Actors, Costumes & Props
Stills from film:
We chose our actors easily; Danni's parents had worked in our films before so they weren't needed to audition. We looked at Lauren's theater portfolio and then asked her to read some of the lines from the script and asked her if she was comfortable with the script. She accepted the part of Ava. For the bullies, we wanted a pair of girls who were already friends in real life so it seemed more natural on screen as they would have that comfortably- and our two friends asked to be in the film. After showing them the script and asking about their availability and acting skills we put Rachel Little & Matthews down to be the bullies. For Ava's best friend Louise, we originally had another actor in mind- Alice- but when we wanted to film she had to go to Geology lessons and admitted she was shy to film; we tried to reassure her but she did not want to do it. Sophie was also nervous at first about her acting skills but we assured her we were wouldn't have chosen her if we didn't think she could of done it.
We made a group chat on Facebook to communicate with our actors on, as you can see to the right. We asked about filming times and days, reminded them to bring their costumes and props. We had to do this because one time Lauren forgot Ava's leather jacket so we were unable to film as there would of been a continuity error. Towards the end of filming, Lauren lost her original happiness to film and just wanted it to be over with. She admitted afterwards it was because she was stressed with her theater exams and the stress of normal exams approaching. This is an issue with using school mates to film, they're your friends so you care for them but we needed to finish our film like she had promised us she would. In the future, even though we had a good cast I think we may think about using a different population of people to perform in our film because students have a lot of stress already and I can see how the additional stress of filming can make it worse.
To summarise, we had a very good team of actors who we specifically chose for their role each. We were happy that we were able to have actors who were also our school mates as we were easily able to contact them and arrange to film. One problem however is that Lauren who played Ava had theatre exams around the time we ere filming and needed to do re-films and didn't want to film as she needed to study for her exam which was problematic for us as we almost missed our deadline. We were also lucky to have actors with pre-existing experience, for example, as Lauren is a theatre student she is used to performing in front of people and has some good techniques and acting skills that made her performance believable. Also, Ray Russell (Ava's father) was in our AS production 'Clubbing' so we were used to working with him. However, some shots with actors were not included for different reasons; they didn't suit our film, they hadn't turned out the way we wanted and we didn't think it was worth it to re-film
Costumes
This is the results we found when we googled 'teen fashion 2017' as you can see, most of the results include denim and a jacket of some kind or a simple t-shirt. There are no extreme fashion trends e.g. leg warmers. We were happy with this result because it is a simple outfit that fits with the image of a teenager.
This is our Sixth Form dress code at our school. We double checked it inside our planners then pulled it off our Sixth Form website. We put it onto our Facebook group chat and told our actors they had to stay in line with the Sixth form dress code but we also gave them so ideas as of what to wear:
Simple t-shirt, Jeans or a skirt with no extreme footwear e.g. Bomber Boots.
Our main character Ava, decided to wear Ripped Grey Jeans, a red t-shirt and a leather jacket and black boot heels. At first we were not happy with the ripped jeans and heels because they didn't stick to the sixth form dress code but we had to put our filming first so we just had to accept it, also we wanted Ava to seem simple and plain with just normal jeans and a plain tshirt. However, in the end we realised the look Lauren chose did fit Ava's image in the film.
Props
Unlike in our AS production, this year we did not really use many props, and our story did not heavily rely on them like it did in our AS. This year props were just used to add to the realism of the film, for example, in our classroom scene we had folders, books and paper out to look like the students were doing work. Also, Lauren (Ava) wore a pair of beats headphones that I let her borrow as it added to her image as a student as young people like music and can always be seen wearing headphones. We also had her school bag which she carried round, even though you never see whats inside it it is still clear it is her school bag as she is at school.
Main props & why we used them;
iPhone: We chose to use this prop for continuity. With the alarm going off, you can tell that Ava has to be up for something. Also, the phone shows what time it is so the audience know it is early morning, as she is a teenager it is soon obvious she is getting ready for school. Also, an iPhone is a modern technological device which also represents her youth as generation z is often associated with the advances in technology, most people make an unconscious link.
School bag: We chose to use this prop because it adds to Ava's image as a school girl so adds realism to the film which convinces the audience to watch on. Also, at the end of the film it is linked as she gets another bag and fills it with clothes and things to run away with.
Pasta: We chose to use this prop in our toilet scene as it represents the typical 'Loner eating lunch in a toilet' scene that is in numerous films and shows such as Mean girls, High school musical, 13 reasons why, and Juno. This really shows Ava's isolation to the audience and adds to the bullying story as it shows that she has no friends. It also is a real life thing, in America most students who ae bullied eat lunch in a library or toilet because they have no friends and are isolated. Dancer Julianne Hough also admits up to this.
Headphones (Beats): We chose to use headphones for a similar reason to the iphone; the association between young people and technology, as Ava is a student and students are known to be well integrated with using technology. Also, on the bus scene when the bullies are sat behind her as friends it shows that she has nobody but herself, the headphones symbolize isolation in the film for Ava. Headphones are often described to block out the world which in a sense is what Ava was trying to do. Similar productions are chosing to integrate the latest technology into films, for example, The bullying tv series by Netflix ' Thirteen reasons why'
Folders, paper and books: We chose to use these props because Ava is obviously a student and is at her school/sixth form and that location is well known for having books and paper. In our classroom scene we made sure to have on the side acts who made it look like it was an actual classroom where people were working, and not just the bullies and Ava in the classroom.
