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Third and (hopefully) final day of filming

One reason I haven’t posted the name of the short that I shot is that there isn’t a name yet. The producer was soliciting ideas from one and all yesterday, so I’ll be trying to think of a clever name.

Anyway, yesterday was the final day of principle photography and it went pretty well. I really felt comfortable all day and finally felt at home with the idea of being on set and having other people depending on me. It was a really fun experience and went very smoothly. It’s been neat to see practical applications for my training and I’ve really felt prepared while shooting. It’s also been reassuring to have the director, assistant director, producer and other actors tell me that what I’m doing is funny and real. A couple times, I’d finish a scene and then have someone tell me they really liked what I did, that it was funny, or just worked well for that scene. And that was reassuring because sometimes I wouldn’t necessarily be going for funny, but just doing what I felt the character should be doing at that time.

All in all, this was a really great experience and I feel fortunate that this was my first shoot. The people I worked with were excellent and I really learned a lot about making a movie and what it’s like as an actor to film something substantial. I’m grateful that I shot a short as my first movie and I think it was just the amount of work and commitment that I could take at this point. Between working full time, having a friend in town and making the short, I’ve been really exhausted, but it’s been worth it.

The class that made this movie will be making five more as the semester goes on. I’m going to keep in touch with people in hopes that I can land a role in at least one of the other shorts. I will be getting a DVD copy of this short sometime in the next couple months and the “premier” for all the shorts for the semester is May 7. I can’t wait to see the finished product and I hope it’s good. It’d be great if I can be in two shorts at the premier, too.

I said that I this was “hopefully” the final day of filming because there’s a possibility we’ll have to do some re-shoots next month. I hope I can dodge that bullet, but I might have to redo as scene or two before it’s all over.

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Second day of filming

Obviously, the novelty of counting the days of filming will be lost if I ever land a feature film, or even another short for that matter. I’m not really counting the days of filming for this particular project so much as I’m chronicling the first ever days of my filming experiences.

Today went pretty well. We shot three scenes–two interior and one exterior. The interior scenes were fun and a lot easier than the exterior scenes have been. For one thing, I was sitting down for most of the shoot, rather than standing in cruddy shoes on hard dirt. For another, everyone felt closer, which made it feel more like a big group effort than a sort of sprawled production.

The second interior scene we shot is the last scene in the film. One of the little funny things the director has thrown in is that my character wears the most hideous sweaters ever, and they get worse as the film goes on. So, during the last scene, he’s wearing an old-lady sweater with terrible colors (basically black with bright green, pink and yellow patterns and little balls sewn into the shoulders). Also, it had shoulder pads. Anyway, the other actor and I felt that it was a little awkward to end the scene the way it was written. We thought it would be appropriate for the other character to comment on how good my sweater looks (because it would contrast with an earlier scene where he calls my sweaters “Cosby Sweaters”). So, we ad-libbed a couple lines about my sweater at the end. Anyway, my reaction to one of the other character’s comments kept making people laugh… in fact, on one take, one of the sound guys and the director laughed out loud. The irony is that those are probably the two people who should be most upset about someone laughing out loud while the film is rolling.

Anyway, it was fun. The exterior scene was a pain because it was drizzling and it took forever to set up (even though it was only about a 45 second scene). Tomorrow, all our scenes are outside, so I’m not really looking forward to that. The good news is I don’t have to be on location till noon and we’ll be wrapping tomorrow evening.

So far, it’s been a blast. I can’t believe people actually get to do this for a living.

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First day of filming

Well, it couldn’t have been better. We had some technical difficulties, which meant some extra standing around, but that turned into rehearsal time and I think it helped us a lot. I shot two scenes and I thought they went pretty well. Nothing spectacular, but the director, assistant director and producer all said I gave them exactly what they wanted, so I feel I really can’t do any better. I’ve already realized that I’ll never be completely satisfied with anything I do, so my goal should be something more objective like making sure the director is completely satisfied.

Anyway, both scenes went well and things were pretty easy overall. I didn’t take any pictures with my own camera, but the producer got some, so hopefully I can get some (digital) copies. I guess kind of a funny movie fact is that I had my script in my hands in both of the scenes today. The script called for a clipboard, but someone else had to use it for something, so the director just said, “Why don’t you just use that?” I imagine it’s not often that an actor is carrying around his script while shooting scenes. It was kind of comforting to have it near, but I realized how easy it would be to use it as a crutch.

Tomorrow, I’m shooting the first and last scenes of the short, so that should be interesting. I also might be shooting a quick outdoors scene and it sounds like we’re re-shooting one of the scenes from today because an actor flubbed his lines. I guess that’s just part of the process.

My first (friend) visitor

My buddy and old roommate is coming to Dallas for a few days for a job interview (which I was able to get him at my company). So, he’s coming in tomorrow and he’ll leave on Tuesday morning. My mom came to visit back in July, which was super, but not the same as having a friend visit. I’m looking forward to hanging out and having some company. Even for introverted people, being a hermit can be a real drag after a while.

