Acting is not like other professions. It requires a passion. Our job is not to act. We simply are actors and that is something that will forever remain a part of us. Feel free to put any questions or suggestions in my Talkie Box
Okay so I have to pick a movie to start with and I'm going to go ahead and select Gatsby. I was unbelievably excited for this, I saw it the day it came out, I'd been looking at all the sneak pics and whatnot, and I have to say that it only sort of delivered what I thought. First, as it is a book conversion, it adhered to the novel so well. It was amazingly accurate. However, they made some really poor production choices, namely musical, of which I was really not a fan. I understood their attempts at parallelisms and relating to the audience, but I thought it was, frankly, stupid. Toby Maguire was what I expected - good physically, not so great vocally. Carey Mulligan was casted beautifully as a Daisy and, as expected, Leo DiCaprio was a glorious Gatsby. The last third of the movie was really well done, just intense and true to canon and really fun, so go see it because books are great and it had my whole group of friends gasping in nerves even though we spent ages filling out a 60 page packet on the book earlier this year.
We had a performance this week that was just a sit&sing of Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon and it was really fun and I love Pink Floyd and my singer buddies and our instructor's band was there to do guitar/drums/sax etc. and they were incredible.
ANYWAY I went to tell her how cool her band was today and she says, "I'm glad you came by because I was thinking about you yesterday after the concert. I don't know what it is, but something about you, you light up, what do they say, you 'smile with your eyes' and I can't help but look towards you when you're on stage. I don't know, you should be a model or be on stage because you've just got it. It's a presence and you have it."
If that wasn't enough, our psych teacher was coming in the room and she didn't have to say anything, but she just sort of agrees and goes on to tell me that she actually really thinks so too and I told them it meant a lot more than they knew and I have been thinking about it all day.
If you ever think this about anyone TELL THEM because it means a fuck ton more than you could ever think it would.
I found this article in a theatre magazine a while back and thought it was pretty interesting and the full book ought to be coming out soon, so I will keep my eye out for that.
Open the images in a new tab if their not big enough to read, the pictures should be high enough quality to work.
Okay I know I've promised to come back a lot of times and as of now I can't guarantee my old splurge of daily movies because i ave a lot of things I'm trying to get done between school work and my own shit I'm getting on with but I think it would be really good for me to get started again. I've been gone a really really long time and for that I apologise, but I'm trying to work some thing out and get back on track.
So, for now, expect pictures and recommendations and advice and findings, I have several things I really want to share, so I'll get working on it and maybe I can get myself into a better mindset. Thank you all for not unfollowing me during all this, but I think the break has lasted long enough and this schedule is going to be good for me.
I went out to see Skyfall finally last night with a group of my friends and I loved it. In the past, the Daniel Craig Bond has seemed, through no fault of Craig himself who I feel does incredibly with what he's given, out of 007 character (though ore than any other time it was in Quantum of Solace, which could be attributed to the writer's strike that came up during production). This one, however really didn't seem to have that problem. As I said, Craig deos well and his intensity is as remarkable as the subtle vulnerability. Javier Bardem made one of the best Bond villains in some time, completely insane with the right level of brilliance and badassery. Judi Dench is a lovely M, I just completely love her in this part, especially given the more sentimental bit she has to do throughout this film. There were, of course, plot holes and things that were a bit beyond what I could really accept as realistic, it was minimal. The ending was... unexpected, and I'll leave it at that. For any fans of Bond from the beginning, this will hold up to your standards. It has so many throwbacks and old references and really gets back to the heart of 007. Props to them!
I love Breakfast at Tiffany's I saw it for a second time ad have posted about it already BUT I love the way the characters are portrayed and their motives and the way they all sort of compliment each other. For what I suppose is a Romantic Comedy, I very much like it. And cat. I love cat in this.
“An actor must interpret life and, in order to do so, must be willing to accept all the experiences life has to offer. In fact, he must seek out more of life than life puts at his feet. In the short span of his lifetime, an actor must learn all there is to know, experience all there is to experience, or approach that state as closely as possible. He must be superhuman in his efforts to store away in the core of his subconscious everything that he might be called upon to use in the expression of his art.”
