Today Ed and I met with the principal cast to discuss the production, look at some of the scenes and to give everyone the chance to meet each other. This went really well and Ed and I were really pleased with how everyone got on and seemed very natural in the scenes. We’re happy with our cast and think they all capture the characters extremely well. In the next couple of days David will complete the final draft on the script. He’ll then send it to me and I will send it to the actors. The next time the cast and crew will meet will be in two weeks on set. Harry is working on locations, so when he has done that I can inform the cast of where they’ll need to be on each filming day. Then we can decide as a group filming times, etc. I’ve created an event on Facebook, so that all the crew, cast and supporting artists will be aware of the exact dates and times they will be required for filming.
Sunday, 20 February 2011
Film Blog 13 - Casting
We held our audition on Tuesday which was very successful. We created monologues for each character and asked the actors to read them. For the role of the deaf character, we created an exercise where the actresses could act out specific scenarios. We then reiterated filming dates, etc and I took everyone’s contact details and said I would get back to them in a few days.
As a group we immediately preferred some of the actors as the role they had auditioned for. Some of the auditionees seemed to capture perfectly what we were looking for. In particular, a performing arts student called Sophie auditioned for the role of Jojo, the funny, bitchy supporting female. She made us laugh straight away and just from reading the monologue, she had all the pauses and inflictions in the right place.
We discussed the cast and we decided who the four main characters would be.
Our cast list is as follows:
Hannah – Georgia Traher
Chris – Jack Whittingham
Rachel – Kim Piper
Jojo – Sophie Pearce
We didn’t find quite the right person to play the party host. David and I both have a friend in mind who might do well at this role so we will discuss this with them before confirming these roles.
Update!
David’s friend is unavailable for filming, but my friend is willing to play Dean the party host. I’ve discussed this with the group and they are happy with this arrangement. Now our speaking cast is sorted! We still need to find extras and a few minor roles.
Friday, 11 February 2011
Film Blog 12 - Preparation for Casting.
On Friday I emailed the room booking service at Bath Spa, and this morning received confirmation that we will be able to use the room CE. G01 on the specified date and time.
After receiving this confirmation, I then created a casting poster with information about the filming weekend, log line for the script, and audition details. I sent this to the group to have a look at and they were all happy with it. I then received from Ed a list of character profiles and so I made a second audition poster that incorporated some information about the cats we are looking for. I thought this would be a good idea as the basic poster would be bigger and more eye catching, but the poster with information about the characters might further someone’s interest who is already reading the poster. I then printed copies of both these posters and stuck them around campus. The poster with the bigger font I posted in general places such as the SU and canteen, and the poster with character details I posted around buildings I know are used by drama and performing arts students.
Later on I emailed Chris Jury to see whether he would be able to help me advertise the audition amongst his students. I knew Chris briefly from working as Script Editor of Liquid Soap last year and he was very helpful in sending a mass email to his performing arts students promoting “another fantastic casting opportunity”. I sent Chris another email thanking him for this; I think his input will be more effective than our posters in spreading word.
Next, I logged onto Facebook and sent an email version of the audition poster to all the students I am friends with who study drama or performing arts at Bath Spa. I also sent a slightly altered email to students who I think may be interested in being an extra in the film. Next, I went onto The Guild’s Facebook page (Bath Spa’s drama society) and posted on their wall information about the audition.
Hopefully this will advertise our film and audition thoroughly.
Update:I have just received the first email regarding the audition from a student of Chris Jury’s. I have decided that the day before the audition (Monday 14th Feb), I will send the auditionees an extract of the script which best shows their character. This way they can get an idea of the character and what they might be doing. At the audition, I will provide the auditionees with a printed extract of the script to go over a few minutes before, and then ask them to come in and read from the extract, and ask them a few questions.
I’ve just created an audition timetable. This will allow me to book the actors in for 15 minute slots, giving them plenty of time to read through the script and participate in any exercises or answer any questions we think are necessary.
After receiving this confirmation, I then created a casting poster with information about the filming weekend, log line for the script, and audition details. I sent this to the group to have a look at and they were all happy with it. I then received from Ed a list of character profiles and so I made a second audition poster that incorporated some information about the cats we are looking for. I thought this would be a good idea as the basic poster would be bigger and more eye catching, but the poster with information about the characters might further someone’s interest who is already reading the poster. I then printed copies of both these posters and stuck them around campus. The poster with the bigger font I posted in general places such as the SU and canteen, and the poster with character details I posted around buildings I know are used by drama and performing arts students.
