Relations among signs in formal structures
Pragmatics: Relation between signs and their effects on those (people) who use them

wikipedia.org

the sign – the picture, object, sound
the system into which signs are organised
the culture within which these signs operate

It is the study of signs and symbols, especially as means of language or communication.

The person who laid the foundation for Semiotics was Saussure.

Saussure is widely considered to be one of the fathers of 20th-century linguistics and of semiotics, and his ideas have had a monumental impact throughout the humanities and social sciences. wikipedia.org

It has a particular interest to media studies when it comes to the analysis of print and film.

- rssmediastudies

Signifiers-Is the actually image, physical apperance or sound.

Signified- Is what the sign reffers to or suggests.

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Inspired (:

Our teacher suggested we write about inspirations, be it people, quotes or new advances in media. Recently released "AVATAR" is set to be the best grossing-film of all time, at the moment stands at second to titanic which it may surpass, this meaning that JAMES CAMERON stands as director of the two best box office films of all time. An achievement to say the least.

The visual effects in avatar can only be described as STUNNING, James Cameron is inspirational for that reason. Throughout his life he fed his imagination with sci-fi and comic books, dreaming up his own world - and after the success of Titanic (1997) he decided to make the film he'd dreamt of, but only if it was as visual and beautiful of that he had designed in his head. He realised technology wasn't sophisticated enough to replicate his ideas the way he wanted.

And so he held back until he introduced the stereotypic camera.

Daily Mail Review:

Tired of waiting for technology to catch up, he co-developed a new generation of stereoscopic cameras.
Simplified, this is the equivalent of two cameras strapped together, each providing a slightly different perspective on the scene, mimicking the way human eyes view the world in three dimensions.
This changes the ballpark of moving images.
If you've had previous experience of 3D, your impression will probably be one of a flattish image with the occasional object 'flying' at you'.
But these advances are different - the entire screen has depth, taking on the appearance of a window through which the viewer is watching a 'world' on the screen, with a distinct foreground and background, rather than a flat, moving painting
In effect, the cinema screen becomes a theatre stage.

'He is inspirational because there's no such this as "i can't", everything can be done in Jim's world - he breaks boundaries' - Michelle Rodriguez (Trudy, Avatar)

'Jim invented the camera, he wrote the story, he created the creatures, he created a whole world' - Sigourney Weaver (Grace, Avatar)

Jim himself is looking to revolutionize how audiences experience films, that's right, not WATCH but experience the film - feel that the place they watch on the screen is real - he wants us to share in the world he's created. I watched an interview with James Cameron on the December 10th, the night of his film premier (Sky1) and he finalised the interview with the following:

" I think AVATAR's another step towards 3D being accepted as almost.. a normal way to do movies. Oh, we're not there yet, but I think in the next couple years, we'll feel that.

3D is gonna be coming to the home, very soon.."

James Cameron - Director, Designer, Editor, Screen Writer, Producer, Inventor

When the Na'vi meet, the greet each other "i see you". The phrase however is more that a greeting. In India, the common greeting Namaskar or Namaste is no simple help. When one says Namaskar to someone, what it means is that he/she acknowledges the spark of the divine that is present inside them. Hinduism believes that God is an all-pervading force that envelopes all beings, this links to the idea of Tsahaylu (the unique connection between a Na'vi member and their Ikran) and the idea that all the creatures on Pandora are connected (..even the trees).

I see you.

an acknowledgement that simply means empathy, you acknowledge the other as one like yourself.

What makes James Cameron so inspirational to people in Media is that technology didn't stop him achieving. When the correct tech wasn't available.. he made it available. When the right stuff wasn't there, he invented it. He solved hims own problems and by doing so - provided help for everyone to advance in thier own ideas.

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February 1st - i have now been made aware that Avatar HAS surpassed Titantic in the worldwide box-office. Now.. we must convince our teacher to arrange a trip to the iMax cinema in London to see Avatar (:

12a certificate trials

It turns out the 12a certificate wasn't even introduced until 2002!

that's mad! that means that if you were under 12, you couldn't see ANYTHING other than a U or a PG! but now thanks to the new certificate, you can see a 12a if accompanied by an adult.

This interested me as Miss Humpleby informed me, trial runs for the 12a certificate were ran in my own town of Norwich, England (:

below borrowed courtesy from Wikipedia

The cinema 12 certificate was modified and renamed 12A. Those under 12 could now be admitted to 12A films, provided that they were accompanied by an adult, although the BBFC recommends that 12A films are generally unsuitable for children under 8 years old. Contrary to popular belief, the certificate was not introduced for the film Spider-Man, and the first film that got the certificate was actually The Bourne Identity. However, Spider-Man and other films still on general release at the time were reclassified as 12A. Introduction of the 12A followed two years of consultation and a trial period in NORWICH, during which time the certificate was known as PG-12 (see below). The video 12 certificate remained unchanged. Shortly after the new certificate was introduced, all of the symbols were graphically modernised but retained all their main features (colour, shape, etc.).

so now children under 12 can see a 12a film if accompanied by an adult, i guess it could encourage family viewing.

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BEWARE

i may jump back a couple of times, as i've gathered more information on key points i've already covered, and adding them in just isn't enough for me (:

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Going It Alone

I've decided after a few weeks of:

-worrying

-failing to organise everyone

-getting confused

-and finding that i have unintentionally became "team leader"

>.<

I am now going to continue the project alone rather than in a group with Conor Hogan-Murray, Danny Bokenham, Martin and Ben.

I understand that there are many disadvantages of continuing alone, I know the workload will be greater (unlike how it would be shared in a group) but I am willing to make time to complete all work I set myself. I understand that I would need people to appear in my film and so arranged for a (previous) GCSE drama student willing to appear in my project, fitting the character i have chosen (vunerable, femme fatale).

But the advantages I feel are that I would be more comfortable, having nobody to rely on me, and feeling that i am not taking advantage of somebody else's product. Finding time (..to organise/complete work) that suits everybody would be unnessesay and i would be happy that all work done is to the standards i am satasfied with (worry aborted..). These advantages swayed me to continue the work alone, I feel in the long-run i would achieve higher - being responsible to my grades and mine only.

So now my aim is to catch-up what I've missed out, arrange my opening sequence (all storyboards, mind maps etc will be posted in the next week or so, fingers crossed), and hopefully upload some video progress.

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