Tyler A.

Browne

For my AS Level Film Studies portfolio, I have followed my

textual analysis of two period-drama films 12 Years A
Slave (Steve McQueen, US 2013) and Suffragette (Sarah
Gavron, UK 2015) where I analysed how the films
protagonists portray hope using the micro-elements. In my
creative artefact, I will portray hope in the face of
discrimination, however, it will be in modern times and not
in the pre WW1 era, this is to get the point that racism is
still occurring across to my audience. This is similar to my
two chosen films, although, it has that distinct difference. I
decided to create a sequence of 9 key frames to narrate
my story of a young woman of mixed heritage who goes
for a job interview and is shocked when she experiences
racism from the interviewer. Racism that she gracefully
fights.

I wrote a script for my 9 key frames. I will focus on the

most important parts of my script to create these key
frames. I focused on finding a young woman (or a woman
that looks young) and that is of mixed heritage (or looks
like she is). The protagonist had to be able to convey the
feeling of hope and get it across to the audience, just as
the characters in my two films I analysed had to do. The
antagonist had to be able to show to the audience the
guiltiness turned anger to the audience. He also has to
show he has the dominant role as he is the interviewer.
There is also a minor role. The receptionist had to show a
bubbly nature to the audience. Always smiling and happy. I
held auditions for the roles so that I could consider and
decide who best to portray the characters, through facial
expressions and body language, seeing as its key frames.
I auditioned two females for the protagonist; one for the
role of the receptionist; and two males for the role of the
antagonist.

Character Profiles:

Name: Bl Alexander
Age: 36
Bl Alexander. She is an intelligent, enthusiastic, graceful
young woman; from an upper class family. She is
incredibly prideful of the fact that she graduated top of her

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class doing a law degree at Cambridge. She is also prideful

of the fact that she is of mixed heritage. She takes
overwhelming pride of that, in fact. She boasts many
skills: she is very well spoken, in fact, at one point in her
life as a student at university she impressed other
students as she was given a topic to talk about and
proceeded to talk about it for 5 minutes straight with no
breaks, pauses, or stutters!; Shes very good at detecting
a liar or a person who is guilty of doing something wrong.
A skill that could come very useful in law; she is also very
adept at judging a persons character. Without spending
very long with them. She is wise beyond her years, having
an IQ of 130. She has next to no rivals intellectually,
however, she does occasionally let this get her into heated
debates, or even arguments with people who clearly arent
worth her time and energy. Sometimes with the wrong
people. Although, for good reason I certain cases.

Name: Andrew Michael Stains III

Age: 60
Andrew Michael Stains III, or Andrew Stains for short, is an
elderly man who is one of the managers at one of
Londons biggest law firm. He used to be a lawyer, before
being raised to such a privileged position. In fact he was
one of the best lawyers in the country, if not, the World. As
a prosecution lawyer he managed to send over 400 Hell
bound criminals to jail, and in his best year he sent over
45. Although he is smart, smooth and his grey hair and
wrinkled face give him the appearance of a wise sage, he
has got an issue with keeping with the times. This is not in
his sense of fashion or keeping with the current lingo, but
in the way he addresses people. Especially those who are
women and those who are of colour. He thinks it is okay to
talk to women as though they are all cheap hookers and
he feels it is okay to judge people on the colour of their
skin. This is not because he is trying to hurt people, it is
because he is lost in the times. He was raised and made a
name for himself in a time where no one of colour was
respected or cared for properly, especially not in England.
It was horrible and he cant seem to get with the times.
Its like they say; You cant teach an old dog new tricks.

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The following extract is from my script; War Cry and has

been chosen for the auditions of the characters. This is the
part at the end of my script, when Bl has her monologue.
I wanted to find who gave me the most emotion. Who
made me feel the pain of a whole race who constantly get
discriminated against, even in modern times;

BL
(Narrator. Addressing the audience)
Racism. The most used form of discrimination. Its been
used for centuries to keep minorities oppressed and
incapable of reaching their full potential But enough
hatred! We hate because were taught to hate and
anything taught can be untaught We are all part of one
race. And thats the human race. Its time we stood up
and changed before it gets any worse. It cant get any
worse

Actress 1:

Name: Leila Monfared

Age: 16
Height: 51
Features: Long, curly, black hair, fair skin tone (of mixed
heritage).

