Planning - Casting

Technically, our opening contains two characters. However, because the face of our victim will never be revealed, and he will already be dead (or at least, dying and almost completely immobile) within the first two minutes, we decided that it was only necessary to cast the killer.

The character is ambitious and mysterious; he is calculating, and lacks empathy for his victims. However, he is not completely emotionless. There is an element of sympathy to him, as he lost his parents at a young age. A defining character trait of his is his love for classical music - thus why Danse Macabre will be playing in our opening. 

Below is the footage of the auditions we held for the role of the killer. Because there will be no dialogue in our opening, it was purely a physical test; after only two auditions, though, we felt that we had found our perfect actor. Although Ashley did have spirit and enjoyed playing the role, we as the directors felt that he was too chipper, and his gait was too bouncy when he walked. Sam, however, seemed to get into the role immediately, and understood his character from a very brief description. His dancing was also awkward and goofy, exactly what we were looking for, but not to the point of being over the top, and taking away from the sinister nature of the scene.