Enough about this title character Barbara-Anne!
Let's talk about our bad ass, female police officer played by the one and only
Yes... Emily is played by Emily. We never say her name in the film and but.. I wrote it for Emily so it took on her look, acting style and...name :) Creativity people!!!
Emily hopes to become a bad ass on the police squad but it's her first week officially on duty when she gets the domestic disturbance call from Barbara-Anne. DUN DUN DUNNN
What makes Emily's character crucial to this story is that she truly ends up being the victim here and tricked by Barbara-Anne. However, she also doesn't quite follow protocol so when Emily's the one holding the smoking gun, she knows she messed up royally and is in crisis.
I wanted a modern feminist cop to juxtapose to Barbara-Anne's 1950's feel and to really create contrast between the characters. It was important to me though, that both these women defy the stereotypes that you might have from a first glance. Any attempt to want to write Barbara-Anne off for being flakey or false is challenged by her cunning and for Emily she's more of the tragic hero in that she arrives to save the day but split second decisions and not enough experience has her at the mercy of Barbara-Anne.
We will have to remove any actual tags of "Toronto" on the Police Uniform in shooting but I want to make sure they look authentic and not like costumes. Fortunately I have a friend who is a paramedic and has some sweet hook ups- Calling in favours!!
But the idea is seeing a strong woman, ready to do her job like these gals I found on google...
YUP!!! There is a gun shot in the film and it is a big thing to co ordinate as we need permits, Stunt Co-ordinators, the actual gun, rehearsals etc. One quick gun shot= hourssss of preparation.
When working a gun shot on set (which I have done before) you do use a real gun but the bullets are blank and you NEVER EVER shoot at the actually person. There are many safety checks in place and people to make sure that no one gets in the line of fire. Triple and Quadruple safety checks people!
One thing I love when I watch movies now is realizing how much time goes into some of the quickest of moments but they can really make or break a film. Especially a short film.