I Get It Now!

It finally clicked for me tonight, I have to stop trying to direct the shows I'm in! Arrgghh! After more than a year of the Maestro telling me this, my instructor Brian finally said it in a way that clicked. (Luckily it wasn't directed at me! You'd be so proud of me Maestro!)

Tonight was the last night of my acting class for this cycle. We once again performed the two person pieces that we have been working on for a couple of weeks. Tonight's performance = not so great, but growing. It definitely wasn't the experience of last week (to see what I'm talking about, scroll down!), but I had some growth. One of the hardest challenges of this exercise is that when our scenes are filmed, each person has their own camera, and it is an extreme close up! This means, that every little detail is seen by the viewer, Brian constantly tells us to view this as if we had a 52' head. The challenge with this is to remain still... yes, you read that correctly, still, also known as "as little movement as possible". Anyone who knows me, knows this is a challenge, and that is what showed through tonight. Brian made the comment of "at times you could tell you were really and truly listening, and then you start moving again", I told him that was because I stopped focusing on holding still, and focused on my partner (just say focus with a Germanic accent one time, it'll make you laugh). I was going to ask for advice on how to just hold still without thinking about it, but then I thought back to the book Mastery by George Leonard, and had my answer. There is no short cut to mastering a skill, people who look for them are not on the path to mastery. The solution is to just keep practicing it, do the same practice hundreds of thousands of times, and then do it another hundred thousand times. Eventually you will no longer think about it. That is my solution.

Back to the first part of my Blog, after we all perform our scenes, we then get to watch them on the television. It was in this review that Brian said something that just made all my "directing" frustrations clear up. I don't remember exactly what he said, but it made me realize that Actors don't direct, Directors do. What this means is that no matter how well meaning and good intentioned a piece of advice is, actors do not give advice or criticism to other actors. It's not our place, we are not the director. What always bothered me was what you were supposed to do when someone asked for your advice, and what finally clicked is that we shouldn't be asking other actors for advice and feedback, we need to ask the... DIRECTOR! Thus it is not rude to say: It is not my place to give advice, if you truly want feedback, ask the Director.

November

Is it just me, or does it seem like November just flew by? It really does seem like this month didn't really happen. Of course I've been really busy, yet it seems like I never have anything to do, but I always have somewhere I need to be. What an odd sensation for an entire month.

Anyway, acting classes have continued apace, and I am still really enjoying them. Last week we performed the pieces that we had cold read the week prior. This time through, my scene is with a talented lady named Monica, and it has been a pleasure getting to perform with her. Last week I had a first when it came to a "rehearsal" type performance (it was performed for the class, but not for an audience). For the first time ever, I completely forgot everything that was happening outside of our scene. My world narrowed to Monica and myself. I forgot the cameras that were right on us, the dozen or so classmates, and our director/ instructor Brian. I wasn't worried about getting my lines right, or even if I was portraying the character correctly. I didn't care if the director was taking notes, and I didn't try to decipher every little sound and reaction from the "audience". In fact, I didn't even notice if Brian, who was sitting four feet away, took notes on our scene at all! What made me happier was that Monica said the same thing, so it made me feel like our characters had a true connection, which is good because our characters are in lust! Next week we will do it again, only this time we have to "change it up", we have to find something to do different...hmmm the challenge.

Let's see, what else...oh, I updated my Resume, check that out over in the right side column. I also have to decide if I am going to do the next set of courses. The problem is that I have to purchase a car, and don't know if the expense of the classes is justifiable when I need a car. Right now I've been getting around because my sister Traci is a truly wonderful person, and has been letting me borrow her Neon, but as soon as it starts snowing she needs it back (she has a mustang that doesn't do so well in the snow). There is my dilemma, to take classes or to not take classes, that is the new question.

Oh, and always a shameless self promotion, if you get the chance, check out some of the Fitness and Exercise blog posts I've been doing for www.selfgrowthengine.com!

Random Thoughts: So True!

