On previous projects our preferred method of finding actors has been to pressgang people in to agreeing whilst out at the pub so we had no real idea of what to expect during a structured audition process or what was expected of us by the people who we would see and I think we where probably the most nervous people on the day.
Nearly every scene in this script involves four or five people so each reading saw one of us taking on several parts while the auditioning actor chipped in with their relevant pieces and we are very grateful that everyone we saw was very forgiving of our faffing about.
By far the weirdest thing about the audition process id the speed at which you have to greet, judge and then send people away. We gave each person 20 minutes which I am sure is longer than some but it still felt very weird and business like having to skip all small talk and drop straight in to reading a script over and over again with complete strangers.
When you meet new people, especially people with whom you share an interest, the inclination is to chat and take your time and having to the whole process in such short time was really tough.
On the positive side we were very pleased that everyone we spoke to seemed genuinely interested in the project and understood the characters and the things that we are trying to get across. This might mean that we have written a flat and obvious script but hopefully it means that we have managed to write something that conveys all the meaning and sub text that we hoped it would and that we can now start to film with a cast of really great actors.
It was a long and tiring day and something which we will be doing more of in the future but fortunately it went well and did exactly what we hoped it would.
Now bring on the filming!
No comments:
Post a Comment