How could I forget?
I booked my first professional movie. :)
Yeah, it's as an extra. Yeah, it's nonunion. But I did have to go get fitted for a costume. It's five days of work, on a film with some really big names. :) Not completely sure what I'll be doing, but it sounds as if it should be really interesting.
I'll let you know how it goes.
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Monday, August 27, 2007
What's the Time...?
Or...
Children are Sticky
or...
The Fabulous Life of...
or...
Oh my god, it hurts
These were all titles of posts I meant to write. I have some updating to do, if you haven't noticed.
My week in L.A. was a ton of fun, and I should have posted every day, there was always a story to tell. But I was on vacation, and I was watching children, so no dice.
I was out there with my sister and her family. There's a 4 month old nephew ou tthere I have to imprint myself on, so my trip was to L.A. when it's really #$%^in hot. By far, I had the most painless flight out ever, and immediately passed ouot on arrival. This has less to do with fatigue than a jet lag survival mechanism. This time, however, it did not work. I was out of sorts that whole week. I've been back for five days and just now I'm getting my sh!t together. Getting old has its disadvantages. (this is the first half of the reason I chose the title for the post...keep reading)
The children were fun. Well, sort of. Don't get me wrong, they're two handsome boys, one 2 and the other an infant, but Nephew the Elder is in something called the Terrible Twos (I didn't think that was REAL) and Nephew the Younger apparently has more lung in his body than anything else. That kid could CRY. I was heartily impressed. I made sure to push my sister and brother in law out the door as often as possible cause really, how often do they get to go out on their own? You could see the hesitation at times. Can't blame her, we did grow up together. So I said, "What are they gonna do, cry at me? I'm bigger." See, uncles heartstrings are harder to pull. When it was bedtime, it was bedtime. Diapers were fun. By fun I mean not fun at all. Oh, and the trick to quieteing any kid down is the Disney movie about the fish. You can play it ad nauseam and they never get tired. Just like when I was a kid and HBO played Red Dawn five times a day. (Woooolveriiines...)
One night I got to go out with my fabulous friend Sharon. We had dinner in Studio City then hit Katana, where the beautiful people are. She's a ton of fun and a workhorse so if her headshot crosses your desk, use her.
The next day we went to the beach and I found out something about sunblock. Or at least incorrectly applied sunblock. I burned to the color of an angry tomato. This knocked me out for two days, which gave me enough time to burn through the last of the Harry Potter books, so now I can exorcise him from my life, until the next movie comes out. My sister used some of my downtime to leave me and the kids and go to some L.A. blogging parties. She's a blogger of some notoriety here.
My last full day we were just lounging around in the morning when she said her husband had volunteered to take the boys, so we could go out my last night in town. Cool, we said, then thought of almost nothing to do, until she was perusing the paper and said, "Hey, the Beastie Boys are playing tonight. You like them don't you?"
And that, my friends, was what time it was. Time to get...(oh yes)...Ill. Fantastic seats at the Greek Theatre, a wonderful place to see any show. Thousands of thirtysomethings singing along to Paul Revere, the Maestro, Intergalactic Planetary, Sabotage, and all you're favorites. Finally, after all these visits, I had a celebrity-ish sighting in the crowd, but who cared? My sister who likes them but is a bit less versed in Beastie lore had an amazing time watching all the sarcastic coolly apathetic L.A. hipsters go nuts.
And I missed my flight home. Not my fault, but missed nonetheless. To make up for it, the first half was first class. Not a bad deal.
Children are Sticky
or...
The Fabulous Life of...
or...
Oh my god, it hurts
These were all titles of posts I meant to write. I have some updating to do, if you haven't noticed.
My week in L.A. was a ton of fun, and I should have posted every day, there was always a story to tell. But I was on vacation, and I was watching children, so no dice.
I was out there with my sister and her family. There's a 4 month old nephew ou tthere I have to imprint myself on, so my trip was to L.A. when it's really #$%^in hot. By far, I had the most painless flight out ever, and immediately passed ouot on arrival. This has less to do with fatigue than a jet lag survival mechanism. This time, however, it did not work. I was out of sorts that whole week. I've been back for five days and just now I'm getting my sh!t together. Getting old has its disadvantages. (this is the first half of the reason I chose the title for the post...keep reading)
The children were fun. Well, sort of. Don't get me wrong, they're two handsome boys, one 2 and the other an infant, but Nephew the Elder is in something called the Terrible Twos (I didn't think that was REAL) and Nephew the Younger apparently has more lung in his body than anything else. That kid could CRY. I was heartily impressed. I made sure to push my sister and brother in law out the door as often as possible cause really, how often do they get to go out on their own? You could see the hesitation at times. Can't blame her, we did grow up together. So I said, "What are they gonna do, cry at me? I'm bigger." See, uncles heartstrings are harder to pull. When it was bedtime, it was bedtime. Diapers were fun. By fun I mean not fun at all. Oh, and the trick to quieteing any kid down is the Disney movie about the fish. You can play it ad nauseam and they never get tired. Just like when I was a kid and HBO played Red Dawn five times a day. (Woooolveriiines...)
One night I got to go out with my fabulous friend Sharon. We had dinner in Studio City then hit Katana, where the beautiful people are. She's a ton of fun and a workhorse so if her headshot crosses your desk, use her.
