Contrast is a word used by some on the same level as imagery, context, and tone, however I’m finding more and more that it is worthy of much higher recognition. Contrast is at the center of everything I can think of at the moment that I’ve found compelling. Everything. We’re talking anything from day-to-day life, to film, theatre, sports, relationships, whatever. It’s all about contrast.
Example: So I’m a huge Harry Potter dork. Everyday update checks on Mugglenet, drop references several times/week, constant movie re-watching and always contemplating if I should jump back in and re-read the series, etc. So tonight I just watched Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince for what might have been the 10th time. Not only do I watch the movie so much because I’m an HP fan, but because it’s an excellent film. I could pin-point every single thing that I have a problem with and would have done differently in that movie because I know/love it that much. But what sets it apart from all the others and makes it stand alone for me is it’s exceptional use of contrast. Good vs. Evil. Life vs. Death. Light vs. Dark. Friends vs. Enemies. Trust vs. Distrust. The list goes on and on, but the biggest and most important of them all has got to be Love/Friendship/Unity vs. Hate/Individualism. The contrast, mixed with all the specific elements that go into effective film storytelling, make this an excellent, stand-alone piece.
That aside, contrast is what, in life, I’m inspired by. I have a bad day at work where a lot of people are rude to me and I’m left thinking that our general population is hopelessly negative, I get out, witness an extraordinary act of kindness, or even simple, genuine politeness when I go to the bank to deposit a check…and I’m moved by it. Had I had an average day, or an overall good day, that act of kindness at the bank wouldn’t have phased me. But it did, because I came from a lousy 8-hours of human interaction. And that’s what makes life so compelling, and thus worth living.
So many people live with regrets. Mistakes. Things they wish they hadn’t done, and if they could, they’d go back and change what they did because they believe their lives will be so much better without them. But I honestly can’t say that about anything I’ve done. And I’m very aware that I’ve lived a relatively sheltered, innocent life, and haven’t done many things that in the grand scheme of things could be considered regrettable, but that’s all relative. A 3-month old baby uncomfortable in their stroller at the zoo, passing in and out of the sun may be having the absolute worst day of their life–the most miserable experience they’ve ever gone through. The next day they have a clean diaper, perfect temperature, and discover that blocks don’t have to be laid on the floor to be played with, but can be stacked upwards–bam. Best day of their lives. And we’re no different. Every experience of discomfort, of poor judgment, of bad experience, it all goes down on our life-list of things we’ve done. And as the list grows, we become more aware of what’s out there, how things work, and how life really operates. The good is only good because we’ve experienced the bad. The best moment of our lives would be totally mediocre if the worst moment of our lives was only slightly worse than that.
Hmm, I may have contradicted myself, but I hope not. Either way, this was my discussion on context, not life philosophy. And I hope that by knowing that ‘all things worth experiencing come from a place of contrast’ can carry with me into my choices I make as an actor, my understanding of stories I read/create as a director, and the decisions I make in my life as a human, and bring me (and anyone else who may share these ideas with me) the best success and happiness.
As Mr. Kolberg, my 6th grade teacher once said, “Our goal in life, is to be happy.”
Who knew amazons could be found in the middle of the barren mountains of California?
Quick update today. First on the list is the Amazon shoot we did this past weekend. It was fantastic! Two days, working with 50+ amazing individuals who are either members of Sword Fights Inc. or joined us for this production. Was quite the ensemble experience and made the 12 hour days fly by and leave some lasting memories. I added an action shot photo to my photo page under Shows – Actor, check it out!
Next is the web-series I co-produced entitled Emily, where we follow a stalker’s point of view as he devises bolder ways to invade her life and take away everything that Emily can call her own. It was released as a 30-episode web-series and is now being turned into a short film. The writer/producer/director and my good friend Peter Berube cut together a trailer of the short film, and you can check it out here:
And finally, I’m making great headway with the Sleep Well music video project. We’re planning to shoot in October, and film all the scenes and band performances in Connecticut. Drafts of all three scripts are complete and will continue to be tweaked over the next few weeks. The story that will be told will center around the premise that isolation in life leads to connection in death. Yeah, so mull that over a little bit there.
Situation: You just finish a streak of work conflicts you’ve thrown at your boss (in the nicest possible way, doing as much of the work yourself for schedule adjustments, etc.) and you’re given the time off/switches as requested. You then realize that an event you were planning on attending is a week-long, 10am-10pm conference and would be a great career advancer, but that means you’ve got another week’s worth of schedule conflicts you have to throw at your boss. What do you do?
You throw them at your boss, or you change careers.
I just remembered that I was accepted (as an ‘intern’) to attend Director’s Lab West, a week-long conference in LA with professional theatre directors from all around the west coast consisting of many discussions, workshops, and events. A great way to meet more people, see those who are in the place that I hope to be one day and may in one way or another help me along my path. A total direct conflict with work, and less than a month after I just took 2 whole weeks off from work to be at the O’Neill.
