PRE PRODUCTION : MY ROLE AS A CASTING DIRECTOR

THE BRIEF One of my first roles was to get the cast to suit the brief. A good casting director gets a brief

and on this interpretation draws talent from their resources and put them forward to the client or in this case my co-workers; (Terri and Solyanna) . Working with my co workers, I, Solyanna and Terri created a brief detailing what actors/ actresses we were looking for reprise our character roles.

The brief We are looking for 5 members of cast to star in an upcoming British film called Bloodline. For

more information, please see the attached background information about Bloodline which includes the storyboard, synopsis etc. Firstly, we are looking for three girls. Preferably if they all look alike as the roles to be cast are sisters. Different ages, varying from 14 to 19. They must all be for the same ethnic background, preferably Black. We would like them to be a size eight to ten as our costume director only has wardrobe suited for these sizes. Committed, talented young ladies. Organization and time keeping is essential. Long hours are likely so must be prepared. Also, we would desire two males. One to play a fatherly role so must have the build of a father. E.g. – medium, broad and tall. A deep voice is essential. Again, must be in the 19 to 23 year old range as he must look older than the girls. Same ethnic minority as the females is also required. The other male to play ransom/ kidnapper. Any age is accepted, however 16 plus is preferred. Again a deep voice is crucial as his role will mainly be over the phone. Looks aren’t crucial for this part as he will only be filmed in an extreme close up. However, committed and a dedicated person is crucial.

I am working with the director to help bring about the vision of the film by selecting the kind of actresses and actors , she is looking for or characters/ personas that fit her visions and could be in the film. 

The actions I will take are: ·         Plan of my thoughts ·         Scouting ·         Auditions

CAST REPORT Cast Report “BLOODLINE” Synopsis by Adeola Lasoye “BLOODLINE” is a new urban,  crime-action set in the bustling streets of Inner London. ( For more

information, please look at storyboards and plot synopsis in other posts) Using a limited number of real life, urban sets, and no need for stunts or major special effects, “BLOODLINE” could be made on a limited budget.

“BLOODLINE” is the story of three girls whose quest is to rescue their kidnapped father from a gang of hooligans who want a memory stick.

The plot explores the extreme lengths that two sisters, Amber and Taylor have to go through in order to save the life of their father Paul. Unintentionally, the two girls are left with the pressure and responsibility to return a valuable memory stick to a notorious gang leader of the south London area. The data on this memory stick is worth a lot more than the health and safety of Amber, Taylor and Paul, as far as the gang leader is concerned.

As well as being under strict time conditions, the girls are faced with many obstacles, trials and dead ends. The movie reveals how family values, loyalty and personality traits are tested.

The types of actors that will be suited to these roles are…..     Urban influenced: so their personality and interests matches the genre of the film        Flexible: they need to be able to work with anyone as the roles require a personal attachment Areas of Negotiation          Dates of filming: week commencing: 12/12/11- 19/12/11         All actors don’t not have equity as none of the cast/ actors sourced have agents representing them.        Payment: All actors will be partaking in this production: free of charge. However, the producers

intend to provide treats, which is to include a meal out after production.       Days off& hours of work: Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays will be proposed days off for the

entire cast. 3 hours of filming is expected on the opposed days ( Monday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday)

BRAINSTORM OF IDEAS

After the brief, I decided I need a plan on how I would go about my role as a casting director. I wanted to find out my weakness quickly so I could tackle them and because I had foreshadowed them, should they happen it won’t come as a surprise.

What makes good casting?

Good casting is made easier given adequate time, because I won’t have to make hasty decisions which may lead to a inappropriate cast and eliminate the need for recasting. It will also give me enough time to interpret the brief and visualise the concept.

reviews with the director, to constantly make sure their vision of the character they are looking for is met, this is important because the director is doing to be the person who is directing the characters in terms of emotions and actions to portray.

A diverse range of people, varying in ages, ethnicities and physical factors such as height. This is important because when choosing my cast , I will be looking for similarities to the brief and will want to choose the best possible actor/ actress that I think fits the brief, a wide range of talent allows me to do this.

A detailed, specific and through brief to give me guidance, this is important because when choosing and short listing my cast I will be referring to the brief to make sure I am recruiting cast that fit the brief.

BRAINSTORM OF IDEAS

PROBLEMS I MIGHT ENCOUNTER

Recycling of the same people over again, this is a problem because my trailer will lack versatility and diversity.

Cast members drop out at the last minute, this is a problem because I may be left with recruiting random people that I had no intention of using or having no cast members at all.

I find no actors/ actress who meet the brief. This will make it hard for the director, as the vision she wanted can’t be fulfil, thus the trailer may not turn out as we intend.

Good talent has already been poached by rival competing trailers, this is a problem because we may end up with inexperienced actors which will affect the acting, our audience may find it amateur.

Should one of my cast members not be able to take part at the last minute, I may have a hard time in finding replacements which could lead to the removal of a character in the narrative.

SCOUTING: WHAT DOES SCOUTING MEAN TO ME? WHAT ARE THE ADVANTAGES OF USING SCOUTING FOR BLOODLINE? WHAT ARE THE DISADVANTAGES OF SCOUTING?

Scouting means accessing all available talent, from the tried and proven performers to the new and undiscovered. Good casting is reaching out and discovering talent, not simply waiting for it to walk through the door.

Why am I scouting ? •Broad, untapped talent base, I will have a variety of talents, personality and physical

attributes to choose from and it will also allow me to look for people who do not consider themselves as professional actors/ actresses which would be provided to me through a casting agency.

•Assists in making more appropriate matches to the brief as I am not going to wait for the right talent to walk through the door I am going to find it. Also, because scouting is mainly based on looks before personality , I can automatically pick people who fit the brief, as opposed to me short listing people. Scouting is more time efficient.

