My Eleven o'Clock Number

Someone taped our Musical Theatre showing. Unfortunately, it's blurry and from too far away. Also, the audio and visuals are a bit out of sync right now. We think it has something to do with the file type, so when I get back to Florida I'm going to see if there's a way to convert them...

But anyway. I thought I'd share it in case you were interested.



~A~

The Film Set

(Sorry for another post stolen from my other blog...)

(Me on set!)

As promised, I'm finally going to share my experience working on the short film, Evelyn Sack's Eleven o'Clock Number.

I got to Tallahassee on Saturday evening (July 27th), and the adventure began.

The Production Designer, the Art Director, and I went to Bed, Bath and Beyond to buy some additional props that had not yet been obtained. The three of us were scheduled to go shop for one of my costumes on Sunday afternoon, but I realized that the director wanted to shoot the scene I needed the outfit for on Sunday morning… We ended up getting to the mall 30 minutes before it closed. In a mad dash, we went to 6 stores in that 30 minutes, I tried on a bunch of really ugly things and a couple of cute ones, and we bought two dresses, a suit, a jacket, and three shirts (knowing that most of these items would be returned unworn).

On Sunday morning, I got up, straightened my hair, and went to a television news studio where we were filming our first scene (which is chronologically last in the film). I ended up wearing a red dress we bought at Ann Taylor Loft (the first thing we bought in our shopping rampage) with a black jacket that I had brought with me to Florida. That first scene went pretty well, and was totally a piece of cake! We only did a few takes.

We went to the place we were filming afterward, which is turned out is this huge house. And when I say house, I mean mansion. It has two kitchens, two laundry rooms, maids’ quarters, and even its own guest house. It’s pretty incredible. I rehearsed with the other actress, and we choreographed our big fight scene.

On Monday, I woke up early and went through my Fitzmaurice tremoring and my other vocal warm-ups, despite the fact that the scenes we were filming that day were for an action sequence without dialogue. Somehow, just going through the warm-ups puts me in a better state of mind to act.

I got to the set around 6:15am. My character was supposed to have sort of given up on her appearance. I happened to already own a muted brown suit that looked pretty drab on camera. I also wore a turquoise tank top and black shoes that I owned. We let my hair air-dry. I wore my glasses, and I had no make-up on. When the Production Designer (she was in charge of the way the costumes, set, and props looked) saw me, she said, “You look terrible. It’s perfect!” Initially, I was mildly offended (after all, I was wearing all my own clothes and looked how I normally look on Mondays), but I understand that it’s a little different for camera.

People were setting things up long before the other actress and I had anything to do. Around 8:00am, the First A.D. (which seems to translate to a Stage Manager in theatre) called for a “New Deal”. The New Deal happened before every scene that we shot. The other actress and I would act out the entire scene while the rest of the crew watched (most were seeing it for the first time) and the Second A.D. videotaped it. Then, the Director of Photography (who is in charge of cinematography -- designing the lighting and setting up shots) explained all the angles that the scene would be filmed from, and with what camera lenses. After the new deal, the crew started setting up everything to prepare for the first shot.

This movie was being filmed on a camera called “The Red” (called that because it has a red lens), which produces digital film. It’s a lot less expensive than traditional film, and everything is shot in HD.

Before each shot, I’d have to stand on several marks (i.e. places that I would end up during the course of the action) and the crew would arrange things around me. The D.P. (Director of Photography) held up a device to whatever was supposed to be in focus in the shot (usually my face, but sometimes a prop I was holding) and call out that things were at various numbers (like “2.8” or “4”), and then the camera team would adjust things. I asked if the device measured light. They explained that a camera lens works a lot like a human eye. Just as our pupils adjust depending on the light in the room, camera lenses have to do the same to get a clear picture. The device was not technically measuring the light, but rather was measuring how much the camera’s equivalent of a pupil had to open in order for the shot to work.

