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SH - Chapter 6: Casting I
🕑 Added 2025-09-01 16:18:43 +0000 UTCOwen and Matt spent the entire afternoon talking about the movie. They discussed everything: the details of the script, the atmosphere they wanted to create, the filming itself. At one point, Matt stood up and started making a few calls.
“I already talked to my parents. They gave me the green light to use the house, so that’s settled. They work from 8 to 5, so we can use the house during that time,” Matt said.
“That’s good,” Owen replied with a slight smile. In his case, he didn’t have anyone to ask permission from to shoot in a residential house. If he asked his parents, they’d beat him up. Ever since his father hit him for using the house as a party venue and doing drugs, no one in his family had spoken to him.
As for him, he preferred to keep his distance from his family, since he was very different from the original Owen and they might notice, after all, they knew the original Owen far better than Matt did.
Another bit of good news was that Matt already had the necessary equipment for filming, so they didn’t need to rent anything, a saving of between $1,500 and $3,000.
“There’s one thing though, we need a lighting assistant,” Matt said.
“A lighting assistant? Can’t we just use natural light? Paranormal Activity isn’t exactly a movie that needs a big lighting setup,” Owen commented.
“Yeah, I know. But even if we want to rely on natural light, we have to make sure everything looks good on camera. Shadows can ruin the impact of some scenes, and we need the atmosphere to look as realistic as possible. I can’t risk the footage looking bad just because we didn’t have the right equipment,” Matt explained.
“Alright, how much would it cost?” Owen asked, giving in.
“A lighting assistant could cost around $500 for the 10 days of filming. It’s not much, but it’s necessary. I know guy from college,” Matt replied.
“Fine, I’ll transfer you the money. Your $2,500 payment, I’ll give you at the end of the shoot as the contract states,” Owen said. He couldn’t afford to be stingy when Matt had already saved him several fixed expenses like the house and the equipment.
“You trust me that much?” Matt asked. He thought Owen would want to reach out to his acquaintance himself after being given the contact.
“It’s only five hundred dollars… And you seem more excited about this movie than I am. You’re putting up your house and your own equipment; I’m not going to be stingy and distrustful,” Owen replied with a slight smile.
“Haha, thanks. It’s normal to be excited about my first real feature film,” Matt said, scratching the back of his neck with a slightly nervous expression. “I never thought I’d be hired for a movie today, but here we are.”
“Besides, now that we’ve talked more in depth about the film, I have a feeling it’s going to be a success,” Matt added, giving a thumbs-up enthusiastically. “With this shooting style, the atmosphere… it’s got potential. It’s going to work.”
Owen smiled, then joked, “Let’s hope it gives me some profit, or I’ll have to look for work as an extra. Or worse, a part-time eight-hour job.”
“It’s true you’re risking a big chunk of your current savings on this movie,” Matt said, laughing.
Another expense that came up was the sound engineer, which is crucial for a horror film. That was another $1,000 added to the budget. So far, the movie was costing about $4,365.
One expense Owen managed to avoid was the cameraman, since the movie was designed to be shot with a handheld video camera, giving it a raw, authentic, almost documentary-like feel.
The protagonists of the film, Owen and his co-star, would be the ones handling the camera in most scenes, mainly Drake, who records everything that happens. In many scenes, the camera is fixed, filming the bedroom at night in night vision.
With all those details settled, Owen and Matt began planning the search for an actress to play Katie and the two supporting roles.
Owen took charge of posting a casting call on several union actor websites, such as Backstage and Casting Networks, looking for an actress to bring Katie to life.
Owen wrote the ad as follows:
[Union actress wanted for suspense/horror film shot in handheld camera style. The role is for the character Katie, a lead in the story. Ability to create a tense, authentic atmosphere required. Low-budget production registered with SAG-AFTRA. 10-day shoot in a fixed location. Minimum pay according to union scale.
Interested applicants send reel and résumé to email. Selected candidates will be contacted for in-person auditions.]
Two days passed this way.
Owen received many applications, more than he expected at first and in such a short time.
He forgot for a moment that in Hollywood there’s enormous competition and actors willing to take any chance to audition, especially for a leading role in a movie, even if it’s low budget.
Besides, his ad was appealing for several reasons. First, the location was Los Angeles. Second, it was a leading role, many actors look for main roles to strengthen their reel. And third, the pay was clear and the project was registered with SAG-AFTRA, something Owen made sure to emphasize.
In the meantime, Matt took care of the two extras: Katie’s friend and the psychic. He had Owen sit down with both of them, and after a brief chat and Owen confirming they had at least basic acting skills, they came to an agreement.
The role of Katie’s friend would be played by a young woman named Alison. She was 19 years old and in her second year of the acting program Owen had previously attended.
Finding the psychic was more complicated for Matt, since he based the decision more on appearance than experience. He found Daniel, an independent theater actor who had worked in some experimental productions and had the perfect look for the role. He was 34 years old, had a beard, slightly messy hair, and a mystical air about him.
Since both roles had very few lines and less than fifteen minutes of screen time, Owen paid $200 to Dan and $150 to Alison. Both accepted, since it was only a one-day shoot, and the pay was more than fair for what they had to do.
'At this rate maybe I might spend less than twenty thousand dollars,' Owen thought, feeling both happy and amazed.
So far, he had spent just under $5,000 of the $20,000 budget he had set aside for the film. All that was left was to hire the actress for Katie’s role, and they could begin shooting, which was expected to last about ten days.
