Casting

When deciding upon our actor for the role of central protagonist we largely debated the age of this character. Some felt, and this was shown through a research, that an older character was often the lead in psychological thriller films such as American Psycho, One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, and the Shining. But other films such as A Clockwork Orange, Donnie Darko and Requiem For A Dream, feature a young central protagonist. All other casting of subsequent roles would depend on our central protagonist's age.
 We narrowed it down to two final actors we felt suitable for the role, one older, one younger. We concluded that a younger central character could emphasise the fragility of a young, creative mind when dealing with social pressures. Also we felt the younger actor was more suitable for this specific role as he had the characteristics we felt were relevent to our central protagonist.

After deciding upon our central character, we then debated about the secondary role to be played by a female actor. We were not sure whether to opt to use the Hitchcock stereotype of a blonde lead or perhaps to be slightly different and use a brunette instead, in a similar way to Marrion's supporting role in Requiem For A Dream. We have decided on using the blonde as it does take influence from Hitchcock and American Psycho, and helps to highlight the fragility of her character.