The camera team also used a measuring tape to figure out the distance between the camera lens and my eyes. From what I could gather, the focus of the camera is operated manually, and the two people operating the camera have to make adjustments mid-shot when actors move. For some really close shots, I was told that I had to hit my mark within two inches or the shot would be “soft” (fuzzy and not focused). That was especially crucial – and difficult – for a shot where I fell to the ground and had to land in the same place every time. I got pretty good at hitting my marks as a result of that shot.

We spent all of Saturday just filming the fight scene over and over again from every angle possible. Sometimes the camera was static, and sometimes it moved on a track. Sometimes one of the actors wasn’t in the shot at all, so the person who was had to react to something imaginary. Sometimes they moved the furniture around in order to “cheat” shots (make it look like an angle was right when it really wasn’t for the sake of continuity).

Between takes, the director would come over to me to privately give me instructions. "I need you to be crazier, and sickly enjoy hurting her," for example. A couple of times I got, "pull it back," and a couple of times I got, "don't be afraid of going too far," depending on the shot. A lot of times I was told to slow things down (so that it will be easier for them to cut things together in editing; film acting involves far slower of impulses than stage acting). After filming, he made a joke that he wanted me to have, "Flames. Flames, on the sides of your face..." (it's a quote from the movie Clue).

(The Director, giving me notes)

Before every take, they called for "Last Looks", which meant that the Production Designer would make sure everything looked consistent to how it looked in every other take, so that the footage would cut together properly in the editing room. My character was supposed to be sweating and stressed out. Therefore, my Last Looks meant getting my face, shoulders, and hair sprayed with water from a spray bottle, and messing up my hair, and then patting me down if the water looked too drippy. For the other actress, it meant making sure that her facial mask looked perfect (and since I was "smothering" her with a pillow in most takes, it needed a lot of touch-ups... and it meant cleaning some of her mask off of the pillow).

(The other actress and me posing by her "heart monitor".)

During the times that the crew was preparing for shots, the other actress and I occasionally had a little time to head over to Craft Services, which is where all the food for the cast and crew is, and is probably the most dangerous thing on a film set. Apparently, crews eat pretty much only junk food. There were so many different kinds of cookies and crackers and muffins… I successfully managed to avoid all of the really treacherous food and tried to eat mostly fruits and veggies, but it wasn’t easy. At one point, the Producer (which, for this project, was sort of the equivalent to a Production Manager) went out and got me pineapples and bananas (which I swear that I did not request in a diva fashion, and he was super sweet to get them for me).

(Me trying to stay out of people's way between takes)

By the end of the first day, I realized that being on a film set felt sort of familiar to me; it’s a lot like being an actor in a play during tech weekend. Some of the crew people have tons to do (Director, Director of Photography, First A.D., Gaffer, Key Grip, Best Boy Electric, First Camera Assistant, Camera Operators), some of the crew people have a lot of time where they’re just waiting around for the chance to do something (Sound Team, Script Supervisor), and the actors have to stand in places for long periods of time, and then repeat the same 10 seconds of a scene over and over again. In short, it felt like I had one of the easy jobs.

That said, by the end of the day, I was tired. Being on set was exhausting. And the fact that I was doing a lot of combat (well, stage combat… but I don’t know if you call it the same thing when it’s not on stage) all day was probably the culprit.

The second day (Tuesday), we filmed every other scene in the movie. We filmed in an order that was not chronological in any way, but seemed intuitive to the crew in terms of set-up locations. Because the set ups were all over the house, it meant more downtime for the actors. And since I didn't have to be "sweaty", I didn't have to get sprayed down with the water at all.

There was one scene in which I had to run down a staircase. And then they'd call "cut", and I had to climb back up the stairs and do it again. I got my exercise that day.

Near the end of the day, a couple of the crew's professors showed up to check in on them. I think it was their Production Design professor and their Cinematography professor.

(The man with the ponytail is their Cinematography professor. Among his many credits, he did the Underwater Photography for the movie Jaws.)

