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Good idea, Bad idea

We’re getting into Spring now, so I thought I should go ahead and start gettin’ me some sun. So, I figured I usually shoot hoops before I work out, so why not shoot hoops in the sun? I’ll tell you why not: It’s stinkin’ hot out there and the sun will sap all your energy if you let it. Sure enough, it let it and it did. So, I shot around for about a half hour, hopefully getting some sun, and then I went ahead and started my workout. About two sets in, I felt awful–tired, nauseous, sweaty, dehydrated–and all I wanted to do was go home. Looks like I need a new way to get some sun. Maybe I’ll have to resort to reading by the pool.

The books are in

The books that my acting instructor recommended have arrived and I’m well into Acting in Film. So far, I’ve found it to be a very practical book with a lot of good information for a guy like me who hasn’t ever been anywhere near a set. The book’s not about “being a tree” or the ethereal part of acting, but it covers more of the basics like how to act on a set, how to prepare a scene and things like that. It’s really interesting and I’m sure it’ll help me even next week at my lesson. Best of all, it’s an information-packed, fast read.

One week

A week from tomorrow, I’ll be in Jacksonville, beginning my version of Spring Break. I’m really looking forward to it and I’m sure it’ll do me some good to rest up, but I’m not yet to the point where I feel I need to “get away”. I think that’s good, though, because I’m not getting stressed at work and I won’t put unrealistic expectations on my trip. I’m looking forward to seeing my family and friends and just sittin’ around and gettin’ paid.

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It has begun

Man, today was long. I got up at 7, got to work at 8, knocked off work at 4, went home and ate a quick dinner, left for Ft. Worth about 5:20, started my lesson at 6:50, left my lesson about 9:45 and finally got home at 10:50. That left just enough time to watch The Real World and The Osbourne’s before I updated my blog and got ready for bed. I’m worn out and my back’s a little sore ’cause I drove about 150 miles today.

As for acting, the first lesson was, as I expected, an introductory lesson where we talked about where I’m trying to go, what I hope to accomplish and what I want to focus on–technique or the art of acting. We decided we’d spent pretty equal time on both, but put more time into the art up front. We talked about beginning to look for an agent in about three months in hopes that I’ll have an agent in six months. That’s all good and well, but first we gotta’ see if I can act.

This week, we’re reading a scene from Swingers (the one where Trent talks Mike into going to Vegas) and I’m basically supposed to mark up the script and try to be prepared for a read next week. I’m focusing on learning the lines well enough that I can deliver them without thinking about the lines themselves, so I can concentrate on reacting to the way the other character delivers his lines. As I understand it, I need to learn lines well enough that I can say the words without thinking. An analogy that comes to mind is singing while playing the guitar. It took me a long time to be able to do both and the way I did it was ultimately pretty simple: I learned the guitar well enough that I could play that part without thinking about it, so I could focus almost completely on singing over the melody I heard coming from the guitar. If I learn my lines well enough, I can focus almost completely on the situation and what’s happening in the scene.

I guess I’ll just have to see how that goes. I’m pretty nervous, but I think that’ll subside as I get more comfortable with this stuff. For now, I need to get comfortable with my pillow as I’ve gotten less than 12 hours’ sleep over the past couple nights.

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Good article in People magazine

Yesterday, I picked up the latest issue of People, mostly because there was another cover story about The Passion inside. The article was actually pretty interesting in that it touched on a few of the prevalent religions (and philosophies) in Hollywood. The stuff written on the movie was pretty interesting, but I thought it was good that People took space to explain each of a few different religions being practiced in Hollywood. I think it gave me a better idea of what people are thinking these days and some perspective on how the writers at People view religion and its role in society and peoples’ lives.

I noticed a common theme in their choices was “self improvement” of some kind. In fact, most of them seemed focused on helping their followers find happiness, treat others well, perform to their full potential and be less focused on themselves. I guess People‘s explanations of these religions could have been superficial, but it seems to me that most of the religions aren’t so much “religions” as self-help philosophies that people follow to be “better” or “more successful” or whatever. Ultimately, I thought it was a little odd that People seems to believe that Christianity (and these other religions) is primarily about helping people be “good” and successful. Seems to me they’ve missed the point.

Acting lessons start tomorrow

I officially feel totally unprepared and a little nervous. Mostly, I keep asking myself “what can I do to be prepared tomorrow, so I don’t make a total fool of myself?” And, of course, I know the answer is “nothing, I will make a total fool of myself regardless of how much I prepare.” I’m looking forward to performing awfully, so I can look back on my first performance and say, “Man, I sure have improved!” I figure I’ll probably start off pretty awful, but hopefully I’ll be a good enough student to become a decent actor. Time will tell.

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Lessons start Tuesday

It’s official: I’ll be taking private lessons starting on Tuesday and continuing every Tuesday, indefinitely (except April 20, when I’ll be in Gainesville). I’m pretty excited about the opportunity for a lot of reasons: I get to push myself to try something totally new, I get to try something I’ve been interested in for a long time, I get to exercise my creative side a bit more than I do as an engineer. That being said, I’m also very nervous about the whole deal. Realistically, I have no business even attempting acting. I have no background or experience in acting and my knowledge of the subject is almost entirely based on what I’ve seen other actors do. I guess, from some points of view, I’ve done hundreds of hours of research into other actors’ work, but I’m essentially totally ignorant about the business. If nothing, this will be an opportunity for me to continue learning something, which is good because I really enjoy learning.

Tax time

I’ve been meaning to file my income taxes for several weeks now, but I keep forgetting. That’s probably because my return will be next to nothing and I doubt if Uncle Sam would come after me if I didn’t file (in fact, I’m not even sure I’m legally obligated to file). But, I can’t bear the idea of throwing money away (no matter how little it may be), so I’m gonna’ go ahead and take care of that now.

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Short day, short weekend

Today went by quickly, but I bet the weekend will do the same. I’m anticipating my trip in two weeks, so I’m guessing these next two weeks of work will crawl by.

End fascinating, short post.

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A different direction with acting

Well, I spoke with my friend and former acting instructor tonight and I’m beginning to have a clearer picture of where I’m going and how I’ll get there. For now, it looks like I’ll be taking private lessons (or being “coached”, to use the preferred nomenclature) once a week. Ultimately, I doubt if I’ll pursue the 2-year degree I’d been considering because it is more of a hodge-podge degree covering all aspects of acting and the business. I think such a degree would be great for someone who knew only that he wanted to act, but didn’t know how, where or why. In my case, I’m pretty set on TV and film, so much of the curriculum would be outside the scope of my ambitions.

Here’s the best part: I couldn’t have taken classes at the conservatory until October anyway, so I’m really not making a decision not to pursue the 2-year program, but I’m making a decision to pursue private coaching to see if that works for me. As October nears, I’ll re-evaluate my situation and make a final decision on the degree. Essentially, I’m filling my time with productive training that may ultimately make the 2-year degree unnecessary.

Regardless, I’m excited about getting going and I’ve already ordered some books to get me started:

Acting in Film: An Actor’s Take on Moviemaking
How to Get the Part . . . without Falling Apart!; Featuring the Haber Phrase Technique for Actors
Truth in Comedy: The Manual of Improvisation

Another great thing about not taking the 2-year program is that it’ll save me a ton of money. The program costs about $20K while private coaching costs only about $50-70 a week. And, what’s more, I think I’ll probably get just as much (if not more) useful information out of private coaching that I would at the conservatory.

Good night.