What's it worth?
When an opportunity for work crops up on one of the acting forums in Portland, I always know the first bulk response (because everyone responds to all, so that we can all benefit from the knowledge...it gets a bit much); what's the pay?
About every other month there is a huge strand of conversation devoted to being paid as an actor or not. For me, I'm starting out and building my reel. Turns out I need to have done stuff so I can do bigger stuff. Makes sense. For this reason I do check what's going on and if something interests me, I find out more information. I've found a few neat projects through this method. The question is, why is it okay for me to be expected to do work without pay? Do people expect this from plumbers? I graduated from a two-year professional actor training program, which is the metaphorical equivalent of trade school. Do you hire an electrician who just graduated and have him rewire your house so he can build his resume?
I think the issue is that every a) thinks they can act, and b) knows about acting. Everyone sees movies or watches TV, and they all have opinions about that. Few people watch house painters and say that looks so glamorous, I want to do that too. Is that what I'm saying? Market saturation? That sounds silly. Scratch that one.
I guess it is a big issue. It means being respected or not. If I am expected to work without compensation, then I must have very little intrinsic value. However, I can't demand pay when people can get someone else so easily (even if I am more qualified or not). This is a strange career to be in. I want to talk more about this, but I have to leave so I can drive for an hour and a half to get the the set where I am filming an unpaid student project.
I like the concept and I like the part. It's small, but it will look good in my reel. It's a new concept for me, to be building the foundation of my career on the cheapest bricks with plans of increasing the worth of every layer I add.
Bite size nuggets of self-helptual inspirationality.
Showing posts with label Portland. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Portland. Show all posts
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Letters
I don't write letters anymore. By that I just mean I haven't written one in quite a while, maybe almost a year or so. I used to write them more.
I wrote one to Stephen Speilberg letting him know he should remember my name because I have big plans, and once they are achieved, he will be very impressed. I wrote a letter to the woman who did the voice of Cortana in the Halo video game series after seeing her in a play in Portland. I said "I was pleasantly surprised to see Cortana playing Elizabeth Bennet."
Yep, I'm a silly little boy at times.
In addition to letters telling people to remember my name because I am going to be big someday, I also wrote letters telling people to remember my name because I wanted them to have it. Love letters. I miss writing those, or maybe the excuse to write them...or just everything about them.
There's something powerful behind writing down words, especially by hand. Maybe it's the whole real world part of it, or the fact that it cannot be deleted, or the other fact that very few things in the real world show evidence of being touched by a human, especially people.
Maybe it's the idea that all that time and physical effort, although it's generally simple, has a very specific audience of one person. Emails can be copied and sent like nothing, and blogs...well, not that more than a dozen people have ever glanced over mine, but it's not very personal to anyone other than myself. A letter though, is a private work, generally a labor of love in some form, which is a special kind of special that only seems rare to those who don't see it often enough. --I think that's where we all are right now.
I wrote one to Stephen Speilberg letting him know he should remember my name because I have big plans, and once they are achieved, he will be very impressed. I wrote a letter to the woman who did the voice of Cortana in the Halo video game series after seeing her in a play in Portland. I said "I was pleasantly surprised to see Cortana playing Elizabeth Bennet."
Yep, I'm a silly little boy at times.
In addition to letters telling people to remember my name because I am going to be big someday, I also wrote letters telling people to remember my name because I wanted them to have it. Love letters. I miss writing those, or maybe the excuse to write them...or just everything about them.
There's something powerful behind writing down words, especially by hand. Maybe it's the whole real world part of it, or the fact that it cannot be deleted, or the other fact that very few things in the real world show evidence of being touched by a human, especially people.
Maybe it's the idea that all that time and physical effort, although it's generally simple, has a very specific audience of one person. Emails can be copied and sent like nothing, and blogs...well, not that more than a dozen people have ever glanced over mine, but it's not very personal to anyone other than myself. A letter though, is a private work, generally a labor of love in some form, which is a special kind of special that only seems rare to those who don't see it often enough. --I think that's where we all are right now.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Acting at first sight
Yesterday I was involved in the very first audition for Portland's biggest casting agency in their new location. This was great for me, because I wanted to christen in the new digs. I was even the first actor to show up. I helped read for the first auditioners (groups of four), and realized some things I did right by seeing what the other people were doing. For example, staying on script. They also didn't really connect with each other, which is sad. Acting is connecting with people, whether they are there or not. Having just done a film mostly in front of green screen to other actors who were not actually there, it kind of hurt a little to see these people standing right next to each other and not connecting. Though I know I've had these exact moments before, so I can't really complain and not be hypocritical.
Then it was my turn to audition with my group. I knew one of them from a play we had done a year earlier, so that was a good start. The real (mini)stress was wondering who was going to audition as my wife. I feel that it is very important when you play a couple, even in audition, you have to, you know, touch each other. At least pretend that holding hands is small potatoes compared to what you've done with each other in private settings. Luckily, she was great. We had our arms around each other and gently put our hands on each others legs and made those small actions of saying: Hey, there's love here; dig it.