After all of my scenes had completed, the crew applauded for me. They were really sweet. I then went and watched the monitor as the other actress filmed her final shots. They looked so cool! I was excited.

Once she finished, the other actress and I went off with the Sound crew. Normally, we'd be called in during the editing process to say lines while watching ourselves on the screen for any parts where the sound wasn't clear, which is called "ADR" (one person said it stood for "Automated Dialogue Replacement", and another said "Additional Dialogue Recording"... both are on Wikipedia, so who knows?). But I'm pretty far out of town, so I'm not really able to come back for that. Instead, we went to a quiet room and recorded our lines a few times into a microphone, trying to say everything with the same speed, inflections, and accidental paraphrases (or rewrites) that we used in the filming. They called these recordings "wilds".

One of my favorite things to witness happened after all the filming was over and most things had been packed up. The people who were ATL ("Above the Line" -- Director, Director of Photography, Production Designer, Producer) went through and thanked all the BTL ("Below the Line" -- everyone else) and the other ATL for their help. It was lovely. Every single person on that set was important. And it was neat how we all worked together to create something.

(Me with the Artistic Director, Daniel. I stole these pictures from his Facebook.)

Anyway. It was a wonderful experience, and I feel incredibly blessed to have been a part of it. I hope I have more opportunities to work on screen in the future.


May every newly opened door help you find happiness.

~A~

Film Shoot Screen Caps!

Okay, so I'm completely stealing a post from my other blog, but I think it's worth doing...

As those of you following me on Twitter know, I worked on a graduate student film in Tallahassee last weekend. I started typing up information about the whole process (it was so cool!), but haven't had time to finish it yet...

But, in the meantime, the Director of Photography took some screen caps of the footage, so I thought I'd share them with you.


Lara (me) in silhouette on the phone with her boss.


Lara on the phone with her boss.


Evelyn walks to her vanity.


Evelyn putting on makeup to make herself look sick.


Evelyn telling Lara how worthless she is.


Evelyn sleeps while Lara tries to murder her.


It looks like a real movie! I'm so geeked, I can't even tell you. :)

~A~


P.S. This is the reason I missed the 20SB Chicago meet-up. A total bummer to have missed it, but at least you know I had a good reason.

Chicago-less

Can I just take a second to say how sad I am that I can't be at the 20sb meet-up this weekend? Because I am. Particularly because it's in my old stomping ground of Chicago, Illinois. *sigh*

Instead, this weekend I will be playing a role in a movie.

It's a graduate student film being directed by the other film student I bonded with in February (mentioned briefly here), who happens to be very good friends with my boyfriend.

I auditioned for the role in March, and the director/writer has been sort of tailoring it to my skill-set since then.

So I'm excited. I know this is going to be good for my résumé, and I can start a reel (which is like a video résumé for performing artists)...

But I'm still a little sad.

Think of me once or twice during the festivities, okay?

Thanks.


May you have good reasons to pass on great things.

~A~

Honest Scrap Award

A big thank you to Amy for giving me the Honest Scrap Award!



"The HonestScrap award comes with a caveat or two. Firstly, you have to tell your readers ten things about you they may not know, but that are true. Secondly, you have to tag 10 people with the award. Thirdly, let all the people you've given the award to know that they've gotten it (comment on their blogs or something). And finally, make sure you link back to the person who awarded you." (Okay, so I personally added in #3 and #4, but really, that's just common courtesy when receiving/bestowing anything.)



The Ten Things are:

1. I don't handle spicy food well. At all. I like to think that my taste buds are just incredibly powerful and can therefore taste the spice when other people can't. Many things labeled "mild" are, in reality, not mild enough for me.

2. I've some things that are called "great literature", but I don't find them nearly as captivating or entertaining as the sorts of books I prefer to read. I'd rather pick up Harry Potter. Or chick lit. Or young adult novels. Or science fiction. The last two books I read were Bitter Is the New Black and Ender's Game. I just found my old copy of Tomorrow, When the War Began in my parents house, so I think I'm going to reread that.