The next day we went to the beach and I found out something about sunblock. Or at least incorrectly applied sunblock. I burned to the color of an angry tomato. This knocked me out for two days, which gave me enough time to burn through the last of the Harry Potter books, so now I can exorcise him from my life, until the next movie comes out. My sister used some of my downtime to leave me and the kids and go to some L.A. blogging parties. She's a blogger of some notoriety here.
My last full day we were just lounging around in the morning when she said her husband had volunteered to take the boys, so we could go out my last night in town. Cool, we said, then thought of almost nothing to do, until she was perusing the paper and said, "Hey, the Beastie Boys are playing tonight. You like them don't you?"
And that, my friends, was what time it was. Time to get...(oh yes)...Ill. Fantastic seats at the Greek Theatre, a wonderful place to see any show. Thousands of thirtysomethings singing along to Paul Revere, the Maestro, Intergalactic Planetary, Sabotage, and all you're favorites. Finally, after all these visits, I had a celebrity-ish sighting in the crowd, but who cared? My sister who likes them but is a bit less versed in Beastie lore had an amazing time watching all the sarcastic coolly apathetic L.A. hipsters go nuts.
And I missed my flight home. Not my fault, but missed nonetheless. To make up for it, the first half was first class. Not a bad deal.
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
You might be wondering where I've been. Why I haven't posted. You might be wondering if I care anymore. Well, I do. The simple fact is that I've had next to nothing to write about for you dear readers.
The Summer Wedding Marathon of '07 is officially over, thank Croesus. I'm heading out today to L.A. for a week to visit my sister and nephews. Good times. I just wish I was more rested. With work and all the other crap that's been the majority of my summer I would have preferred a cabin in the woods. Hell, a cave would do.
With broad-band access, of course.
The Summer Wedding Marathon of '07 is officially over, thank Croesus. I'm heading out today to L.A. for a week to visit my sister and nephews. Good times. I just wish I was more rested. With work and all the other crap that's been the majority of my summer I would have preferred a cabin in the woods. Hell, a cave would do.
With broad-band access, of course.
Tuesday, July 03, 2007
Now I am Complete
I saw it. There are no words.
I felt like a kid again. Stupid lines, thin love story (who cares), huge gigantic robots battling in the street. AWESOME.
I'm not gonna say there was nothing wrong with it. It took a little while to get moving, and some of the action sequences were confusing, but who cares? Did I mention GIANT ROBOTS battling in the street?
Some will complain about the changes from the original cartoon. In the court of my opinion those complaints can be directed to the nearest cinderblock wall. It kept the spirit of the cartoon I watched as a kid from the cheesy Autobot lines to the bad post-action one liners. There was enough hilarity in it to keep it kid friendly. (Funny, though, no too many kids in the theater. Mostly 30-35 year olds. Hmmmm.)
And though I normally hate this, they left room for the sequel, which rumor has there will be at least two.
Sweeeeeeet.
I felt like a kid again. Stupid lines, thin love story (who cares), huge gigantic robots battling in the street. AWESOME.
I'm not gonna say there was nothing wrong with it. It took a little while to get moving, and some of the action sequences were confusing, but who cares? Did I mention GIANT ROBOTS battling in the street?
Some will complain about the changes from the original cartoon. In the court of my opinion those complaints can be directed to the nearest cinderblock wall. It kept the spirit of the cartoon I watched as a kid from the cheesy Autobot lines to the bad post-action one liners. There was enough hilarity in it to keep it kid friendly. (Funny, though, no too many kids in the theater. Mostly 30-35 year olds. Hmmmm.)
And though I normally hate this, they left room for the sequel, which rumor has there will be at least two.
Sweeeeeeet.
Monday, July 02, 2007
Overheard in my local movie theater
"I'm not gonna lie to ya...I am f#cking pumped for this movie"
As heard by my lady friend every time we walk by the huge Transformers display. Said by yours truly. I am taking a big bath in dorkness and feel not one once of shame. I might have referred to it as a Transformers-gasm. When I say might I mean I say it all the time.
I have, at this point. This entire week with nothing to do. One audition for Baby and that's it. No overtime. No filming. Nothing.
So now I can get my house in decent shape, exercise, do some writing, play some music, have drinks with friends. It's gonna be nice. Until something happens, which always does. Liek Garrison Keiller says, "If you find yourself happy, just wait a few minutes."
Oooo, I can get a haircut! Now that Very Small Rooms is done shooting I can chop the mop. It's been way too long for three weeks now.
As heard by my lady friend every time we walk by the huge Transformers display. Said by yours truly. I am taking a big bath in dorkness and feel not one once of shame. I might have referred to it as a Transformers-gasm. When I say might I mean I say it all the time.
I have, at this point. This entire week with nothing to do. One audition for Baby and that's it. No overtime. No filming. Nothing.
So now I can get my house in decent shape, exercise, do some writing, play some music, have drinks with friends. It's gonna be nice. Until something happens, which always does. Liek Garrison Keiller says, "If you find yourself happy, just wait a few minutes."
Oooo, I can get a haircut! Now that Very Small Rooms is done shooting I can chop the mop. It's been way too long for three weeks now.
Saturday, June 30, 2007
This past week has been nuts.
Loosely, worked all weekend, with that shoot on Saturday as well. As an update, the director said that she felt she got it (the scene I sucked in) and it'll do the picture justice. I was willing to go back and do it again the next day if she'd asked.