This is not the first friend I’ve had come to town, but the first friend I’ve had stay at my place.

Then to Vegas

My buddy leaves on Tuesday morning and then I head to Vegas on Wednesday morning. I’ll be there till next Saturday. A buddy and I are staying at the Bellagio for free thanks to some hookups his dad is getting. I’m looking forward to playing some poker and blowing some money. I hear there is all kinds of stuff to do in Vegas and I have a feeling I’ll feel like I’m leaving when we were just getting started.

Then to L.A.

I haven’t been since early December, so it’s about time! I’m going for work, but I hope to meet up with the ol’ acting coach–I haven’t seen that joker since August or something. Maybe I’ll have a rough-cut of the short by then and we can discuss it and talk about what I have to do to improve to being a mediocre actor.

Ok, I’m beat. I’m going to read over tomorrow’s scenes real quick, then go to bed.

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Action!

Tomorrow is my first day of filming and it’ll be the first time I hear someone yell “Action!” to get things rolling. It’s exciting, but I hope it’s more of a metaphor for the beginning of my acting career. It’s hard to see any further off than this little short film, but I hope this is a new beginning. I’ve been preparing for this for a while and I’m ready. I’m super excited and I can’t wait to be on set and see the finished product in a few weeks.

Anyway, I’m taking my camera, so hopefully I’ll get some good pictures to remember this by. Hopefully this will be the first of many movie sets I’m on.

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Irony is fun

Well, I was saying how poorly Thursday’s audition went… and then I just got an e-mail offering me the lead. I’m really excited, but also conflicted. I read for three parts in another student film today and the audition went really well. I felt much, much better afterwards than I did on Thursday. Also, they asked if I had any conflicts this weekend–when they’re shooting–and I said no. Of course, technically, at the time I didn’t have any conflicts. Now I have this small conflict where I’ve been offered a role in another film.

Anyway, I e-mailed the ol’ acting coach asking him for input. I have till Monday at 6pm to tell Thursday’s auditioners if I’ll do it. Although I’d love to book both jobs, I almost hope today’s audition didn’t go as well as I thought and I don’t book it. At least that way I won’t feel bad for having to bail on someone. But it also seems like that’s part of the business. I audition for stuff that overlaps just like they audition multiple people for each part.

Anyway, it’s exciting that I booked the first short that I went out on. Also, the role I booked looks pretty fun. The short is a mockumentary about “free-running” and it’s pretty funny and well done. It seems really tongue-in-cheek and ridiculous, which is very much my style.

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Mediocre audition today

I drove out to the University of Texas (UNT) in Denton for an audition after work today. It was for a short student film, so I didn’t feel all that much pressure (it wasn’t like I had to prepare to read for DeNiro or anything). I think I could’ve done much better with a little more preparation time, but that’s just life. Basically, I didn’t see any sides until I happened to talk to a guy who’d already auditioned and had his copy handy. I read it once, got called in as soon as I’d finished reading and went through the normal introductions. Then, I read through the copy once more and basically went straight into my read. The read was tough because it was basically a monologue. For a monologue, it’d be nice to have a bit to prepare.

Anyway, my acting coach prepared me for most of this, so I wasn’t thrown off. I just didn’t do a good enough job of preparing quickly. I’ll find out tomorrow or Saturday if I booked it. I doubt I did, so this time I won’t be disappointed if I don’t get the call.

Two more auditions on Saturday

I have two more auditions on Saturday. One is for another student short (I think I’ll be reading for the part of a rich-kid amnesiac who’s got to remember who he is in time to claim his inheritance) and then I’ll be reading for a feature film. It’s a Christian film whose target audience is teenagers… the strange thing is I’ll be reading for the part of a 16-18 year old. I’ll be 25 in a month.

Anyway, at least I’m experiencing “the process” and learning more about myself. I wish I had a mulligan on today’s audition, but I kinda’ get a mulligan each time I get another chance to read for something.

New car comin’ soon

I’ve been driving the same car for almost five years and I freakin’ hate it. In about 7 weeks, I’m going to be getting a new one. Nothing is official or final yet, but I’m moving that way. This seems like great timing because I don’t know how long my car will last and, if I keep getting auditions, I’ll be doing a lot more driving soon. Today’s audition was about 45 miles from my place. The two on Saturday are both 40 miles away from here, but only 20 miles from each other. I don’t trust my car to drive that many miles too many times before it croaks.

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Student Film auditions

Today, I got a couple auditions for student films. One’s a 10-minute short and the other seems to be longer, though I’m not sure it’s feature length. The short audition is Saturday and the other is on Thursday. Both the parts I’ll be reading for seem very doable and I think I’ll make a good showing.

There are two problems: Both auditions are about 45 miles from my place. One is at UNT (in Denton) and one is at UTA (Arlington). They’re basically at opposite ends of earth. I’m glad the UTA audition is on Saturday so I won’t have to mess with traffic. The other problem is that both films shoot on exactly the same dates. Obviously, this is only a problem if I book them both, which is unlikely. My acting coach says “…cross that bridge…”, so I’ll just wait and see.

