TitleoftheMovie:PRESSED

Genre(Drama,Comedy,etc.):Drama

Whydidyouchoosethatgenre?ThemajoreventsofGutenbergslifewerereallysadand
dramatic.Theyincludeabetrayalbyabestfriendandthelossofabusinesstoarival.These
eventsdontlendthemselveswelltoawackycomedy.

PictureofActor/ActressandTheirRole Whydidyouchoosethisactor/actress?

HughLaurieasJohannesGutenberg
Gutenbergdidntcreatetheprintingpressuntil
hewasinhis50s,soIchoseanactoraround
thesameage.Alotofhislifewasquitesad,
especiallytheperiodwhenhelosthisrightto
theprintingpressbecauseofmassivedebts.
Hislongtimebusinesspartnertookhis
money,hisshopandhiscopyrightina
lawsuit.Hisapprenticetestifiedagainsthimin
courtandbecamefriendsandpartnerswith
themanwhosuedhim.Audienceswillneed
tofeelsympathyforhimastheywatchhislife
fallapart.HughLaurieplayedavery
sympatheticcharacteronHOUSE,whodealt
withalotofsadtimes(includinganaddiction
topills).

Ontheotherhand,theactorplaying
Gutenberghastobealittleshady.
Gutenbergsfirstjobwassellingpeople
indulgences,specificallymirrorsthatwere
supposedtocaptureholylightfromreligious
relics.Hewasalwaysjustastepaheadofhis
creditors,whoheowedlotsofmoney.Ithink
thathispreviousworkonHOUSEwould
prepareHughLauriewellbecausehewasa
likablejerkonthatshow.

GeorgeClooneyasJohannFust
JohannFustwasthemanwhogave
Gutenbergthemoneytocreatetheprinting
pressandwhoorderedtheprintingofsome
ofhisfirstbibles.Helatersuedhimforalotof
moneyandwon.Hewonsomuchmoneythat
Gutenberghadtoshutdownhisshop.He
alsotookGutenbergsapprenticePeter
Schoefferfromhim.

IthinkthatGeorgeClooneywouldbeagood
actortoplayFustbecauseheisaroundthe
sameageasHughLaurie(Fustwasonlytwo
yearsolderthanGutenberg).Healsoplaysa
lotofcharacterswhocangofromfriendlyto
terrifying.IthinkthatClooneywouldinitiallybe
friendlytowardHughLauriescharacterand
thengraduallybecomethevillainofthefilm.
Gutenbergreallydidntseehisdestruction
comingsoIthinkitsimportantthattheearly
scenesshowFustasthejolly,laughing
GeorgeClooneyyouseeinhishappier
movies.Towardtheend,youwouldseethe
steely,toughGeorgeClooneywhoisntafraid
totakeyouforallyoureworth.

JosephGordonLevittasPeterSchoeffer
PeterSchoefferwasthehardestonetocast.
Heshouldbeanactorwhois20years
youngerthantheactorplayingGutenberg
becauseSchoefferwasalotyoungerthanhis
boss.Iwantedtopickalikableyoungactorin
his30ssoIchoseJosephGordonLevitt.The
filmwillbemuchsadderifthebetrayalby
Schoefferisdonebyacharacterthatweve
growntolikeoverthecourseofthemovie.

SomehistoriansbelieveSchoefferwas
Gutenbergsapprenticebeforeheleftand
joinedtheprintingshoprunbythemanwho
suedGutenberg.Heeventestifiedagainst
himinatrialthatarguedGutenbergwasted
JohannFustsmoney.

TitleoftheMovie:SUPREME[Basedonaquotethatsaidshewassupremeamongwomen]

Genre(Drama,Comedy,etc.):Drama

Whydidyouchoosethatgenre?Itsadramabecausealotofherstoryfocusesonpersonal
relationshipsandherstrugglesasareplacementrulerforherhusband,whowasneverhome.
Sheranthekingdomwellandshedealtwithlotsofpersonaldisappointments,includinga
cheatinghusbandandalongwaitforason.Ithinkthatamoreserioustonewouldbeappropriate
forthismovie.

PictureofActor/ActressandTheirRole Whydidyouchoosethisactor/actress?

EmiliaClarkeasIsabelladEste
EmiliaClarkeisfamousforplayingabeautiful
royalwhoisntafraidtobeveryruthlessin
pursuinghergoals.Similarly,IsabelladEste
wasfamousforbeingabeautyladybutalsoa
strictfolloweroftheprinciplesfoundin
MachiavellisThePrince.

TheactorplayingIsabelladEstehastobe
abletobeconvincingasaleaderbecause
sheoftenranthecitywhileherhusbandwas
away.Whatevershedid,shedominated.She
wasamajorpatronofthearts,afashion
designerandskilledpolitician.Ithinkthat
EmiliaClarkewouldbeconvincingasahigh
poweredleadinglady.

RussellCroweasFrancescoGonzaga
FrancescoGonzaga,IsabelladEstes
husband,wasabout20yearsolderthanher.
Thiswascommonatthetimebecausemen
wereexpectedtobeindependentlywealthy
beforetheymarried.AlotofGonzagaslife
wasspentonthebattlefieldasasoldiersoI
choseanactorwhowasfamousforplaying
warriors.Primarysourcesfromthetime
calledhimthebravestknightinallofItaly,soit
seemsfittingtochoosethemanwhoplayeda
gladiatorandanoblebandit.Healsohasa
beardliketherealFracescoGonzaga.

