Thursday 24 February 2011

Filming for "Fracture"

Yesterday i was in Newcastle at Northumbria Uni filming for the animation i'm in. They're making it Sin City style, we act everything in front of a green screen, and then they animate over the top of us.
I saw some of the concept art, and they're making me look a bit like Goldie from Sin City, slightly in black and white, but with bright yellow/blond hair.
It was a very long day, especially as we were only filming one scene, and there were only six lines of dialogue. I'm back again tomorrow to film a different scene, with another of the personalities, (the film is about a schizophrenic guy).

Setting up the green screen


Tomorrow i'm also meeting with the zombie film guy, as the script has been re-written, and is now a different story altogether.

On a different note, i got a call from my agent, she told me that the lady from the Benfield Motors casting wanted to cast me in an ad for Oxford Note Paper. Me and Sam (Claypole) agreed to turn it down, as the ad would be used internationally for two years, but they only wanted to pay me £150, and i would be wearing the bottom half of a pink gorilla costume!
Sam told me that if i took a job like this for that amount of pay, it would look bad for me if another client asked her if i had previously done adverts, and they found out how much i was paid. It would be different if the advert was only regional, but it could be used in about 5 different countries.
So it's a no now.

Monday 21 February 2011

48hours To Save The World!


Because our film won the Newcastle 48hr Film Competition last year, Laura and James were invited to take part in another 48hr competition, but this time online.
On Friday they were given the brief of "Save the Planet", and they had to include a camera. So we spent the weekend outside in the cold making another crazy film.
It felt a lot more stressful than last time, probably because we only had a camera until 1pm both days, which restricted us somewhat. Also, Beth (one of the other actors) was coming over from Newcastle, but the trains kept being delayed. And when she finally got to 'boro, she was rushed off to Redcar beach, and made to stand up to her waist in the North Sea, just when it was starting to snow!
The second day was better, i ended up playing a documentary film maker, and a vegatable growing vegan. Other characters in the film were a protest poet, an energy saving couch-potato, a Bob Geldof inspired musician, a superhero, and a guy who eats his own bogies, and many more.


Enjoy.





Tuesday 15 February 2011

The fastest casting ever!

Today was the Benfield Motors advert casting. After a very confusing drive through the extensive one-way systems Newcastle has to offer, with a rather confused Satnav, me and Adrian (also of Claypole Management) finally made it to the odd, multicoloured housing estate where the studio was.
We went inside, were given a piece of paper each, told to write our name and aged, then the casting director took some photographs. And we left.
Is it just me, or did it all seem a tad pointless? We were also told that this wasn't the real casting, that would be on Monday, so why couldn't they just look our headshots on Spotlight? Our names are next to them too!
All i found out from today was that there might be a festival scene in the advert, so they liked my long hair.
We then successfully tackled the route home, having spent less than 10 minutes out of the car.

I'm back in Newcastle on Friday evening for a "production meeting" for Fracture, the animation. And i'm currently sculpting an empty eye socket for a zombie.

Anyone want to play a zombie??

Monday 14 February 2011

Benfield Motors

Off to Newcastle again tomorrow for a casting. It's a small, regional commercial for a company called Benford Motors.
It's a bit of money and some professional experience, fingers crossed!

Saturday 12 February 2011

Apples Audition

On Wednesday (9th Feb) night, i was sent the address and script for an audition for the film adaptation of Apples by Richard Milward. So on Thursday i got myself over to Newcastle to audition for the part of Eve, the 16 year old Boro lass.
In my head, this film is going to be a mix between Skins, Shameless and Kidulthood, the the book was written by a guy from Middlesbrough, and was then turned into a play which toured the country, which i think was funded by the man whose children i am a nanny for!

When i got into the audition, i was met by Rob Earnshaw, a prominent northern casting director. I was told that i looked right for the part, and was given about three goes at going through the script, which was being filmed on a camcorder.
He told me i needed to emphasise the boro accent more, as i was "doing about a level 3 accent, but needed to try for a level 6 or 7."
But at least he recognised that i could do a Middlesbrough accent, and if i look right for the part, i really hope i get a call back!

