Location and Casting

Location

The location of your film is vitally important to the tone of genre of your film. Professional location managers work very hard to make sure that a filming location is perfect for filming well in advance of filming taking place.

Things you need to consider:

Are you legally allowed to film where you want to film?
Are there any other access restrictions? (Dates, times, permissions etc.)
Is it safe to film here?
Is it physically possible to achieve what you want to achieve at this location?
Does it suit the genre of the film?
Is it interesting enough?
Will lighting be an issue?
Is it a public thoroughfare?
Is there a lot of road traffic nearby?
Will noise be an issue?

There are a lot of things that could potentially hamper your shoot. Poor location research is likely to be one of them. Make sure you can answer all of these questions in your post and can provide photographic back up where possible/necessary.

Casting
 
Casting is a stressful process for productions companies and for the actors. You will need to consider the following:

Availability - you are totally dependent on your cast. If they don't show up you can't film. Make sure that you have contact details and pre-arranged times and locations booked in. Do not leave anything here to chance.

Screen Testing - In the past AS students have included video screen tests of their actors reading a few lines of the script. This is generally a good idea and will give you more to post to your blog about.

Any actor will have a portfolio of "head shots" for your casting director to peruse. The attached web site explains some of the expected conventions.

http://www.sft.edu/tips/resumes-headshots-portfolios.html

You might like to add your own head shots to your blog and then describe why you have made each of your casting decisions. Be prepared to justify your choices in terms of the following:

Looks
Age
Gender
Style
Voice
Availability
Reliability
Wage
Ability
Versatility