1Tahjah BlakeAS Film Studies Coursework - Screen test with notes

For my AS Film Studies project portfolio, following a textual analysis of two teenage dramas; The Perks of being a wallflower (2012) and LOL (2012) I have been able to develop my production planning. For both of these movies I have explored how teenage protagonists are represented through the microelements; mise-en-scene, editing, cinematography and sound.

Both of my chosen films The Perks of Being a Wallflower and LOL have a number of scenes, which portrays stereotypical teenagers. Which is normally shown to be mischievous, naughty, rebellious and argumentative towards adults especially parents. I tried to represent my teenage protagonist from my creative artefact to be this stereotypical naughty teenager similarly to the ones in the films I wrote about in my textual analysis. There are many links between my creative artefact and textual analysis such as the films protagonist are teenagers and the location are similar and in some cases the same. Similarly to the movies I explored in my textual analysis, my teenage protagonist character is shown to be facing issues, such as her relationship with her mother.

Character profile: Name: Chelsea Age: 17Occupation: at college

The character of Chelsea is very confident and witty, she uses her facial expressions to emphasize the cheekiness of her personality so the actor that plays her needs to be able to use her facial expressions in a very mischievous manner. The character of Chelsea needs to be able to express what she is thinking through her smirk or cheeky grin; facial expressions and body language are very important for her character as she uses them to express herself. For the character of Chelsea, I think it was important that she was dressed nice but casual; she needs to either be black or of mixed race. She needs to be confident and be able to do a range of facial expressions that portray how she feels and can express her emotions. The protagonist Chelsea is the opposite of shy, not afraid to stand her ground or call people up when she feels they are being unfair. She likes to get her way and if she doesnt, she doesnt let it go quietly. I need the actor to be able to be this, not through dialogue but through things such as mise-en-scene e.g. body language.

To summarise, for the character of Chelsea the main things I am looking for from the actor are: How confident they are If they can express a mischievous look through facial expressions How well they can act as if they are frustrated How well they can project their voice whilst having a rude tone with their voice

I decided to produce a practise monologue for the screen test that would give me a good idea of how my auditioning actors would be in the role and how well they perform my teenage protagonist character.

The following extract was chosen from my script to be used as the practise monologue, these are the key lines and so we are looking for someone who can articulate these lines while having good facial expressions and a good tone of voice.

Practise monologue:

CHELSEA Youre not even giving me a real reason for why I cant go out tonight mum

CHELSEA (Shouting) YOU JUST DONT GET IT, YOU WILL NEVER UNDERSTAND

CHELSEA walks angrily out of the room, turning back before she opens the door to give her mother a rude look

Notes on the actors:

Actor: Kishma JimmieAge: 16Height: 55Features: brown eyes, black hair

Kishma said these lines using a good tone, she wasnt shouting but she wasnt too quiet either she spoke them very well. Kishmas facial expressions were not to the quality I would have liked, she lacked rude gestures-face is too innocent. Shy with facial expressions, had low energy and not cheeky enough.

Actor: Snita Verwayne Age: 16Height: 54Features: black straight hair, brown eyes, short

Snita had good energy and was able to do a range of facial expressions how I had hoped the character of Chelsea would be able to demonstrate. Her performance doing the practise monologue was good. She wasnt able to deliver her lines in a range of ways and her tone wasnt fantastic but her gestures and facial expressions were great.

Actor: Jade LyderAge: 16Height: 56Features: tall, brown eyes, black curly afro hair

Jade when she first started saying the lines she was embarrassed and nervous and she was trembling, as she got more use to the character she began to perform more confidently, but still in a bit of a shell. I felt as though she had more to offer but was too shy and timid to let herself become the character of Chelsea. She struggled making the tone of her voice to be cheeky and rude but did deliver the shouting lines fine.

Actor: Rhenea BlakeAge: 22Height: 58Features: golden blonde hair,

Rhenea had great facial expressions; she was able to do the facial expressions how I imagined and hope the character of Chelsea would. Furthermore, she had things from the script that matched her appearance. She said the lines very good but more importantly for her character kept the facial expressions and body language strong throughout her performance. Her gestures, tone and expressions worked well and I thought her performance of Chelsea was spot on. This is why I chose to feature Rhenea Blake as the character Chelsea.

Actor: Yvonne StanleyAge: 45Height: 55Features: red dread locks, glasses

Yvonne had good facial expressions, gestures and body language. She fits the role of the mother and had good dialogue and a very stern tone. I feel is the best candidate suitable for the role of the mother in my key frames.

CAST:

CHELSEA RHENEA BLAKE CHELSEAS MOTHER YVONNE STANLEY