Monday through Wednesday night was shooting Very Small Rooms. During the days I was searching for, then seeing a new chiropractor because my back has been in excruciating pain the last two weeks and I'm too pig-headed to do anything about it. Wednesday was the longest, adn the hottest, but we pulled off some shots that were f^cking brilliant, seriously. These filmmakers are totally self taught. They don't know much of "the lingo" and have none of the jaded hipsterism I hate so much. But their vision and writing speaks for itself, and they've educated themselves well. Very proud of them.
So Wednesday night (Thursday morning) we finish at about 2:30am. Hour drive home. Must be in Fitchburg, MA by 9am for more Zombie University shooting. This was guerilla at its best. The normally quiet street we were shooting on was busy because of construction on some other street. The producer on the director disappeared for ten minutes, came back with a couple of "procured" orange cones and blocked off the section we needed to work in. Ah, the power of orange cones. The officers who drive by didn't even look twice. Unfortunately, I also had to be covered in blood during the noon day sun. Irish men like me don't take the sun too well, so I got burned as well as blood-soaked, but it seemed to have turned out well. Apparently my stock is rising in the zero-to-low budget, super-independent filmmaking community of New England.
Finally, last night, I got some decent sleep. Once this weekend is done I will have five, count 'em FIVE days with nothing on my schedule...
Yet.
A Letter to Directors/Filmmakers from the "Talent"
Part II: Production
So here we are...time to shoot! For me, obviously, this the most exciting time. This is where I put it all on the line. I want to deliver for you, so there's a couple things that'll make it easier for me.
1. A detailed schedule: Where and when should I be? Call times, directions to locations, personal costumes I need, this is great when it's all on one piece of paper if possible. When it comes to call times, I know it's easiest to just call everyone for the day, but if you know you aren't going to use me for at least the first four hours, make my call reasonably within that time frame. (I know you SAG folks get day rates and all that, I'm talking about us free actors out there.) I'll get the message that you respect my time, and I will respect yours as well. If I'm consistently late you should probably speak to me about that, or make my call time earlier. The less time I'm in holding the more fresh I am to perform well for you.
A shot list would be awesome. I almost never get these. Unless it's your directorial decision to keep the actors in the dark to get something you're looking for, the more information we get, the better. Some liaison between the cast and the production crew is awesome as well. Are we delayed? I understand delays completely, just let me know about them. But a shot list lets us know and prepare for where our characters are in the flow of the script, and maybe get in a little rehearsal time before that shot goes up.
Also, let me know before that day if I'm jumping off something, fighting someone, or getting covered in anything gooey, please.
2. A place to sit. I'm often surprised that this is overlooked. Before I get into it let me say this, I am amazed at almost every crew I've ever seen. You folks work tirelessly, around the clock at times, with little to no break. The boundless enthusiasm you show keeps me in check when I get cranky. I also understand that you're working this hard to make my shots look as good as they can, and I love you for it. I get irritated with actors far more often than I do with crews.
That said, give me a place with a chair. There's usually a lot of time where I have nothing to do, and nothing makes it longer than being uncomfortable. I'm not asking for a trailer with a masseuse (although I'd never turn that down) just a little corner to myself.
3. On Shooting and Pre-shot preparation. As actors, we need to find a flow, a way to convey the emotion you're looking for. In theater, more often than not, the flow is easy. We go from beginning to end, the arc is easy. For you, though, the shooting is done out of order, on different days, blah, blah, blah. We might need a minute or two. I know you spent an hour getting the lights right and you want to get the shot and move on, but I want to give you the best shot possible. Give me some advice beforehand. Consider what the shot is. Heavy? Emotional? I find it best in that situation if the crew keeps the mood down. I love to engage in on set tomfoolery as much as anyone, but if you want tears, I can't be cracking up. After the take, let me know how I did. Some of us need one sentence, some of us need a conversation. You'll figure it out quickly.
Oh yeah, what shooting ratio are you looking for? It helps me if I know you're paying out the ass for stock, so you want to use as little as possible. In that case, I'll try to nail it in one or two. If you're swimming in DV tapes and don't care, I'll experiment and give you a bunch of different things to choose from when you're editing.
4. On Divas, Whiners, Complainers, No-Shows, and Just Plain Difficult Actors. Um, beat them? Honestly I try not to be one of these, and I think I'm pretty succesful there. I try to complain only when I'm at the end of my rope, and try to do it in a way that's helpful to all involved. Some of my fellow actors drive me nuts, because they seem to think they're entitled to something just for showing up. The only thing I can think of is to mollify them as best you can, see if you can give them some task to busy them, yes them into submission, kill them with kindness, or send them packing. I'll try to help if I can.
That's all I can think of now. If I got nothin' else stay tuned for Part III: Post
(P.S. Does anybody care if I'm writing this? If not, I won't bore you with my opinions.)
Loosely, worked all weekend, with that shoot on Saturday as well. As an update, the director said that she felt she got it (the scene I sucked in) and it'll do the picture justice. I was willing to go back and do it again the next day if she'd asked.
Monday through Wednesday night was shooting Very Small Rooms. During the days I was searching for, then seeing a new chiropractor because my back has been in excruciating pain the last two weeks and I'm too pig-headed to do anything about it. Wednesday was the longest, adn the hottest, but we pulled off some shots that were f^cking brilliant, seriously. These filmmakers are totally self taught. They don't know much of "the lingo" and have none of the jaded hipsterism I hate so much. But their vision and writing speaks for itself, and they've educated themselves well. Very proud of them.
