The Root of Love - pre production

I have to say that I think the pre-production of my film is going very well. Last week we held auditions for the two lead actors in my film, playing the characters 'Ben' and 'Clementine'.

Auditions were held both at the RSAMD and in the Glasgow Acting Academy. I was very grateful for the fact that we had over 15 people audition for the film. It felt as though we really needed a large number of people as it was great to have more actors to choose between and a wider variety of acting styles.

I actually found it quite challenging to cast the roles. In my head I had a very clear view of who I wanted my characters to be and what I wanted them to look like. However when it came around to auditions I did not automatically spot an actor that fit my character brief (appearance wise anyway). This was disappointing because in my head I imagined that someone would come into the room and I would realise right away that this is the person i want to be in my film. To be honest I think that this was more of a glorified version of a casting process.

It was interesting however to see the range of actors that auditioned and the different takes they had on the characters. In the end I ended up finding four female actors and three male ones that I likes. I found it really helpful that the producers came to the auditions with me and Murray's experience of having auditioned himself was really valuable to me. I also found it useful that we recorded all of the auditions. This meant that if we were struggling to remember an actor or were questioning how good their performance we could simply watch it back to refresh our memories. It was also useful when comparing the actors.

We held call backs today which was really interesting. Unfortunately one of the male actors and one of the female actresses were unable to attend the callback. Although this was a shame it did mean that we were left with three actors auditioning for Clementine and three for Ben. This was perfect as it meant that we were able to see each of the girls audition with each of the boys. We got them to act out in pairs a few sections from the script and a little bit of improv.

In the end we were slightly torn between two girls and two boys. We also how consider not only who is the best actor and who's appearance is most suited to the character, but also how the actors would match and work together as a couple. After a little bit of deliberation I am sure that the right decision has been made. I am now really excited about shooting, but also slightly nervous as we only have less than a week to go. Needless to say I am enjoying the project and cant wait to see it come to life over the weekend.