•Street talent is cheaper than agency based talent which is important as Bloodline is on a low budget.

•Disadvantages of scouting: •Performers are frequently not professionals, this could make the acting seem amateur. •Scouting for talent is more time-consuming than using casting agencies, and is

therefore also more expensive. However, new looks and new talent may help us fitting in with our social realism genre, as they are real, relatable people.

SCOUTING

I will be scouting on the 21st of October around three major shopping centres: Bluewater, Westfield and Lakeside, looking for real people who fit the brief, taking a Polaroid of them and inviting them to the final auditions. I think it is a good idea as I will be able to get actors/ actresses to physically suit the criteria of the brief. I will be looking for:

True talent. Many actors or actresses may make it based on luck, physical appearance or charisma.

Versatility. An actor who is willing and able to play drama is appealing. An actor with multiple talents means multiple avenues for money making.

   Dedication. We need a cast who are committed and won’t let us down in between filming or at the last minute.

The look of the actor. I need actors who will fit the character’s appearances that the director has envisioned.

but most importantly, I will be listening to my gut instinct when it comes to talent. Talent is in the eye of the beholder. I am going to go with my first impression and if I feel that the performance was moving and believable, I will be inviting them to the final auditions.

SCOUTING: WHAT SORT OF ACTORS/ ACTRESSES ARE YOU LOOKING FOR IN REGARDS TO STEREOTYPES AND REPRESENTATIONS? What sort of actors are looking for in regards to stereotypes?In terms of stereotypes, the characters who are visually seen are not stereotyped.

The only stereotype in Bloodline is Sylvester and he is not visually seen, so this will not be important when casting his character. However, Paul ( the father) is more of a countertype, as he is a gangster/ drug lords as well as a loving father. Thus, when we are casting we are going to be looking for a male who looks like a family man, so a male who looks older and caring, protective, so that when the audience find out he is a drugs lord/ gangster they will have the preferred reading of the director which is going to be shock, as they will agree he does not look like his alter ego.

What sort of actors are you looking for in terms of representation?In terms of representations, we are looking for actors who are going to represent the

African, African Caribbean race as specified in the brief. Thus, I am looking for actors/ actress that are from this ethnicity as I feel they will be able to embody the director’s vision physically, emotionally and mentally as they live their life in society as a member of this ethnic group. This helps us in making our trailer because it supports our convention of social realism and the attempt of making are trailer realistic.

SCOUTING: MY FINDINGS: GIRLS TO PLAY THE ROLES OF AMBER AND TAYLOR

• Name: Sandra •Age:18•Height:5ft9• Dress Size: 8• Ethnicity: Black African• Qualities: Committed• Reason why I approached her: Has the physical attributes of the brief, she is closely a best fit model for the character the director envisioned.

SCOUTING: MY FINDINGS: GIRLS TO PLAY THE ROLES OF AMBER AND TAYLOR

• Name: Janet•Age:18•Height:5ft 5• Dress Size: 8• Ethnicity: Black African• Qualities: Committed, Bubbly, Hardworking• Reason why I approached her: Has the physical attributes of the brief, she is also closely a best fit model for the character the director envisioned.

SCOUTING: MY FINDINGS: MALES TO PLAY SYLVESTER

•Name: Myles•Age:19•Height:5ft9• Dress Size: 8• Ethnicity: African Carribean• Qualities: deep, voice that is enticing • Reason why I approached her: Has the physical attributes of the brief, he has a profound deep voice that I think will be great for the phone call scene

MY ROLE AS A CASTING DIRECTOR

The scouting proved successful, as I found 3 potential actors and actresses that fit the brief already, so regardless of how the auditions turn out I already have the majority of my cast. I am doing auditions as a back up, and to also look for more actors and actress that could also be a best fit for the brief.

WEEK 11: 28/11/11: AUDITIONS

Here is a poster I created for the auditions. The purpose of the poster was to draw and entice unknown actors and actresses to audition for Bloodline. The poster achieved this as we had numerous auditions from actors and actress who we would have never considered or thought of before. We also had cast who were dedicated to Bloodline and liked the storyline and found it interesting to be a part of. This was a good quality that the poster produced as without auditioning people, we had already filled the qualities of committed and hardworking outlined in the brief. I think the poster is a good way of making our auditions an open call, as anyone who feels they have the qualities we are looking for can turn up. This will give me a diverse range of cast members to choose from. We could have also advertise auditions through word of mouth but we thought that this was a unreliable and unprofessional method as there was no guarantee people would spread the audition time, place etc accurately, likewise it would look amateur if people were bringing it up as part of gossip.

WEEK 11: 28/11/11: AUDITIONS

Me and my production team shortlisted actors and actress by choosing the 4 cast members:

who best fitted the brief, in terms of physical appearance or voice

had acting talent or was comfortable with portraying certain emotions, feelings and moods so that acting was believable

and whether or not they were local, so if we need to do a quick shot it would not be a problem to contact them.

OUR CAST

After short listing and debating on which actors and actresses were the best fit for the brief, we eventually chose Sandra, Solyanna, Cleveland and Marcus to star in Bloodline. We chose these four cast members because they were everything that the brief specified and more. They ticked the practical factors such as locality and physical attributes as well as other qualities like dedication, time keeping and hardworking. I think that this is the right cast for the directors vision and the storyline because they have all grown up in inner London areas, thus they are not just playing a character, they are embodying their own personalities.

REFLECTION

My time as a casting director has been enjoyable. I enjoyed evaluating different people of different talents, looks and personalities to find the “ best fit” model detailed in the brief. It has made my organisation and eye for detail sharper which I think will be useful in production of the teaser trailer such as arranging filming times and post production of the teaser trailer such as editing.