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Sophie Laxton

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Screen Test Notes

For my AS Level Film Studies portfolio, I have followed my textual analysis


of two thriller films We Need To Talk About Kevin (Lynne Ramsay, UK,2011)
and The Roommate (Chrstian E. Christiansen, US, 2011) where I analysed
how the films portrayed fear and isolation through the use of technical
aspects. In my creative artefact, I will portray fear and isolation in similar
ways that my two chosen films did. I decided to create a two-minute short
film in which a young girl arrives home and believes she is safe but is then
attacked by a mysterious figure.
I created a script for my film and focused on finding two male actors for
the protagonist and antagonist roles and also three female roles. The
protagonist had to be able to portray to the audience the feeling of fear
and isolation just as the characters in my chosen films had to do. The
antagonist had to be able to show that he had complete power and control
over the protagonist. The three females had to be able to show fear as
they are the victims in the film. I held auditions for the roles so that I could
decide who could best portray certain emotions to the audience through
the characters. I auditioned two males for each part and also auditioned
two females for each part.
Character Profiles:
Name: Dylan
Age: 20
Dylan was a smart, innocent teenage boy until his dad passed away when
he was 15. Up until the age of 18 he was in and out of foster homes and
even spent a few months in the psychiatric ward because his mother had
begun to drink excessively and could not take care of him. Once he
reached adulthood he was thrown into the deep end and was left to fend
for himself. He found a job but was living in abandoned buildings and on
the streets until he eventually got a house and moved in. He was so alone
that he began to create people in his mind like Michael. Due to the
loneliness, Dylan felt forced by Michael to go out and kill women. Dylan is
an outcast and is isolated from society because of his past and cannot
seem to make friends. He has a girlfriend but kills her at the end of the
film leaving him with no one.
Name: Michael
Age: 20
Michael is the subconscious of Dylan, however Dylan sees him as a close
friend and a real person. Michael is the evil side of Dylan as he tries and
succeeds in convincing Dylan to kill. He encourages an emotionally fragile
boy into committing multiple crimes. He is manipulative and psychotic and
loves to see people suffer. When Dylan confides in him about how he
doesnt want to kill anymore, Michael laughs it off. He is confident and
sarcastic but gets frustrated with Dylan easily when he doesnt want to
murder anymore.

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Name: Amy
Age: 18
Amy is the girlfriend of Dylan and has been with him for 5 months, She
met him at a bar and they have been together since. She is quite shy and
introverted but when she is with Dylan she becomes more confident. She
loves him and has no idea about his past or that he currently commits
murders. When she is killed by Dylan, she is scared and upset at the same
time as she thought that Dylan loved her.

The following extract is from my script One More Time and has been
chosen for the auditions of the characters. This is the scene where Michael
appears to Dylan after his most recent murder.

MICHAEL
So you ran out of rope then?
DYLAN
Not right now.
MICHAEL
Oh come on, you know you liked it. Its easier when you
know them.
DYLAN
I said not now.
MICHAEL
Ugh, youre no fun afterwards.
Actor 1:
Name: Jonathan Gardner
Age: 17
Height: 56
Features: Brown hair, brown eyes, Caucasian.
Screen Test Notes for Actor 1:
Jonathan Gardner was able to easy portray the theme of
isolation as soon as he began the audition. He acted as an
introvert and he connected easily with the character and was
able to give a great performance. His body language alongside
the dialogue made me think that he was the perfect fit for the role of
Dylan as he was quite awkward but was able to deliver the lines
successfully. His physical build and height is what I wanted of Dylan as he
is not very tall and quite skinny. I believed that he is the best choice for
the role of Dylan.

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Actor 2:
Name: Aron Maher
Age: 16
Height: 511
Features: brown hair, brown eyes, Caucasian.

Screen Test Notes for Actor 2:


This actor met the requirements for the character of Dylan. He was small
and quite skinny which is what I wanted in order to highlight the fact that
Dylan is an introvert. Aron was very enthusiastic about the role but was
too confident and could not portray the theme of isolation well. He had a
good understanding of the film and its genre but was unable to portray the
theme of fear. However, he was able to present the theme of isolation well
which is the main theme that Dylan had to portray. He did not deliver the
dialogue accurately which was a major problem as the dialogue was one of
the most important technical aspects used in the two films I textually
analysed. I did not choose this actor because of these reasons as he was
not what I was looking for in Dylan.

