Last night I came across an article which revealed Quentin Tarantino’s original wish list for the cast of Pulp Fiction. As I read the names of the potential actors for each character, I couldn’t imagine what the film would have been like without the iconic roles of people like Sam Jackson and John Travolta. I realised that any change of actor, for example if Tarantino’s second choice of Johnny Depp had played Pumpkin instead of Tim Roth, would have made for a wildly different film – hence, the importance of casting.
This made me think more about the importance of casting in my own short films, should I choose to include a narrative in my final products for Film 3. The main dilemma I would have is whether to just use my friends or find an actor from the Starnow casting call list.
In an effort to get my brain to stop stressing here is a list of pros and cons for each option:
FRIENDS
Pros:
- Know when they are free and can plan around both schedules easily
- Already have a comfortable relationship so more willing to tell them what to do as a director
- They will be happier with the only roughly planned premise and shooting schedule, which might discourage actors
- I know they will be reliable and won’t abandon the project half way through
Cons:
- Aren’t actual actors so don’t necessarily know how to take direction
- Not sure about screen presence and being on a set in general
ACTORS
Pros
- Already know they are professional and familiar with being on sets and taking direction
- Will give me experience working with professionals and improve directing skills
- Already know a list of willing participants from the Starnow callout
- I think their experience and professionalism will make a better end product in a narrative
Cons
- Don’t know their schedules – might end up being not available or pulling out
- Need to spend time researching/getting to know them to pick suitable actors
- I don’t have any experience working with actors yet so I wouldn’t know what to do
- My investigation will be very experimental as I don’t know exactly what the final product will look like yet – afraid I will waste the actor’s limited time
I think for now, I will stick to just using friends as actors, as I’m still very inexperienced and feel more comfortable around friends. However, if during the process of the investigation I think of a really amazing idea that requires actors, or start to feel more confident about having a set planned production, I might go back to the Starnow list and find some potential actors.
