Wraps, Plans and Webinars
After a slightly emotional last day on set, I am now wrapped for Un Jour En Societe. In my head I thought it would be the easiest of my filming days, because it didn’t involve any lines, so no memorization. Instead, I had to keep walking as people catcalled me, and eventually crumble into bed basically defeated. That shows me to no longer think things will be easy just because I don’t have to learn anything. All in all though, it was a really interesting experience, and I absolutely cannot wait to see the finished product!
On Tuesday, I started taking care of business before going to class. I signed up for ballet classes this fall and started my business plan, which is nowhere near done. I still haven’t decided if it is a really tedious, or a really fun thing to do. It does make you think though, since you need to figure out a million things about yourself and the industry you are trying to build a career in.
As for class, it was the cold reading one, so we got our scenes and worked with them while being on book. I am paired with Carolyne 🙂 with slightly confusing imaginary circumstances. As in I play her mother, that she goes back in time to talk to as a high school student. That would be interesting enough in itself, but there’s also a huge secret that is weighing on me, and the scene is really high on emotions. I can’t wait to see what happens when we really dig into it on Tuesday 😉
On Wednesday we went back to the mountain for another hike, this time a shorter path with a higher incline, which was a nice little challenge. Once I got home, I got down to business. First, I watched Wendy Davis’ Audition Game Webinar, which was free and held a lot of valuable insight. Some of it is the kind of stuff I know but need to remind myself of, but she also took the whole ‘enjoy auditioning’ advice to a new level. Instead of just seeing auditions as an opportunity to act and do what we love, Wendy sees them as a game, that she can win every single time, regardless of whether or not she booked the role. She uses a list of criteria that she scores herself on after every audition, and as long as she gets over 90%, she considers the audition a win. You should check her out if you have the chance 😉
Second, I wrote some scenes to potentially film with Carolyne for my demo reel. One of my resolutions this year was to film something that I wrote, so this would be a way to cross that off, and hopefully get some really nice, on brand footage for my reel at the same time. I still need to find someone who is willing to film it, but I think it will definitely be easier to work my way up from short scenes to longer ones, to a short and then to a feature, rather than just jump right into my own production. I feel like I have a lot to learn about the other side of the camera, so baby steps and trial and error will be my best education 😉
Third, and this one probably shouldn’t have been so scary and taken this long, but I asked some colleagues if they wanted to form a Mastermind group with me. I have mentionned these before, and am just so excited about the idea of a bunch of people getting together every month or so to help each other achieve goals, and to hold each other accountable. When I realized that both of them had joined the Bonnie Gillespie bandwagon, I knew that I had to put myself out there and ask. Luckily, they were both really interested, and we should be starting it in September 🙂 Which means I have a bunch of research and planning to do 😉
On Thursday, I went to see Mission:Impossible Rogue Nation as well as the Fantastic Four. One of them has been getting bad reviews, but other than feeling like they could have had a bigger build up to the ultimate showdown, I enjoyed both films.
Yesterday, I worked at McGill and biked to another town with my mom for supper, but I also put some of my to do list on hold to watch the Ms. In the Biz Roundtable that popped up in my inbox. I have a page of notes that can double as inspirational quotes from it. If you aren’t familiar with Helenna Santos and her awesome website, you should definitely check it out. In theory, it’s building a community of women in the acting industry, but it is also so much more. From the Hire a Ms. tool that encourages you to hire female directors for your projects, to all the awesome articles that come out, it is really a little goldmine. And I can’t wait to read her book that I ordered!
Finally, I got an email from Valerie Waters going on about Ronda Rousey and how inspirational and awesome she is, and then stumbled upon a bunch of quotes from Chris Hadfield that make me think their books will be the next ones I read, and there might be a lot of quotes from the two of them in the near future. Be warned, and also let me know if you have read any books that you find to be really awesome and inspiring 😉
Have a great weekend everybody!
“Decide in your heart of hearts what really excites and challenges you, and start moving your life in that direction. Every decision you make, from what you eat to what you do with your time tonight, turns you into who you are tomorrow, and the day after that. Look at who you want to be, and start sculpting yourself into that person. You may not get exactly where you thought you’d be, but you will be doing things that suit you in a profession you believe in. Don’t let life randomly kick you into the adult you don’t want to become.”
-Chris Hadfield
