King Kong is coming

Cringing, I drove off for a “shoot” in my makeup, sure hoping I wouldn’t be stopped by a cop. One of my acting instructors, Michelle DeLong, with Actors Casting and Talent Service asked me if I would be interested in working on a short film to help promote an exhibit at Universal Studios in Los Angeles. There was to be a competition among participants to promote the new King Kong exhibit at Universal Studios. The most unique short film would win and it was to be filmed on Memorial Day afternoon, for a couple of hours – hey, I could do that! I was to play a crazy person (good type casting according to my wife) who’d spent several nights on the street. I’d be wearing a hand made cardboard sign that said “King Kong is coming”, and I’d be ringing a bell. My wife insisted that a homeless person would have irritated red eyes and several days growth of beard, and she did magic with her makeup. I make a very credible “wino”.


James Price, an advertising executive with his own company (Grapevine Media) in Oklahoma City, had heard about this promotion and entered the contest. I had not met James, but I have known his father (Bill) and very talented mother (Mary) for many years. James assembled a team of local actors and used Michelle’s office for his filming. Background was a green screen set up for most of his shots. Film makers use a green screen for special background effects. From the video at the bottom of this blog, you can see the effects. All but few very scenes were shot in front of the screen. The director will film the scene with a green or blue (the most common colors) background. These are the common colors since they are not naturally in our skin tones. That is unless Kermit the frog is related to you. Once the actors are filmed, the director will lay in a background with his computer. Pretty neat.

I didn’t work in front of a green screen. James and I went downtown so he could film tall buildings behind me. Since it was Memorial Day, we did not have many people who were going to be in and around the shoot and we finished without anyone asking for autographs. Darn.

Enjoy the video. James is imaginative and professional, and I think his film is the best! But, unfortunately he did not win the contest. In reviewing a few others on the internet, I can attest he blew their socks off.




You will have to click on the below link.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OM8FsbVRhqM&feature=email

Another Audition

We actor types get all trained, savvy, eager, and practice “attitude” – But then what?

I was advised to subscribe to several services that place casting notices on their websites. I did and found two movies that were to be filmed that intrigued me and I applied to both. One that I thought would be fun specifically asked for -- [REX] male, “a man in mid-50s, sometimes graceful, almost “English” in his style and manners, but he gets sucked into his young executives’ partying ways. And, this next sentence really caught my eye. “If you are a real-life CEO of a small business and wanted to act in movies, guess what, today is your lucky day,” – supporting role.-- Oh, so me! I’m that person and I jumped on it! However, I never heard from them. Crocodile skin is necessary in this profession. Such is the life of a budding actor. The next one was -- [DUTCH] – Male, Caucasian, 55-60 years old, blue collar, gruff, grew up in the country, doesn’t take much crap. Co-leading role. -- I can throw off my pussycat demeanor and be this person. They were also looking to fill the role of -- [REVEREND JAMES] – Male, Caucasian, 50-60 years old, small town preacher.-- Why not go for both roles? This latter movie was to be filmed in Dallas.

I submitted for both parts, but was mostly interested in “Dutch”. I thought I might hear on one, but to my surprise, I was sent sides (lines from a scene in the movie)for both of them. The “Dutch” part had two scenes and the preacher just one.

After my last experience with Joy doing the filming (and mostly getting my stomach on camera) I decided to go for a more professional look. Contacting one of my early instructors to coach me, I met with no return email after my first response. I needed to get something done since I had a deadline for submission. I wasn't sure what to do. I saw a casting notice for a Hibdon Tire commercial to be filmed in Tulsa and they were looking for someone around my age. So I called Michelle De Long, a casting agent in Oklahoma City to place my name in the hopper. She told me I would not work out because I looked too young for my age. (I had a secret crocodile grin on my face over that one!) Some of the women who were auditioning for the female part had gray hair and she needed an equally gray mate. Oh wow! How neat – Too young? Bring on the booties and pacifier! I had just turned 69 (should I change the tag line of my blog?) so I felt pretty good. Reporting that I am just a kid, met with a quizzical eyebrow at home. That woman’s no fun. She told me I was getting a little sold on myself and was getting a little big in the head.

During our conversation, I told Michelle about the audition I needed to make and she said she would coach me for the spot, and said we’d get it done in two hours. Three, if I was really bad. She wanted to make sure I had the lines memorized. I have found memorizing isn’t the beast I had expected it to be (see my earlier blogs) and with a few tricks, learned from the internet, via Anthony Hopkins, and some from Michelle I was doing fine. I had those lines nailed. Wish I had known these shortcuts in high school and college.

Michelle worked with me to develop the part of the father, both as a gruff Dad and as a grieving one. This movie is heavy. A son commits suicide and his older brother joins a crisis hot line and learns a lot about why his brother committed this act. She really helped me examine the character of the father and how to bring him out. Felt like I was acting for the first time and I enjoyed it.

We moved on to the role of the reverend, who was presiding over the funeral service for the young man. Pulling my previously used priest collar out of the handy-dandy costume box, I figured I was prepared – even though he was a preacher I figured they were both religious figures. And the collar should work. And, we finished filming in one and a half hours. Hooray!! Once we finished the auditions, she emailed them to the director in Los Angeles. Now, it is just a waiting game. Also, this is for an independent film and that means it may or may not get filmed. They have to raise the money. I am not inclined invest.

Michelle sent me a copy of the audition and I promptly emailed it to my family, some friends and a few of my new actor acquaintences. Since they all like me (I hope), the comments were very good. Well, almost all. An old high school friend said, “I think you were really good, but if I were the casting director, you wouldn't make the cut.” Ouch! Working on the crocodile skin again. Can’t let critics dampen my spirits.

While I was at Michelle’s, she asked me if I would want to be a redneck in a short film being shot Memorial Day. This was to publicize the opening of a King Kong exhibit at Universal Studios in Los Angeles. Turned out I end up as a "Can you say 'crazy street person'?" Hate this type casting. More about that later.