Almost literally...nothing to speak of. Lots of writing but I can't talk about that. I have a stage audition coming up but I won't talk about that. Can't jinx it.

I'm just stopping in to say I just watched AvP:R and wtf, mate? Argh! Why do movies want to hurt me so? It wasn't awful. It certainly wasn't great. It was nothing more than a good popcorn movie, meant to watch for eye candy alone and nothing like plot or character really matter. That's fine. I don't care that you're bastardizing the Alien franchise. Only some of my favorite movies ever. (Poll: Alien or Aliens? I know what I'd vote.)

But don't...ever...try to alter the plotline or infringe in any way on the original movies. And that's what those bastards did in the last line of the movie. I was willing to forgive everything else, but not this.

Random: Just watched Heat with Michael Mann's commentary. Amazing. This beautiful movie and he almost never mentions anything other than character and the choices made by the actors. The flipside is John Carpenter's In the Mouth of Madness. He describes lighting and lenses til your head hurts. Both are interesting. Heat for writing and acting, ItMoM for techie stuff.

Go watch Dexter.

Two things

Of all the shows I addict myself to, Dexter has filled me with the most joy. Check it out.

I'm sorry folks. I've watched as much as I can. I don't like Dario Argento movies. If a purple and orange light is all he's got, I'm out.

Ok, ok, I didn't forget about you...

...I just haven't been thinking about you. I've been doing so much other thinking that some days the idea of typing events of my life into this blog is just daunting. So I haven't done it.

The unfortunate side of effect of lazy blogging is all the interesting things I've done since my last substantial entry is no longer fresh in my mind, so you don't really get much in the way of witty or entertaining. I'll do my best...

Wait, first, coffee...

...okay. (Aaahhhh.) First, that last short I did for Emerson was an absolute one sided blast. Picture this, if you will. We're doing a film about dealing with the devil. The Friday night after Halloween. In the (I shit you not) Sleepy Hollow Cemetery. The next night we're shooting in the back alley of a haunted theater. You don't need to conjure up anything as an actor when you've got mood you can hang a hat on. The other actors were great, and great to work with. The crew that I knew were really excited to see me, and I them. These students were shooting two movies this weekend. They'd shoot ours all night then the other one all day. Their energy is just so...infectious. I always find myself wrapped at three in the morning still wanting to be there.

The director for this short was nothing short of awesome. I'm sure most of us have worked with all kinds of directors, from tyrants to mice. Some we've liked, others we haven't. Hopefully we've learned something from every one. This one, I say without doubt, is a truly wonderful director already. That's right Tina Densmore, I'm calling you out! Barely past the drinking age and she's got the right mix of confidence in herself and ability to let the actors (and crew) add to the project. When I originally got the script I had some thoughts about my character, certain ways I wanted to play it that would make it more original. Within boundaries, she left me free to explore different things. She let actors determine what worked best for them and would shoot to capture those moments we would find. At the same time, she was very clear on when to reign things in, and did so without being overly authoritative. Her crew was awesome, and you could tell they loved working for her. She was a mother hen to everyone. I never saw a crew member just walk away because they were frustrated, something I thought was pretty much a given on every student shoot I've done (and more than a few non-student films). If this business pays any attention to talent and ability, she will have a long career ahead of her.

There she is, busted finger and all. This is inside the theater, which has been mostly torn down inside.

I love getting these director-doing-directory-things pictures. I don't know where the pictures are, but I posed her with her crew pointing at something a couple times. All the good director candids they're pointing at something. In this case, it was too cold for bare flesh, hence the hands in pockets.

Other than that, not a ton happening lately in the outside world. I've been working on a script collaboration so I'm trying to kick that out as soon as I can. Those of you who might have gone over to Triggerstreet and read the short story I posted might be pleased to know that it still sits on the Daily Top Ten, which is pretty cool considering I didn't proof read it for plot holes at all. I was so nervous I finished it and fired it off without thinking. The reviews were good for finding out where I went wrong, and now I have the bug to write more prose.

