Ideas for Locations and Casting.

Locations:

As our film opens we want the audience to get a very clear idea of who the character of Rosemary is. We are hoping to do this by having our actress walking down Bond Street holding lots of shopping bags as this is how she fills her days. So one of our locations is going to be Bond Street and we are planning on filming this scene early in the morning as we can't have too many people in the shot. Another location is going to be a flower shop. In Katherine Mansfield's story, Rosemary goes into a flower shop and picks out many flowers to take home. We want to show this in our film. A friend of ours' parents own a flower shop so we are going to see if we can get permission to film in there. The next location is a shop where Rosemary finds something she wants but it is very expensive. She will need to ask her husband first if she can buy it, so the shop assistant will hold the item for her. In Mansfield's version, this is an antique shop, however, since we are doing this in a modern style we will need to think along the lines of more of a boutique. The last and main location will be the house of Rosemary and Philip Fell. We are hoping to be able to film in my aunt's house which is situated on Stormont Road in Highgate, North London. This house is the perfect setting for a young, well-off couple. These are the locations we currently have in mind.

Casting:

We have three main characters in our story and two minor ones. The two minor ones will be the shop assistant's in the flower shop and boutique. Our main characters are Philip Fell, Rosemary Fell and Miss Smith. In Mansfield's story, Rosemary is described as having pretty features but when put all together, not beautiful. Miss Smith is described as being quite mesmorisingly beautiful. We are not told a lot about Philip, although he has a "charming smile."

For Philip, we would like to portray him as something similar to the character of Chuck Bass from the American tv program Gossip Girl. Chuck's style is eccentric at times but always sends out the signals of wealth. His style is preppy but also classic with a slight twist, he wears bright colours and interesting suits.

For Rosemary , we want to portray her as something similar to Victoria Beckham; someone who is obsessed with her looks, both body and fashion wise. Victoria Beckham dresses in quite a classic style with plain tops, blazers and then adds a twist with leather trousers and killer heels. Her handbags are always the latest and her Rolex watch is classic and eye-catching.



For Miss Smith, I think it will be slightly harder to find someone who looks just right. The girl we choose needs to be naturally beautiful with "tangled hair, dark lips, deep, lighted eyes." We want someone with long hair, a beautiful face, and quite small in order for the audience to empathise with her vulnerability. Miss Smith will be dressed in poor and dirty clothes as she is homeless. We have not yet decided who we would like her looks to resemble.

Pre-Production.

After looking through our first screen list and discussing it more, we decided that we need to split the work between the three of us. I am working with Claudia Humphreys and Kate Shurgaia.

We have decided to adapt a short story by Katherine Mansfield called 'A Cup of Tea.' We have decided to do this in a modern, 21st century style. If this story had to be described in a single sentence I would say that it is about a woman dealing with her own insecurities. There are three main characters in it, a husband and wife called Philip and Rosemary Fell, and a poor woman called Miss Smith. Rosemary discovers Miss Smith, takes a strong liking to her and takes her home. When her husband returns, he is "bowled over" by this girls beauty. When he informs his wife of this, her insecurities come out and she decides to dismiss Miss Smith. Rosemary didn't think that she would have any competition from this girl as she was of a lower class.

The work we need to begin with is figuring out the costumes, casting and locations of filming. We also need to do a breakdown of the story by using the book.

I am figuring out the locations for where we are going to film and looking at the casting; for example finding pictures of actors who are similar to what we want to portray our characters as.

First Screen List Draft.

Scene List:

Scene 1, ext, day.
Show she’s a rich yet ugly bitch. She can afford everything but not looks. Her features are nice but not pretty put together. Walking down the road.

Scene 2, int, day.
Flower shop.

Scene 3, int, day.
Boutique.

Scene 4, ext, day.
Meets Miss Smith. Street scene, outside the shop.

Scene 5, int, day.
Arrive at the house and set out tea, conversation between the two.

Scene 6, int, afternoon.
Husband comes in “bowled over”, dialogue.

Scene 7, int, afternoon.
Rosemary and Phillip. Rosemary goes to her writing room, money.

Scene 8, int, afternoon/early evening.
Dismissing Miss Smith.

Scene 9, int, early evening.
Rosemary and Phillip – end scene – her insecurities come out.

Cast:
Miss Smith/Naomi – Claudia R.
Rosemary/ Daphne -
Phillip/ Andreas – Andreas H.

Style:
-Modern.
-21st century.
-Contemporary.

-Daphne has pretty features but when put all together is not beautiful.
-Naomi is “a light, frail creature with tangled hair, dark lips, deep, lighted eyes.”
-Andreas has a “charming smile.”