So Wednesday night (Thursday morning) we finish at about 2:30am. Hour drive home. Must be in Fitchburg, MA by 9am for more Zombie University shooting. This was guerilla at its best. The normally quiet street we were shooting on was busy because of construction on some other street. The producer on the director disappeared for ten minutes, came back with a couple of "procured" orange cones and blocked off the section we needed to work in. Ah, the power of orange cones. The officers who drive by didn't even look twice. Unfortunately, I also had to be covered in blood during the noon day sun. Irish men like me don't take the sun too well, so I got burned as well as blood-soaked, but it seemed to have turned out well. Apparently my stock is rising in the zero-to-low budget, super-independent filmmaking community of New England.
Finally, last night, I got some decent sleep. Once this weekend is done I will have five, count 'em FIVE days with nothing on my schedule...
Yet.
A Letter to Directors/Filmmakers from the "Talent"
Part II: Production
So here we are...time to shoot! For me, obviously, this the most exciting time. This is where I put it all on the line. I want to deliver for you, so there's a couple things that'll make it easier for me.
1. A detailed schedule: Where and when should I be? Call times, directions to locations, personal costumes I need, this is great when it's all on one piece of paper if possible. When it comes to call times, I know it's easiest to just call everyone for the day, but if you know you aren't going to use me for at least the first four hours, make my call reasonably within that time frame. (I know you SAG folks get day rates and all that, I'm talking about us free actors out there.) I'll get the message that you respect my time, and I will respect yours as well. If I'm consistently late you should probably speak to me about that, or make my call time earlier. The less time I'm in holding the more fresh I am to perform well for you.
A shot list would be awesome. I almost never get these. Unless it's your directorial decision to keep the actors in the dark to get something you're looking for, the more information we get, the better. Some liaison between the cast and the production crew is awesome as well. Are we delayed? I understand delays completely, just let me know about them. But a shot list lets us know and prepare for where our characters are in the flow of the script, and maybe get in a little rehearsal time before that shot goes up.
Also, let me know before that day if I'm jumping off something, fighting someone, or getting covered in anything gooey, please.
2. A place to sit. I'm often surprised that this is overlooked. Before I get into it let me say this, I am amazed at almost every crew I've ever seen. You folks work tirelessly, around the clock at times, with little to no break. The boundless enthusiasm you show keeps me in check when I get cranky. I also understand that you're working this hard to make my shots look as good as they can, and I love you for it. I get irritated with actors far more often than I do with crews.
That said, give me a place with a chair. There's usually a lot of time where I have nothing to do, and nothing makes it longer than being uncomfortable. I'm not asking for a trailer with a masseuse (although I'd never turn that down) just a little corner to myself.
3. On Shooting and Pre-shot preparation. As actors, we need to find a flow, a way to convey the emotion you're looking for. In theater, more often than not, the flow is easy. We go from beginning to end, the arc is easy. For you, though, the shooting is done out of order, on different days, blah, blah, blah. We might need a minute or two. I know you spent an hour getting the lights right and you want to get the shot and move on, but I want to give you the best shot possible. Give me some advice beforehand. Consider what the shot is. Heavy? Emotional? I find it best in that situation if the crew keeps the mood down. I love to engage in on set tomfoolery as much as anyone, but if you want tears, I can't be cracking up. After the take, let me know how I did. Some of us need one sentence, some of us need a conversation. You'll figure it out quickly.
Oh yeah, what shooting ratio are you looking for? It helps me if I know you're paying out the ass for stock, so you want to use as little as possible. In that case, I'll try to nail it in one or two. If you're swimming in DV tapes and don't care, I'll experiment and give you a bunch of different things to choose from when you're editing.
4. On Divas, Whiners, Complainers, No-Shows, and Just Plain Difficult Actors. Um, beat them? Honestly I try not to be one of these, and I think I'm pretty succesful there. I try to complain only when I'm at the end of my rope, and try to do it in a way that's helpful to all involved. Some of my fellow actors drive me nuts, because they seem to think they're entitled to something just for showing up. The only thing I can think of is to mollify them as best you can, see if you can give them some task to busy them, yes them into submission, kill them with kindness, or send them packing. I'll try to help if I can.
That's all I can think of now. If I got nothin' else stay tuned for Part III: Post
(P.S. Does anybody care if I'm writing this? If not, I won't bore you with my opinions.)
Saturday, June 23, 2007
Filming Very Small Rooms has also been a whirlwind tour of differing houses. Some, kinda gross. Others, mind boggling. Todays was mind boggling. Such a big beautiful house. It makes me sad because I think there's no way I can make the kind of money it takes to own and maintain something on that level.
I don't get much after-shoot time to hang out with everybody because it's either way too late or I have to go to work ASAP. One of the actors gave me a really nice complient today. She had watched some of the dailies and said she found me very subtle and believable. Then we had a nice conversation about my approach to acting, theater vs. film, and so on.
Then we went to shoot my character's climax. And I sucked. Sucked sucked sucked.
I don't get much after-shoot time to hang out with everybody because it's either way too late or I have to go to work ASAP. One of the actors gave me a really nice complient today. She had watched some of the dailies and said she found me very subtle and believable. Then we had a nice conversation about my approach to acting, theater vs. film, and so on.
