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Screen Test With Notes

This document summarizes screen tests conducted for the roles of James and Vladmir in a student film project. For the role of James, Hassan Shahid was chosen because he was physically suited to the role, comfortable in the role, and convincingly expressed the character's emotions. Aron Maher was not chosen because he seemed overconfident and did not meet the physical criteria. For the role of Vladmir, Suleman Mohamed was selected as he appeared threatening, was well prepared, and met the physical criteria. Rikhel Trivedi was not chosen as his voice did not suit the role and he struggled to portray some emotions.

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101 views

Screen Test With Notes

This document summarizes screen tests conducted for the roles of James and Vladmir in a student film project. For the role of James, Hassan Shahid was chosen because he was physically suited to the role, comfortable in the role, and convincingly expressed the character's emotions. Aron Maher was not chosen because he seemed overconfident and did not meet the physical criteria. For the role of Vladmir, Suleman Mohamed was selected as he appeared threatening, was well prepared, and met the physical criteria. Rikhel Trivedi was not chosen as his voice did not suit the role and he struggled to portray some emotions.

Uploaded by

ThuvaaKuru
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Thuvaaragan Kuruparan

Screen Test with notes


For my AS Level Film Studies project portfolio, I have developed my planning
even further following my textual analysis on two contemporary films, Johnny
English Reborn (2011) and Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol (2011). Using the
theme Hero VS Villain, the binary oppositions theory by Levi Strauss, which I
found central in both films, I will plan a creative artefact in which my character
will also be represented this way through the micro elements, using protagonists
and antagonists. My intentions are to create 9 key frames which show the most
important moments in a 2 minute sequence. The 9 frames will be annotated and
explained. I will be trying to mainly follow Mission Impossible, where Ethan Hunt
is fighting Kurt Hendricks, where Ethan is represented heroic and powerful. This
can be seen my artefact where James is fighting the antagonist Vladmir. The
protagonist however follows Johnny English as the protagonist is not played by a
muscular stereotypical character. This way, I could gain important ideas from
both films, and follow them both.
For the character of James, it was important that it was played by a teenage
male around 19-20 years old who was light skinned, around 57 to 510 and also
has a slim body. This way, the character doesnt look threatening and doesnt
look like a stereotypical action hero which makes the artefact even more
dramatic as the protagonist goes on to defeat the antagonist against all odds. I
trying to replicate Johnny English and make the character look weak. The
character also needs to be able to command attention on camera to suit the role
of the protagonist. He needs to be photogenic and should be able to quickly get
into character when action is called and photos of each frame are about to be
taken.
The character of Vladmir needs to be a male actor who is around 511 60 and
has to look 23 to 25 years old. They need to clearly be more built than the
antagonist however lighter than the protagonist in order to make the character
look more vulnerable towards the end of the key frames. The physical attributes
of the character in important as the character is meant to be manipulative and
threatening as well as a dangerous person. The costume of this character will be
all black clothes. This is to represent the danger and the evil in him. Also, the
character face is half covered throughout the sequence to have some suspense.
Once I had done my character profiles and the script written, I had a clearer idea
of who would perfectly fit the roles of James and Vladmir. I held auditions and
auditioned some actors to choose who really suited the roles.

Thuvaaragan Kuruparan

The following extract was chosen for the auditions of the character James. In the
screen test, I was looking for someone that had a strong presence on stage as
well as being easy going.
----------(In a serious voice)
JAMES
Alright. I need you guys to be hundred percent sure on whether you
want to do this or not. Im giving you the chance to say no so take
it if you want but dont say yes and then decide to pull out mid-way
through. Once youre in, youre in. Im not going to sell you fake
dreams and tell you everything will be fine but one thing that I can
tell you is that we will stick together as a team till the end. Are
you with me or not?
----------Actor 1 - Aron Maher

Aron seemed to be confidence whilst talking and seemed to project his voice.
However, he did seem to be a bit over confident which could be helpful but didnt
really suite the character at that exact point. This would be a bit of a problem, as
he couldnt give me a clear indication on how suitable he was for my film.
Although, throughout the performance he seemed to get more into the role of
the character and was able to express the serious emotion the way I wanted him
to. He also had a habit of looking elsewhere whilst talking, even though he was
indicated to look right at me whilst speaking. I also felt that he wouldnt be
physically right for the role of James as he was around 60 as well as being quite
2

Thuvaaragan Kuruparan
well built. Moreover, the over confidence might be a put-off. Because of these
reasons, I decided that he doesnt suite the role of James and Aron was not
casted.

Actor 2 - Hassan Shahid

Hassan seemed a lot more comfortable in the role and seemed to have good
body language. He wasnt over confident and he also physically suited the role of
James as he was around 59 and also was light skinned. He being quite slim
made his physical appearance perfect for the role of the protagonist. It was quite
evident that he was really serious about playing the role of James as he was
powerful on the stage and fitted the frame quite well. He had a strong clear
voice and his acting was very convincing. He expressed his emotions clearly
through his body language and played the character in the perfect way. Unlike
Aron, he looked directly at me whilst playing the character. He seemed as if he
understood the character and the characters emotions and was perfect for the
role of James in my opinion. Hassan was casted for the role of James.
The following extract was chosen for the auditions of the character Vladmir. In
the screen test, I was particularly looking for someone that appeared to be
threatening and also for someone that had a very strong presence on stage.
Also, it was important that he had a very deep voice to sound threatening.
----------VLADMIR
(In a serious voice)
Listen up you two. This is the plan. You go and find him. And when
you do, you kill him. No ifs or buts. Kill him as soon as you find
him. If you dont, dont bother coming back. Ill do it myself after
I kill both of you useless idiots.

Thuvaaragan Kuruparan
-----------

Actor 1 - Suleman Mohamed

Suleman was really comfortable as well as having a very good energy and
immediately showed why he should be chosen for the role. He was confident and
very well prepared for the audition as well as having a very strong presence on
stage. Throughout the audition, he had a threatening look on his face which
indicated that he understood the character. Throughout the casting, he looked
me right in the eye while delivering the lines. Also, as he was light skinned, well
built and also around 511 which made his physical appearance perfect for the
role of Vladmir. I was extremely happy with the audition as Suleman perfectly
suited the role of Vladmir and therefore Suleman was casted for the role of
Vladmir.
Actor 2 Rikhel Trivedi

Rikhel also looked comfortable with playing the role of Vladmir. Although the way
he spoke was suitable for the role, I thought that his voice didnt really match the
role. Also, he didnt fill the criteria, as he is around 59. He also didnt look as
4

Thuvaaragan Kuruparan
built as Suleman. He was however confident and very outspoken. Rikhel also
struggled with portraying some of the emotions on the script and also struggled
to address the audience properly as he was talking straight to the camera rather
than addressing me. This made the audition look unrealistic and for these
reasons, I did not cast Rikhel for the role of Vladmir.

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