It looks like they've given up auditioning people from all over the country as the middlesbrough accent is such a strange one. I think they've even started holding "cattle calls" in Middlesbrough, so they can acctualy find someone who sounds right!
So I doubt i will get a call back, but it's nice to dream!
Although it's a little worrying that this is the second audition my agent has sent me for where i would be reading for the part of a slightly slutty blonde from 'boro. Is she trying to tell be something?

Wednesday 9 February 2011

Beating up a girl with makeup


Today i had been asked to do the makeup for my friends uni project, an anti-domestic violence advert/campaign. They sent me a picture they had found of a women with a grazed forehead, bloody nose, and black eye, and they wanted similar makeup.

I decided that instead of a bloody nose, i would give her a split lip. We joked that all there was in my makeup kit was a baseball bat and a few other weapons.


I was quite happy with the results, and apparently the makeup showed up quite well on the camera. I even did some fake mascara tears dripping down the girls face, it all worked nicely!


I love this month's horoscope for Aries!

Thought i'd share.

Beauty Shoot

Why not check out my new blog, it's much nicer over there! 
http://attempt-at-acting.tumblr.com

Yesterday i got asked to do some beauty shots for a photography student in Hartlepool, which was fun, especially after years of watching America's Next Top Model enviously. But it turns out that Natalie, the photographer, is also a big fan, and most of her reference pictures were from the program.
The one i picked out was from a shoot where the model had purple powder paint splattered across her face, and the pictures were really interesting. It turned out that Natalie had been planning to do the same thing that day, except she couldn't find any powder paint, and the model refused to have paint on her. But that model dropped out, hence me doing last minute modeling, only simple beauty shots, but next time we do a shoot i get to do the paint one! Yey!

Here are my Beauty Shots


Here are some photos from the beauty shoot i did with Natalie, i really liked how they turned out, (apart from the cheesy one i didn't post that looked like something off a toothpaste advert!)

Jen

Examples of the powder paint shoot from Top Model:






I would love to do a shoot like this one!






Beauty shots are very simple, natural pictures, with very natural makeup, and bright, soft lighting, like these i found on google...







Saturday 5 February 2011

Ithink i'm going to be animated!

I went to another audition on Thursday in Newcastle, and had a rubbish
time getting there. I ended up paying over £7 for parking, and only
just caught my train on time!
But once I got to the audition (after trailing all over the city) it
went surprisingly well!
I think I might have been offered the role straight away (unlike the
play, which I didn't get by the way).
I managed to say all the right things, like comparing the style to the
Animatrix, and mentioning that I was fine with the slight lesbian
encounter as I had already played a lesbian bridesmaid, with a kiss.
We ended by sorting out schedules, and when was best for me, and the
guy saying, "We've got a great cast for you to work with!"
The film sounds cool, we'll be acting parts of it in front of a green
screen, then they will animate over the top. I can't wait!

So now my theory on auditions is; good day, bad audition. Bad day,
good audition.

Wednesday 2 February 2011

Audition for "Studs"

Today i had my audition in Harrogate for the play called Studs, and i couldn't tell how it went at all!
They seemed confused by my picture, i think i must look fatter in my picture than in real life, and my hair doesn't look as long in the headshot.
It seemed to be over very quickly, and i was only asked to read through one of the two scripts i was given before hand.
Once again, it was a completely different audition set up! They were all sat around rather casually on theatre style seating, and just asked me to join them. I think i came across weird again, i really need to buy this book, or get it from the library -

It's all about what to expect from any kind of audition, and i really need that!
All i need from this audition is one call back, or at least some positive feedback, just so my agent sees that i'm worth keeping in her agency, especially with these being the first people to audition me (i blame the picture i'm using now, i look old, and fat apparently, and my eyes look small, and my hair too short!)


I used to use this picture for everything, and i got and audition for an ongoing role in Emmerdale, and one for the 2011 remake of Wuthering Heights, for the part of Isabelle. (But then my agent suspended me.) I didn't get either of them, but still.

Now i use this one, and it's on my Spotlight profile, and my hair does look quite short on it.
I need to get headshots that look more like me!