Then we went to shoot my character's climax. And I sucked. Sucked sucked sucked.
Thursday, June 21, 2007
What, has it been that long already?
I always feel like I'm out here in blog world and just never get around to typing. I'm still keeping up with you all, though.
It's been a crazy, fun, rough couple of weeks. Filming "Very Small Rooms" has taken a lot out of me. A lot of late nights, some unexpected, most at least fun. this is a group that hasn't really been trained by anyone else, so they basically made up their own terms for things. At least they learned well.
Two of my best friends are getting married this summer. One more this fall. One of them we took care of two weeks ago. Great fun and almost a mini-vacation.
My shooting schedule meant I could attend precisely none of the Boston International Film Festival where December 31 is playing. That link finally gets you to a trailer.
I thought the next few days would bring some relaxation. Not so much. There's been so much crap going on.
I always feel like I'm out here in blog world and just never get around to typing. I'm still keeping up with you all, though.
It's been a crazy, fun, rough couple of weeks. Filming "Very Small Rooms" has taken a lot out of me. A lot of late nights, some unexpected, most at least fun. this is a group that hasn't really been trained by anyone else, so they basically made up their own terms for things. At least they learned well.
Two of my best friends are getting married this summer. One more this fall. One of them we took care of two weeks ago. Great fun and almost a mini-vacation.
My shooting schedule meant I could attend precisely none of the Boston International Film Festival where December 31 is playing. That link finally gets you to a trailer.
I thought the next few days would bring some relaxation. Not so much. There's been so much crap going on.
Wednesday, June 06, 2007
It lives
Hey.
Long time, huh?
I know.
I never write, I never call. I'm a bad friend, blog.
There hasn't been much of note going on through May. Trying to work a ton, because I'm poor, and have a zillion weddings that I might have already complained about already. (But I'm REALLY excited for them! Good people, but all at once!?)
This week started filming of Very Small Rooms. Good people with a wickedly good sense of humor. Should be a good month.
Been working on a series of shorts with a friend. We'll be preproducing through June and most likely July. We hope they'll do good things.
Other than that, everyone, not much else.
But this is something I've been thinking about for a while. Hopefully this will get me to write more often. Time will tell.
A Letter to Directors/Filmmakers from the "Talent"
Note: This is for first-time, low-no budget, and student directors and filmmakers, based on several experiences I've had in the past few years.
Part I: Casting and Rehearsal
First, thank you for having me at your casting. I'm sure you're very excited about your project, and I'd like to join your enthusiasm. This should be easy to tell since I must have found out about your audition and contacted you in some way. Maybe you've seen my headshot and resume. Maybe I walked in off the street. Either way, I'm here, so that says something, right?
Now I know different directors like to audition in different ways. Some have sent me the entire script to read and asked me to choose a role I feel would be appropriate. Personally, I favor this approach. Having read the script beforehand I can know what kind of project I'm putting myself up for, and what I where I might best fit. Sometimes I'll get a few pages highlighting dofferent characters. Sometimes I'm asked for a monologue, sometimes it's a purely cold read. I'm not against any of these, sometimes they're even fun. If you like what you see, I'd sure like to hear that. Go ahead, ask me to do it again. Ask me to give you a different feel. Direct me, if you'd like. I want to show you what I'm capable of. Let's shoot the breeze for a minute if time allows. We can get used to each other, maybe even get a feel for how well we'd work together. But please, don't say something like, "you almost definitely have the part." Then I know someone will walk in after me and do a better job. You don't have to be mean if you didn't like the audition. A polite thank you is fine.
Now let's say I had a grrrrreat audition. We all clicked, I read well, I took direction, we had a good talk. Or even a decent audition. Or a horrible one. You know what I'm gonna do when I get home? Expect to hear from you. You've probably given me at least a rough idea of your production schedule, so I'm going to eye my calendar and try not to put anything in those days. That anything could be more hours at the day job, time with my family or friends, another acting gig. But I got to you first so I think it's only polite to wait to hear from you. I gotta tell ya, it stinks when I hear nothing at all. Even auditions I've felt badly about, it's be nice to get a call. Email is perfect if you feel uncomfortable telling someone they didn't get it. It can be as simple as, "thank you for auditioning, we couldn't find anything for you." You could even say why you didn't cast me if you feel it will help me as an actor. Some of us would like constructive advice. Either way, those days on my calendar can now open up, and I won't feel silly for holding them right up to the end. I've gotten some great emails and messages about why I didn't get cast and there were no hard feelings at all. I can tell you one thing, if I don't get any word from you, I'm most likely not going to audition for you again. Also, if someone I'm working with asks me, I'll be honest.
Now let's say you cast me. YAY! Good choice on your part! I must say, you have good taste. What would I like next? Well, a script would be just about awesome. You know you can email one of those, right? No? Well, you can, usually as a PDF. I'm sure someone can walk you through the steps. The other thing I'd really like to do is rehearse.
Now when I say rehearse I don't mean right before the shot. I mean before we ever put anything to film/tape. Let's get together, have a cup of coffee, chat about the script. I know as a writer that a solid actor will attempt to understand his or her role far better than I as the writer could. The actor will delve into much more detail, get immersed in the role. This I will promise to do to the best of my abilities but I might have some questions. A little one on one with you would be great. Plus getting together with the other actors will really help me. Let's all sot and talk about it. Unless there's an artistic reason for it I think it's a really bad idea to put a cast together for the first time on the shoot day.
