Magic Magic: character development

Following our decision to produce the opening of a psychological thriller, our group has been thinking about characterisation and the mannerisms displayed by our main actress. 

Magic Magic (2013) directed by Sebastián Silva, focuses on a group of 'friends' who go on a road trip to Chile. The main character, Alicia, is played fantastically by Juno Temple. Alicia is an evidently disturbed young woman who, placed out of her comfort zone, quickly begins to lose her mind. The illness she has is not disclosed in the film, though the symptoms of schizophrenia are noticeable in her demeanour. This movie is really useful in terms of character development, as Alicia's display of mentally unstable tendencies can be applied to our own actress to give a similar effect. 

The close up of Alicia's face shows an anxious expression, and the slight look towards the camera creates an uncomfortable atmosphere for the audience. The shallow depth of field pulls the focus from the woman in the background to Alicia, to emphasize Alicia's sullen mood and unsettled position. 

This shot of Alicia drinking shows her eyes focused on the water and her hunched shoulders almost leaning into the glass as though to seek comfort from it.  

 

Here is an mid long shot of Alicia (right) which shows her 'reading', as her eyes trail around the room. Her poor posture becomes more evident following the above shot, and the audience can clearly see that her insecurity disallows her to sit in a room with other people and engage in normal activities.

One of my favourite shots from the movie is this close up which shows the fake smile that Alicia has drawn on, with a wild eyed expression on her face. I love how deranged she looks, as it juxtaposes with her attempt to appear stable and happy.

My group likes the idea of focusing in on the movement of hands in our opening, because people who are unstable have been known to fidget a lot and this is something we would like to achieve when presenting our character, who is also meant to be quite jittery. Silva's take on this, shows Alicia's fingers trailing the depths of her palm which suggests that she is trying to read or understand her own abstract personality - this I think is pretty clever.

Finally, I really like this mid shot of Alicia looking in the mirror, where she appears to be unfamiliar with her own reflection. The colour of her reflection has a slightly blue tinge, in contrast to the yellow glow of the room Alicia is in, which makes the two figures appear as if they are in two entirely different worlds - even though 'they' are the same person. This reflects the characters dissociative personality and her incongruity in the world around her. 

This movie, weird as it is, has been really useful in helping develop our character and it gives us an idea of how we want our actress to look, in order to exhibit mental instability.