I am sure that I’ve been this tired and achy before in my life, it’s just been so long ago that I’ve obviously forgotten! I’m also that curious blend of satisfied and yet really wanting to do it all again; that part of me that will never be satisfied with a performance I’ve given. sure that if I do it just one more time, I’ll eventually get it right.
I found out yesterday that acting is like riding a bike. You never forget how (not totally at any rate) and while you may be rusty as hell and have trouble remembering your “good” side (Or if you’ve even still got one!) you can still hit the “mark” and act like the professional you once, briefly, were.
If I had a bucket list, and I do have to say I have a very “half-assed” one, four young ladies who stepped out to do their first professional short film, just helped me to cross two items off my list.
Or maybe three…
After I stopped acting all those years ago, I’d always wanted to get back into it. Like everything else you plan, or want, you just never have the time, or worse, you’ve gotten too timid with the lack of practise in a craft that requires constant practise to be good at it that you know deep in your heart of hearts, it will never happen. But that doesn’t stop the wanting. That would be one item on the list crossed out.
The other item was getting to play a large role in a film. That has always been at the top of my half-arsed bucket list. For that special privilege, I can only thank Tash Harmer. In my eyes, she took one hell of a gamble. Hopefully one that paid off. She certainly seems happy with my performance (made all the better by the quality of the actors I was privileged to work with) and despite my thoughts of, “If I could just do it again, it would be that little bit better.” I think we were both pleased with the outcome.
The third would have to be, being on a film set again. It was not a huge one, nor was it filled with grizzled old workmen who’ve plied their trade for years and seen and worked with some of the “greats.” No, it was filled with four very talented young ladies who I believe will go on to do well in their, thus far, chosen profession. They had vision, creativity, enthusiasm, concentration; apparent skill; worked well as a team, and they were damned fun to work with.
And I fell a little bit in love with each and every one of them.
And not in an, “”Eeewwwww” way either, thank you very much.
I’ve got a feeling that I will be able to write at least two or three blogs about the day of the filming, if I try very hard, but I don’t want to waffle on. I do want to thank, formally, the great team I worked with yesterday and let them know how much I think of all of them.
Steve Speak, is a brilliant actor. I believe this handsome young man will go very far, I look forward to the day that I can say, “I’ve worked with him!” Sanna Kelly, was also in the realm of wonderful. I have to say that for two such accomplished professionals, they made the old “out of practise” actor feel right at home.
Of the crew?
Meera Daji, delighted and enchanted me. I would kill to get to work with her (with any of the crew) again. I’ve only seen tiny snippets of the “work in progress” and not the finished edited project, but I know that Meera made this grizzled old fella look good!
Fiona Lockwood, another delightfully enchanting young lady who welded a pretty mean boom mic and was entirely unflappable, good-humoured and another young lady that I’d love to work with again!
Katie-Marie Holbrookboosh Penniman Jr., what can I say, your enthusiasm and excitement in the project was infectious and I’ll tell you a secret, if I could have, I’ve had adopted you there and then. You done, “Well good, mate!”
Natasha “Tash” Harmer, had everything in her head and only had to consult her storyboards once or maybe twice. Kept track of every detail and was the best director that I’ve worked with in ages. She let the actors get on with it, which helped me no end. She is another young woman, along with the other four, who I’d work with in a “skinny minute.”
I also have to mention her boyfriend Scott Connett. Scott is a brilliant chap, also one of the all round nicest fella’s I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting. In my list of mentions, I need to include Meera’s lovely parents, who chauffeured the majority of the film crew to the location from miles away and sat patiently for the extremely boring bit of film making.
Meera’s mum, who I’m ashamed to admit that I’ve forgotten her name, cooked a feast worthy of royalty for the cast and crew and it was eaten and enjoyed by all. (Folks who know me, will tell you that if I didn’t have proof of my own name in the form of a driver’s license, I’d forget my own moniker.)
I’ve just realised that I’ve waffled on for almost a thousand words, so I’ll stop now and thank everyone who worked on the film yesterday for making it a day to: remember, enjoy, savour, and if I could; do all over again.
Just brilliant.