I've been kind of itching to get on a stage again, but that's always such an iffy process for me. Rules I've learned about doing theater:

1) Only do shows you know. Or with a director you like to work with or a cast you like. Nothing is worse than accepting a part in a show you ultimately hate. South Pacific taught me that the hard way.

2) Don't do shows with people you've burned bridges with. Unfortunately, I have this habit sometimes. The more I watch Gordon Ramsey I realize he's a prick because he's a perfectionist, and he can't stand non-perfectionists. While I know I'm nowhere near his league of prickishness or perfectionism, I come across this way. I need to shut my mouth more often than not.

3) Schedule. This is the huge thing for me. My work doesn't allow me everyone else's Monday to Friday business hours. I've learned (the hard way) to be very upfront and specific at auditions. It's not enough to say, "Well, I have a weird schedule." Now on audition sheets I put up all my specific days from audition to wrap. This has cost me parts in the past year. In fact, it's kept me from doing any theater at all since The Crucible. But that show taught me more than any to leave nothing to chance there, which leads me to the final...

4) Reward/Effort ratio. It's gotta be pretty close nowadays. If it's something I believe in, something I want I'll move my schedule, call in favors, lose sleep and work my ass off to get it done. In the beginning I need to have the feeling that by the end I'll have no regrets.

Later.

Before the Next Big Post...

...here's a small one. Go to triggerstreet.com and register a profile. In the short story section you might find a story named Trauma. It's probably written by a guy named krtshadow. He might want you to read it. He might want you to review it.

He might be me.

Just might.

Mr. Karyhead wins....

...a big boatload of internet sprinkles.

(Seriously, there was no REAL prize, other than my respect, which will stand you for a few drinks in my neck, just get north, boy.)

However Mr. Disc Champion, you succeeded where others failed, and your knowledge of the pop culture that pertains to me gives you mad ups in my book. Just get up to Sox country and you'll know how we treat friends.

Everyone else, go buy Tenacious D's album RIGHT NOW. I don't know if we can relate without it.

Brain Aneurysm!!

So you all know, the show went very well. Better than well, we had a lot of fun, and our audience seemed to have a good time too.

All day I'd been chugging down tea to help my voice. I'm pretty much a complete coffee person, so the tea was a welcome soother to my throat. It wasn't until an hour before the show when I wondered why I was so freaked out, pacing, sweating, heart racingly freaked out, that I realized said tea was caffeinated. I must have had twelve gallons of the stuff through the day. Good times.

My partner and I were both terribly nervous beforehand, but we settled in fairly quick. Hammerbone likes to do a min-set, then have their guests do their set, then they finish off the night. It's a nice way to do things, imho. Usually openers play to the four or five people who made the mistake of showing up on time. We had a decently packed bar to play to. We did a bunch of covers with a couple originals tossed in. crowd favorites seemed to be the Violent Femmes "Country Death Song" for mandolin and guitar, the White stripes "Little Ghost", and our totally basic version of The Band's "The Night they Drove Old Dixie Down."

The thing I was afraid of most, and this'll sound stupid, was between-song-banter. I'm a pretty funny, entertaining guy, but I can't necessarily do it on command. I hoped desperately we wouldn't be those weird guys on stage. Thankfully, the entertaining muscle was fully flexing that night. It also helped that Game 2 of the World Series was on TV. Asking for a score made it easy to get set up.

Our friends all had good things to say, and the owner actually asked us to come back to do our own show. Weird. This was all for fun.

I've been asked by a couple of the theatrical folk about the difference between doing musicals and being 'in the band.' I'll try to answer here as best I can. It's a different animal from theatre and film in many ways.