Later on I emailed Chris Jury to see whether he would be able to help me advertise the audition amongst his students. I knew Chris briefly from working as Script Editor of Liquid Soap last year and he was very helpful in sending a mass email to his performing arts students promoting “another fantastic casting opportunity”. I sent Chris another email thanking him for this; I think his input will be more effective than our posters in spreading word.
Next, I logged onto Facebook and sent an email version of the audition poster to all the students I am friends with who study drama or performing arts at Bath Spa. I also sent a slightly altered email to students who I think may be interested in being an extra in the film. Next, I went onto The Guild’s Facebook page (Bath Spa’s drama society) and posted on their wall information about the audition.
Hopefully this will advertise our film and audition thoroughly.
Update:I have just received the first email regarding the audition from a student of Chris Jury’s. I have decided that the day before the audition (Monday 14th Feb), I will send the auditionees an extract of the script which best shows their character. This way they can get an idea of the character and what they might be doing. At the audition, I will provide the auditionees with a printed extract of the script to go over a few minutes before, and then ask them to come in and read from the extract, and ask them a few questions.
I’ve just created an audition timetable. This will allow me to book the actors in for 15 minute slots, giving them plenty of time to read through the script and participate in any exercises or answer any questions we think are necessary.
Film Blog 12 - Meeting
Today we confirmed our group and our choice of script with Mike. This time my group is includes just myself, Ed, Harry, Dan and David. We felt that we worked particularly well together last time and were happy to work together again. I think five will be a good number for us as well, as I think that is enough people to cover all the jobs that need to be done without anyone feeling they don’t have enough to do or don’t have a specific role.
We have chosen the script The Good Listener, we decided this for several reasons;
• We liked the idea of a deaf protagonist and thought this could be really interesting in terms of directing and casting.
• We also thought we could do some different things with sound because of the deaf protagonist. Some of our initial ideas included playing with the volume, muting, creating static sounds like when a hearing aid is adjusted, and using vibrating sounds such as you might hear from a loud speaker.
• Casting would be fairly straight forward as the entire cast are students
• Locations would be quite simple because we would only really need a house with a female bedroom and a male bedroom, and a street.
Some of the things we think may be slightly difficult, but we feel there are ways around them are;
• The house party scene. It may be difficult to stage the house party scene with so many guests, but this could be done if someone keeps charge of the actors and extras.
• The hearing aid, however we may be able to get a display model from a doctor’s surgey or Specsavers who have started selling hearing aids.
• Sign language. I have looked up British Sign Language for all of the phrases used in the script, and they are not terribly difficult but not necessarily easy to remember for someone who has never signed before. This can be helped by keeping print outs on set, with description and diagrams of the phrases used.
Last time we had trouble with casting and so this will be our first point of focus. As discuss on our meeting today, I will make audition posters and share them with the the group to check over before posting them next week. I will also book a room for casting, for Tuesday 15th February between 3pm – 5pm.
We have chosen the script The Good Listener, we decided this for several reasons;
• We liked the idea of a deaf protagonist and thought this could be really interesting in terms of directing and casting.
• We also thought we could do some different things with sound because of the deaf protagonist. Some of our initial ideas included playing with the volume, muting, creating static sounds like when a hearing aid is adjusted, and using vibrating sounds such as you might hear from a loud speaker.
• Casting would be fairly straight forward as the entire cast are students
• Locations would be quite simple because we would only really need a house with a female bedroom and a male bedroom, and a street.
Some of the things we think may be slightly difficult, but we feel there are ways around them are;
• The house party scene. It may be difficult to stage the house party scene with so many guests, but this could be done if someone keeps charge of the actors and extras.
• The hearing aid, however we may be able to get a display model from a doctor’s surgey or Specsavers who have started selling hearing aids.
• Sign language. I have looked up British Sign Language for all of the phrases used in the script, and they are not terribly difficult but not necessarily easy to remember for someone who has never signed before. This can be helped by keeping print outs on set, with description and diagrams of the phrases used.
Last time we had trouble with casting and so this will be our first point of focus. As discuss on our meeting today, I will make audition posters and share them with the the group to check over before posting them next week. I will also book a room for casting, for Tuesday 15th February between 3pm – 5pm.
Film Blog 11 - Choices!
Here's our first short film Choices. After a fairly successful production weekend and a long haul in the editing suit this is what we came up with!
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