Actor 3:
Name: Gregory Wade
Age: 17
Height: 59
Features: brown hair, brown eyes, Caucasian.
Screen Test Notes for Actor 3:
After the performance of this actor for the role of
Michael, I realised that he was very enthusiastic about
the role, He was very confident but was unable to
seem sarcastic and seemed quite serious which is not what I wanted
Michael to be like in the film. It was clear that he did not read over the
lines before the audition as he paused at certain points in order to make
comments about the script and the idea of the film. Once he delivered the
lines he was unsure of what facial expressions to use so he asked several
questions about this showing that he was not in touch with the role and
could not relate. His body language and facial expressions were good once
he has figured out how to match them with the dialogue but it did not
seem natural. His physical build and height was not what I originally
wanted for the role of Michael so I decided that I would not choose this
actor.
Actor 4:

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Name: Barry Turi
Age: 17
Height: 510
Features: Ginger, blue eyes, caucasian
Screen Test Notes for Actor 4:

During the performance from Actor 4, I realised that he


was able to easily deliver the dialogue for the role of
Michael as he was sarcastic and overly-confident. He
immediately showed that he was enthusiastic about
the role and had shown he had practised before the
audition as he knew most of the lines well and was
able to show emotion easily when reciting them. His body language
showed the confidence that Michael has as a character as he was very
open and expressed every word through the use of his body and well as
his tone. He has the physical aspects of Michael such as his figure and
height and I believe he is the best fit or the role of Michael.
In order to audition my actresses, I needed to have chosen my actor first
so that they could act out their one scene together. The extract from the
script is for the scene where Dylan meets Amy and stabs her.

DYLAN is walking towards the shop. The girl standing


outside is his girlfriend. DYLAN hugs his girlfriend and
then stabs her in the stomach. He takes out the knife and
lowers her to the ground.
DYLAN
Im so sorry
Actress 1:
Name: Aine Duffy
Age: 16
Height: 55
Features: Brown hair, brown eyes, Caucasian.
Screen test notes for Actress 1:
My first actress was not very confident when acting out the
scene with Dylan. She had not met the actor before and
was nervous to hug him. She was unable to show that she
had a love for him as she looked very awkward and was
unable to connect with him. This is not what I wanted from
the character Amy as she had to be comfortable around her boyfriend and
show that she loved him. Her physical build was not what I wanted from
the character as she was quite small. She was able to present the theme
of fear through the use of her facial expressions. However, based on how
uncomfortable she was and how she was unable to make a connection

Sophie Laxton

with Dylan, I decided that I would not choose this actress for the role of
Amy.
Actress 2:
Name: Jaimie Hart
Age: 16
Height: 58
Features: brown hair, brown eyes, Caucasian
Screen Test Notes for Actress 2:
My second actress was very confident and easy to work
with. She did everything asked of her and gave a great
performance alongside Dylan. She was paired with Harry Martin and I
asked both of them to act out the scene. As they have met before they
were comfortable around each other which made it easier for her to be
confident in her role and show that she had a love for him. Jaimie was able
to present the theme of fear through use of facial expressions as when the
actor of Dylan stabbed her, she looked genuinely scared. Her description
matched that of Amys as she had to be taller than Dylan.
Actress 3:
Name: Sinead Foley
Age: 16
Height: 57
Features: dark brown hair, hazel eyes, Caucasian
Screen Test Notes for Actress 3:
This actress was confident from the beginning of the
audition until the end. As I had handed out the script in
advance, she had a chance to go through and analyse the films narrative
and research how her character could portray the themes mentioned. She
used her facial expressions and body language to do this and was
successful in doing so.
Actress 4:
Name: Rowan ONeill
Age: 17
Height: 54
Features: dark brown hair, green eyes, Caucasian.
Screen Test Notes for Actress 4:
At the beginning of the performance I noticed that the
actress seemed very shy and intimidated by the camera
and the actor playing Dylan. She was not comfortable
with the scene at first but as soon as she started to
perform she began to show the fear well through use of facial expressions
and was able to slowly gain confidence. The actress portrayed the themes

Sophie Laxton

of fear well as shown through her facial expressions and body language
around the protagonist. As there was no dialogue for her scene, I had to
base my decision solely around how she used her body and face to portray
the theme of fear and I believe that she did this quite well.

After auditioning these actors and actresses for the roles in my film I
decided to cast Harry Martin as the role of Dylan, Barry Turi as the role of
Michael, Jaimie Hart as the role of Amy and Sinead Foley as the role of The
Girl. I believe that each of these actors and actresses are traditional
representations of Caucasian people in thriller and horror films. Each
person suits the role well both physically and emotionally as they made
connections with each other and the characters and I believe that
together, they will help to create a successfully two-minute film.

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