Characters

My film features only two characters which follows the convention of short films having very few characters. The first of my characters is Anthea. At the beginning of the film, Anthea finds herself in an unfamiliar location, the afterlife. The character of Anthea has recently died but the audience are never told the circumstances surrounding her death. The reason the audience never find out how Anthea died is because her character is meant to represent the everyday person which would then suggest that anyone could find themselves in this situation after they have died and that it has also happened in the past. This is also the reason Anthea has a very simple costume. The costune consists of a shirt and jeans as this is a very average and normal this to wear which the audience could relate to, drawing them into the film. In the film itself the audience can learn a bit about her character and life through the rooms she is taken to. All of the rooms show one of Anthea's biggest fears, the first being achieving nothing in her life. The rooms that follow contain two other fears, fear of public speaking and her paranoia, which are therefore suggested to be reasons for her lack of achievement in life.

The second character, who is very different from Anthea, is the Guide. As Anthea is there to represent the normal, the Guide's role is representing the abnormal. The Guide is a mysterious character as the audience never really learn anything about her but it is clear she has a lot of power and control over what happens in purgatory. The Guide represents the abnormaility Anthea finds in the afterlife as she is the one who has control over, and takes Anthea to, all the different rooms featured in the film. As she is the first and only person Anthea meets in purgatory, it highlights the Guide's importance as a character. The Guide also has an almost child like joy while watching Anthea literally face her fears which makes her character somewhat menacing as the audience are never really sure who she is or why she is acting in this way. The Guide's costume is all black as this highlights the dark nature of her character and black is the main colour people of a high status in business would wear so it also represents the Guide's position of power.