First, you have to get the right people together. Whether you're writing your own material or doing covers, the right mix is essential. It's fine to be in a show with someone you can barely stand for three months, being in a band for at least a year can take its' toll on friendships. Usually there isn't someone who's 'the director' that you go to with issues. Someone might be more or less in a leadership role but it's far more egalitarian than any stage show. The right mix of personalities isn't necessarily obvious. It's far deeper than musical ability as well. The most creative band I was ever in we almost all disliked each other, but a new song was written every week, and we were good. Comb through the histroies of your favorite bands and you'll see at least half the best were fueled by their internal strife. If you're just out ot play, you don't want that. Make sure your goals are the same.

Second, practice, kid, practice. Your rehearsals are more important than you think. Any time you get together yoiu need a clear idea of what both you personally and as a group need to get done. Don't be satisfied with less than what you need. The reason my show last week went so well was because my boy J and I have been playing together afte hours for years, and for the week running up to the show we were playing together for two to fours a day. That was for eight songs, most of which we both already knew. If you aren't tight and something goes wrong you're toast. Mostly, for that first minute on stage, when you don't know if you 're gonna fall apart or not.

What I experienced at our sound check was frightening. Being on stage was new. Dealing with mics and sound mixes was weird. I could hear myself through the PA and that's a whole different sound than I was prepared for. Not that it was bad, just that it wasn't how we'd rehearsed, and I'd have to learn mic technique over again in the first song. Fortunately I knew J, who's WAY more talented musically than I am, would be rock solid next to me. So I would have to be for him too. Pretty soon I was having fun being able to hear myself again. So practice, kid, practice.

Third, have fun. It can't be more simple than that. If you aren't having fun at it and it's not your job, why are you doing it? You can have just as much fun playing to four people as you can to four hundred if you approach it with heart.

I think that's it. Any more questions, I'll be glad to attempt an answer.

(Special prize to anyone who knows where the last two entry title came from.)

What T-Shirt do I Wear?! What T-Shirt do I Wear?!

I have a gig tonight. It's been so long since I've said that it's almost funny to hear it coming from me. Nothing special or huge. A friend of mine was asked to be the opener for a pair of fellas we know called Hammerbone. He then asked me to play with him, as we are fond of closng bars then going back to my house to pound on instruments to the same five or six songs over and over. Of course I agreed. So for the past week we've been getting together to hammer out a set list and play together when sober, which is something that never really happened before.

I'm mildly terrifed and somewhat excited. It'll be fun to do it again and it's been a loooong time, more than ten years, since I played out. Fortunately nearly everyone who will be at this show will be people we know, mos tof whom have been to my house after the bar closes to hang out and pound on instruments, so they know what they're getting.

What doesn't help is that I woke up this morning sick, sick, sick. Throat thing, this sucks. Long day of doing nothing and drinking tea.

So if you're in Northamptin tonight and lookin for some hot fun swing by Silent Cal's on Pleasant St after ten. We'll be there. Drink a lot first.

P.S. Go take a listen to Hammerbone on their myspace page. Them boys is top notch.

I love the smell of death in the air

Seriously, I've been writing posts for the last month, just all in my head. Then I get too lazy to TYPE them.

Not a ton of things going on. I was just invited to be in another Emerson project, which is way cool. Cool script, very weird and twisted. So it's totally inline with me.

I finally finished all seven weddings this weekend. So all of you out there know, any invitations to nuptials in the next twelve weeks will be RSVP'd with a letter bomb. Okay, probably a stink bomb, but a bomb nonetheless. (Let's see Homeland Security work on that one.)

I've had a fire lit under me by a musician friend in the last couple weeks, which means I keep trying to lock myself into my 'studio' and hammer away at stuff I've been too afraid to finish. We'll see what happens.

Saw Across the Universe this weekend. Any level of Beatle's fandom will suffice. Amazing movie. Unless of course, you're a purist. Then you might not like it. Happily, I feel no such slavish loyalty to the source material.

Hopefully I'll have more to tell you when I feel more interesting.