This led me down a whole different meandering mental path after the audition. How strange it really is to walk into a room, meet a stranger, act as if you've lived full lives together, then part ways, maybe only to see each other at another audition months later. Is it strange? I'm not sure I have the proper perspective for this one. I'm an actor, so making things real is what I do, whether they are or not. Acting is not pretending, acting is knowing and exploring what could be and conjuring it into reality. For those five minutes, we were a couple. Then the walking to my car thinking about...you know...the stuff people think about when relationships end.
Life is just strange no matter who you are.
Then it was my turn to audition with my group. I knew one of them from a play we had done a year earlier, so that was a good start. The real (mini)stress was wondering who was going to audition as my wife. I feel that it is very important when you play a couple, even in audition, you have to, you know, touch each other. At least pretend that holding hands is small potatoes compared to what you've done with each other in private settings. Luckily, she was great. We had our arms around each other and gently put our hands on each others legs and made those small actions of saying: Hey, there's love here; dig it.
This led me down a whole different meandering mental path after the audition. How strange it really is to walk into a room, meet a stranger, act as if you've lived full lives together, then part ways, maybe only to see each other at another audition months later. Is it strange? I'm not sure I have the proper perspective for this one. I'm an actor, so making things real is what I do, whether they are or not. Acting is not pretending, acting is knowing and exploring what could be and conjuring it into reality. For those five minutes, we were a couple. Then the walking to my car thinking about...you know...the stuff people think about when relationships end.
Life is just strange no matter who you are.
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Burning in the New Year
Moral:
If you don't like something, burn it and hope that makes it go away.
Full meal deal:
Last night I was introduced to a new (to me) New Year's tradition. Before midnight you take a piece of paper and write down something(s) from the previous year you want to let go of for the new year. Basically, instead of taking on more stuff in the form of a resolution, you get rid of some old stuff by burning the word of it (and words have power, do not doubt that).
Super sized:
I somehow still turned this letting go of the past into more work for the future. I chose to let go of my need for approval from others. I've mostly lived my life as a good improvisor and said yes to most things. Someone suggests I try something, I do. That's why I jumped out of a plane in New Zealand (but that's a whole different kettle of walnuts). As an actor still figuring out my thing, it was strongly suggested to me that since I wear glasses (as a person), I should get more prominent frames. I assume it's also a suggestion to make bolder choices in life and art. I pondered this for quite a while and as I am getting new frames, I looked at quite a few options. I really sought out bigger frames that say "Hey, look at me, I'm glasses. Dig me, or whatever." However, I have a thing about artists (pronounced arteests): I don't like them. It's odd to be an artist (pronounced the way real people say the word) in Portland, Oregon, enjoy mostly indie music, have a closet full of the equivalent of life costumes and still despise hipsters, but here I am. There's probably a French saying that would fit well here, but again, I'm not that kind of artist.
What this all comes down to is, I did not go with the strong suggestion from my professional actor friends. I burned that option. Gladly. It turns out that I do not want to look like someone I don't like. I'd much rather look like me. That's quite enough to deal with, and one less thing I'll have to burn next year.
If you don't like something, burn it and hope that makes it go away.
Full meal deal:
Last night I was introduced to a new (to me) New Year's tradition. Before midnight you take a piece of paper and write down something(s) from the previous year you want to let go of for the new year. Basically, instead of taking on more stuff in the form of a resolution, you get rid of some old stuff by burning the word of it (and words have power, do not doubt that).
Super sized:
I somehow still turned this letting go of the past into more work for the future. I chose to let go of my need for approval from others. I've mostly lived my life as a good improvisor and said yes to most things. Someone suggests I try something, I do. That's why I jumped out of a plane in New Zealand (but that's a whole different kettle of walnuts). As an actor still figuring out my thing, it was strongly suggested to me that since I wear glasses (as a person), I should get more prominent frames. I assume it's also a suggestion to make bolder choices in life and art. I pondered this for quite a while and as I am getting new frames, I looked at quite a few options. I really sought out bigger frames that say "Hey, look at me, I'm glasses. Dig me, or whatever." However, I have a thing about artists (pronounced arteests): I don't like them. It's odd to be an artist (pronounced the way real people say the word) in Portland, Oregon, enjoy mostly indie music, have a closet full of the equivalent of life costumes and still despise hipsters, but here I am. There's probably a French saying that would fit well here, but again, I'm not that kind of artist.
What this all comes down to is, I did not go with the strong suggestion from my professional actor friends. I burned that option. Gladly. It turns out that I do not want to look like someone I don't like. I'd much rather look like me. That's quite enough to deal with, and one less thing I'll have to burn next year.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)