Showing posts with label Casting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Casting. Show all posts

Sunday, September 1, 2013

Horror Movies Demystified

The other day I was watching Narnia on TV. Because I received a phone call, I put the TV on mute and did something which is not a good practice. Instead of focusing on the conversation I started watching the movie.

It was the scene where Lucy Pevensie discovers the wardrobe! The gateway to the Kingdom of Narnia.

With the voice on mute, I felt that that scene could have easily fit into a horror movie. It had everything that would make it to that genre.

The Valiant Queen discovering Narnia through the wardrobe and Carolyn Perron in Conjuring encountering a ghost inside the wardrobe are pretty much the same. If you have the inclination, resources and time, do compare those scenes. Either watch them on mute or with the same background music.

Of course, the context is set even before we watch a movie. And, the cast and cinematography plays an important role in shaping our experience. While the smile in the little girls face gives us reassurance, the context in horror movies make us think otherwise for the similar expressions. You expect something horrifying in Conjuring when the mother, who is blindfolded, searches the wardrobe.

When an unknown entity turns positive, it becomes fantasy. But on the other hand if that turns evil, it becomes horror. The common denominator is the unknown! 

For someone who hadn't really give much thought to background music, watching Narnia in mute, conjured respect in me for this element of movies.

Do you know what casting can do to movies? Read here

Sunday, July 25, 2010

Casting, Ouch!

Oceans' Eleven was released about 9 years back. I loved the movie. I envied and idolised George Clooney at the same time. I had instantly fallen in love with him when I had, earlier, watched One Fine Day. He has such an infectious charm and smile, it is hard not to like him.

I read reviews of the movie thereafter. Many of the reviews wondered why Julia Roberts was wasted in the movie. True, it struck me thereafter that she had very little role in the movie.

Later, I discussed this point with Swaran Kumar, an award winning copy writer with whom I worked for a very short period in an ad agency. Swaran was nurturing dreams of directing a movie himself that time. And I really loved the way he explained the importance of casting. He said that any other actor with less star value would have never fitted into the role. Though the role was short with very little to do, no other star could have justified the character who is the object of George Clooney's desire.

Wow, so true!