Along with Thomas (Director), Dowan (Screenwriter) and I (1st AD) decided we would help with casting for the shoot.  Thomas had previously posted an ad on 'StarNow' and had received 9 applications (however 4 of these did not match the criteria described). 

Messages were sent to the five that seemed fit for the role to audition on Monday 17th November. Only three of these replied, one saying he could only audition from a Skype call. While Julia and I were planing the shooting schedule, Thomas to save time went and secured G03 for us to use on the monday and messaged the actors the details for the audition. 

 To prepare for the casting, I looked back on Nigel Bristow's "Casting Dos and Don'ts."

I also looked back at what we had done in the Directing Actors workshop with Nigel, such as how to be clear and articulate exactly what you want, while giving the actors enough freedom and trust to be able to bring their own thing to the project. Having studied speech and drama previously for numerous years and after Nigel saying in the workshop that it would be beneficial for us to have a little bit of experience in acting to have a better understanding of how actors work, I had a rough idea from an actor's point of view the easiest way to communicate. I also thought this might help me spot strong and weak points in their acting to make notes on through the auditions.

On the day, Dowan took the role of greeting the actors and bringing them to the room. Once the actor reached the room, Thomas and I would greet them, shake their hands and break the ice a little bit more with them to make them feel as comfortable as possible.  We had given each actor about 20 - 30 minutes as suggested by Nigel, and then gave ourselves time to discuss the performance between ourselves afterwards.  Water was also provided for the actors to drink when needed. 

The First Actor

Notes I made during audition

Throughout the audition, Tom would direct them at the beginning as to what to do and then as they were performing gave them a cue as to when a particular thing changed in the performance, such as putting the phone down. We also made sure to ask before filming the actor for an audition tape like Nigel had mentioned in the 'Casting Dos and Don'ts' mentioned earlier, to be "polite" and make sure he was comfortable with this. 

Afterwards,  Tom, Dowan and I discussed our opinions and the general conclusion was that he was ok, but needed a lot of direction to get a good performance. We preferred if the performance wasn't so stiff, and that more obvious facial expressions were used to get across the mood of the film due to it having no dialogue. However we felt that he was a very reliable option, due to the fact he made it for the audition. During the audition just after his 2nd test the actor did ask for the character background, and even though Thomas had sent him this beforehand, I advised that in future he briefly go over it again at the beginning of the audition before the actor performs anything, just to refresh them on the brief. 

Second Actor

At this point Dowan had to go to work, so me and Tom continued on with the casting. After waiting 40 minutes for the next actor to show up, we decided that he wasn't coming and packed up. This taught us that reliability is very important and we don't want an actor that we can't depend on to show up for the final shoot, as this would ruin everything we've all worked for so far. Both Tom and I were very disappointed to say the least, as we thought the actor had seemed enthusiastic after agreeing to come audition. 

Third Actor 

While Dowan and I weren't present for this, due to it being over Skype on Wednesday, here are the notes Tom made and sent to us:

"Very enthusiastic about the project, understands it completely and seems very social. Had suggestions for the character's interpretations and seemed eager to try out alternative versions. Lives nearby (woking) and is available on the shoot day."

We also watched his audition that Tom had recorded to get an understanding of his performance.

Notes (based off recorded footage)

• I liked the movement and felt it fitted with the character well.
• Seemed to understand how the character should act and the background. 
• Tom said he seemed enthusiastic and I also felt this from watching the performance.
• Seems more open and less reliant on a lot of strong direction. 

Decision

During working on the set build, Tom was speaking with Julia (producer) and I about which actor to chose. He seemed like he was very strongly leaning towards the third actor, however wanted everyone else's opinions before finally messaging one of them to confirm the role. I advised him to go with his instinct with the third actor, as I agreed that there seemed to be the stronger out of the two auditioned and thought that he and Tom (as well as the rest of the crew) could work well together, as he seemed a lot more fun and chatty, willing to express his own ideas and creativity into the project.