(found at http://everythingrandom.net)

Random Thought: Awareness is Support

Apparently today is the national To Write Love On Her Arms day, at least that is what I am hearing from a lot of my friends. So of course I call up Cody to find out what this is all about, because I have no idea and am behind on news as usual. To Write Love On Her Arms (TWLOHA) is an organization whose goal is to give hope and find help for people struggling with depression, addiction, self-injury and suicide, and to help raise support for their cause, they asked that today you write “Love” on your arm so people can see it. This way when asked what it is for, you can tell them about it. This is what Cody was telling me, when someone else (don’t know who, couldn’t hear) started saying that this was a stupid promotion and doesn’t raise any support because there is no fund raising (or something like that). This started enough of an argument on Cody’s part that he had to say Goodbye to me to fight for his side. So I didn’t get the full story, but from what I’m thinking the argument was about; here is my side:

Not all promotions to raise support for organizations like TWLOHA involve the giving of money. In the Marketing and Advertising world this is what we call a “Branding Campaign”. It’s whole purpose is to make people interested enough to find out more about it. Or, in terms of a non-profit movement, it creates Awareness. Fund raising is very important to any not for profit, but if no one knows about you, then you’ll never raise any funds. I believe the other side was saying that this doesn’t really benefit the company at all. I disagree, and know for a fact that companies spend hundreds of thousands of dollars a month to create brand awareness. Not to get people to buy their product, but just so that, for example, when you think of a small medical bandage for simple cuts and scrapes, you call it a …? You see, I would put the answer, but it has a copywrite. I would argue, that Awareness is the best kind of Support.

Now the follow up question people usually would ask is “Does it work?”. And the answer is yes. Look at me for an example. Here I am reading all these Facebook status updates about my friends writing “Love” on their arms, and asking if others have too, and I finally ask what it means. Now I know, and how much did TWLOHA pay for that? Nothing. That’s not stupid, that’s smart advertising!

And yes, I did write Love on my arm… did you?

Started Classes!

Last night I returned to the CAS classroom to once again start taking classes! It was Commercial night! I had to do 2 Burger King commercials, and let me tell you, they’re harder than you think. One was a simple one liner, and it’s hard to not be robotic for a simple one line pitch. I came to the realization that I’m really good at doing something, and then doing the exact same thing over and over again. It’s not really a bad thing, but it can be hard when you’re expected to make each shoot a little different, and then on top of it all, to not think about it and just do it. One way or the other, it felt good to get back into the classroom again.

Oh, and before I forget, so you can see the new look, here’s head shot of the new do!

(no I wasn't supposed to smile, it was for a Modeling Gig!)

One thing that really stuck with me from last night was from the gift one of the other students gave to our teacher Brian Cutler. Apparently one of Brian’s favorite sayings is a quote from Laurence Olivier said to Dustin Hoffman (and apparently, after a Google search, from a lot of other people to other actors too!):

“Don’t act. Just be.”

Life's Ever Changing Ways

Yes, I know, it's taken me long enough to get on here and let every one know what decissions I've come to, and how everything is going, I'm sorry, and it won't happen again.

Right now I'm sitting at MCI waiting for my flight to New York where I have a week long business trip. I plan to work hard and play just as hard too! Last night we closed the Phantom's Feaste: Frankenstien's Monster. It was an excellent show, and I learned a lot on how to deflect attention (had to do this because I wasn't the lead) while still creating a memorable character, I feel I was succesfull in this attempt. I was happy that last night was sold out, and we got to close on that note!

Also, yesterday I did something that I had been talking about for some time now... I made a donation to Locks of Love. That's right, I cut my hair! I had 10 inches cut off for the donation, and lost about another 2" for the style, for a total cut of 12"!!! Don't worry, I don't have some short militaty cut. My hair was long enough so that even after losing 12", it still falls between my jaw and shoulders! The cut has gotten mixed reviews, I'll try to get pictures so you all can see the new look!

The third, and most life changing event is that Bailee and I have broken up. It has not been easy, and I'm reorganizing my day to day life to adjust to this development, but I am seeing that this decission was for the best. We really and truly are in two different places in our lives, and that was causing a lot of friction. I feel that she and I will be happier in the long run this way.

And now for something a litle lighter. The decission you have all been waiting for... the unveiling of my Nom De Plume if you will. The votes were many, varied, creative and most of all helpfull, so thank you for your support! The name that I have chosen, after much debate and consideration, is: Davis Michels. And, I have already had my first audition as such. It was for McDonald's, Cody and I both auditioned! We didn't get it, but we did it!