Santhujan Kugathasan

Screen Test Notes

For my AS Level Film Studies portfolio, I have followed my textual analysis of two
horror films The Woman in Black (James Watkins, UK, 2012) and Paranormal
Activity 4 (Ariel Schulman and Henry Joost, US, 2012) where I analysed how the
films represented the themes of fear and isolation through the use of
microelements. In my creative artefact, I will portray fear and isolation in similar
ways that my two chosen films did. I intend to create 9 Key Frames, which will
include images of the most important scenes and will be annotated fully. My 9
Key Frames will show a boy walking into an abandoned school and getting killed
by a mysterious figure.
For my 9 key frames, I created a script and focused on finding two male actors,
one protagonist and one antagonist. The protagonist had to clearly show fear to
the audience just as the character Anu in my film does. The antagonist has to be
able to portray the power and control that he has over the protagonist. In order
to find people suitable for these roles I held auditions so I could decide for myself
who could show certain emotions to the audience through their characters. I
auditioned 4 people: 2 for the role of the protagonist and 2 for the role of the
antagonist.

Character Profiles:
Name: Anu
Age: 16
Anu is a boy that is gifted in talented in his studies. He was predicted all A* in his
GCSE and was ahead in life. He lived near an abandoned school and always was
keen to see what was inside the old school and to see the reason why the school
was abandoned in the first place.

Name: The Devil in White

Age: 103
The Devil in White was killed at the age of 16 at his school. One of his teachers
had a breakdown and went on a killing spree, managing to kill over 30 people,
including him. After death, he was unable to find peace and so still lurks in the
halls of his old school even after his murder.

I chose to make my actors audition using an extract from my script. This extract
is from the scene where Anu is walking through the school.

ANU walks up the stairs to the first floor. A ghost appears in the
corner, but ANU doesnt see anything. ANU is paranoid that there is
something following him. He walks cautiously upstairs.

Santhujan Kugathasan

Actor 1:
Name: Chen
Age: 17
Height: 58
Hair Colour: Black
Eye Colour: Dark Brown
Screen Test Notes for Actor 1: Amazing actor, gave me lots of
energy to work with and gave me the correct emotion. For
example, when he was told to cry in pain, he made me think that he was actually
crying and not acting. This was an amazing feel for me and will be the same for
my 9 key frames.

Actor 2:

Name: Arjun
Age: 17
Height: 58
Hair Colour: Black
Eye Colour: Black
Screen Test Notes for Actor 2:
This actor did not meet any of the requirements for the
character Anu. He was very nervous and did not want to act in front of me or the
other actors. He constantly laughed throughout his audition and he was unable
to present the themes of fear and isolation due to his comedic behaviour. He had
the correct build for the character but he was unable to act and I did not think he
would make my 9 key frames look good.

ANU starts to run, but behind him THE DEVIL IN WHITE runs as well to
catch him and as he runs he trips over his shoelace. THE DEVIL IN
WHITE takes out a knife and stabs ANU in the back.

Actor 3:

Santhujan Kugathasan

Name: Santhoshan
Age: 16
Height: 57
Hair Colour: Black
Eye Colour: Dark Brown

Screen Test Notes for Actor 3:

He was amazing and gave his all when acting. He
showed dedication toward his acting and acted so well.
He showed different kind of emotion within minutes. For example, he will be sad
for 1 minute and the next he will be excited and happy. That showed me he had
talent and was the right person for my 9 key frames.

Actor 4:
Name: Devdoot
Age: 16
Height: 59
Hair Colour: Black
Eye Colour: Black
Screen Test Notes for Actor 4:
His acting was good, but not amazing and was shy to
act front of me, which made me think that he wont
suit any of my roles I had.
After auditioning the 4 males for the roles in my film, I decided to cast Chen as
the protagonist, Anu, and Santhoshan as the antagonist, The Devil in White. This
is because, I think that they will bring out the best of my 9 key frame and also
give a bit extra when acting, so that it will look better when I take pictures of
them. Furthermore, the role I gave them will suit them as the characters in the
story has a similar trait as the characters who are acting in the film.