Planning for Actor Auditions

To find the two actors for our thriller opening, we decided as a group that
we will audition five different people for both roles for our thriller; we did
this because it would give us a wider variety of people to choose from. To
audition the different actors we will film a short 5-10 second long
recording. In the videos we will ask the actors to pretend that they are
being the characters using facial expression and good characterisation to
show their ability.
The first thing that we asked the actors to act as was someone who has
been kidnapped and is very scared and frightened. They will be sat in a
chair on their own. We feel this is a good way to show how well the actor
can immerse themselves in the role and be committed to the role. As well
as this, in the actual filming of the thriller the victim will be sat in a chair
and will have to act in a scared and frightened fashion.
The second piece of filming that we will do is to ask the actors to act as if
they are dragging an unconscious body. We used the chair to represent a
body. The concept is that the character of the torturer has captured and
taken the victim from this countryside location all the way to the
abandoned building setting. To do this, the torturer will have had to drag
the victim to the abandoned building. Overall, we want the actors to
audition for this role by acting in this manor even though it may not be
used in the opening. This is because we want the actor to be able to
immerse themselves in this role and carry out an action the character will
have to take in the opening.
After we have filmed the auditions for the thriller characters, the group
will watch the videos back and decide which two people we think would
best suit the roles of the characters. We will base this upon the two people
who are the most serious about the role and who we think has the most
acting skill. Also, we will judge the auditions on the level of
characterisation and their ability to use facial expressions to show their
inner thought and feelings.