Attend Film Festivals; Familiarize Yourself

LDS Film Festival Filmmaker [Twice] VOICE ACTING

I was part of the LDS Film Festival for the second year. Each time was the 24 hour film making marathon. There's a theme, object, and line that they give you at the beginning of the 24 hours, then it's go-time and you have to incorporate that criteria into your film.

2012 [2nd year to participate] -- Theme: Anniversary; Object: a cake; Line: "I really want to..."
Team: Moroni Taylor, Jared Garrison, Billy Machin, April Garrison. I produced it. I definitely had a bigger role this time around than last year. I also helped the film concept with April and came up with main dialogue. I was also the main voice actor. I played the character, Loretta. Take a look.

This year's films were a step above last year. We did not win this time around, or even place, which is bull, but whatever.


2011 [1st year to participate] -- 
Theme: generosity; Object: a dollar bill; Line: "What more can I..."
Team: Moroni Taylor, Clifford Taylor, Jared Garrison. My role: i basically just produced it. Entered the contest, burned it onto disc, and handed it in. All the manual labor took place in CT with Moroni, Clifford, and Jared in animation. Here's the video:

It was pretty cool. There were about 30 entrants and we placed 2nd. We won $150. And I got a cool filmmaker badge.

Play Card #1 Fawlty Towers

For class i must do a play card for them and all other plays i see that have this info: Title, Author, Brief Synopsis, at least 3 characters, their descriptions, their main objective, and at least 3 of their tactics.


My acting class's "lab" is to attend a play each week that is put on by advanced BFA Acting students. It is written, directed, and acted by students. These mini-plays are about 45 minutes and are called Mask Club.

Mask Club #1: saw on Thursday, January 26, 2012

Fawlty Towers Communication Problems 
Written by John Cleese & Connie Booth
A hotel owner (Basil) bets on a horse race and wins big, but must keept it a secret from his wife (Sybil). Meanwhile, an old lady in the hotel misplaces her money and accuses the hotel staff, who are not quite friendly but rude.

3 Characters:

• Basil -- Gambling man; owner of hotel
• O: to hide his winnings 
• T: 1) to ask ppl to hide it for him; 2. to play innocent; 3. to lie
• Sybil -- Basil's wife; strong character
• O: to find truth & please customers
• T: 1) to be friendly; 2) to try to catch Basil in act of covering up; 3) to give Basil's horse winnings to old lady
• Old Lady [polly or mrs. Alice?] -- grumpy old lady, unhappy with service of hotel
• O: to be pleased & receive attention from hotel; to get her money
• T: 1) to exagerate her problems; 2) to neglect her hearing aid; 3) to accuse hotel of neglect; 4) to complain a lot

Scenes/Monologues/misc:
--no scenes or monologues stuck out to me.
--though, the actress playing Sybil was very good. Believable and developed, even though not many lines. She had mannerisms and full character.
--Basil was great though. Accent good. Comedic. Some improv great when stumbled on stair. Very well reminisced of John Cleese.

Class Exercise #4: Physical Obstacle

performed on Thursday, January 26, 2012

#4. Objective, Tactics, Room Conflict, Physical Obstacle -- add physical obstacle; something that affects behavior having to do with the actor's body (needs to pee, broken arm, etc.

Scene -- I'm in a rush for an interview. I enter scarfing down my breakfast sandwich. I get onto the elevator, see Ashley approaching, and try to close the door but fail. She is chewing a big stick of gum, and my breath smells really bad. I ask for a piece. We recognize each other from class, and she needs my notes but i have no time. The elevator breaks down. She panics (claustrophobia). When the doors open, she scrambles out and i take a piece of gum from her bag and exit.

OBJECTIVES

Karyn - wants Ashley to give her a piece of gum

• Physical Object: breath smells
• TACTICS:
• To ask
• To guilt
• To make Ashley feel irrational
• To take

Ashley - wants Karyn to give her the notes from class 

• Physical Object: claustrophobia
• TACTICS:
• To ask
• To annoy
• Plead
• To make Karyn feel sorry for her

WORKING WITH ASHLEY:

I really wanted to work with Ashley. in her previous skits, i thought she had real presence and character, which she so does. although she may have lacked that honest vulnerability. but i was impressed by her.

when we rehearsed, she was a lil' distracted with a real "performing" instead of "truth" demeanor. she encouraged me to be more elaborate and dramatic, but i tried sticking more low-key. though i didn't direct her otherwise because we were a bit rushed, so i stayed mellow with nothing to prove. She'd find out from a real authority (our teacher) what to do. I could have mentioned somethin tho because...

our skit was very dramatic. it was fun tho, comedic. and the TA had us reenact it -- to be more honest. Best thing! ACTUAL COACHING! and Ashley was amazing. she felt vulnerable and uneasy, but it was true emotion! way better work to work off of because of the honesty is brings!

afterward she seemed boggled or sad. after asking her what was wrong, she said "it's just a lot to take in." she had to change her whole idea of what acting was. i think the balance of extroverted personalities became balanced. we had gained a respect for one another. i freakin love that girl now, and i look forward to working with her again. yayyy.