It stands for Hates People

I had a laptop. It wasn't great, but it was nice. It allowed me to play some of my older games when I was at work (I'm totally a gaming addict, and I don't care) and I could get the real internet and not the crappy work internet that doesn't let you do anything actually useful. I could write on it, stay connected, you know, it did the things computers do.

Then it died.

I won't go into details. Really, I can't because it makes me physically ill to think about it, but basically HP sucks the big one. Service and Support should really be Shitting on Suckers. Not only was it impossible to understand them, but just when you think the next call can't get any worse, they went and screwed it up more. I took it to someone and they told me what I didn't want but needed to hear: she's dead, Jim. Cost more to fix than replace. that was more than a week ago.

TODAY I get a call from a Customer Service Manager from here in the good ol' U.S. of A. Here's what I basically told him:

"While I do not hold you personally responsible, your company's claims of caring about your customers is completely invalid. If I had to wait this long to reach someone who could understadn me, you've failed. The BBB already has my complaint. I even sucked it up and bought a new HP from Best Buy and guess what. I'm in the parking lot right now to return it. It runs like a donkey, it already locked up twice. I contacted your crappy tech support a week ago and haven't heard from them. Thank you, HP, for sending me back to Dell."

To Best Buy's credit, they didn't even try to charge a restocking fee.

In lighter news, I saw the lady friend's production of Baby yesterday. Amazing. God, that girl's good. I barely even liked the music before yesterday, despite auditioning for it. It's also interesting to be at a cast party for a show you weren't in. I've done this before, but this is the first time I've really thought about this. Every production has its own secret language, sayings and instances that you had to be a part of to understand. I didn't know it, and I miss it.

Lord please, don't give me the theater bug again. I'm barely done with all the $%^&ing weddings.

Also, welcome Stephon to my list of blogs. Just looking at how long you've had it, I'll still be trying to catch up on your blog when I'm having my first bypass.

Wake up with a YARRR!

What did you do for International Talk Like a Pirate Day? I'm stuck working, but you should drink rum and wear an eyepatch. I pitched in by getting everyone else here to talk like a pirate. "Poop deck" jokes never get old.

Some of the movies I've been in are nearing completion. Let the salivating begin. This brings me to...

A Letter to Directors/Filmmakers from the "Talent"

Part III: Post Production

So now my part is pretty much done. Other than some things I'll get to later, you really don't need me anymore, do you? I've said my lines, emoted my...emotions. We've been up ridiculously late hours together, eaten bad food together, joked, argued, and hopefully had a good time.

Please don't forget about me.

To date I can think of one, that's right one, director who has given me or any of a cast updates on their own. As far as it seems to me there are two times a director contacts the cast.

1. We bug them for an update.
2. We're needed to fix something. (Reshoots, ADR)

I'm an understanding guy. The rush and excitement of production is over, it's just you alone with your footage. Sometimes a lot of footage. We all have bills to pay or classes to pass. I didn't do it for money or fame, so there's no real deadline for me. I understand that there are snags. Computer snafus alone can lengthen a project by weeks. I get it.

Email isn't hard.

Once a month, once every six weeks, I don't care. A simple mass email, "Still working on it, haven't forgotten it," will work. If you have to abandon it I'll be disappointed but am I going to put a gun to your head and make you finish it?

On the subject of reshoots and ADR, all I want is some heads up time. Really, after not talking to me for a year don't ask me if I'm free in two days to shoot more stuff two hours away. I might say no on principle alone. (I'm not saying this happened, but I'm not saying it didn't.) What if I grew my hair out? Shaved it? Lost my right arm and half my head in a freak train accident? Got a tattoo of green rhinoceros on my face? These are possibilities. A little lead time is kind of necessary.

So, updates and lead time. What does that leave us with?

COPY

Yeah, that's what I want. I didn't drive all over, stay up through the middle of the night, take vacation days, or get myself sick so you could get an A in your film class. I did it so I could act, and learn from that acting. And maybe, if we all pulled off something nice, have something for a reel. So I need something tangible. It's called a DVD.

