The auditions for the the live-action parts went very well.  Credit must really go to Kirk who was a star in organising and setting the whole thing up.  He had help from a film student (who's name I will find out), who recorded the whole thing for us and our own Seb, who was on hand to help in lots of ways.
The actors, all performance students, many in their second year of study, waited patiently outside for their turn to audition.

I found the process very interesting as it wasn't something I'd ever been involved in before.  I was sitting next to Matt Walsh from Dog Bite Productions however, who was very used to auditions.  Because of this he had some interesting insights at the end, things I hadn't consciously thought of, such as the shape of a jaw and the relative heights of the male and female actors.  Despite this we had all three arrived exactly the same conclusion independently as to who were the right people for the two main parts.

  
All the actors were great and very patient with us,  Hopefully all that want to can be involved too as there are many extras and baddies needed.
It was a real collaboration between staff, professionals and students.  During the process there appeared to be little or no division between us in our pursuit of a common goal.  Great stuff!

Last Wednesday we pitched Deep to a good sized audience of students (and even Georg!), mainly from animation but also some music and a couple of drama students too.  I was particularly pleased to see many of our third years there.

 Derek did a brilliant job in getting the concept over and Rosa followed him by showing how incredibly organised we are and making us all feel as if it is actually feasible.

We have been very happy with the response and interest from students so far, a nice long list of names.  Derek and I are meeting this afternoon to begin to contact some of these students with a view to briefing them on what we would like them to do.  We have appointed Kirk as Creative Producer, a perfect role for someone like him, who is great at making things happen.  He has now set up our 'Deep Hayes' facebook group.  Supporting him will be Emma Walsh in a production co-ordinating role - she is just the right person.

So here's just a quick run down, things happening this week will include:
Derek and I to contact some of the students today (including music students) and arrange to brief them.
Derek and I to meet at Woodlane library tomorrow, sketchbooks at the ready and nail these art styles so that we can set the pre-production lot to work.
Briefing the CG people - we have a couple of shots we can give them.  This was Derek's idea - to get them working straight away - and I think it's great, it really feels now that the film has begun!