I'm just sayin'.
Coming soon (i.e. when I get around to it) Part II: Production
Long time, huh?
I know.
I never write, I never call. I'm a bad friend, blog.
There hasn't been much of note going on through May. Trying to work a ton, because I'm poor, and have a zillion weddings that I might have already complained about already. (But I'm REALLY excited for them! Good people, but all at once!?)
This week started filming of Very Small Rooms. Good people with a wickedly good sense of humor. Should be a good month.
Been working on a series of shorts with a friend. We'll be preproducing through June and most likely July. We hope they'll do good things.
Other than that, everyone, not much else.
But this is something I've been thinking about for a while. Hopefully this will get me to write more often. Time will tell.
A Letter to Directors/Filmmakers from the "Talent"
Note: This is for first-time, low-no budget, and student directors and filmmakers, based on several experiences I've had in the past few years.
Part I: Casting and Rehearsal
First, thank you for having me at your casting. I'm sure you're very excited about your project, and I'd like to join your enthusiasm. This should be easy to tell since I must have found out about your audition and contacted you in some way. Maybe you've seen my headshot and resume. Maybe I walked in off the street. Either way, I'm here, so that says something, right?
Now I know different directors like to audition in different ways. Some have sent me the entire script to read and asked me to choose a role I feel would be appropriate. Personally, I favor this approach. Having read the script beforehand I can know what kind of project I'm putting myself up for, and what I where I might best fit. Sometimes I'll get a few pages highlighting dofferent characters. Sometimes I'm asked for a monologue, sometimes it's a purely cold read. I'm not against any of these, sometimes they're even fun. If you like what you see, I'd sure like to hear that. Go ahead, ask me to do it again. Ask me to give you a different feel. Direct me, if you'd like. I want to show you what I'm capable of. Let's shoot the breeze for a minute if time allows. We can get used to each other, maybe even get a feel for how well we'd work together. But please, don't say something like, "you almost definitely have the part." Then I know someone will walk in after me and do a better job. You don't have to be mean if you didn't like the audition. A polite thank you is fine.
Now let's say I had a grrrrreat audition. We all clicked, I read well, I took direction, we had a good talk. Or even a decent audition. Or a horrible one. You know what I'm gonna do when I get home? Expect to hear from you. You've probably given me at least a rough idea of your production schedule, so I'm going to eye my calendar and try not to put anything in those days. That anything could be more hours at the day job, time with my family or friends, another acting gig. But I got to you first so I think it's only polite to wait to hear from you. I gotta tell ya, it stinks when I hear nothing at all. Even auditions I've felt badly about, it's be nice to get a call. Email is perfect if you feel uncomfortable telling someone they didn't get it. It can be as simple as, "thank you for auditioning, we couldn't find anything for you." You could even say why you didn't cast me if you feel it will help me as an actor. Some of us would like constructive advice. Either way, those days on my calendar can now open up, and I won't feel silly for holding them right up to the end. I've gotten some great emails and messages about why I didn't get cast and there were no hard feelings at all. I can tell you one thing, if I don't get any word from you, I'm most likely not going to audition for you again. Also, if someone I'm working with asks me, I'll be honest.
Now let's say you cast me. YAY! Good choice on your part! I must say, you have good taste. What would I like next? Well, a script would be just about awesome. You know you can email one of those, right? No? Well, you can, usually as a PDF. I'm sure someone can walk you through the steps. The other thing I'd really like to do is rehearse.
Now when I say rehearse I don't mean right before the shot. I mean before we ever put anything to film/tape. Let's get together, have a cup of coffee, chat about the script. I know as a writer that a solid actor will attempt to understand his or her role far better than I as the writer could. The actor will delve into much more detail, get immersed in the role. This I will promise to do to the best of my abilities but I might have some questions. A little one on one with you would be great. Plus getting together with the other actors will really help me. Let's all sot and talk about it. Unless there's an artistic reason for it I think it's a really bad idea to put a cast together for the first time on the shoot day.
I'm just sayin'.
Coming soon (i.e. when I get around to it) Part II: Production
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
The Big Lull
Haven't written in a while. Truth be told, I have nothing to report. With The Crucible finished and now that I've recovered I basically have to work my ass off through May to both refill my empty bank accounts and pay off all the favors I owe. Also, from May to July I have four weddings to attend, three of which are very close/family and two of which involve travel/hotel. I'm about to pull my hair out trying to figure it all out.
To make matters even more fun, June is basically tied up. Throughout the month I will be in a movie called Very Small Rooms, a UConn based film. I'm very excited about working on this film and I have a lot of confidence in the director and her team. And there's some money involved, which is really nice. It also means that between shooting, work, and my Best Friend Mike's wedding I will have maybe five days off, in which I will attempt to work.
The Boston International Film Festival has announced their schedule. This is the group I did the film December 31st with. The day they're showing it, I'm at Mike's wedding. So much for schmoozing with the bigwigs. Of course, I haven't seen any of it yet, and I really wouldn't want to roll in there without seeing something first. What if I suck?
Threads just had a screening this week. Of course, I had to work. It's not a final print, though.
The great thing about my work is that a lot of days (as in, not nights) I have off so my landlord/neighbor/friend-who's-ALSO-getting-married have rediscovered our love of tennis.
