Old Acting Blog

Yesterday I began my spring break, and already I’m off to a great start.

I spent today going through various tasks and I came upon a note to myself: figure out frequency of posts. Well, I didn’t literally write that, but the idea was still there. I have been expanding my various blogs in an attempt to simplify, but the issue now is – when do I update everything? I am only one person, and I can’t demand too much of myself otherwise I’ll fall behind and then worry about catching up and other such nonsense.

I’ve decided that for THIS blog, my acting blog, I’m going to aim for a once a week update. This way I can keep reviewing what I’m doing with my life ( at least in regards to the steps I’m taking toward my acting career).

Now, I recently saw Julie and Julia and I don’t want to give myself some sort of breakdown because I have to post something, but it is all for my own good right? I was listening to the song “100 years” by Five for Fighting on Pandora and I started thinking about how quickly life can go by. I could list all sorts of quotes and such, but the biggest one is “Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.” by John Lennon.

Instead of just thinking about stuff, I’m going to try to write it up in hopes that I will be inspired to do something about it. It’s just like those times when I am trying to finish my Morning Pages via The Artist’s Way- by page 2 I want to get going on stuff!

Now that I’ve went on and on for a bit, let me drop a quick recap on this past week’s auditions:

After the February month of no auditions I finally got two notices for March 20:

1) Ad for sunglasses: Character “Unlikable groom”. I borrowed my roommate’s suit and they took a few photos and that was it. These types of auditions you either have the look they are looking for or you don’t.

2) Ad for a home-improvement store. I arrived early with hopes that I would be able to get out early and pick up a few more hours of work. What happened however was something different. I walk in and right away noticed the huge line of “homeowners”. I signed in and waited.

I heard the lady at the desk calling several no-shows for the “party guests”, and as a result they were backed up. The session runner asked all of the “homeowners” if any would be seen as a “party guest”. Apparently the pay was the same, but I thought that I might have more fun if I was a homeowner and was able to do some improv.. then I chose to wait. As a result I waited another hour, and as soon as I stepped in I was switched with a party guest anyway. Lesson- when you have the opportunity to be seen in any capacity do it! I made a few other mistakes too, but instead on brooding over it all, I’ll remember the advice from Coach Mike: just focus on one thing you did right, and one thing to do better next time. What I did right was show up early, what I’ll do next time is take any opportunity to go first so I can get on with my life.

hmatt acting update

On March 10th I hosted another Pop Culture night.

There were five of us total that night: Skyler, John, Feikamoh, Marcus and myself.

We watched the HBO show, GIRLS, House of Cards, and Homeland.

I was all excited because I bought an Apple TV for these nights. I then discovered that it stutters while mirroring the display on my Macbook Pro.. This is likely due to my WIFI network, but still- completely unacceptable. I’ve since returned it and bought a Thunderbolt to HDMI cable so I won’t have to deal with that again. Oh well.

I keep hearing about this GIRLS show and once again, I am not the demographic. However, at least now I know the premise of the show. Young early 20s woman vs New York. I thought her parents had an interesting dynamic.

Next up was the Netflix created show House of Cards and it WAS interesting (like the reviews state). First off, I didn’t know that Kevin Spacey’s character breaks the fourth wall and talks to the audience, which is novel! There are very few movies that do that, and as my roommate John pointed out, the last tv show to do that was Saved by the Bell. Still, it is a great way to know what the character is thinking and is extremely efficient in a series to get you up to speed quickly. Secondly, now I want to see the House of Cards tumble. I wonder where the show leaves off (this season?, how is this classified when Netflix releases everything at once?) [Update 3/21/13: I was browsing on Netflix and I found out that this is actually a remake from a 1990 BBC show, and that guy talked to the camera too. The more you know!]

We finished up the night with the pilot of Homeland. This is one of those shows I hear referenced as being quite poplar with Americans, so I thought.. I should probably see this thing. It reminded me of Manchurian Candidate (the classic movie with Sinatra, not the remake) as the tension built up to the climatic scenes. The end of the pilot leaves you with a sense of what is to come, along with a variety of questions.

Fun night once again.

Next time I’ll switch it up. Now that I have my computer connected properly we can watch online series.

Yay for new media!

hmatt Pop Culture Night

On Monday last week, I threw another Pop Culture night. I’ve decided to try to make this a monthly thing, because it is a great way for people to get together and keep tabs on things like I’ve mentioned before.