I was with my friend yesterday who is a huge Benedict Cumberbatch (who I must say is an impressively good actor) fan since Cabin Pressure and BBC's Sherlock so for her birthday I got her a few of his movies / paraphernalia and we ended up watching Third Star. This movie felt so incredibly natural. Partially, of course this was because of good onscreen chemistry between the four main actors (Benedict Cumberbatch, Tom Burke, JJ Field, Adam Robertson) that mad it seem like they'd known eachother for a long time. It's an incredibly realistic story with realistic characters. That being said, it was a bit overdramatic at times to the point where it just feels like its pulling too hard to try to get an audience reaction, which really bothers me about films. So, yes, it is predictable until perhaps the final plot twist and some people who don't really care about the character stuff I've talked about may find the middle incredibly slow, but I didn't and I appreciated the realism (and tears) and thought provocation about life I got from the movie.
Jack Nicholson offered role as Robert Downey Jr.’s dad in The Judge
Warner Bros. hopes to sign on Jack Nicholson to play Robert Downey Jr.’s father in the courtroom drama, The Judge. The summary for the film is as follows:
“‘The Judge’ centers on an attorney who returns home for his mother’s funeral only to discover that his estranged father, a judge who suffers from Alzheimer’s, is suspected of murder.”
Nicholson is notoriously picky in choosing his next project, only having done four films in the last decade.
RDJ has finished filming Iron Man 3 and has an empty schedule until the next year. Insiders say he intends to make The Judge his next project.
RDJ and Nicholson are said to meet later this week.
Oh my God, I did auditions yesterday and see the cast list tomorrow for Macbeth... Understand that Lady Macbeth is a character that I have loved forever and I may cry of joy if I get the role. That being said, our director is doing something pretty cool and some of the other parts that I could possibly end up with would be pretty fun as well...
With all this in mind I just wanted to do a bit on auditioning and all that because it's so much of a part of what we have to do and we have to do it so often, it's said that an actor's job is auditioning. I absolutely love auditioning, I've looked into it quite a bit, figuring out what's the best strategy, so here's just a bit of what I've found out. Getting good at doing cold readings/monologues etc. can be one of the most instrumental skills in being successful.
Auditions vary as far as what the directors want you to prepare and what they'll have you do as a cold read when you get there. (Musicals are the same way with song/dance)
As far as cold reading, for some shows it can be extremely obvious which monologues they'll have you do for certain characters or which scenes are going to be most important. It's said so much it almost loses it's meaning, but look at the script if you are able to get your hands on a copy. It can give you a better idea of what is happening as well as allow you to already have a more developed character to go off of when you're auditioning. Seriously gives you an edge over others. Knowing the lines a bit beforehand can also keep you from getting overly nervous and/or stumbling over words if you tend to have a problem with that.
Preparing monologues brings a completely different aspect into the auditioning process. It can help you a whole lot if you choose the correct monologue for you. It all depends upon the part you're looking for and your specific abilities as an actor. I can't really help you figure out what those are, but clearly a dramatic monologue for a comedy isn't going to be the way to go. This is pretty much the same as preparing a song, but that is even more heavily dependent upon your vocal abilities.
While we're on the subject, acting/performing monologues can be really weird, depending on what type of monologue it is. If you're supposed to be talking to somebody, people will have a tendency to look towards the casting directors, but the best way to do these is to more or less imagine that there are others in the scene with you and look/interact with them. (This is just based off of reading, it has seemed to make a difference with my experiences.) In general, monologues are going to be something that is very telling about a character, so put some time into thinking about what the various parts of it mean and how you can portray various double meaning or whatever if there are any, especially in some shows that are just superly dramatic and riddled with things like that (especially oldies like Shakespeare).
There is a practice that comes to remaining calm and collected beforehand, not getting voice cracks or shaky hands or whatever happens to you, and that's all based on training yourself and realising that when you take risks on stage, it will almost always work in your favor because even if the director doesn't like your direction, they will most likely like the fact that you're willing to take the risk and will simply ask you to do it a different way. (Not a hard fast rule, but, in general...)
Those are pretty basic tips, just as sort of a general overview, I have posted a few links about such things in the past, but I felt like I had to not be lazy and actually write something myself for a while because I've been so absent. Food for thought!
RAHH! ok. I'mbackforreal. I kind of feel guilty. Ok, so I watched like 605678 movies since I last came on so even though I'm crazy busy I should be able to put some stuff on here. Thanks so much for your patience, I love you all. :D
Ok. I'm terrible. I know. Hiatus officially ends next Tuesday. I'm going on a vacation without internets and I will be so ready when I return. Seriously, I think this will be just what I need.
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