Although this actress met the requirements to play the

character in question, I didnt think she was suitable for
the role of the protagonist. Although she portrays a very
confident demeanour her acting skill wasnt up to par with
the other actress that auditioned. She had a good start to

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her audition as she read the lines confidently and with the
emotion needed to play the part. However, as it is key
frames dialogue is not important, body language and
facial expression and in these aspects the actress did
suffer. Her lack of these key aspects did lead to her
downfall, as I didnt believe that she was trying to express
hope, which is a key theme in my story. This led to me
coming to the decision that she was not suitable for the
role.

Actress 2:

Name: Suzette Browne

Age: 35
Height: 55
Features: Short hair, black with brown highlights, Black (but fair
skin tone. Capable of playing a person of mixed heritage).

This actress met the requirements for the Protagonist, Bl. She
was very confident from the beginning of the audition, this
exagerated the fact that Bl is well spoken and has a lot of pride
in what she does. Suzette was very excited and very ditermined
to get the role and showed a good understanding of the script in
her audition. However, she did over exaggerate some lines,
which led to the lines sounding forced. Seeing as its 9 key
frames, dialogue wasnt that important, however, body language
and facial expressions were, and this is where Suzette excelled.
Her body language and facial expressions were powerful, which

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helped express the themes of hope that I am trying to narrate in

my story. This is why I have decided to choose her for the role of
the protagonist.

I chose to audition my actor after I chose my actress

because I wanted to use the actress to read out the
protagonists lines so they could act out a part of the
script together.

MR. STAINS
(Angry. Shouting)
NEVER HAVE I EXPERIENCED SUCH A RUDE, INSULANT,
DISRESPECTFUL YOUNG WOMAN. I AM APPALLED AT YOUR
ABSOLUTELY DISGRACEFUL CONDUCT. GET OUT OF THIS BUILDING
THIS INSTANT!

BL
(Angry, but composed)
No. If I walk out. Next time you see me will be in a
court of law.

MR. STAINS
(Chuckling)
Court of law? If youre going to threaten me with legal
action at least have some evidence to justify it.

BL
(Frustrated)
You think I dont notice racism when it happens just
because its not blatant doesnt mean I wont notice it.

Actor 1:

Name: Michael Murray

Age: 53
Height: 61
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Features: Mid-cut grey hair, White skin colour, wrinkled

face.

The audition of actor 1 was mainly bad, although, it did

have a few good things in it. He lacked confidence from
the start. His body language and facial expressions varied,
sometimes it was good, he seemed as though he was
adequate for the role. However, sometimes he was
unconfident and he looked as though he didnt really want
to fully express himself in front of people. He was tentative
and it showed in the way he read out the lines. He
stuttered a lot and in the odd line that he didnt stutter, he
said very quietly and softly. He seemed as though he
wasnt really looking to exert the amount of energy and
passion needed to play this role. Also, he didnt seem
capable of being able to play the role of Mr Stains as
Stains is a very arrogant and cocky character and Actor 1
was shy and lacked confidence. This is why I decided that
he was not to play the role of Mr Stains.

Actor 2:

Name: Mark Oakes

Age: 57
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Height: 60
Features: Short, white hair, white skin colour, wrinkled
face.

Actor 2s performance in his audition was very good. I

became aware of his ability to deliver lines effectively and
powerfully. He took on the role of this character extremely
well. He captured the arrogant and insolent nature of Mr
Stains. I could tell that he was an actor that took serious
pride in his craft as he memorised all of the lines in his
script and probably spent months preparing for the role.
He was very clear with his lines. It was clear what
emotions he was trying to convey and he deeply
understood the character he was trying to play. His body
language and facial expressions were the best yet. He was
strong, powerful and showed that he genuinely believed
he was the dominant character. It is because of all of this
that I have decided to give the role to Actor 2.