(I certainly do hope you got an A though.)

Another thing that would be nice is some kind of feedback. How was I to have around? Would you recommend me? Where can I improve? You might find this hard to believe, but asking me the same questions might be useful to you. Some of us have been doing this for a long time. We might have some insights you can take along with you.

Remember, actors are a strange community. You as the filmmaker/director might feel that the power is in your hands when it comes to casting your next project, but if I'm respected among my peers and feel that you don't hold up your end of the bargain, you might find it hard when you're looking to fill your next roles. I'm just sayin'.

Well, I hope this has all been helpful. Don't take it too hard if you feel I've ranted. I'm not bitter. This whole 'letter' has been a list of things I've wanted to say to different people at different periods. I hope some directors out there read this, and by reading it gain a little insight into how the 'actor creature' works. We're fun, really.

And to the actors out there who read this, feel free to add your thoughts or suggestions to this letter. Write your own, I'd love to hear your thoughts on it. Come to think of it, directors too.

Now I'm off to hoist the mainsail ye' scurvy skalawags, there be a bit o' a meal waitn fer me.

YAR!!

I promised some description of the actual shooting of this movie, so I'll at least give you some of my thoughts.

First: Boy they spend money like it grows on trees. To think in any other business the kind of delays that they weren't fazed by, that cost them tens of thousands of dollars...it just wouldn't happen. I suppose when you HAVE money it isn't such a big deal.

Second: The 'stars.' They were good. Very good. Better than I've seen from people out here in the wilderness of Western MA? Can't really say so. Makes a fella wonder what would happen if he took the big shot at it.

Third: The PA's and AD's. You know, everything I've heard and read about being an extra made me leery of them. I gotta tell ya, they were AWESOME. They were never less than positive and usually seemed to be having a really good time. I was mentioning this to a PA (or extra wrangler, as I call them in my head) who was over and above cool and he said, "Hey, we're making movies. It's supposed to be a fun job. Us guys want it to be fun for everyone."

There was a band in some of these scenes, and they hired a real band, but the band never actually plays anything. The horn section couldn't...well...not play when they were together all that time. In holding they'd do a name-that-tune of your favorite movie themes and TV shows. Personal favorite: The Simpsons and the Star Wars Cantina. Every now and agian they'd get...into it. Next thing you know there's a full on Cajun horn jam happening. When the doors burst open you expected hellfire and damnation from the AD, but he couldn't get the smile off his face it was so much fun. So he'd clap for them and then plead for quiet. Good times.

I'm not sure how or why but I made, apparently, a favorable impression on the casting director. More work. Sweeeet.

Oh yeah, the shameless hitting on of young ladies reached a peak on the last day. Whoa. Now I wasn't cruising for the ladies on the shoot, but I felt like taking some of these guys by the shoulders and telling them to get some game or get the hell off the field. I would, really I would, tell you some of these openers but I just don't think you'd believe me. (Here's a tip fellas, don't start a come-on with, "I'm not coming on to you but...") Ah, the smell of desperation.

In both an effort to keep posting and an influx of new things to write about, I have stuff to tell you.

My extra experience on this set has been almost completely the opposite of my last one. It's a big movie, with big names, and apparently well run. There are things to do, food to eat, and chairs to sit on. Most importantly, there are people whom I enjoy being around. (Is that the right use of whom?)

Unfortunately for me, Boston is a two hour ride each way. Unless it's between 630 and 900 in the morning. Then it's a three hour drive. I got there late the first day, freaking out. No need, there were still twenty people in line waiting to sign in. Originally I thought this was a smaller scene but there were close to three hundred extras there. My first thought was, fine. It'll be a good experience to learn what these big sets are about. I ran into one acquaintance from a movie I did in November, he's since become SAG. Something of a raise of the eyebrow there. I haven't actually been pursuing the unions yet, but this guy, well, let's say I realized that it wasn't WHAT you know. Turns out there were a sh$tload of SAGers there. (Duh) All of them local. I felt like I'd just pulled my head out of the sand.