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Agreed! And you are most welcome, I only calls em like I see’s em! 🙂
Great Post! Just saw it! Again a huge thank you for the kind words and I’ll pass on the message to my mum, bless her, she is a good cook (I must admit). Likewise, I had so much fun on set and really enjoyed the whole day. Once again thanks, was great working with you and of course the whole team, they all were brill! 🙂
I’ll be shouting to the world when it’s ready! I’ll also be putting up the trailer as soon as it’s done (it’s having the soundtrack put on at the moment) It looks like a definite winner, despite having me in it! LOL Thanks for stopping by Lee!
I do like a good independant film Mike, you will have to keep me posted as to where I can give it a watch once all is complete, be good to have a little gander at your acting credentials.
😀
That you do!
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I’ll sleep tonight satisfied that I produced and proved to myself that I still got those acting “chops.” 😀
Haha bless xD we were all very impressed with everyone…if I giggle in an intense scene, it means you’re doing it right (because I’m useless at taking things seriously)…and I lost the plot completely, so yeah I’d say you did a very good job 😛
Well that scene totally looked nothing like I thought it would, he stole the show completely and made it his own, which is ideal! Definitely a great actor! But, don’t sell yourself short, you 😛 you did amazing on your own at the end of the shoot, I didn’t know whether you were acting or having a genuine breakdown half the time! :O at one point I nearly shut off the camera!! (that’s the nice, caring part of me that doesn’t show itself very often coming out 😛 )
The hilarity only ensued because of the sheer amount of times we (the crew) exchanged surprised and awe-struck glances, as we do when there’s a particularly good shot! haha
Wow! My hat size just got about two sizes bigger!!! I’m so happy you liked what I did! Of course the scenes with Steve were made all the better because he definitely made me “up my game.” Like I said yesterday, after all my imaginary set ups of how our scenes would go, he blew every one of them out of the water! Great actor!! 😀
I work from my head haha I spose it helps having a vivid imagination
To be honest I didn’t think it’d take as long as it did…I allowed for plenty of time just in case but didn’t think we’d need all of it for one moment…if I hadn’t had about 4 months to plan it though it might have been a different story 😛
Most of how well it went has to go down to the cast though, you were all spot on…there were literally like two outtakes, none of you got your lines wrong once! I didn’t even need a copy of the script to remind any of you of your lines or anything, had to pinch myself a few times yours and Steve’s performances especially were so much more than I ever imagined, wouldn’t have looked out of place in a Hollywood film to be honest
Having it all in your head like that is a good thing! Not unprofessional at all. It was having it in your head that made it possible to get it done in one day! Until we did it, I just knew that it was going to be a two day shoot! But you had every think organised, the only real hiccups were in the layout of the house making it necessary to change your shooting angles and all. Those visions in your head made the film shoot go almost like clock work! 😀
Hope so! 😛 haha well he’s in bed at the moment but I’ll tell him in the morning xD lol
Ha, well…I don’t mind being unprofessional, it’s more fun that way! It’s just how I roll 😛
Lol I’d spent so long planning the damn thing that it was like a rehearsed script in my head! The amount of nights I spent picturing camera angles while I was trying to sleep was crazy :/ OCD much!
I’ve got a hunch that you’ll hit that nail well and truly on the head! And tell newest best bud (Oscar) that I’m sorry I left him out! To paraphrase Toy Story, “Now I have guilt!” LOL I decided to not mention that you left your production notebook in many sundry places! I still think you had it all in your head and only looked for the notebook as a “good luck” charm, like an actor with his lines stuffed in his pocket! 😉
You didn’t mention your new best friend! 😛 He was sniffing around looking for you when we got back home this morning 😉 haha
…Oscar I mean, just to clarify 😛
Lol bless, everyone had a good time which is more important than the film itself to be honest! I spent most of the day asking people if they wanted anything hahaha such a mum xD The main reason I barely looked at my notes was because I lost them every five minutes 😛
It’s amazing how so much stress all in one day can get to you haha…after months of planning and getting excited, all I want to do now is throw my laptop across the room! 😛 Which obviously I wouldn’t do (how would I play Farm Heroes then?!)
Damn, Meera’s mum is a good cook, (well from what I remember when we shot the documentary anyway)I realised after we’d finished the shoot that I didn’t eat anything all day because I was stressing so much…I feel like I missed out 😛
Glad you can tick some things off your bucket list now! Here’s hoping my editing skills don’t let me down and it turns out ok!!