Class Exercise #3: Room Conflict

performed on Thursday, January 26, 2012

#3. Objective, Tactics, Room Confict -- Something about the setting that affects the scene (ie. in a library-must be quiet)

Scene -- Nate is my big brother and I his little sister. We are at an amusement park and he had just won a stuffed animal that I want him to give me. The scene starts before and while we enter the room with my pleading. He wants me to go on the roller coaster, but I'm too afraid.

OBJECTIVES

Karyn - get stuffed animal from Nate

• TACTICS:
• beg
• plead
• flatter
• threat about secret gf

Nate - get little sister karyn onto ride

• TACTICS:
• walking... leading both to ride
• tell karyn its the cool thing that big kids do
• persuasion "there's no line at all"
• to bribe with bear
• to swindle into getting her to sit down on ride

WORKING WITH NATE:
I was looking forward to working with Nate. Why? ...hello? Look at him. I saw more skit potential.

Though, when we met, it took forever just to come up with an idea. seriously. he was boring to me. i would throw something out there, and he'd dodge it and yet he didn't really have a firm opinion of his own. i wanted to tackle a scene about dating, but only because we fit the part (i have a bf). i think he didn't want to go there. so it took hours and hours to come up with something. we had to meet two more times -- once on skype and once more in person for a couple hours.

...finally, i threw out the idea about siblings on a roller coaster. something light and "unambiguous" so to speak. we went for it, and i loved it. easy. he was fun as the older brother. I relived my annoying lil sister routine. though, i played it TOO much during class: the voice, the dramatics, the young age, the blah blah blah... not really believable. I see that now. Nate did very well. but after my performance, the TA said we need to play ourselves, our own age, etc. Good to know and good for the class to know, too.

i realize tho that boring is not the word. I just need to get to know people a bit first. because they are all so nice and welcoming. we work together and grow as a partnership. good stuff!

Class Exercise #2: Objective/Tactics

Starting PARTNER WORK. It's structured improv, meaning it's got a plot and rehearsals, but it can change during the performance of the skit. Though it's pretty straight-forward.
Format of My Recap: title of exercise -- brief description of exercise, describing the scene itself, OBJECTIVE/TACTICS outline, and my overall thoughts on the scene/my partner [disclaimer: honest].

performed on Thursday, January 19, 2012

#2. Objective, Tactics -- Both ppl need to do/get something from the other using 3 tactics. 
Scene -- Bobby and I are coworkers at the home depot. I'm at work and he came in to get some paint. I had a potential date so i wanted him to cover me for the next hour. He wanted me to take his entire AM shift saturday. I say no, he says no. We each persist.
Bobby: c'mon why can't you just take my shift? c'mon why not? what's up... why not?
Karyn: fine!! ...there's a reason i've been working at the home depot since 1998. I don't get up before noon!
Bobby says okay, he'll cover me. I exit. He lied and exits suspiciously.

OBJECTIVES

• Bobby - get Karyn to take my shift on Saturday morning 8am-1pm
• TACTICS :
• Guilt Trip - "I took two of your shifts last month, therefore you should take this one"
• rejected: Karyn: I don't remember those shifts
• Bribery - I'll give you a few bucks for lunch that day
• Pleading - "why won't you take the shift?"
• Lying - EXIT
• Rejections

• Why can't you do it later?
• Get someone else?
• My list of errands
• Karyn - get Bobby to work for one hour while Karyn goes on a lunch date
• TACTICS:
• Manipulation: "What are you up to right now?"
• Barter
• Plead
• Rejections
• Initial Agreement, but rejected at finding out that it starts at 8am. "Oh, I have something that morning"
• Rejection of the money for lunch: "I may be out of town"
• There's a reason Ive been working at home depot for ten years

WORKING WITH BOBBY:
I wasn't sure about working with Bobby. I had my pick of the class to work with, and I wanted to work with Mallory cuz she was really the only one i had spoken to in the class at that point. but Bobby was sitting an empty chair away from me. my initial thought that he was probably just nice, but not real experienced. i was probly just in one of those moods: shy, nervous, anxious about the skit. He offered so joyfully that i couldn't refuse and he made me happy about the scene to come!