3. When I was in kindergarten, some boys on the bus teased me by calling me Michelangelo, referencing the then-popular cartoon, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. There was another girl in my class named Angela, but they never targeted her for some reason. My mother's brilliant solution? She bought me a Michelangelo action figure and got me to love the show. Suddenly, the flustered reaction to teasing turned into, "Yes! I LOVE Michelangelo!" (My mom = superhero)

4. Polka dots make me cheerful. I never actually seek out polka dots, but whenever I see them, they just kinda make me happy. Perhaps I should buy more polka-dotted things...

5. The last post I wrote was post #200... and I didn't realize it until I started writing this one. My grad school blog is at #179 (that's what happens when you blog multiple times a week, kids). My random crap on the internet blog is at #215 if you include everything in the Scheduled folder. And my novel blog that I've pretty much ignored for the last year is at #29.

6. Despite the facts that A. I'm usually far busier than I am now, B. I already have blogs that I can barely keep up with, and C. I use Blogger... I'm actually thinking of starting a new blog (in the style of CakeWrecks) dedicated to bad prom photos... I was thinking of calling it something like "What the Prom?" or "Prom-tack-ular". Why? Because I've saved up about 10 forwarded emails with bad prom photos... And I think it would be fun to put up one a day until I run out (or until people send me more, like the Cake Wrecks chick did). Thoughts?

7. When I was in 2nd grade, I was convinced that I would someday have twin daughters and name them Jessica and Tiffany (it was amusing to me when, many years later, I ended up going to school with a set of identical twins who bore those names). Around 1997, I thought if I had a son I'd name him Tarquin and I'd name a daughter Hedwig. Around 1999, I liked the "name" Anavieve Viana (I can't tell you how much that embarrasses the name-freak in me now). In college I went through a phase where I liked names like Friedrich and Zelda. At one point I had a love affair with Dahlia and Clark. Same with Hazel and Jared. In Roma (when I did as the Romans did), I liked Ginevra and Giacomo. When I moved to Chicago, I really liked the names Jeremy, Bernadette (I would've nicknamed her "Betty", but I think that Ugly Betty has kind of tainted that name), Julie and Malcolm. My favorite male name has been for a while now Henry (and there's a weird part of me that would want to nickname him Helo like on Battlestar Galactica, although I think the sensible part of me would beat the sci-fi fan up for that). My tastes in female names seems to change more rapidly (which is somewhat fitting with the current culture). Today, I'd probably pick something something more elaborate (to fit the times... remember that Olivia, Sophia, and Isabella are popular names right now) but still unusual, like Sabrina, Isadora, Clarissa, or Susannah.

8. Here are the characters I've played (most recent at top) that I can remember off the top of my head:
- Tillie "Tea" (upcoming)
- Laramie "Lara" (upcoming)
- Girl
- Sally
- Pastor Gray
- María "Masha" Sergeyevna Kulygina
- Hildy Matthews
- Mary
- Farina
- Hot Cocoa
- Carmella
- Suzanne
- Carol/Carolyn/Caroline
- Imogen
- Luciana
- Erotium
- Adriana
- Rosalind
- Julia
- The Priest
- Lady Macbeth
- Pfeni Rosensweig
- Diana Barry
- Stepsister Portia
- Violet "Vi"
- Ruthven
- Mrs. Louella Soames
- Digna Ochoa
- Rigoberta Menchu Tum
- Jose Zalaquett
- Marlene
- Abigail "Abby"
- Zot the Robot (yes, I played a robot)
- Fairtone
- Mrs. Myrtle Webb
- Emily
- Ernestina Money
- Miss Susan Barrymore
- Chamka
- Singing Ghost
- Carmel McGregor
- Follies Girl
- Tavern Adult
- Lost Boy
- Peanut Dancer
- Martha's New Clam Chowder Spokesperson
- Anansi the Spider
- The Ugly Duckling
- Peter Rabbit
- The Blue Engine
- The Farmer

I know I'm forgetting some, but I think that's pretty good for an impromptu list.

