Monitor Review

I shot two shorts in the last three days. Both were for a DePaul Grad school directing course.

At one of the shoots Johnny Depp came up. Someone said that he doesn't watch his work. He says that it's not his job.

Perhaps when one has achieved his level of expertise there is no need to review one's work. At my level (film newb), I find playback to be pretty invaluable. However, what I'm not interested in is viewing the monitor in the midst of filming.  Perhaps "interested" is the wrong way to word that. It's absolutely tempting. But, I think you have to trust your director. If I watch and start worrying about whether or not my chin is down or my makeup looks bad I get in my head. 

Am I going to get burned by relying too much on the director? Maybe. Maybe not. We'll see. I'll let you know if it happens.

Thoughts?

Good and Not so Good News for Chicago Television Production

Let's start with the bad news.

If you still watch Supernatural (absolutely obsessed with it in college), you probably saw the episode that took place in Chicago. It was actually shot here which is fantastic. The episode was to serve as a backdoor pilot to the Supernatural spin-off Bloodlines (formerly Tribes). I watched it, and what I remember thinking is: "Why are Sam and Dean not in this more?" I really, really don't think they should have treated the pilot this way. If you're going to start a new series, commit. It wasn't fair to the idea or the cast/crew to smoosh it in a series that viewers tune in to for two specific characters. But, nobody consulted me, and the series is dying an early death. I don't know if it was going to be shot in Chicago, or if they were going to replace the city with Canada, but I must admit I was totally dreaming hard core. I loved Supernatural. It would have been awesome to know that its underdog cousin was filming here. 

The good news: The Lee Daniels written and directed Empire is filming its pilot in the city. The empire of the title is of the hip-hop variety. The cast is impressive: Terrence Howard, Gabourey Sidibe and Taraji P. Henson. However, it's set in New York City. I hope this doesn't mean that there will be a location change if it's picked up.

Wannabe Super Villain or My First On Camera Acting Course

By K Whiteford

I've not done a lot of film work. Fifty percent of that work happened around three weeks ago. I'm gearing up, however, for a rather hectic schedule over the next month. I've been cast in three short film projects that all start shooting this month. I'm pretty excited. Baby steps and all.

Tonight I started my first On Camera course. I've taken a seminar before, but nothing as in depth as this class. The first meeting was interesting. It's a mix between the business of acting in Chicago, and working on audition technique for film. This evening we did an interview style audition, something that would happen if the spot (commercial) called for someone to merely be reading a book or sleeping on a couch, for example, rather than having a copy (script) with lines.

My question was what super power I would have if I could have anything, except flight "because everyone picks that." Well, I was going to say flight, obviously. I chose invisibility instead and launched into an explanation of how I would use this power to become a super villain cat burglar.

"So you would use your power for evil?" The instructor asked.

"Right, evil," I replied.

Evidently I also require henchmen to carry out the "fine" art I steal and a driver who drives an invisible BUT cream colored Bentley for me. I'm not really sure what this says about me, other than my adoration of Catwoman (Michelle Pfeiffer 4eva) has carried on into my adulthood.

Anyway, we watched the playback of our interviews with one question to answer, "Were you genuine?" 

Yep, I think, that's me, making weird faces and plotting world domination. 

Playback was invaluable. I now know: I need to keep my chin down, that was not a great angle for me; I will never, ever, wear that outfit again on camera; though hair my looked fine in the mirror, it did absolutely nothing for me on screen.

So, how am I going to use the next seven weeks? Learning to audition and auditioning different hair styles and outfits. I hadn't thought to do this, but what a great way to determine what translates well to the monitor and what doesn't. Live, learn, and fix it.

P.S. 

On my way from class I got lost on my way back to the bus, which runs along Michigan Ave. How? Well, let me tell you. Where I was at, you had to go up some HIDDEN stairs to get back to the street. Absolutely baffling. I figured I just needed to head in the direction of the lake. False, silly country mouse. City engineers, how do you do it?

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!