For now, I’m excited to have two auditions and I don’t feel any anxiety. It’s ironic that the Meisner class I took robbed me of several nights of sleep, but when I have two auditions jump out at me it’s no big deal.

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Keepin’ busy

I really need to update this thing more than once a week. That being said, time for my weekly update!

Let’s see… I’m finally starting to get into a good workout routine. That’s nice because I’m also starting to gain a couple pounds. Nothing serious, but it’s obvious I’ve been lazy lately and it’s time to get to the gym regularly.

I’m still playin’ poker online. The past couple days have been good for me and I’m still way up overall. I had a couple weeks there where I wasn’t running so hot, but I’m back on track now. I hope to be able to finance my trip to Vegas next month with my winnings.

Turns out I’m getting a nice tax return this year. I wasn’t expecting anything, so I’m having to figure out what to do with the extra cash. I think I’ll probably just sock it away or throw it at my loans or something awesomely super duper fun like that.

I went into the leasing office to drop off my rent and I asked the guy in there if he could recommend some good places around Plano to eat. His response: “You got a date or somethin’?” Of course I had to tell him that I’m just tired of “the chains” and I want some local variety. As he was suggesting a few places, a girl that works in the office came in and heard what he was saying. She said, “You got a date or something?” My first reaction was to be the funny guy and say, “That depends on if you’re free tonight.”, but I held my tongue and just said, “No, just looking for some good food.” The guy that was already telling me places was kind enough to bail me out by saying, “He’s just getting tired of eating at the chains.” It took me a good ten minutes to recover from feeling like a total loser, but I’m doing alright now.

I sent out some more mailers to local agents this week. That puts me right around twenty… I haven’t heard anything back except for the few I’ve had returned undeliverable. I’m going to do one follow-up call (from my first set) tomorrow and then six or seven follow-ups next week. All I need is one stinkin’ agent to pick me up, but I guess that’s easier said than done.

Meanwhile, I’m looking for all the angles I can find, so I’ve been writing. Saturday night, I finished my first screenplay. It’s only a short (about 20 pages), but it’s a start. It’s better than I thought it would be and I think it’ll be “decent” after the first re-write. I’m thinking through it and revising it now and hopefully will finish the second draft in a couple weeks. Then, I’ll start another screenplay of a different ilk. The first one was a ‘drama’ (I guess) and the second will probably be more straight comedy. …or at least it’ll be comedy to me. It might just be “stupid” or “terrible” to everyone else. At least I’m keeping myself entertained!

A good friend is in town and we’re having dinner tomorrow night. I’m looking forward to seeing someone from back home and having some good food and conversation. I don’t get much of either since I spend most of my time on the couch, watching something on TiVo and playing poker.

I’m not breaking up this post with little headings because I don’t feel like it. I’m really writing all this gibberish for myself anyway, so the headings really wouldn’t serve a point. Peace out!

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Screenplay writing

Last night, I sat down and wrote the first Act of the short screenplay I’ve been working on. My co-writer is on an indefinite hiatus, so I’ve taken over writing responsibilities. So far, I’m not super impressed, but I didn’t expect to be. My philosophy is that I need to get something down, so I can edit it and mold it into what I want it to be.

Anyway, it was a good experience and it only took about 90 minutes. I’m hoping to get the second Act done this week and maybe finish the first draft by next weekend. I don’t think this short is going to be all that great, but I’m more interested in the process than the product right now. Once I’m done with this one, I’ll try to write another one and I’ll have higher expectations next time around.

Time to sleep.

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First Money

I know I generally don’t post on consecutive days, but this is a special occasion. I played in a $5.50 Re-buy tournament (unlimited re-buys for the first hour and an add-on at the first break) and turned $20.50 into $72.50. I placed 27th of 680 entrants. Once I made the money (which was just barely), I got lucky and caught some cards to stay in (the top 63 got paid) till 27. This was a big win for me because I actually went on tilt very early on when my KK was cracked by Q3. That took half my chips and I blew the other half on an inside-straight draw (I rarely go on tilt, so I was pretty concerned). Anyway, I re-bought a couple times and took the add-on at the first break and, after another 3.5 hours, I ended up in the money.

I busted out with 77 vs. TT, which is fine since I was actually a big underdog before the flop. Also, if I had to go bust that close to the finish, 27th was the spot. I would’ve had to beat 9 more people to make the next tier of money at 18th. I learned a lot from the experience and I’m hoping I can get another money soon. Of course, my goal is to win a big tourney, but that’ll come in time. For now, I’ll settle for steady progress. It has also occurred to me that I should consider other games besides No Limit Hold ‘Em. Maybe Limit HE, Omaha, or Omaha/8. I figure maybe this weekend I’ll play a smaller tournament in addition to my NLHE tournaments.

I need sleep.