DIrector's Notes Assignment

Heavenly Creatures

Themes
- Friendship gone wrong
- Young age leads to obsession (to the extreme)
- Escape from reality


Director
Guillermo del Toro

I absolutely love his films, as well as all of the unique trade marks that he leaves on his work. Some of which I've listed:
- insects (could include the butterflies they chase in the 4th world)
- religious artifacts
- dominant color: amber
- protagonists influenced strongly by father figures

del Toro has this ability to take the horrific and make it beautiful yet charming and scary at the same time. He also makes changes to his scripts to make them more personal and is not afraid of R-ratings. Most of his R-rated films are not because of the gore or brutality but rather the intensity of the movie.
Of course my favorite part of his movies are the unique creature/character designs that he makes; they're just beautiful.

I also think this WOULD be something he'd do, especially since he is so close with Peter Jackson. Their styles mesh well together and I can't wait to see del Toro's influence on the upcoming Hobbit films.


Cast
I would really want to try and cast actors that are really sixteen-years-old because I'm really sick of Hollywood taking people that are in their late-twenties and trying to convince us that they're still in high school, it's ridiculous.

In the script it describes Pauline as being 16, dark-haired, and shorter and stockier than Juliet. Juliet also being 16, but tall, blonde, and willowy. 

Right away I thought of Cloe Moretz for the role even though she's only 13-years-old. She's most well known for her role in Kick-Ass, but I thought she was absolutely fantastic in the American remake Let Me In.

I think Cloe would be good for the role of Pauline if you have her darker, shorter hair for the role.

For Pauline I actually have two actresses in mind, both of which are a little too old, but I couldn't find anyone else I thought would fit the role. First there's Emma Watson. I know it's hard to imagine her in a role other than Hermoine Granger, but I think she has more natural talent than a lot of her younger co-stars from the Harry Potter series. Plus, I read a bit ago that she's going to be doing a Beauty and the Beast film with del Toro in the future, which I'm soooo excited for!

The other person in mind is Mia Wasikowska who played Alice for Tim Burton a few years back.

Costumes
Much like I see the style of the piece, the real world clothes would seem dull. The school girl uniforms they start out wearing would be very conservative and oppressive to them, and even when they change out of them their regular clothes aren't much better. I see them wearing luxurious gowns in outrageous colors in the 4th World scenes. As the film progresses I could see their costumes in the real world slowly having parts attached to them that were obviously sewn on by the girls, which are very colorful and stand out. It sets them apart from everyone else and hints at their madness slowly creeping into their everyday lives.


Style
The style of the film seems to be divided between two extremes with the real world, and the imaginary 4th World that the girls create. The scenes in the real world will obviously seem more dull with less saturated colors in the cool color spectrum like blues and greens. Their 4th World will be brightly exaggerated colors.

Overall, I see this film with an edgier more modern feel. I can definitely see this being done as psychological thriller, along with some Tim Burton-esk fantasy worlds. The cinematography I can see being done similar to The Black Swan. The deeper and deeper into their madness the girls get, the more oppressive and claustrophobic the camera shots should feel in the real world to reflect the pressure from their families.