SELF TAPE: The Fault in Our Stars
- Emily Jade
- Nov 2, 2020
- 2 min read
My self tape is Hazel Grace’s monologue from The Fault in Our Stars, where she reads her eulogy to Gus before he dies. This is the original from the movie:
I really like this monologue, however before choosing it, I looked at multiple prior to this, including Julia Stiles’ monologue from ‘10 Things I Hate About You’, and Amy Adams’ powerful and moving monologue about giving birth to a stillborn child in ‘Junebug’. I chose this monologue, as it is in my age range of character, and I felt like I could do it quite well. The Fault in Our Stars is one of my favourite movies, and it never fails to make me cry, specifically at that part.
This is my version:
Obviously, one of the most stand out differences is that Hazel is American and I had to do it in my own accent. I'm quite relieved I didn't have to do it in an American accent, purely because I found it difficult to say certain things in a British accent, like 'eulogizing' and 'infinities', and I think it would've been harder in another accent.
I filmed it multiple times, trying it in different parts of my house. I tried it in my bedroom, however the lighting is only good there at specific parts of the day, and I wanted it to be as natural as possible, so I in turn filmed the final take in my bathroom. I covered the shower screen up with a bottom sheet so it would look like a blank canvas without the camera picking up my reflection, and I balanced my phone on some body butter and a bottle of mouthwash. It was good because I was standing in front of my bathroom mirror, therefore I could see in the reflection how much space I had before I fell out of shot. I did a really good take for one of my beginning ones, however, I was moving around far too much and it was extremely distracting when watching it back.
For my costume, I went with a light wash purple t-shirt and a dark coat. In the film, Hazel wears a white top and a black denim jacket, however I didn’t have a black denim jacket and so I had to adapt and work with what I had. Make up wise, I tried to be as minimalistic as possible. In the film, Hazel has hardly any makeup on, as she is dying of cancer and knows that not only herself, but her boyfriend doesn't have long left; however I didn’t want to look completely washed out so I went very minimal, which I think added to the effect.
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