Concussion rocks!
It should be obvious why “The Artists’ Way” doesn’t work for me. Long time between posts…sorry, I am not very good at diaries either. But I digress!
So I shot two commercial spots for Fire Lake Casino this weekend. Tee isn’t the only one to get work, ha ha! It was a cool experience all around from Derrick and the Crew to the guys from Concussion out of Ft. Worth, TX “SSSSMMMOKING!”. I hope the sp/efx guy (a non-smoker) has recovered from having to blow cigarette smoke through a tube all day! To my fellow actors (Chris & Stephanie) on this gig, it was a blast to work with you!
What was really cool though was one of the spots had been written for me! They liked my audition so much they felt they had to use me in something even though I didn’t fit the spots I auditioned for. They even inserted my picture from my audition into the storyboard for the commercial. How cool is that!?! That was a first for me and it really meant a lot. It was a nice feeling to have someone say, “We have to use that guy!”
I hope everyone gets that feeling sometime in their career. Hopefully more times than not!
Till next time!
August 14th, 2006 at 10:28 am
You go, boy…
And that brings up a great point about auditioning: If you can’t convince them that you’re right for a particular role, make them write a role for you!
August 21st, 2006 at 9:07 am
Hey John congrats on the commercial. I had a similar experience with a music video I shot earlier this summer. I was talking to some other actors about it and they brought up an interesting point. “When does an auditioning actor become a writer?” One of these folks insisted that any improv during an audition that finds its way on screen should result in a writing credit. I don’t know if I buy that completely. If the writers come up with the outline for the scene and the actor then works within those guidelines, I don’t think the actor is writing the scene. If someone tapes it and lifts lines from the performance word for word that’s another thing, but tweeking a line here or there or including a physical bit that comes out of an improvised scene seems like part of the actors job to me. What do you all think?
August 21st, 2006 at 7:28 pm
I think the best analogy to this is a a jazz musician. The tunes they play are standards but what they do in the confines of those songs makes it their own. Everyone loves Coltrane’s version of “My Favorite Things” or Miles Davis’s version of “Surrey with the Fringe on Top” Neither artist wrote those songs but their performances will always be associated with those tunes.
Long story short…improv is part of the actors job. It is their craft. Otherwise we would have only one way to perform Hamlet. How boring!
I agree that if improv is used as a writing tool then yes the actors should get writing credit but to play in a scripted scene ala a commercial or a music video…sorry…you are just doing your job as an actor. Thoughts?
August 22nd, 2006 at 12:17 pm
I think that improv is essential for actors who want to work. Whether as a writing, rehearsal or performance tool improv skills are just plain useful. My next question would be to you or anyone out there have you ever felt your audition or rehearsal improvisations were taken advantage of? Speaking for myself I would say no but is there anybody out there who’s had the opposite experience?