The Actor's Job

It's been a pretty busy few days for me. I was out of town for Easter--wonderful to see friends and family and, I hadn't realized I missed wide open spaces until I was in them-- and then came back to double stacked auditions. Today I have two more in the Loop.

Which brings me to: What, exactly, is the actor's job?

I was recently listening to an online seminar, and the lecturer stated that the actor's job is to audition. Not to get booked, but audition. I don't agree with the statement. In my opinion, the audition is simply a job interview. The purpose is to determine not only whether I am capable of performing the part (which lots of people who audition will be), but also whether I (me, myself) am a good fit for the project. Do I look like what the director wants? (Do I look exactly like the lead when I'm being called for a supporting role?) Do I present myself as someone people would want to spend weeks and even years with? This is why it's so important to be "on" the second you walk into the building. You must be nice to the monitor, you must be personable. There is no sense in blowing an interview because you're having a bad day and take it out on the person checking people in. The audition isn't your job, it's the gateway to a job. We just have a higher turnover than other trades.

A job pays, auditioning does not. If we are serious about pursuing this as a career, we must believe that what we do, what we bring to the table is worth compensation. I don't consider an interview in any other business my job, and acting, as much as we may resist, is a business. We need to acknowledge it as such.  

Right now, I'm auditioning LIKE it's my job, but it's not.

Any opinions? Am I just arguing semantics again?

8 Hours, a Bloody Tub, and How to Get (Fake) Blood Stains Out of Clothes and Skin

I spent this past weekend sitting in a tub of cornstarch, chocolate syrup, cocoa powder, and food coloring. It's an actor's life for me ya'll. 

In celebration of the gory little short, I'm going to share tips on removing fake blood from clothes and skin. I hope this comes in handy for you all around Halloween. But first! a still from the production.

STOP! IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE A LOT OF FAKE BLOOD!

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Photo Credit: Cassie Kranz

As you can see, there was a lot of fake blood. It was horribly sticky. We kept having to apply water because I would stick to the tub, my left elbow, which was bent, kept adhering to by bicep, and my hair got plastered to my face.

Supplies

1. Baby wipes. Absolutely wonderful for removing the fake blood from my face. I didn't even look sunburned after gently wiping away the excess blood, latex, and makeup.

2. Baby oil. I didn't end up using any, but in general, it's really good for getting the stains off of skin.

3. Shampoo, conditioner, face soap, and body wash. I used baby soap and it worked pretty well, though I did look a little sunburned around my knees and on my arms. (I didn't use the baby wipes in these areas).

How To

1. I primed my face with Benefit Stay Flawless primer and followed up with Benefit Hello Flawless Oxygen WOW Foundation. I wanted there to be a buffer between my skin and the blood.

2. Cassie Kranz then did an awesome job of applying some FX makeup (broken nose; swollen cheekbone; cute little cut above my eyebrow). She blended with some latex and the Physician's Formula foundation that I brought. (Read, more stickiness).

3. Shoot, shoot, shoot. So much blood on everything!

4. SHOWER immediately. I think that this is what did the most for the blood removal. As soon as we finished shooting, I stood up, in my clothes, and hosed down. I lightly wrung out the clothes and double bagged them, still pretty wet, in a couple of plastic bags. They stayed like that all night, and then this morning I threw them in the washer. All of the pink is gone, even from the white threads in the rips of my jeans.

5. As for skin, baby soap worked just fine for me, if you don't mind being a little pink the next day. To get the stains completely off of my face, I, as mentioned above, used baby wipes. They also removed the remaining latex from my skin and hair. 

Things I've Heard But Didn't Try

1. Vaseline can be used as another barrier between the skin and the blood. In theory, it should make it easier for the blood to be wiped away. I didn't try it because I was afraid I would break out.

2. Lemon. Supposedly, you can half a lemon and rub the juice on the stains. To me, this sounds painful and like a last resort. 

A Very Chicago Weekend

I drove the best friend to the airport this morning before the crack of dawn. If you're flying in/out of Chicago, go Midway if you can. The drive at that hour wasn't too bad, and I was just ahead of the morning rush.

Wrigley Field: 1914-2014

What we did this weekend, and thoughts.

1. Field Museum. I like the Field a lot. I've heard that it's not as cool as the Museum of Science and Industry (I haven't been there yet so I can't compare), but I really enjoyed the time we spent there. Right now, there's a neat Bio-mechanics exhibit going as well as artifacts from the Chicago Word's Fair. My favorite part was the collection of taxidermy animals. The work on them is astounding. It feels like they could leap through the glass at any moment.

2.  Art Institute of Chicago. This was by far my favorite activity of the weekend. Their Impressionist (my favorite) collection is great. They also have a special exhibit on Renoir's (favorite) colors going on right now. We wandered there for quite awhile. The best friend was also excited because they had a lot more Monet's (her favorite) than she had expected.