The scary thing is, my initial reaction was that I couldn’t do Director’s Lab West. Then, thank God, I came to my senses and realized this is exactly the kind of thing I need in my life and in my career, and far more important than a further tainted reputation with work and a slightly more in-debt state of living. It’s situations like these though, decisions like this that make us who we are. We theatre-doers, actors, directors, artists at work can’t settle for what’s easiest…when the choice is one such as this. As much as it will kill me to lose another week’s pay, endanger my job, health insurance, and stability in my life, I have to do it. And knowing how valuable this lesson is to a young professional’s start-of-career is quite empowering.
So, that being said, I will be participating in Director’s Lab West from September 4th – September 11th and may or may not still have a job after I’m finished. If Campus Explorer is smart though, they’ll keep me, as I’ve earned them over $200,000 in my 11 months working for them…it’s that that I have going for me and is very likely the case why I can get away with things like these. Will this be pushing it too far? Time will tell.
The other conflict I just worked out with work is happening this weekend, and that’s with my sword fight company Sword Fights Inc. We’re filming our ‘Amazon Fights’, or a series of fights we’ve been working on for several months now that particularly showcase our female fighters’ talent. This will be presented in the form of a movie trailer (for a movie that doesn’t exist) and will be a very professional-looking product. It will be great publicity for us and with any luck will lead to future jobs for SFI members down the line. I’ll be sure to post the final product when it’s complete.
Awesome album cover: Little People - Mickey Mouse Operation
Man, where to start. I guess first just a recap of my 3-week stay in Connecticut, 2 of which were at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center and the last was at my childhood home in Coventry. In general, an amazing vacation back to the land where I hail from. Specifically, well, here we go.
First project was directing a 1-act play by playwriting student Alana Hughes in typical O’Neill fashion–over just 48 hours. I got to stage the piece in the Ampitheatre, my first time ever using this outdoor space and got to discover all of its pros and cons. Everything from Dad drinking and smoking pot with the kids to shared hallucinations accented this piece about a typical family camping trip. Very neat.
Next was ADing for Steve Cosson on Anne Washburn’s play A Devil at Noon. What an experience this was. Described as ‘A play about inner-space’ the rehearsal process consisted primarily of copious tablework and forging our way through the staging of this two and a half hour sci-fi wonder. What started out as a very dense, specifically ambiguous piece turned into a delightfully tangible, mind-racing piece, successfully using mime throughout the play to create something far more compelling than a surface-level mime show. Everything from astronauts making scene transitions, a ‘moon man’ turning an increasingly large moon on and off, and ninjas kidnapping a coffee maker made this piece a blast to work on. Being such a complex play, I actually got to do things as an AD! Crazy! I blocked the ninja scene, created astronaut costumes out of tin foil, and ran scenes with the actors outside while Steve worked what had yet to be touched. Certainly not your everyday AD lifestyle, and one I’ll be sure not to get used to, but still nice, none-the-less.
Then a week spent with some of my close friends and family in CT, while managing to work 40 hours that week from home at the same time. Thank God for this flexible job…seriously. Of my closest friends, I spent time with Adam Gooch and we finalized the script for the Sleep Well music video (the first of three). Over the next few weeks we’ll hammer out the other two and then the pre-production stuff can begin!
Separate from all that, in the past few hours I’ve managed to come across a number of things I need to share. First is a new album I really dig. The band is called Little People and the album is called Mickey Mouse Operation. They’re some kind of combination of what you’d think of as ‘soundtrack’ music mixed with a hip-hop/rock vibe…I tried to do some research to see what they’re described as, but they and this album seem to be brand new. Maybe I just uncovered the next hit group? Probably not, seems like groups who make music like this always remain underground. Whatever floats your boat.
Finally, I need to finish with more gratitude for another band by the name of Ok Go. They are quite inspirational in many ways, one of which is that they dropped their major label so they could independently produce their own videos and take advantage of the internet market. As many may know, Ok Go is responsible for the viral videos Here It Goes Again (treadmill song, 52 million views), This Too Shall Pass (Rube Goldberg machine, 15.7 million views and counting) along with the other version of that song with a full marching band, and now their newest installment of brilliance: End Love. Please do yourself a favor and watch this video. Film non-stop rolling over the course of 23 hours, this stop-action video just picks up where Ok Go last left off in their amazing video producing streak and keeps it going stronger than ever. They bring back their comically simple choreography, single-colored jumpsuits, and shared spotlight style to create yet another mesmerizing, inspiring video.
So my flight’s delayed about an hour and a half and the airport offers free wi-fi, so I figured it’d be a good time to throw out a quality blog.