It's a good thing I worked with him! He's got to be one of the best idea-guys and very talented in acting! He really understands the material and can get into the mind of the situation/characters. He's organized, has good opinions, and has a really easy-going personality that is super great to work with. Bobby really knows how to break a scene down and move at an even pace. Different from Nate (no offense Nate). I learned a lot from working with him, and I'll never misjudge ppl again! Bobby is now one of my favorite people in the class.

Class Exercise #1 "To Begin!"

performed on Thursday, January 12, 2012

#1. Individual Objects -- Use 3 or more objects in a scene from daily life.
I did laundry. now i think of it. it was pretty boring. but i accomplished the task. Other ppl had a mood about them--tired, mad, etc. I was just content and thought about doin my laundry at Shelley --my home in CT.
I didn't know what the professor or TA wanted. They don't exactly spell it out.

NEXT UP...
PARTNER WORK
We have a total of 4 exercise scenes with partners titled:
Ojective & Tactics, Room Conflict, Physical Object, and Secrets.
Format for my future recaps: 

• title of exercise,
• brief description of exercise, 
• description of the scene itself,
• OBJECTIVE/TACTICS, 
• and my overall thoughts on the scene/my partner [DISLCLAIMER: very honest].

An objective is what you want and the tactics are how you accomplish that which you want, which are described in verb form with "to..." (i.e. to begin! to flatter, to plead, to bully). Each scene must have an entrance, objective, and exit.

BYU Acting Class... So Far

Susan had insisted that i take an acting class while at school. i'm taking the first level acting class: TMA 123 Acting Fundamentals; TMA stands for the Theatre and Media Arts department. I thought i wanted to get into TMA 124, the next level of acting. but the professor never responded to my emails or phone calls. Stupid! But apparently the auditions for that class were last year. 

Though, it may be a good thing because this class (the one i'm in) is pretty intensive:

• Every Tues/Thurs at 9-11am! 
• Have a rehearsed exercise each class with a different partner each time: objects, objective, tactics, room conflict, physical obstacle, secrets
• See 10 mask-club performances (45-minute plays)
• See 5 separate plays
• Read 5 separate plays. 
• All of which need a play-card with certain info on it. 
• We are also asked to read a few different books: Respect for Acting by Hagen, An Actor Prepares by Stanislavsky, and Chapter Two by Simon.

At first i didn't really like the class. The professor doesn't teach. That's him to the right. seemingly fun enough.. but he doesn't take this class seriously. Last class he said to me, "i've got 3 other acting classes, and i don't know what going on in any of them." Really? ..and this is the same guy that never responded to my email inquiry about TMA 124. He just sits back and asks the students, after our skits, "so what'd ya think?" as if the students are going to know anything! Lame. There's no real critique or coaching. So all of us students have no idea what he's looking for.

Finally, today the TA (thank goodness for her) mentioned "truth in imaginary circumstances" -- finally some actual teaching happening! I want some critiques and coaching for goodness sake. That's what I'm paying for, that's why I'm here.. So I think the TA and professor will now do better at actually TEACHING us, I hope. 

Though, it is a nice practicum and interesting to do partner work. Learning here makes me realize how lucky I've been to learn privately from Susan back east.

Good Bye East Coast... Hello Provo, Utah

It's so sad to leave Connecticut. I really didn't want to leave my acting coach, Susan, because I felt I was making dramatic progress (no pun intended). She's got me to see what acting is really all about: honest, true emotion. She helped me realize who I am, not just as an actor, but as an individual. It was truly an eye-opening experience, and i intend to continue learning from her when i return, if circumstances allow.

Now, I am back at BYU in my major, advertising. Though, I am taking an intro-level acting class (TMA 123) and it is pretty time-intensive. I'll go into it more detail in a separate post.

My acting steps will continue here with all my experiences that i have... including seeing student and professional plays, plays i read, exercises i do in class, any epiphanies i have during my individual study, etc.


Though, I haven't posted in so long because i was in a car accident. A stupid lady turned right into me as i was passing through a green light. AND she doesn't have insurance. So, i have spent countless hours (over 20 hrs.) on the phone these past few weeks with Geico and Allstate. I've learned a lot about the accident/insurance process. My car is considered totaled even tho it's still drivable and the engine is still perfect. So i'll get money to fix it, but it'll be a salvage title. Lame.

Whateva Kiyum!

So now, i'm a little bit more back on track and will be able to keep up with my acting experiences here.