(Note: I decided a while ago that I would try not to give any child of mine the name of a character that I had played, because it would be too weird. As you can see, this has eliminated several good options.)

9. I have a mouth full of fillings. The dentist I went to for most of my life told me that it's not really my fault. Apparently, I have genetically bad teeth that have deep grooves in the middle, making it easy for cavities to form. I went to the dentist this week (where they told me I'm doing an EXCELLENT job, thank you very much), and the dental hygienist said that the fillings are all small and the cavities really weren't that bad. But then I went to a family practice doctor for a check-up who said he was shocked (SHOCKED) by how many fillings I had, because most people my age grew up with fluoride-fortified drinking water that helped with dental issues. Well, whatever. I blame genetics.

10. I'll admit it: I judge people who heavily align themselves with political parties. It doesn't even matter WHICH party. If someone is too far left, too far right, or too far out into the colorful world of independents, I have a problem with them. I vote based on candidates and issues, which means I end up voting in different directions. People who vote straight down a ticket? It feels like they're looking at politics the same way people look at college football; they've chosen a team, and they want that team to win*. I find myself often trying to play devil's advocate to those people and educate them on grey matter, even if I agree with them on some issues.

*(This seems especially true in presidential elections where people bring up things that have NOTHING TO DO WITH POLITICS in mud-slinging. Like when a family member of mine pointed out that Barack Obama's parents weren't married. What, exactly, does that have to do with an election?)



So okay... I guess it's time to award people (and also tag them with the meme that comes with it).

1. Valerie from Mixed Salad of Thoughts
2. Heidi from Heidi Renée
3. Jenn from Free and Flawed
4. bFlat from Lens Impressions
5. Roisin from The Beat of My Noisy Heart
6. Angela from My Quiet Testimony
7. P from *Insert My Blog Name Here*
8. Gooseberried
9. Katelin from Gorgeous Footsteps in the Sand
10. Pink Sun Drops

Have fun ladies!



May you be so open and honest in your life that lists like this are seriously hard to come up with. And may you be interesting enough that you can come up with them anyway.

~A~

School Love

(D-Train, me, and Newbie after a play-reading. 05/22/09)

I'm officially in Connecticut for the summer. It's the home of my parents, but I've never lived here before, so it doesn't yet feel like home to me.

Before I left Florida, life got crazy, as life often does. Daniel basically moved in with my for a month. We spent few days in Tallahassee. We spent a couple of days in Disney World. We tried to make the most of the time we had together.

(As a side note, this involved the most awkward event I've ever dealt with from a relationship standpoint. Remember Brian, the Air Force guy I used to call my Metaphysical-Boyfriend? He came to visit me WHILE Daniel was staying with me. I spent two days with my boyfriend and the ex that he's heard all about... Both of them handled it surprisingly well.)

But since Daniel is pretty much the only aspect of my life that has gotten any blog attention since, oh, I met him, I'll move on.

I love my school. And my school loves me. I don't mean that in a "my school cares about its students" kind of way, either. I mean, specifically, that my school loves ME. That is, of course, not to say that my program doesn't care about the others. Just that I don't think my school sees me as only a student; they see me as a resource.


EXHIBIT A: Assessments

Okay, so I won't annoyingly type out all of my assessments like I didlast semester (you're welcome). But I will say this: my assessments this semester were EVEN BETTER that the glowing ones from last semester. They think I'm intelligent, skilled, and fabulous (I'm paraphrasing to be brief, but I'm not exaggerating).

At the end of the assessment, they summarize the entire thing for you. There's a section on the official form for "areas in which you excelled", which was cluttered with notes, one of which was written at a funny angle to fit in properly. Then there's a section of "areas in which you can improve". The only thing written in that section was "Confidence". Analysis Professor said, "Angela, you're doing wonderfully with everything here. We just want you to believe in yourself."

So, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, if at times I seem a little full of myself on my blog, keep in mind that normally I'm far better at keeping it under wraps in my professional environment. In fact, I've been so careful to ride that line of Diva-dom that I think I've actually erred too far on the side of humility.



EXHIBIT B: The Workshop

Back in April, the head of my program (aka the man in charge of the next year of my life) said that the artistic director (aka the Grand Poo-Bah of the theatre who will determine my third-year casting and holds much of my creative destiny in his hands) had asked if I was available to do a new play reading at my theatre at the end of the month. I said yes (even though it meant I'd have to back out of the film that Daniel had wanted me to be in, causing the biggest conflict we've had in our relationship thus far -- I then said I'd be in the film instead of the reading, but him leaving film school made the decision for me).

D-Train and Newbie were asked to be in the reading as well, as were several Equity actors who were in the Rep theatre season. The published playwright was so lovely to work with, and she told us that we were the best cast that she'd had thus far for this piece. This play is the third play in a trilogy that she started writing in 1982, and the character I played was the main character in her first play. She told me that I exemplified the character she had in her head in a way that no one else had and thanked me. She said I can send her my headshot and résumé and she'll see if she can spread it around for me. (AWESOME!!!)


EXHIBIT C: The Caretaker

While I was at Disney World with Daniel (we went right before the workshop had started), I got a phone call from the theatre. I started hyperventilating right there on the Monorail. Had I forgotten a rehearsal? Was I supposed to be there? OH DEAR GOD HAD I DONE SOMETHING WRONG?

Daniel made me calm down before calling them back. It turned out that one of the high-up people in the theatre (the Vice Grand Pooh-Bah, if you will) had a family emergency and needed someone to stay with an elderly relative for a couple of days. The stage manager for the theatre called me first.


EXHIBIT D: The Assistant

As a 2nd-year student of the program, you are assigned to assist a professor or a department. This is their way of justifying paying us to be in school. There are 11 people in my class at present, so they came up with 11 stations that need assistants:
- Head of Program (the artist formerly known as "Analysis Professor")
- Head of Program's Assistant (aka the woman who makes the world go 'round)
- Movement Professor
- Voice Professor
- Acting I Professor
- Acting II Professor (who has been with this theatre for decades)
- Costumes (if anyone needs things for scenes, they go through the assistant)
- Props (ditto, but it requires driving across town. the most daunting of these tasks)
- Tech (manual labor)
- Crew (I think it's the same thing as Tech)
- Library (which is apparently a huge job involving keeping the program's library organized)

At the beginning of our first semester, my classmates were ALREADY discussing which positions they planned to request. The job post that looked like it was going to cause the most conflict was with our Acting I Professor, as so many of us idolize him. Several people told me they thought I should assist our Voice Professor, as I'm always doing extra homework in that class just for fun (yes, I'm one of those students). I had a suspicion that my Movement Professor might request me, as we get along incredibly well. But past 1st semester, I didn't really think about it.

I was having a conversation with Acting I Professor in April, when he suddenly picked up on the fact that I'm pretty on top of things (I'd go into specifics on this, but I don't want to brag or bore). So he asked me to be his assistant. I said sure.

I went to talk with his current assistant, and she said that both Acting I Professor and Movement Professor are up for promotion next year, which means that being assistant to either of them will be a far more complicated and work-intensive task than it might normally be. Instead of shying away from the additional workload as a more intelligent person in my position might have done, I decided that it was all the more reason to agree to that assignment. Clearly, Acting I Professor needed me. I WANT him to get a promotion, and I'm going to be of greater help to him than most of my compatriots. So Acting I Professor and I agreed: he'd request me, I'd request him, and everything should be golden.