Last night (technically only a few hours ago) I had the closing performance of Buried Treasures, the radio play I performed in. It was a great time, I met a bunch of really great theatre people in LA through it, reconnected with a few I knew from before (hard to believe I’d run into familiar faces in a city of millions when I haven’t even been in LA for a year yet), and best of all was the sense of community and mutual support for everyone I felt with this group. Not only was the show a great opportunity as an actor to play 5 different characters/voices, but it was a great exercise in making a 10-year-old’s words (or perception of speech) completely natural. Sentences like, “Lots of people were riding bikes! Very little people were riding in cars” make you think, “wait, so there are small people riding in the cars?!” but nope, just Frank’s sensible way of saying that there weren’t many people riding in cars. All-in-all, a great experience and I’m so glad I got to be a part of it.
On my red-eye flight I read the play I’ll be directing (starting at 7:00pm EDT tonight) at the O’Neill. It was written based off the story structure of The Cat in the Hat, but completely re-imagined and centering around a brother and sister on a camping trip with their mom, who when their mother leaves to pick up food, get visited by their dad who offers them shots and pot. There are definitely some cool things in it, it’s a little wacky, but it should be a lot of fun. I’ll have 3 days to work with the actors (and playwright?) before it performs on Tuesday night. Gotta love O’Neill work ethic. After watching how simple all the radio plays turned out, the boldest directing choices consisting of having actors not currently in the scene to turn their backs on the audience, I’m inspired to really make the most out of every opportunity I get. So as far as I’m concerned, this psychedelic, alcohol shooting, pot smoking cat-in-the-hat play will get my 100% commitment to make it the most compelling piece of theatre I can make it in 3 days time, using the gift of minimalism the O’Neill sets you up with.
After that finishes, it’ll be mission observation as I assist Steve Cosson in A Devil at Noon, hopefully coupled with much time spent at the beach, meeting some great people, forming new friendships, congratulating old faces on the new Tony Award, and enjoying 2 weeks of theatre camp that should be every theatre-doer’s dream!
Alright, so here are the current projects I’m working on:
-Acting in a radio play, written by 10-year-old Frank Gress, put on by the Virginia Avenue Project. Show performs this Friday, 7/16 at 7:30pm and Saturday, 7/17 at 2:30 and 7:30pm. I’ll be voicing the 10-year-old main character, as well as 3 or 4 cameo voices. It’s a charity event, $5 suggested donation, at The Miles Memorial Playhouse – 1130 Lincoln Blvd. in Santa Monica – just north of Wilshire in Reed Park.
-Returning to CT to be a guest director at the O’Neill’s summer education program Theatremakers, followed by serving as the assistant director for Anne Washburn’s new play A Devil at Noon, directed by Steve Cosson (artistic director of The Civilians).
Tree of Inspiration: Step 2
-Creating and filming my first ever music video for Adam Gooch’s band Sleep Well. In a similar fashion as with There is Truth, Love is Real, Adam and I will be creating a story that spans the length of 3 songs, following the character Jonathan’s journey through each. I’ll be filming the band’s performance of the songs while I’m back in CT, then returning to LA to begin production on the story part.
-Creating essentially an elaborate decoration for my room that I’m calling the ‘Tree of Inspiration’–see the above pictures. What I’ve done is take that original image, strip out the background and small branches so I just have an outline of the main tree. Then, with the help of my good friend Sabrina, we projected and traced the stripped down image on many pieces of cardboard. Those pieces were then taken home and I cut them out with a box cutter, so I now have all the pieces to that tree, and when put up on a wall, will stretch roughly 8′ tall and 10′ wide. My task now is to spray paint the pieces black, then mount them on my wall, creating what should resemble a silhouette of this amazing tree. I’ll then be putting in picture frames in the branches, shelves, and string lights around the trunk and other branches. On those shelves and in the frames will go images of the newest and latest project that I’m working on, so as to always remind me of what I’m working towards.
All the content I hoped to have up and available on my website is now here, formatted to my liking and I couldn’t be happier! Take a look around, leave any comments you have after this blog entry. And most importantly, SUBSCRIBE by adding your email address in the box on the left hand side of the page–my main goal in creating this new layout for my website was to have an ongoing online blog where I could easily add updates, share pieces of inspiration, and channel all the career-related thoughts from my head into the public eye.
Credit has to go to a few people whose sites I used as inspiration–first is Ms. Allison Volk, whose WordPress site is linked to on the side and can also be found at http://allisonvolk.wordpress.com/ Next is a friend of mine Tom Christensen who I don’t believe knows this, but he deserves to be recognized none-the-less: http://www.tom-christensen.com/ And finally, there’s one of my heroes who has been quite an influence on my life – the vocalist/bassist of Blink-182 and +44, Mark Hoppus: http://www.pickrset.com/markhoppus/
