Thursday, January 22, 2009

Marnie

Just added a pic of Marnie Schulenburg and me. Marnie was the waitress at Roscoe's Wings Bar for the movie "Made for Each Other" (she has a hilarious scene with George Segal); and production had just closed for the day. I wasn't at all hesitant to approach Marnie; because she was a totally great person on set; focused yet very natural. I think it was earlier during a break when she told me about her role as Ali in the TV drama "As the World Turns"

That's the great thing about being an extra on smaller projects. If you stay in the background, don't get in the way of production, or become a personal nuisance, you really have the opportunity to meet wonderful people who have done a great job in film and TV. So here's the pic (I'm obviously star-struck!):


Tuesday, January 20, 2009

YouTube Downloads

Joanne just heard about this from an AAC (alternative augmentative communication) listserve.

In the past, I've spent hours trying to figure out how to download YouTube vids; but this new method takes seconds. Just substitute "kick" for "www." in the URL of the video you want to download (remember to knock off the "period after www").

For example, if you want to download the trailer to "Made for Each Other," go to:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7q55FwwZkns

and substitute "kick" for "www."

http://kickyoutube.com/watch/?v=7q55FwwZkns

Eleven formats are offered. I'm on a Mac G5 and MP4 worked great (I also downloaded an AVI; but I got a window telling me I needed an extra plug-in to play it). I didn't try FLV.

MOVIE NOTE: Yes, that's me in the red shirt, sitting at the bar, as Dan (Chris Masterson) walks by.

Rule of Threes

The cast has just been announced for "Julio." I am neither attorney Waters nor Father Flannery. Except for my brilliant black hair, it's not all that great a loss. It follows the "Rule of Threes."

The Rule of Threes posits that in any casting situation, one-third of the time an actor will audition who is far better for the part--and will get cast. Another third of the time, someone will show up who is far less suited; but, for any of an innumerable number of reasons, will also get cast for the role.

And a third of the time--and this is actually a very good result ratio--you will get the role.

Film and television have their own form of the rule: one-third of the projects will have been worth the effort; the other two-thirds a bad use of clean air (Let's not put "Call Me: The Rise and Fall of Heidi Fleiss" back in the player).

Monday, January 19, 2009

Tanzanian Craftsman

I made this post as a media experiment. This video shows a craftsman near Mt. Meru in Northern Tanzania making a machete. My wife was on the camera; and she and my daughter, Zibby, can be heard in the background.

The video is a direct upload from the desktop to blogger; although it was uploaded to the computer originally via iPhoto. It may be possible to upload directly from the camera via the USB2 connection and the memory card.



The format is .avi, as permitted by blogger. This is the format created by the Fuji Finepix J150 camera; but again, I don't know whether an upload can be made directly from the camera. Note that both video and audio are uploaded.

Final note: I uploaded via a DSL connection; and it still took a little while. In other words, it takes a good connection to successfully upload. Also note that the maximum upload to bloggger is 100 MB. This 52 second video is a bit over 40 MB.

Friday, January 16, 2009

Is there a future in acting?

Is there a future in acting? Give me some time to think that one over. It has several aspects.

Firstly, I suppose, is there a future in acting in general? With the advent of digital technologies, the entire concept of acting is changing. What about that old actor: Max Headroom? Crude at the time, Max presaged a future of acting where human characters would not depicted by real humans on the screen at all. These weren't mere cartoon characters; they started to take on more human attributes. Soon they may be indistinguishable from their human counterparts.

Oh, but there are still voices and personality to give life to the characters, you may say. Who is Shrek without his voice? But voices, too, can now be wholly digital; and I am not talking merely about the voice of Steven Hawking. Augmentative speech devices are being used for many more individuals than Hawking alone; and the same technologies are being used in film as well. And these artificial voices are becoming fully more human-like.

The Screen Actors Guild, debating whether to strike on this cold winter afternoon in January, confronts these issues; as well as the simple issue of payment when an actor's work is delivered in new formats, YouTube being not the least--or most--of these.

Well, to that add: Is there a future in acting in Cleveland? Now there's a good topic. Some think that Cleveland has all the resources and talent; and all that needs to be added to the mix is tax credits! I'm all for more acting opportunities in Cleveland and surrounding areas; but doubt that tax credits are the answer. I won't make friends with that assertion, that's for sure.

Finally, there is the question: Is there a future for acting for me: Logan Fry? I should probably stick to that simple question, something I know a little about: at least from a very personal perspective.

So I'll use this blog to explore that question, with errant observations on other matters along the way.

The question for now is: Where's Julio?