We had 32 applications when the deadline for the advert had passed. The next job was to sit down with Alex and look through the different profiles and show reels in order to narrow down the amount of candidates. Keeping in mind our limited budget and the possibility of a re-shoot, we narrowed them down in terms of their location. We were aiming to work with people from Kent or London but there were a few who lived further than this.
After we narrowed down the candidates, I sent out emails to everyone. Below is the email I sent for the people we invited for an audition. I made sure to sound professional so the candidates knew that even though this is a student project, we still want it to be serious and successful. I repeated the fact that we weren't paying for travel to and from the auditions due to keeping our budget down, I had stated this in the original advert but the candidates may not have read this part.
We have organised two different audition days, the 12th and 14th November as we had quite a few candidates. We have also spoke about keeping the 16th free incase anyone cannot make the other two dates. I thought that giving them certain times to come in on our two audition days would be best, but understandably there were a few people who I had to rearrange with as not everyone could make an allotted time slot. I felt it would make sense to get all the Tim’s and Luke’s in on one day, and the Tess’s and Pete’s in on the other day, with one Sheila on each day. However, I scheduled them so we had a Tim audition, then a Luke audition, and then a Tim audition, and so on. This way, the actors going for the same role wouldn’t see each other as they leave and enter the audition room. I simply felt that this was a fair way to carry out the auditions.
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| Example of my audition schedule |
This worked well because even though I had to re-schedule some of the auditions, I managed to keep the pattern of having a different role after one another. We lost two of the candidates while I was organising the auditions, one withdrew because he had gained paid job opportunities during this time, and the other one was also interested in paid work.
To help them prepare for the auditions, I sent over an audition pack which included the address to The Maidstone Studios, local train stations and taxi companies, and the story synopsis and their specific character profile, to remind them of the film and people involved. I also sent over the script and told them to familiarise themselves with their part. A few people asked to send in self-tapes, ideally we wanted to meet each person properly and get a sense of their own personalities but I agreed because I could send over the script and ask them to read a scene which they think best represents their character and performance. By doing this, we were still able to see them perform a part of the script and get an idea of how they would portray their character. For the self-tapes I also sent over an audition form. The form included questions such as location, contact details and dietary requirements. This form was for my benefit so I could work out food from their dietary requirements and travel prices from where they live. I also asked how they were going to get to the shoots e.g. drive or the train, so I could get a rough idea of how I would have to reimburse them. I included contact details so if they are successful I can contact them through their personal emails rather than using Mandy.com, as this is more professional. For Tim and Luke, the main question was are they comfortable with working with animals, as these characters work with the owls.
We had two full days dedicated to auditions, Monday 12th November and Wednesday 14th November. I received a message from one of the applicants asking if she could be seen on a separate day to these as she was travelling back from Italy just after these dates. We agreed a time on Friday 16th November, which meant we had two full days of half hour auditions, and one extra audition that week. I was very happy with this amount of accepted auditions because we had a big range of people to meet and run through the script with.
To help them prepare for the auditions, I sent over an audition pack which included the address to The Maidstone Studios, local train stations and taxi companies, and the story synopsis and their specific character profile, to remind them of the film and people involved. I also sent over the script and told them to familiarise themselves with their part. A few people asked to send in self-tapes, ideally we wanted to meet each person properly and get a sense of their own personalities but I agreed because I could send over the script and ask them to read a scene which they think best represents their character and performance. By doing this, we were still able to see them perform a part of the script and get an idea of how they would portray their character. For the self-tapes I also sent over an audition form. The form included questions such as location, contact details and dietary requirements. This form was for my benefit so I could work out food from their dietary requirements and travel prices from where they live. I also asked how they were going to get to the shoots e.g. drive or the train, so I could get a rough idea of how I would have to reimburse them. I included contact details so if they are successful I can contact them through their personal emails rather than using Mandy.com, as this is more professional. For Tim and Luke, the main question was are they comfortable with working with animals, as these characters work with the owls.
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| VET-MAN audition form |
We had two full days dedicated to auditions, Monday 12th November and Wednesday 14th November. I received a message from one of the applicants asking if she could be seen on a separate day to these as she was travelling back from Italy just after these dates. We agreed a time on Friday 16th November, which meant we had two full days of half hour auditions, and one extra audition that week. I was very happy with this amount of accepted auditions because we had a big range of people to meet and run through the script with.
As I said previously, I had to reschedule a few auditions because not everyone could make the dates I had allocated. This was understandable as some of them had other work commitments. Having to reschedule the auditions taught me how to deal with changing circumstances. I was constantly checking my emails to get back to people as soon as I could. This then made my scheduling easier as I knew quicker whether they could attend or not. The table below was my first schedule for the auditions. The candidates highlighted in green agreed to their allotted time slot, the candidates highlighted in yellow had to be rescheduled or had not replied yet, and the candidates highlighted in red either asked to send over a self-tape or unfortunately withdrew.
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| Audition schedule 1 |
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| Audition schedule 2 |
This is the latest audition schedule at the moment. I am currently rearranging Sheila's audition from 16:30 on the Monday to possibly the Friday, I am still waiting to hear back from her. However, there is a possibility that some people may not turn up even though they have confirmed their attendance. I can create a final list of everyone who attended the auditions on the last day - Friday 16th November.
Self-tapes
In total, we had 7 people ask to give in a self-tape. Ideally, we wanted to meet them in person but I wasn't able re-schedule everyone for a day they could make due to their work and personal commitments. For the self-tapes, I asked them to simply pick a scene in which they believe best represents their character. I also set a date for these to be sent to us by which was Friday 16th November (the same day as the final audition day).
In total, we had 7 people ask to give in a self-tape. Ideally, we wanted to meet them in person but I wasn't able re-schedule everyone for a day they could make due to their work and personal commitments. For the self-tapes, I asked them to simply pick a scene in which they believe best represents their character. I also set a date for these to be sent to us by which was Friday 16th November (the same day as the final audition day).
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