I guess that's it.
To make matters even more fun, June is basically tied up. Throughout the month I will be in a movie called Very Small Rooms, a UConn based film. I'm very excited about working on this film and I have a lot of confidence in the director and her team. And there's some money involved, which is really nice. It also means that between shooting, work, and my Best Friend Mike's wedding I will have maybe five days off, in which I will attempt to work.
The Boston International Film Festival has announced their schedule. This is the group I did the film December 31st with. The day they're showing it, I'm at Mike's wedding. So much for schmoozing with the bigwigs. Of course, I haven't seen any of it yet, and I really wouldn't want to roll in there without seeing something first. What if I suck?
Threads just had a screening this week. Of course, I had to work. It's not a final print, though.
The great thing about my work is that a lot of days (as in, not nights) I have off so my landlord/neighbor/friend-who's-ALSO-getting-married have rediscovered our love of tennis.
I guess that's it.
Tuesday, May 01, 2007
Crucible: Done
This could be long.
Normally I don't tell too many folks about this blog. The fewer people, the more I can write without limits. This is my little place where I can vent frustrations. But more often than not I find myself erasing a lot of my vents, for all kinds of reasons. I'd read them back to myself and think, "woah, kid. Take it easy." Sometimes I'm too self-absorbed. (HA! An actor calling himself self-absorbed. Welcome to redundancy, people.) Sometimes I fly off the handle. Sometimes I just don't want to be so damn negative, so I pull a lot of it down. The few things that stay are usually well reasoned and really reflect my frustrations. When they're directed at someone I know, and if that person happens to be you, please only take extremely small offense. I've probably said it to you before I put it here. Most likely if you keep reading you'll see me write something really nice about you, too. I try to appease the karma.
Current readers, help me out. Am I a prick?
On to the The Crucible...
The first weekend was, honestly, a slight downer. Performances were good. Great, actually. But I never got the idea that our audiences were pulled in by it. The comments that my friends made were sort of positive but never really hit praise. That's fine, I prefer honesty above all else. But I couldn't shake the feeling that we missed it somehow. Maybe we made each little piece so shiny the whole didn't hang together. (Does that even make sense?) Thursday morning's show did nothing to help. Sitting at the front of the house was about sixty 11-13 year olds. I can only imagine what I would have been like having been forced to sit in a chair for an hour and a half at a time to watch subject material that they probably couldn't have cared less about. They got pretty shifty, and there were plenty of conversations I could listen to from the stage. It was a pretty good rehearsal at least.
So we come in Friday night and I don't know if everybody felt it but I definitely sensed as a group we were looking to find that something. That something turned out to be our last three audiences.
They were incredible. I've found that doing a comedy is easy to gauge an audience. If they're laughing, you got em. Drama, though, is way harder to gauge. You have very little cues to tell you if your audience is getting it. Not this weekend. You could hear the tension, the reactions to the absurdity of it all. Those are the moments you keep.
As Hale, I share the final moments of the play on stage with Elizabeth. Those moments are heavy, HEAVY, HEAVY. Sometimes I felt myself manufacturing emotion to get there. (The school show, definitely.) Last weekend, thanks audience, didn't need to do a thing. Also, a huge thanks to Nick, the fella who played John Proctor. Moments I never had to make happen usually centered on him. He played Proctor with such awe-inspiring talent I was honored to have shared the stage with him. With all of them. Anyway, normally, his last moments on stage are for the audience, and for his wife. Last performance, he looked at me for a very small time.
He might as well have kicked me in the chest. Not a whisker of acting there. In my head, "Ah crap, that sonofabee got me. I'm gonna cry like a baby." Crying, open weeping, might or might not have actually happened. And that moment wouldn't leave. I go down to the green room post curtain call and I'm just standing there when Tess, our Mary Warren, comes and gives me this big hug because she watched it from the wings for the first time. I think, "Damn, again."
Awesome cast party. This is a show where with such a big cast (22) usually there's someone in it that you don't click with. Not here. Both on and off stage everyone got along with each other fantastically. Even putting up with me. This experience has been truly, overwhelmingly positive and none of my complaints or qualms are gonna stick with me as long as the gratitude I have towards these people.
Normally I don't tell too many folks about this blog. The fewer people, the more I can write without limits. This is my little place where I can vent frustrations. But more often than not I find myself erasing a lot of my vents, for all kinds of reasons. I'd read them back to myself and think, "woah, kid. Take it easy." Sometimes I'm too self-absorbed. (HA! An actor calling himself self-absorbed. Welcome to redundancy, people.) Sometimes I fly off the handle. Sometimes I just don't want to be so damn negative, so I pull a lot of it down. The few things that stay are usually well reasoned and really reflect my frustrations. When they're directed at someone I know, and if that person happens to be you, please only take extremely small offense. I've probably said it to you before I put it here. Most likely if you keep reading you'll see me write something really nice about you, too. I try to appease the karma.
Current readers, help me out. Am I a prick?
On to the The Crucible...
