1 October 2013

Mood Board #11: Character - CALUS ROTHEN

The next character along, sitting at number 11 is the infamous Benedict Cumberbatch, an English actor who in recent years has speedily risen from a small British TV show to big Hollywood blockbusters by big name directors such as Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson. He is a very unique actor with a very unique look, and for these reasons I have chosen him to represent the antagonist of our film - Calus Rothen. Benedict Cumberbatch is quite tall and reasonably skinny looking, which is the sort of look we want to give Calus Rothen. Another aspect of this picture that has inspired Calus Rothen is the suit that he wears - we don't want Rothen to be some sort of thug, but to be an intelligent criminal mastermind with a plan. Benedict Cumberbatch also models this clever look, as he often plays intelligent characters in his films, notably Sherlock Holmes in Sherlock, Smaug in The Hobbit, and Khan in Star Trek. These characters also have a sociopathic side to them, which is another aspect of their character we could adopt. Tall, clever sociopaths in suits work very well as cold calculating killers.

Calus Rothen is, for want of a less cliche phrase, the arch enemy of the film's protagonist - Lucas Thorne. The film will hint at some sort of prior conflict between the two characters, and although it won't go into specifics, it is established that the previous time they clashed Thorne defeated him, but only at great cost. Rothen is a cold, calculating sociopath who sits behind a desk and doesn't do much of the dirty work himself. He hires Zubasu to do all the killing for him, but he isn't afraid to whip out a silenced pistol if need be. Although his strengths don't lie in fist fighting, he is extremely adept in using stealth weapons such as sniper rifles and pistols. Rothen is the head of the Crucifix organisation, and he is organising the resurface of the organisation after years of lying low.