Character Profile - Bill (Antagonist)

Character name: Bill
Actor name: Richard Turner
Age: 39
Occupation: Electrician

Why is Bill the antagonist and what influenced his creation?

Bill is a character that shows no signs of emotion or remorse; this is illustrated through his cold stare that is held continually within our thriller opening. Additionally, his occupation as an electrician is a further connotation of his moral ambiguity; this is as it suggests that he is not afraid to get his hands dirty and will continue to act until the job is done. Furthermore, men who have jobs in labour intensive industries such as building, plumbing and electrical work are often perceived as "tough" or "intimidating", which therefore gives the character more of a gangster or hard man image. 

One character that Bill is influenced by is Arby, a hit-man portrayed by Neil Maskell in the TV thriller "Utopia". This is as when looking at Arby's aims we were able to relate these around Bill's objectives i.e. Both characters are out to obtain something important (be it an enigma or a manuscript) and they will go to inhuman lengths in order to get what they want. In addition, we were able to establish Bill's expression through the inspiration of Arby as we wanted our character to look psychotic and intimidating.


Arby from TV drama/thriller "Utopia"

Costume

Theis Birk Larsen from "The Killing"

Originally we had planned the whole costume for Bill, we had taken inspiration from several similar British TV thrillers/dramas and British gangster films. We had included a beanie, this came from the first episode of "The Killing" because of the character 'Theis Birk Larsen' wears a similar hat. This character is shown as an authority figure and is also suspected as the killer, his stature is also intimidating and exerts power.

Bill's Jacket

We also made Bill wear a large jacket as it makes it seem as though he is trying to conceal something, this could be a weapon or some other unknown object, which adds to the sense of an enigma. The large jacket also helps to signify the genre as many British gangster/crime thrillers often feature the 'hard man' wearing a large jacket. For example, 'Big Chris' from "Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" is seen wearing this leather jacket which makes shoulders seem broader and his overall image much more intimidating and dominant.



Big Chris from "Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels"

The only part of Bills costume that is actually seen in our thriller are his feet and so we had to make the right decision to make Bill seem powerful and dominant just by his footwear. We decided that Bill would wear steel-capped work boots in order to fit in with his supposed occupation as an electician. These boots also symbolise that he does not care about his appearnce as much as he cares about his job and the ability of which he is able to complete his goals/objects. The boots Bill is seen to be wearing could also represent his personality, rough, cold and threatening.

Boots worn by Bill