One Year Later - The Audition Process

Some of the One Year Later team

From l-r, Scott Forrest (AD), Sarah Mooney (AP), Rachael Darroch (BTS), Fraser Coull (writer/director), Mark Wood (actor) and Claire Mcguire (producer)

Photo by Dougie Coull

ONE YEAR LATER - THE AUDITION PROCESS

We had a brilliant time on Sunday the 10th of March meeting 13 brilliant actors who wanted to audition for the role of David in my new short film, One Year Later. We've had around 5 video auditions also and I can honestly say it was one of the hardest decisions I've ever had to make in my life.

I arrived at Blackfriars in Merchant City on at around 12.30pm where I met with Mark Wood, who is playing Steven in the film. Mark had come up from London to join us at the auditions and to read in with the actors who were auditioning to play his little brother. 

We were joined by our brilliant producer Claire Mcguire, our assistant producer Sarah Mooney, the film's behind the scenes filmmaker Rachael Darroch, the assistant director Scott Forrest and my Dad, professional photographer, Dougie Coull.

Mark Wood messes around in between the auditions

One by one the actors from all over Scotland appeared, even some familiar faces from people who have worked with me before, and it was great to see everybody's interpretation of the script they were given. It also let me see how Mark would play the role of Steven and allowed me to try different approaches with him, a very valuable experience indeed. 

Auditions started at 1pm and finished at 5.15pm, with only 3 actors not showing up. One or two of them had the decency to tell us, but I think it's very unprofessional to not let the production company know that you weren't going to show up, as it would have allowed us to seen another actor who didn't make the short-list. Very disappointing indeed.  

Claire and myself discussing the actors we had seen up to that point

What's great about auditions from my point of view as writer/director is that I can see how my writing can be interpreted a different way, and spot things that weren't immediately noticeable, allowing me to tweak the script, change lines here and there, or have the cast deliver the dialogue in a different way. 

Another brilliant thing was having Mark there from the start. Knowing that he is playing Steven in the film allowed me to see how he gelled with each other actor who was auditioning. It let me see who looked like the younger brother, who had the best chemistry with him. It's a key point to the film. This is a story about two brothers who have always been there for each other, and even though they tease each other and mock the other, deep down they are very supportive of their sibling and protect them. Even after death that relationship continues - the whole point of the film is how relationships work between siblings, and how your relationship with your partner is affected by that, and David's inability to move on after his brother has died. 

Watching all the actors I was thinking "Does this feel like a movie?" "Do I believe they are the young brother?" "Is he vulnerable enough to need his older brother?" "Does he look like he'll be a good match for April (who is playing Katy)", "Am I rooting for him?" All of these thoughts pop through my head as well as "Will they gel with my crew, will we work together well, can they take direction?" 

All important questions. For me anyway.

Mark Wood

After the dust had settled and the auditions were over, all of us discussed it. The guys told me who they thought were good for the part, and after Claire and I had a drink to discuss it. Since Sunday I've been watching the auditions over, and over, and over, and over again. Researching each actor online, watching their other work to see how they were in other projects etc. 

I have now made my decision and everybody who auditioned has been notified. We will announce who will be playing David in a day or so.

Now we have to lock down the rest of the locations, organise costumes, finish our crowd-funding, source the props, get the schedule sorted and then shoot the film in two days in April!

Ah, filmmaking, how I love thee.