I settled in for a long day of sitting around. I had my book and was looking for a place to sit when I walked by a PA who tapped me and said to go out to another spot to learn the next scene. Cooool. Not an upgrade or anything. Just a brief bit that would be an integral part of a scene where they needed a bunch of extras. (Background Artists, as some people put it, all I can do is shake my head) After that a big scene was about to go up and they started pairingus off as couples. That's when I met my first snarky companion. E, as we'll call her, was tons of fun. As completely sarcastic, fun, and funny to be around as the best I've met. She already knew everyone on the crew and some of the producers, and had a bunch of experience in doing these things, so it was great to pick her brain and realize most of my preconceptions were pretty much on the mark. We bonded in our annoyance at the pretentious SAG extras and the camera-whoring, upgrade-seeking non-unioners like myself. Hm, let me explain.

I'm very pro-union, don't get me wrong. My entire professional life I've been a union member. I've been a shop steward. The protections that SAG get are hard earned and well deserved. It's the 'I'm SAG so everything's my way' attitude that kills me. I don't care about the union vs non-union lunch service line, I hate the woman who sits down at the table declaring it was an atrocity she had to wait for an extra half-hour in the SAG line for her salmon. Then there was the guy who demanded that the non-unioners get to the back of the line at the end of the day to turn in wardrobe. The PA's were kind of forced to do it at that point, I guess. Those are the people that make unions look bad. At least they were fun to scorn.

As a non-union actor, I know exactly what it's like to feel like the bottom of the barrel on the shoot. Last called, last taken care of. Everyone wants to join but no one's opening the doors. The fabled 'voucher' as the carrot on the stick we all chase. I know. I want it too. The pay difference alone is astonishing. But haranguing the crew, producers, and casting director aren't the way to get there. I overheard the casting director telling an assistant about a person form the day before who came to him and said, "I was here all day and didn't get used. I sat around until midnight, can I get a voucher?" Puh-leeze. I know I'll eventually get it. Of course it might take some time. I'd rather show myself as a good sport, easy to work with, and understanding when things go wrong. If you want me, come and get me. If you come in the room and you ask if people want to be in the scene, my hand will be raised. I will not harass the AD's to see if I'm (snort) needed.

Which brings me to Meatballs. These are the people you find on every set. The ones who are completely unaware that they are being asses, loud, pretentious or just plain idiots. The ones who shamelessly hit on every one who crosses their path. The ones who don't know how to *shut the fuck up* when you're supposed to be pantomiming clapping, then bark at another extar for dioing something wrong next to him. (I am totally not specifically referring to someone. Not at all. Really. Wouldn't dream of it.) The ones who see you reading your book but will never stop telling you another story. The ones who 'really shouldn't be here, it's beneathe me.'

By the end of day 2 E and I had assembled a group of snarky compadres. We had our corner, or table. If you weren't on of the Snarkalicious Crew and tried to sit at the table, or joing the discussion, you were given something of a brief trial period. Upon the slightest whiff of Meatball the whole crew became silent. No conversation. Not rude, just..nothing. Once we were oviously uninteresting or, more importantly to said Meatball, uninterested in them, they would move on, and we could continue our merry conversation. Our favorite was the difficulty of clear, concise directions. The AD comes in, "I need x people who were in the last scene in this area to get to set." All around the room:

"What did he say?"
"Was that where I was?"
"Was that the scene from today or yesterday?"
"You think I should just go?"
"I'm calling casting."

It reinforces my opinion that while a person might be intelligent, people as a group are pretty f%cking stupid. Despite all this (or because of it, I had lots of fodder to hone my sarcasm on) I really enjoyed the past three days.

Next...I'll talk about the actual shooting.

Oh yeah

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.)

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.

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.