I just finished a busy weekend. It actually started on the Thursday before, where I was called in during the a.m. hours to do a short film scene for a proposed feature trailer project in need of funding. Considering I had auditioned the Sunday before, it was a marvelous bonus to a week of projects.
Later that afternoon I went out for my second day of shooting on a student film project out of the Arts Institutes of Minnesota, a newer program in town. Marvelous script of a project which should be around 30 minutes and hit the Festival circuit come 2012. That night I finished up the first week of rehearsals on "The Fantasticks," which will be performed in July at Theatre in the Round. I'm playing one of the Fathers, get to sing and dance and act quite broadly. Three of my favorite things! Have Mug Will Perform! Friday night was the kick-off for the annual 48-hour Film Project in the Twin Cities. Some 60+ teams of filmmakers were given a genre, a character, a line of dialogue and a prop that needed to be put in a script. The writing began, the characters defined and calls went out. A completed 8-minute film needed to be done by Sunday night. But before I could join my team, I had a one-day shoot out in LeSueur for a short film project. Arriving at 7 a.m. -- a nice 1 1/2 hour drive to the countryside, I got to grab a young girl and drag her into the woods, only to befall a victim or circumstance and die and literally become a part of a tree. It should be a gem of a project. Met fellow actor Charles Hubbell for the first time...this guy is impressive. Shooting lasted until mid-afternoon and it was back to Hopkins to pick up a character in a 48-hour project. So, I became a biker burn-out, kinda an Ozzio-O biker guy in a world of his own. And that continued thru a location change to South Minneapolis ending at 2 a.m. No one could complain at all of being tired, as the producing crew still had 17 hours to edit, score, mix, and cut to a proper running time...plus deliver the film. The great thing about the 48-hour Project is that the films get done and will be shown a few days later (this case Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday at the fabulous Riverview Theater in South Minneapolis). You also get to spend all day with a great group of folks with one purpose in mind -- to make a linear, enjoyable film that will hopefully win, place, show in the Festival. Now if this wasn't enough...I had a shoot Sunday night for a fellow who does special effect projections for use by haunted houses, as well as your everyday consumer. We were re-creating the classic Dr. Frankenstein's Lab-oratory and I got to be a big Igor with fellow cohort John Edel playing the good doctor, and this massive guy getting green-upped as the monster. The lab, built in Jon Hyer's garage, was a gem -- Ax-Man Surplus a big help. Pizza, lots of conversation, being able to see the film footage, made for a nice cap to the weekend. A friend reminded me that all of this started last year, when a group of folks came out of rehearsal and started touring Shakespeare to Minnesota Parks, something I had last done 30 years earlier before life, love and kids took over. It was this month that I performed my first play in 30 years, and entered the world of auditions, doing three film auditions on June 22nd. Since then, I have been an actor in 90 projects -- 55 films, 4 theatre productions, six script reads, and the remainder divided between TV pilots, music videos and commercials. Whew! I think I might slow down in Year Two a bit...the only things on the horizon for the remainder of the summer is four indie features with small parts, one feature with a large role, a Fringe Festival play, and finishing up a short student film project. Of course, I'm sure a couple more short films done over a day or two will materialize before Labor Day. It's fun perrforming. Maybe it's just getting dressed up and being someone different. Probably it is making people laugh, cry or think. Anyway, if there's a spotlight look...you might see me!
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AuthorThis BLOG will be my personal exploration into the World of Performance Art. Follow me as I return to an Adventure started in the sixties to be An Actor! Categories
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