A total of 11 people attended this night (myself and Marcus, who arrived later, are not pictured)

I started up the Netflix DVD rental again so I can obtain those shows which aren’t available to stream. Unfortunately, because I was using a Kindle to order the queue and didn’t have access to Hulu or Netflix streaming, I didn’t order “Homeland” so I’ll make sure to have that next month.

The first one pilot we watched was Boardwalk Empire.

A lot of people commented on how visually interesting it was. The opening itself is amazing if you haven’t already seen it. I also mentioned the Sesame Street spoof which is equally well done. The 1920s are an era I’m a fan of anyway because of my history with swing dancing. I felt such joy listening to soundtrack of the show because I’m also a long time fan of music from that era. I really don’t know anyone else who listens to songs from Billy Murray, Helen Kane or Ruth Etting. There was such a simplicity in the music of that era.

The show itself has all sorts of great moments. There are a few scenes that I’m not such a fan of, but since it is HBO they tend to favor nudity and over the top violence.

I think the biggest thing I noticed was the transformation of Steve Buscemi as Enoch “Nucky” Thompson. I’ve always seen him as the bumbling guy in Reservoir Dogs or The Big Lebowski or comic stuff like his character on 30 Rock. To see him in a role where he has absolute authority and power was such a great example of how actors can really become someone else.

I ended up watching the second episode before I returned the disc, and I can see how the show has become so popular.

Next we watched The Neighbors. Hmm, what do I say about that show. The regular dad was like Jackie Gleason from The Honeymooners. Everything else about that show was ridiculous as the premise.. a family moves into a suburb and discovers that the community members are all aliens. This was nothing like 3rd Rock from the Sun. The jokes often fell flat IMHO but then again it is the pilot.

Next up was the BBC show Spy. Jamie gave his recommendation as we scrolled the Hulu options, they are apparently remaking this for American audiences. A lot of the group enjoyed the show. The actors reminded others of other actors.. I thought the main guy looks a lot like Jeff Daniels in Dumb and Dumber.

Anyway, it’ll be interesting to see how this show gets ‘translated’. The premise is that an ordinary guy gets accidentally enlisted in MI5. There are great spoofs to the entire spy genre, and it makes me wonder if the american version will be switched over to the CIA and that’s that. Hmm.

The night was another success! We had popcorn, ice cream and sodas; Doritos, Sunchips and Twizzlers. Plus, Morgan brought her Pinterest inspired Nutella cookies. Jamie and Sarah brought some wines they were taste testing for their wedding, which was a delight for many that night.

Tonight I’m going to an Oscar watching party in Burbank. I’ve only seen Argo, but this year’s selections all look amazing and I hope to watch them soon!

hmatt Pop Culture Night

They say insanity is doing the same thing and expecting different results.. So I chose to do my resolution(s) differently this year.

1) I began my new year’s resolution on December 26. – This way the motivation of already accomplishing a few days propelled me past new years day. That day is usually a day when I’m sleeping in, and not motivated to start something new. ~ This worked perfectly.

2) My resolution is “to fill out my daily journal list everyday”. – Instead of thinking about all of the habits I want to change about myself individually, they are all gathered in one place. Then I can see over time which ones I’ve done. It is pretty ‘database’ oriented, but it is the best way for me to check my progress over applying changes in my habits in life.

3) I wanted to making everything easy. – each item on my list only takes 10 min or less. Also, I’ve already compiled earlier thoughts and don’t have to go far to get them.

4) My list is designed to allow me to simply choose an option and go. – this way it doesn’t get stale over time. I can still have my ‘regimen’ and a little bit of variety.

5) My list is organized so each item leads to the next in a ‘natural’ progression. – this way I am more likely to do the next thing because it isn’t ‘hard’ to do (at first). An example is I start my physical activity by cleaning for 10 min, then I do my exercises. It is much more pleasant

And here is what my little list/form/app looks like:

I created everything with an AWESOME program called HanDbase. I’ve been using it for years to list the improv games I know, and I just couldn’t find an app that allowed me to customize it just right.

All this to say, that this is the year when my acting goals take a priority. I figure, I won’t allow the other ‘stuff’ get in the way when I am always thinking about what steps I am and will be taking to further my acting career.

hmatt all