The first weekend was, honestly, a slight downer. Performances were good. Great, actually. But I never got the idea that our audiences were pulled in by it. The comments that my friends made were sort of positive but never really hit praise. That's fine, I prefer honesty above all else. But I couldn't shake the feeling that we missed it somehow. Maybe we made each little piece so shiny the whole didn't hang together. (Does that even make sense?) Thursday morning's show did nothing to help. Sitting at the front of the house was about sixty 11-13 year olds. I can only imagine what I would have been like having been forced to sit in a chair for an hour and a half at a time to watch subject material that they probably couldn't have cared less about. They got pretty shifty, and there were plenty of conversations I could listen to from the stage. It was a pretty good rehearsal at least.
So we come in Friday night and I don't know if everybody felt it but I definitely sensed as a group we were looking to find that something. That something turned out to be our last three audiences.
They were incredible. I've found that doing a comedy is easy to gauge an audience. If they're laughing, you got em. Drama, though, is way harder to gauge. You have very little cues to tell you if your audience is getting it. Not this weekend. You could hear the tension, the reactions to the absurdity of it all. Those are the moments you keep.
As Hale, I share the final moments of the play on stage with Elizabeth. Those moments are heavy, HEAVY, HEAVY. Sometimes I felt myself manufacturing emotion to get there. (The school show, definitely.) Last weekend, thanks audience, didn't need to do a thing. Also, a huge thanks to Nick, the fella who played John Proctor. Moments I never had to make happen usually centered on him. He played Proctor with such awe-inspiring talent I was honored to have shared the stage with him. With all of them. Anyway, normally, his last moments on stage are for the audience, and for his wife. Last performance, he looked at me for a very small time.
He might as well have kicked me in the chest. Not a whisker of acting there. In my head, "Ah crap, that sonofabee got me. I'm gonna cry like a baby." Crying, open weeping, might or might not have actually happened. And that moment wouldn't leave. I go down to the green room post curtain call and I'm just standing there when Tess, our Mary Warren, comes and gives me this big hug because she watched it from the wings for the first time. I think, "Damn, again."
Awesome cast party. This is a show where with such a big cast (22) usually there's someone in it that you don't click with. Not here. Both on and off stage everyone got along with each other fantastically. Even putting up with me. This experience has been truly, overwhelmingly positive and none of my complaints or qualms are gonna stick with me as long as the gratitude I have towards these people.
Thursday, April 26, 2007
Morning comes hard
We're performing The Crucible for a couple of schools tomorrow. At 9:15 am. Call time? 7:45. That isn't even right. Then on with the rest of the run.
We were received well, at least as well as a show like this can be. Family and friends told me, "great performance, too bad we hate The Crucible." Sigh. I guess you can't blame them for that one. It starts off down and takes you on a three hour trip farther downward. There's no light moments. The very few brief ones you can find are instantly crushed by the next line. I guess it's a love it or hate it thing.
One thing I've always hated are matinees. Hate hate hate them. The one saving grace to them is all the senior folks who come out to them. They're always a treat.
The performances themselves were great. Lots of tasty moments on and off stage. Great things I'll remember for years.
I don't want to get up in the morning.
We were received well, at least as well as a show like this can be. Family and friends told me, "great performance, too bad we hate The Crucible." Sigh. I guess you can't blame them for that one. It starts off down and takes you on a three hour trip farther downward. There's no light moments. The very few brief ones you can find are instantly crushed by the next line. I guess it's a love it or hate it thing.
One thing I've always hated are matinees. Hate hate hate them. The one saving grace to them is all the senior folks who come out to them. They're always a treat.
The performances themselves were great. Lots of tasty moments on and off stage. Great things I'll remember for years.
I don't want to get up in the morning.
Saturday, April 21, 2007
Opening Night
The thrill of opening night. If you haven't done it, you wouldn't know. If you have, I don't need to describe it to you. I always try to steal a second on stage before the house opens, just a second of quiet.
Last night was exactly the performance I was hoping for. Everybody ramped it up a notch. The audience was smallish, but we were received more than extremely well. I couldn't be happier. At that last moment before the lights die, I knew without a doubt that I am glad, truly, deeply glad, to have been a part of this show.
Now let's hope I don't screw the pooch in the next week and a half.
Last night was exactly the performance I was hoping for. Everybody ramped it up a notch. The audience was smallish, but we were received more than extremely well. I couldn't be happier. At that last moment before the lights die, I knew without a doubt that I am glad, truly, deeply glad, to have been a part of this show.
Now let's hope I don't screw the pooch in the next week and a half.
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Friday, March 23, 2007
Chunks
(I have no idea how, but my format goes all screwy when I post pics. Sorry for the mess.)
B and I bullsh^tting betwixt scenes.
I was compelled to read through a bunch of my blog last week. I must apologize to you all. I had no idea there were so many spelling/grammatical errors. I'm something of a tyrant about that. Mostly it's because I type and hit publish as fast as I can when I write entries, fire-and-forget. If I read too much I'll have to edit. If I have to edit, fuggedaboutit, I'll hate it, delete, and then you'll never know what's going on in the life of krt, will you?
So today I went through the whole thing with a big red (metaphorical) pencil and fixed it. I'm sure if you've read it already there is no need to check back. I did this because I have a lot of time on my hands.
I have a lot of time on my hands because I got the dreaded nasty stomach virus. I won't go into all the gory details, but it's been a pretty nasty three days laid out on the couch or bed. Not. A. Good. Time.
Here's some stills from December 31st. That's the one where I met my friend B.
Here we are 'brute-forcing' our way through a scene.
B and I bullsh^tting betwixt scenes.
Cast and director of December 31st.
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