Today Vic, Charlie and I had planned to audition actors for the role of the presenter and reporter. We decided we wanted to film our audition's so we could look back on them together and decide which actors we could use for our film. To begin with we decided to print off some consent forms so that we could use the footage we filmed. We also made sure we had the script handy and the schedule so we knew who was coming, and what they would be saying. Our plan was to first ask the auditionee's some questions and get to know them to try make them feel more at ease. After that we gave them the presenter script to audition, and then the same with the reporter script. We was going to judge the audition on how they presented themselves, the tone they spoke in and if we felt they fit the role.
Our first actor was 25 year old Samantha Scott at 11:00am Friday 17th October.
Samantha was a great first candidate as she had all the things we was looking for in the presenter role or reporter role for the Hugh Lowe Farm package. Samantha was extremely confident on and off camera and had a very swift conversational tone. Firstly, Samantha had experience with presenting and wanted to get into it, which was extremely lucky for us as our tutor Helen had advised us not to use actors as they don't have the necessary experience. Samantha also pointed out she can make the piece more lighthearted and personal instead of being serious - which is what we wanted for the package news report as it's more of a promotional piece. She also had experience working in a large zoo and had also spoken to the public (around 500 people watching) so is very skilled in presenting. Samantha had a very appealing and smart look to herself which I think will fit the role of the calm and peaceful 'Kent Nature' theme. After asking her questions I spoke with Samantha about her role, how we want her to act on camera and what the stories are about so she would have more of a feel about what she's taking part in. I also double checked she was available to film and she confirmed she didn't have any other projects that would interfere. After asking Samantha the questions I had a chat with her and she seemed really friendly and enthusiastic about the role and asked me questions about my course and the studios. She also has a very warming and friendly manner which will attract the audience and entice them into watching our show and hopefully keep glued into watching. After watching Samantha perform the two scripts I was very impressed with how she spoke, and acted towards the camera - she spoke very informally and spoke in a way which kept the story flowing and feel very natural. Samantha hadn't received the script the previous days as the email hadn't sent properly on Casting Call so we was really impressed with how well she read out the script even though it was the first time she'd seen it.
Overall, I really enjoyed Samantha's audition and feel she is perfect for the light hearted Hugh Lowe Farm piece or the presenter role. We all discussed about what we thought to her and agree'd we should definitely keep in touch with her.
Our second actor was Harry Boyd.
Later on we interviewed 24 year old Harry Boyd. We started off by asking Harry to sign a consent form so we could film him and use the footage. Harry was extremely eager from the start and talked a lot about why he was interested in news reporting and presenting and explained he wanted to put himself in that position to try out presenting. Harry hasn't any direct experience with reporting or presenting but has had read pieces which are similar to a news report. Harry is also is very people friendly and get's along with new people quickly - which is very handy for if he would be interviewing people in our ''live'' and package news pieces. Harry has a lot of experience in acting which means he will be confident on camera and won't feel 'stiff' or 'wooden'. Harry confirmed he's not undergoing any other projects that would interfere apart from being away for a week on November 6th. We then asked Harry to read out the scripts for the presenter role and the reporter role. I felt like Harry's style was too serious for the presenter role and didn't entice me into watching it as I feel the presenter should be more bubbly and smiley. However, I really thought that Harry would be perfect for the reporter role for the Knighting gale story (our ''live'' news report) as it's a more serious topic regarding wildlife homes being torn down to build new houses for citizens in Medway.
Overall I think if we dressed Harry smartly he would work well for the role of the reporter for the ''live'' shoot, because of the serious tone and style of his presenting and reporting skills.
Looking back on the auditions, I think todays been really insightful and encouraged us as a group to feel more excited about filming as we really enjoyed both auditions. It also helped us as a group to work on interviewing skills and become more prepared when sorting out interviews and audition schedules.
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