Miss Beldon. My first legit short film.

This was my first legit short film, Miss Beldon, for the 48 hour film festival. Loved every minute, particularly the stunts. Though I am my biggest critic.

I wanted to show how kickass my character Special Agent Buchanan was, and my inexperience caused nervousness. It's all mental. Anytime you are in front of the camera, and in life, trust yourself that you've done the work and are prepared. Trust your mind and your skill.. Otherwise you will not enjoy your work, and you may feel inadequate. Let's not have that shit cloud focus.

I got to work with this amazing cast and crew. Yelena, great clear kind direction. Evan screenplay and my partner in justice. Tyler, hilarious talent with donut. Kabrina, kind and talented. Bryan, soooooo fun to work with you on stunts and watch you perform your work! Erynn, brother of Evan... Bethany, editing is so cool! ;) The Badger-Breathing Dragons unite!

Let's Get it Done

Who I am is who I am and I'm excited for who I am to be who I am and everyone else seeing that who I am is who I am. Excited? OHhhhh yeah... i know.. it's cool we got this. you and me, baby. Let's show'em what's up around town, maybe ride a bike or two... maybe a tandem one. That's how much we got this.

thank you One Tree Hill

This past year has been a lot of hell but I'm slowly coming back. Maybe I'll mention it at some point but for now, I'm just excited to post this because it has been a year and i am finally excited enough about something in my life again. And what do you know? It's story, music, acting! And I am rejuvenated, at peace, and excited about life again.

I picked up again on One Tree Hill after a few year stint of not watching it after Payton and Lucas left. I'm back in it and I'd forgotten how great it is. Tearing up, getting emotional, scared, laughing hysterically, or getting super excited about life, it inspires me.


This one is freaky. It is a nightmare sequence. I would say viewer discretion is advised. But, it's hilarious too.

This. This is it. I love music and acting. And here we are. This song inspired some excitement in me that I haven't known for the past year. I can do this. I can do this life the way I want.

Both of the above clips are from Season 8 Episode 6 (a halloween episode, i might ad--my absolute favorite holiday)


Lip-singing with headphones in watchin the video above... feelin good and lovin it.. you can play the video above at the same time so there's actual audio. i just wanted to post this becuz it's odd but i felt so good i don't care!

Ke$ha's "Take it Off" MV

So i'm a little late on the uptake but a friend just introduced me to this video and i love it because:

1) mostly because of Ke$ha's eyes at the beginning when they turn all freaky-like:
"..when the dark of the night comes around
that's the time that the animal
comes alive, lookin for something wild..."

2) its based on the known tune: "there's a place in france where the naked ladies dance. there's a whole in the wall where the boys can watch it all."

3) halfway through the video is colored powder party like the festival of colors

TBBT: Elevator Explained!

i love starting to watch shows when they've already got like 5 seasons out. that way i don't have to wait a week or for stupid hiatus to end. I've been catchin up on the big bang theory.

"Okay baby-doll pink, let's see if you can cover up the fact that i got my dad's feet." ... the episode i just finished watching:  THE BIG BANG THEORY S3E22
finally! this is the episode that explains why the elevator is broken!

omg i love this show. the writing and acting is so funny. Jim Parsons is exceptionally impressive and Kaley Cuoco is soo great. Sometimes--rarely--she misreads a line or isn't owning her craft, but for this show it's fine. she's always entertaining and on occasion, she has the BEST READINGS more than any other comedic actress. like this one from S2E11 (try to ignore the sound delay and subtitles):

"That's what you took from that?!! The guy is married!" 

I am loving that reading. Just awesome. The explosion of shock, the slight voice crack on "That's," the wide-eyed stare, the head tilt and gesture forward. So great.

The Buzz of Funny Celebs

My mind:

• Watches Revenge and loved the song at the end of an episode --> turns into:
• Finds the song on youtube; got it --> turns into:
• "What was that one song on 30 rock... KIDNEY NOW" --> turns into:
• 30 Rock Bloopers -->
• Tina Fey interview -->
• Zac Efron & Michelle Pfeiffer interview -->
• Sandra Bullok interview -->
• 2 hours later -->
• realizes its been 3 hours of this, in the middle of the night -->
• comes to senses? -->
• hopefully sleeps, but most likely, you know better.

1. love tina fey

2. love katherine heigl

3. sandra bullock; need i say more.

4. love love love zac efron; he's like the robert redford or brad pitt of this generation; i think i'll work with him sometime

many more.. but yeah. don't mind that i spent hours doin this and i have a 9am ACTING class (ironically). whateva kiyum

Sir Ian McKellen, On Acting

Oh yeah. THIS is acting... such deep insight.

Jodie Foster Rocks This Shit

Sorry for the "t" in there april (since ur the only one reading this), but there's no other way to say it that shows what i'm trying to convey. I tried "shiz" but it didn't work.