3. The Bean. I think it's actually named Cloudgate or something like that, but I've only ever heard it called the Bean.

4. City Gallery at the Water Tower. Quite honestly, I can't remember the exhibit that was being displayed. We popped in right after leaving the Art Institute and were rather exhausted. I think it was mixed media. Best part. FREE!

5. Navy Pier. We wandered around the pier for a little. It's currently undergoing some major renovations so that's not ideal.

6. Cubs game at Wrigley Field. Happy 100th Wrigley. We went. It was cold. They won, which someone told me they don't do very often.  

I think we did pretty well for three days. What are your favorite places to take out of town visitors?

RE: Networking

This is going to be a rather brief post, I'm picking up my bestie from the airport. I'm going to play tourist for the first time since I've been here, so I'll share what we did on Monday. I imagine it's going to be full of museums and food.

I've mentioned the Chicago Filmmakers networking event a few times, but I have some exciting news. The day before yesterday, I shot some test footage for a director I met there. I'm going to be involved in a cool project because I was trying to be proactive about meeting people in the industry.

At the event, he described what he did. I was genuinely interested and asked for his email so I could check out his work. We exchanged emails, and I followed up the next day, as I was instructed by said bestie. I watched his stuff, liked it, and told him so. He asked for for my demo reel (I don't have one), so I sent him an audition video I put together for an agent submission. He liked it and Tuesday I was testing.

I'm not sure how often this happens, but not bad for the first time out.

Thus, get out there, be proactive!

The New Age: Transmedia Artists

Via The Underground Multiplex

RE: the networking thing I was stressing out over, it was mostly fun. I'm still not great at it, but I was definitely not the disaster that I imagined.

Part of the event, hosted by Chicago Filmmakers, included a TED style talk by LEW OJEDA and JOSEPH R. LEWIS of The Underground Multiplex. The entire presentation was great, but what really resonated with me were their thoughts on being a transmedia artist. Basically, the game has changed. No one is merely a Director, merely a DP, merely a Producer in the era of digital entertainment. If you're going to be successful you have to wear all of the hats and you need to look good in them. No one has the luxury of specializing anymore.  Content creation is king and you must learn to rule.

During the question and answer portion of the talk, someone asked how actors might apply this idea to their work. Lewis said (paraphrasing) that when someone says the word actor, he sees someone who is not in control of their own career. He sees someone waiting for the next job to come around. In order to take charge of the uncertain career of an actor you have to--you guessed it-- create. Write yourself a role you've always wanted to play and get it out there. 

In other news, I've been cast in a Columbia student film. It's horror, and I've been promised that there will be "Carrie amounts of fake blood."

Backstage Reports a Boom of TV Filming in Chicago

Via Indiewire

In a previous post I mentioned that Chicago was the number one place to live and work as a filmmaker. According to Backstage, it's also gearing up to be a great place to find television work. Previously, Chicago actors were mostly relegated to Cop #1, Punk with Blue Hair type roles while the bigger Recurring, Guest Star, etc. spots were auditioned and cast out of town. Now, Chicago based actors are getting more opportunities to nab those kinds of roles. And, what's even more promising, Mickie Paskal (a prominent casting director in the City) stated that there are "rumblings that a bunch of pilots are looking to shoot here."

Exciting times.

You can read the rest of the article HERE.

Networking for Introverts

Shy Maiden by Michael Drummond

This past weekend was spent researching agencies I would like to work with, stuffing envelopes, and going out for lunch with a friend. Today, I walked to the post office to mail off my submissions, did general housekeeping, updated my paperwork, and worked on my monologues for an audition tomorrow.

In addition to that audition, I'm attending a networking event with industry folk tomorrow evening. I'm rather nervous about the prospect. Despite my passion for acting, I'm an introvert. I'd rather sit at home reading a book or tormenting my cat with a laser pointer than go out. I'm not good at the bar scene and have never been to a networking event. So, I enlisted the help of my best friend, who happens to be a master at events like these. (I tried to talk her into starting her own blog or becoming a career coach or something, but she declined.)

Some of her tips and my action plan for tomorrow evening:

1. Know what you want to get out of attending the event. (Super important. Don't go in there without knowing why you're there).

2. Confidence is key. Fake it if you must.

3. Scan the room immediately, look for people that suit your purpose for attending the event.

4. Spot an interesting person? Go up and introduce yourself. (Just like that, good heavens).

5. Small talk. (Yikes)

6. Exchange information.

7. Repeat.

8. Follow-up.

Her plan was much more detailed and eloquent, but I'll save that for when I've finally convinced her to start a blog helping those like me.