According to SAG-AFTRA minimum rates for low-budget productions, he had to pay her at least $216 per day of filming. With a 10-day shoot planned, that meant the minimum mandatory pay would be $2,160. Though he could always offer more if he found an actress with stronger experience or wanted to secure her acceptance of the role.
The day after Matt arranged the meetings with Alison and Daniel, he came back to Owen’s house. This time, they were going to look at the résumés and reels of the actresses who wanted to play Katie.
Owen connected his laptop to the TV so they could project each résumé and reel one by one.
“This is exciting! It’s my first time being a judge to pick an actress for a serious project,” Matt said, sitting on the couch, eyes on the TV.
Owen was sitting beside him with the laptop on his knees, pulling up the first résumé.
“We’ve got over a hundred applicants to go through. Here’s the first one,” Owen said, clicking open the file.
[Name: Mia Rance
Age: 24
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Education:
• Bachelor of Performing Arts – California State University, Los Angeles (CSULA)
• Acting Classes: The Acting Studio and The Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute
Work Experience:
• The Lonely Hour (2018) – Independent dramatic short film, role as a young woman dealing with loneliness and loss.
• The Chronicles of a Love (2019) – Supporting role in a low-budget romance/drama film, playing the main character’s friend.
• Community Theater: Roles in local productions such as The Crucible and Macbeth.]
Owen and Matt read through the résumé. Alongside the information, there was a headshot. She had long, dark, slightly wavy hair, brown eyes, and an oval-shaped face.
“Mm, she doesn’t have much experience, even though she should’ve graduated two years ago,” Matt remarked, looking at Mia’s résumé.
“Yeah, just one short film and a supporting role in a low-budget movie… plus community theater,” Owen nodded, though he knew better than anyone that the girl might simply have had bad luck and was trying to find a real opportunity to showcase her talent.
Landing lead or even major supporting roles in Hollywood films isn’t easy. Even in low-budget films it’s extremely difficult, since there’s a huge supply of actors and actresses and very little demand.
“Let’s watch her reels,” Matt said. That would show whether or not the girl could act. Past credits didn’t matter much, because with a low-budget film they weren’t going to hire an actress with extensive experience and leading roles, otherwise they’d have to pay money they didn’t have.
Owen played the first reel. There Mia appeared in what seemed to be the romance/drama film where she had a supporting role.
In the scene, she was in an emotional fight with her best friend (the protagonist), apparently because they were both in love with the same guy. There was shouting, teary eyes, sad whimpers, and lots of heightened emotions.
However, neither Owen nor Matt was convinced by Mia’s performance. Despite the emotional fight between friends, she never managed to cry or convey real sorrow or strong emotion. And Katie’s role required being able to show desperation and cry in key tense moments when she was under extreme stress from the demonic entity haunting her.
That wasn’t all, the reel also included her independent dramatic short, where she played a melancholic and sad character.
Owen and Matt exchanged a glance. Although she had improved a lot compared to the first video, something was still missing for the role of Katie in Paranormal Activity. Mia’s melancholic, sad interpretation wasn’t what they needed to transmit the tension and fear the script required.
In addition, her performance had felt a bit stiff.
Mia had also added an extra note in her application that read as follows:
[I would greatly appreciate the opportunity to audition for the role of Katie, even though I specialize more in drama and romance. I know horror and suspense aren’t my main area, but I’m very willing to take direction and learn about the technical aspects of horror/suspense filmmaking. I’m excited about the chance to be part of a project so different from what I’ve done before, and I’d love to grow and adapt to the needs of the film.]
“We could consider her… maybe in person she’ll convey more, and her willingness to learn is a good sign,” Matt commented after finishing Mia’s note.
Owen noticed his friend no longer had the same enthusiasm as before. At first, he was excited about choosing among the applicants, as if it were a fun game. But now reality was hitting him differently. These people weren’t just auditioning for a role; they were chasing a dream.
Owen, however, wasn’t as shaken as Matt. After all, in his other life Owen knew exactly what it was like to audition, to be rejected, and to live with the uncertainty of each casting.
“If you want, we can call her in for an in-person audition,” Owen suggested calmly. “Maybe she’ll surprise us live.”
“I don’t know… let’s finish watching all of them first and then decide who to invite to audition in person,” Matt said, scratching his head. He wasn’t stupid, if he let his empathy take over, he’d end up bringing in every actress for a live audition, and it would be even worse to have to reject them face-to-face.
Besides, Matt wanted to pick Katie as soon as possible so they could start filming. It was the first film he was directing that was registered with SAG-AFTRA and had an actual budget, even if low, it was still between fifteen and twenty thousand dollars.
“Alright, let’s move on to the next one,” Owen said, clicking forward to the next applicant.
Comments
Guido
The MC won’t create the Marvel or DC universe, since his trick, so to speak, is that the movies and shows he watched don’t exist here. For that to happen with Marvel, he would have had to watch all the movies, series, and even read all the Marvel comics so that they wouldn’t exist in this new reality. The same goes for DC (which has even more comics). As for the superhero world, I was planning for the MC to bring Invincible, since he did read all the comics and watched the series, to compete with Marvel and DC. Obviously, Invincible would be live-action, not animated like the Prime series.
Amos
Seems good till now. Has a lot of potential. Mc creating the marvel verse would be amazing. Any ship planned? Gonna have a vote?