It seems that the best things always come when you're not looking for them.

This one came when I just decided to watch Silence of the Lambs for the first time with my friend. Such a good choice. This movie was definitely a good example of a strong female character. Such presence and power. And yet, layered with a very potent vulnerability. Take a look.

I am so going to try this monologue out. It is a lil intimidating though.. i mean it's Jodie Foster. Can you get any better? Won't stop me though. Will try it out. You may be saying, "this isn't a monologue." well, all you have to do is take out the dialogue of the other character (and if it sounds good) then you've just made it into a monologue.

Step Fourteen: Reading the Script: Screenplay-to-Film Acting Lesson

In first studying how to read lines from a script, I searched available online screenplays and available movies I could watch on my Netfilx account. From that I decided to take a look at a casting that would be similar to my own: a casting like Jennifer Lawrence's [X-Men First Class, The Hunger Games, Winter's Bone]. So i found Winter's Bone, 2010 Best Picture & Best Screenplay Sundance Film Festival.

Before I started watching the movie, I read the the first 25 (of 73) pages of the screenplay and read the part of Ree (Jennifer Lawrence). I tried to read for Ree to see how I would be that character versus how Jennifer Lawrence portrayed her in the movie.

First time I read through the first few pages, there's a simple line that Ree says to her younger sister: "Mornin." I tried reading that several different ways: happy, hyper, sad, indifferent, angry, sisterly... but the truth is that you can't just know the character from one line or how you should say it in that instance. That's where the director comes in. Or, if you don't have the director, make sure you've read the story thoroughly then decide for yourself. Or be who you are and decide that THIS is how you see the character, because it is YOU.

Also, each individual line is not a chance for you to prove yourself, it's a chance to show who you're character is and what she is going through.

Above is page 10 from the screenplay
Below is the trailer for Winter's Bone
(there're a couple lines from this page that are said in the trailer)

That was my first real understanding of how to interpret a script. I realized that you need to have an understanding of the character and what her true actions/emotions would be, given the imaginary circumstances. It is a way of defining the character yourself, and not just imitating someone else (which is one of the ways you get trapped and lose your creative self).

It sounds a lil' complicated, but you can learn quite a bit from this process of reading it for yourself and comparing objectively. Key word: objectively. There's no sense in being critical of yourself. You are learning and therefore making progress no matter how it seems.

Step Thirteen: Research the Pros--Be an Artist... and Know How to Deal with Industry Indecency

1. Research the Pros--professionals are professionals for a reason... they know how to work the business and get noticed for their talent and acquired skill! No wonder they have become stars. They deserve to be stars! I came across some celebrity auditions. Impressive if you ask me. Thought i'd share. Very cool. I love love love these actresses. Oh! Speaking of which, never feel embarrassed for liking or wanting to emulate anyone you admire, no matter how different or unusual (or on the other side of the spectrum: mainstream or fad-like) it may appear to be. You are an artist, so appreciate and aspire like an artist.

Not to mention, i came across this blog that is written anonymously by some successful actress. Check it out. It helps to visualize yourself being successful in what you love too! http://theworkingactress.com/

The Following Videos:
1st is Emma Stone for Easy A. [monologue]
2nd is Sandra Bullock (not sure what for). [monologue]
3rd is Rachel McAdams for The Notebook [dialogue with Ryan Gosling].

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2) Know How to Deal: too many young people (girls and women mostly) are taken advantage of in the acting biz. Know who you are and what you will and will not stand for.

i came across this suuuper disturbing video. it's a couple of students acting out a scene from When Harry Met Sally.. then the teacher takes it wayyyyyyyyyyy too far. I wanted to yell at this girl and tell her that's it's okay for you to stand up for yourself! if you FEEL like something is wrong, then it probably IS wrong.

CAUTION: this is TV-MA for sexual innuendo and strong language.

although it has very mature content, it sure makes me thankful for my strong sense of right and wrong.  it's good because it prepares you to react properly in a situation like this, instead of just being in complete shock and confusion. now ain't no way in hell i'd allow an acting teacher treat me this way.

btw, i later found out it was in the Sundance Film Festival '09. So it's not actually real.. i think. 

Step Twelve: Monologuing (just an intro)

Knowing and perfecting a couple different monologues is the foundation for good auditioning. You want to have a contemporary monologue and a classic one. Preferably, you want a comedic and dramatic of each.

I've learned Shakespeare's Sonnet 116 and i practice it in various different tones, manners, and accents for fun. though there's also legitimacy in doing this. I will post a video soon of me doing different readings of this.

While searching for monologues, i found AceYourAudition.com which provides some useful info for actors. Just a few hints for auditioning and monologuing: http://www.ace-your-audition.com/free-monologues.html

ALSOOOO i love youtube instructional videos... here's a series on monologuing that's very helpful called "Practicing Audition Monologues:" SERIES PLAYLIST (22 one-to-two-minute videos)