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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 teenage boy isolates
himself from society and is left with only one friend that turns out to be his
subconscious that convinces him to kill multiple people.
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.
Name: Amy
Age: 18

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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 commits murders.

The following extract is from my script Seeing Things 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: Gregory Wade
Age: 17
Height: 59
Features: brown hair, brown eyes, Caucasian.
This actor met the requirements for the character of
Dylan. He was quite nervous at the beginning of the
audition but during his performance, this highlighted the
fact that Dylan is an introvert. Gregory was very enthusiastic about the role and
had a good understanding of the film and its genre but was not able to portray
the theme of isolation well. However, he was able to present the theme of fear
well but as the main theme was isolation, I felt that he could not successfully
perform this role. 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 2:
Name: Barry Turi
Age: 17
Height: 510
Features: ginger hair, blue eyes, Caucasian.
Screen Test Notes for Actor 1:
Barry Turi 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 quite skinny. I believed that
he is the best choice for the role of Dylan.

Actor 3:
Name: Johnny Gardner
Age: 17
Height: 55
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.

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Actor 4:
Name: Aaron Kingman
Age: 18
Height: 511
Features: brown hair, brown 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 very confident and easy to work with. She did
everything asked of her and gave a great performance alongside
Dylan. She was paired with Barry Turi 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. Aine was able to
present the theme of fear through use of facial expressions as when the actor of

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Dylan stabbed her, she looked genuinely scared. Her description matched that of
Amys as she had to be smaller than Dylan.

Actress 2:
Name: Rowan ONeill
Age: 17
Height: 54
Features: dark brown hair, green eyes, Caucasian
Screen Test Notes for Actress 2:
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 with
Dylan, I decided that I would not choose this actress for the role of Amy.
For one of the flashback scenes, there is a girl that is being strangled by Dylan.
This girl needs to be able show fear through facial expressions and body
language. I have taken the extract from the flashback scene in my script and
asked the two actors to act this out.

FLASHBACK BEGINS:
INT. ALLEYWAY- LATE EVENING
DYLAN is pinning down a girl and strangling her. The girl is
struggling to breathe. She stops breathing and he slowly gets
up. He runs away.
END OF FLASHBACK.
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

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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.
However, she was not very serious when acting and laughed a lot meaning it
would be difficult to film as it would take a long time.

Actress 4:
Name: Jaimie Hart
Age: 16
Height: 57
Features: brown hair, brown 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 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 Barry Turi as the role of Dylan, Aaron Kingman as the role of Michael, Aine
Duffy as the role of Amy and Jaimie Hart 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.