On the last day of classes, Voice Professor pulled me into the hallway before class and asked if I would be her assistant. I said that I would've loved to, but I'd already agreed to assist Acting I Professor. She said that she yielded to him (knowing, no doubt, about his promotion -- she went through the same grueling process this year). I told her that I'd be happy to make up example sentences for vowels and consonants for her despite not being her assistant, just because I like doing that sort of thing.

When I filled out my request form, I ranked Acting I Professor 1st, Voice Professor 2nd, and Movement Professor 3rd. (I considered putting down "Library" because I really like sorting things -- everyone else will probably hate it -- but I thought my skills were better used assisting people). As I turned in my form to Head of Program's Assistant, she looked me straight in the eye and made a point of saying to me, "You know that just because you request something, doesn't mean you'll get it, right?" I coyly smiled and nodded. I knew she had probably already gotten a couple of request forms with Acting I Professor's name ranked 1st. But I knew something that she didn't: that he would be putting my name down as his first choice. I wasn't worried about what assignment I'd get.

The next week, a 2nd-year came up to me. "Angela, out of curiosity, what did you write on your Assistantship request form?"
"Oh, I'm going to be [Acting I Professor]'s assistant."
"No, what did you write on the form."
"I wrote [Acting I Professor], [Voice Professor], and then [Movement Professor]. But I already talked to [Acting I Professor] and I know he's requesting me."
"I thought I should warn you, you're not going to be his assistant."
"WHAT? WHY?"

This 2nd-year has had the job of assisting Head of Program's Assistant, who is, of course, the person creating the assignments. Head of Program's Assistant needs a really great, organized, friendly person as an assistant, so she wanted me. She had planned to steal me away from Acting I Professor. Clearly, this is why she had given me the "just because you request it" speech.

"So I'm going to be HER assistant," I reasoned.
"Nope," she answered.

Apparently, Head of Program's Assistant had been complaining to this 2nd-year that she COULDN'T have me, because Acting II Professor requested me, and she has the most seniority in the program.

That's right. Even though I have 10 other perfectly capable classmates, 4 of the 6 people who get assistants wanted me.

I felt like the prettiest girl at the dance.

That said, the whole thing felt unfair. I warned Acting I Professor that he probably won't have me as an assistant, despite our solid "request-each-other" plan. He seemed a little disappointed, but I assured him that my classmates are reliable and that I was sure his promotion materials would be assembled easily.

We don't officially get our assignments until we get back to school in the fall. But I'd say this story is a pretty good example of my school loving me.


EXHIBIT E: Facebook

Today (yes, TODAY... 5 weeks after classes have ended, and I'm not currently getting any sort of paycheck from this school), I got a facebook message from a woman who works for the program in some sort of marketing capacity:

Angela: I spoke with [Head of Program] yesterday about having a FB page for the Conservatory and he thinks you'd be the one to know how to set it up just right. What do you think?

Yes. Of course I'm the person they think of. I am, of course, the one with the blog. They associate me with the internet and with being a person who will help the program in any way they ask. And they're not wrong to make either assumption (just a few days ago I created Wikipedia pages for both my program and the Rep theatre because I realized they didn't exist yet... I did that for fun. On summer break. Because I'm a loser.)

So I did it. I created a fan page for the theatre today, complete with events for all the Conservatory's up-coming shows for next season.


VERDICT: They totally love me

Seriously, is it any wonder that they love me? I'm sharp, I'm trustworthy, I'm talented, I'm professional, and, most importantly, I'm the best free labor ever.




So now what...

I've been in Connecticut for a little over a week. I've already been the Stage Manager for two dance recitals at a local theatre. I may have just been offered a role in a play reading (that I didn't audition for). I've been offered a babysitting gig (that I had to turn down because of the Stage Manager gig). I applied for a job as a waitress at a yacht club.

Movement Professor says you she thinks actors should watch a movie every day. Analysis Professor says we should read 3-4 plays a week. Acting I Professor says you should always be reading a book.