Icaneasilyimaginethefilmfocusingon
IsabelladEstesstrugglesasaleader,
includingherhusbandsbetrayalofhis
marriagevowsandhisfrequenttripsaway
fromthecity.

AmandaSeyfriedasLucreziaBorgia
Thereisnouniversallyagreeduponpainting
ofLucreziaBorgia.Theonethingthat
everyonementionedwasherlongblondehair
andthatherlookswerestriking.Shewassaid
towalkonair.Shewasroughlythesame
ageasIsabelladEsteandthetwowereoften
compared.LikeIsabelladEste,Lucrezia
Borgiasupportedthearts.Isabellashusband
cheatedonherwithLucreziaBorgia.

Inadditiontohavingtherighthairandgeneral
look,AmandaSeyfriedisconsideredalikable
actress.Historianshavetendedtothinkthat
LucreziawasoneofthekinderBorgias,who
werefamousformurderingtheirrivals.Her
sweeterimageasanactresswouldhelp
conveythatideatoaudiences.

TitleoftheMovie:____________________________________________________

Genre(Drama,Comedy,etc.):__________________________________

Whydidyouchoosethatgenre?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________

PictureofActor/ActressandTheirRole Whydidyouchoosethisactor/actress?

________________as_________________

________________as_________________

________________as_________________

Casting Renaissance: The Movie Directions

Your job this week is to cast actors for a movie about an important figure during the
Renaissance. You have full creative control so you get to decide who youll cast as the
lead actors and what type of film it will be (comedy, drama, mystery, etc.). You also
get to determine which events from the persons life are included in the movie.
Investors are flocking to your film in droves and they want to know more about it.
For this reason, you will be filling out a chart that asks you to provide:

1. A Picture of Each Lead Actor/Actress and Who Theyre Playing (THREE OR MORE)

2. A Description of Why You Chose that Actor/Actress that includes Facts about the
Historical Figure (Underline them in the text)

3. A Possible Title for the Film

4. The Films Genre (Drama, Comedy, etc.) and Why You Chose It

This project is due on Friday and will be discussed during Mondays class. Below
are suggestions for making the best possible project.

Tip 1: Look at the examples Ive provided. They show where the information goes in
each of the boxes in the chart and shows how to integrate historical facts into your
answer.

Tip 2: If youre having a hard time figuring out who to pick as your lead actors,
figure out how old your person was when they were doing important stuff. Then
search for actors who are that age (ex. actors in their 30s). You could also look for
actors and actresses that have the right look (ex. blonde actresses in their 20s).
Looking at a list could help you find someone who matches your idea of who that
person is.

Tip 3: When looking for information about your person, use Googles Advanced
Search options. If youre not familiar with how to do that, visit this website. I would
suggest looking at websites supported by universities (those that are in the domain
.edu) first. When creating the example projects, I had to sometimes use websites like
Wikipedia to fill in background information. But I tried to choose Wikipedia pages
with lots of high-quality links (often to books) in the reference section when I did so.

Tip 4: Try to pick actors who would make sense in the film. It would be weird to see a
comedian like Jack Black as the lead character in a movie based around murder and
betrayal.

Who can I choose to make a movie about?

Italian Renaissance Figures Northern Renaissance Figures
Niccolo Machiavelli
Cosimo de Medici
Michelangelo
Leonardo da Vinci
Lorenzo the Magnificent
Lucrezia Borgia
Baldassar Castiglione
Cesare Borgia
Pope Alexander VI
Sofonisba Anguissola
Petrarch
Leon Battista Alberti
Christine de Pizan
Girolamo Savonarola
Raphael
Albrecht Durer
Erasmus
Rabelais
Thomas More
Michel de Montaigne



















How will it be scored?

You will be scored in four categories: Color, Connection to Topic, Citations and
Clarity of Images.
4 3 2 1
Color All images are
color
photographs.
The majority
(more than
half) of images
are color
photographs.
Less than half
of images are
color
photographs.
Connection to
Topic
Photos
selected show
actor/actress
looking like
the character
they play,
perhaps in
period
clothing. Fits
description of
why you chose
them.
Photos
selected show
actor/actress
in a way that
fits the
description
given of why
you chose
them
(Menacing if
villain, Older
if Playing
Older Role,
etc).
Photos
selected show
actor/actress,
but in a way
that
contradicts
the
description
given of why
you chose
them (Attitude
is happy in
photo if sad
character or
menacing
when playing
friendly
character)
Photos
selected have
nothing to do
with casting
the movie (Ex.
Paintings of
the Historical
Figure,
Paintings
from the Time
Period)
Citation All borrowed
graphics have
a source
citation in
MLA Format.
All borrowed
graphics have
a source
citation.
The vast
majority
(two-thirds) of
borrowed
graphics have
a source
citation.
Less than half
of images
have a source
citation.
Clarity of
Images

(See Next
Page)








Clarity
Images that Earn 4
Particularly high resolution images


Images that Earn 3

Normal Shape and Can Identify Person


No Obvious Blurring







Images that Earn 2
Normal Shape, but Small


Hard-to-Decipher Fan Art





Images that Earn 1
Blurry and Pixilated

Stretched or Pinched