I think those suggestions are all too difficult for me to keep up with, but I do see the value in them. So since school got out 5 weeks ago, I've watched 18 movies (most of them with Daniel), I've read 3 plays, and I've finished 2 books. Not bad, I think.

I don't know how things are going to go for me here. I feel out of place still, and I probably will until I get a steady job. But I'm hoping for the best.



May the evidence always show that you are appreciated, beyond any reasonable doubt.

~A~

Just Adjusting

You know what I should NOT be doing right now?

Blogging.

Whoops.

I have so much to do. Cleaning. Laundry. Shopping. Homework. Reading. Research. All the errands that I promised myself that I'd run today because it's easier to do them on Mondays than any other day but that I didn't run because I really like having Mondays off and completely doing nothing...

I keep allowing the things I deem to be "life" get in the way. Buying things for my Halloween costume with Wifey. Going to group functions and gatherings for socialization. Getting caught up on Battlestar Galactica so that I can discuss it with Killer. Discussing possible casting for the 2nd-years with my roommates. Trying to figure out what the heck a "sibilant s" sound is, why I have it, and how to get rid of it.

My concept of time here is so off. I've had four weeks of classes. In many ways I feel like I just got here. Some days pass so quickly, and others last forever, and somehow they all sort of blend together. It's weird that I haven't blogged since Thursday, because I feel like I just did it yesterday, and part of me feels like it's too soon to write again.

I don't understand my relationships. I have classmates. I have colleagues. I have roommates. I have professors. But I'm not sure I feel comfortable saying that I have friends.

Right now as I was typing, there was a giant BURST of thunder. But there's no rain. This place doesn't make sense.

I think I just need more time to find my place.

We still haven't gotten our understudy assignments, and I'm getting antsy. Rumor has it that they'll be posted on Thursday or Friday.

I went to a gathering last night, mostly of 2nd-years. Two of my classmates (All-the-Way & D-Train) were there, and we stuck together for most of the night.

We started discussing our "types". All-the-Way is worried that she's going to get typed as "The Ingenue" for the next three years, and D-Train is concerned that he'll be "The Lover". I hope they don't. They're both talented and versatile, and they can do so much more than those things that they're perpetually typecast as.

I told them that, in some ways, they're lucky. They know what their types are, so they can specialize. I have no clue where I'm going to be.

They told me they think I'm a leading lady; I'm just too young to get those roles yet. All-the-Way says she sees me as strong, striking, and sexy. When I refuted the sexy part, D-Train said I have a sexy energy, but I don't know how to tap into yet. He says it's easier for me to take it to a goofy place than the sexy place, but he thinks I'll learn how to refocus it. It was all very complimentary. I wasn't really sure how to take it (as usual... accepting compliments isn't my strong suit).

We discussed some of our concerns with our class. The guy who doesn't want to be here. The inequity already evident in the way exercises are divided. And, perhaps most importantly, the sexual tension surrounding us.

The vast majority of people here are either single or away from their significant others. One of my schoolmates once suggested that we should all just make out with each other and get it out of the way. I think he was only half-joking.

It's not so much that I need affection. It's more that I'm lonely. My roommates are rarely home, so I spend most of my evenings in solitude. Which shouldn't bother me, as I lived alone in Chicago. But it does.

I wish that when classes were over, I could just drive over to someone's house, cuddle with them, vent, and then have them tell me all the stories of their day that have nothing to do with the stories from mine. Someone to be there when I need them. Someone to be proud of me. Someone to stroke my hair and tell me that everything is going to be alright.

Here venting is weird, because everyone knows exactly what you're going through. You'd think that would help... but sometimes, it just means that you feel stranger about venting. I feel so whiny and weak.

But here we start a new week, filled with new challenges. And I know that I will survive it. Just like I did the week before. Just like I plan to in the weeks to come.

That's all for now. So much reading to do, not to mention all the physical homework (when's the last time your homework involved stretching your tongue while looking in a mirror?).


May the things in your life make a little bit of sense.

~A~