When it rains it pours.

So, last Thurs and Fri, I shot a commercial near the O2.
It's open ground and very windy up that way. Added to this, it was an evening shoot, and they were using a rain machine.
Needless to say, after the first rehearsal, my colleagues and I were drenched.
Six takes later and we were starting to develop gills.
The crew set up for the next shot,
It was bitterly cold and some of the actors were beginning to get , well.....bitter.
Luckily I found a friend in an actor called Richard, and although we were not too thrilled to be out there, we cracked jokes,( none printable here) and kept our spirits up.
Some actors, called their agents , and others said they would not return on the second day of shooting.
To my surprise, even, Richard said he would not return.
The contract stated if you were on screen in final edit, you would get the big payout, instead of just a shooting fee.
One actor, I shall call Bob, was adamant to get in front of the camera. Purely, he informed me , for the money.
I must admit I was taken back a bit. You can never guarantee, being seen in the final commercial, unless you have a main part (we did not) because you are at the mercy of the editor. And if you're only in this for the money, you are definitely in the wrong business.
I also believe that if you enter into a contract, knowingly, then it is your duty to fulfil that contract. With that in mind, I returned the next day, and got on the hospitality bus. What did I see?
All the actors who had moaned the night before, including my friend, Richard.
"I thought you weren't coming back ?" I said.
With a wry smile he replied "Well, you have to be professional, don't you?"
Bob was the only one not to return.

Web 2.0

So I finally set up my blog, my twitter account and my flickr account. Was it an easy experience?
On the whole Id have to say, yes. The initial set up was plain sailing. Where I feel I struggled was personalising the blog, ie backgrounds, links. I already have a Facebook account, but it is a bare-bones presentation.
The reader mentioned  "produsage", the process where by someone is both user and producer.
I feel if you use a Web 2.0 platform for professional purposes, production is everything.
No longer is it good enough to be an actor, now you must be a web designer as well.
True, the makers of these platforms make it fairly easy for you to produce a half decent layout, however unlike a social networking site, I feel your presentation greatly reflects on you as a professional.
I recently changed my Facebook page. Originally it was for social interaction, now it is for professional usage. This means if any comment are placed on the page that do not present me in a positive professional light, I delete them. I have consciously become presenter, editor and indeed censor of the information that flows through that page. You could argue that this type of practice leads to sanitisation, but I do leave some of my friends comments on there to give a sense of personality. My point is, I'm still aware of being "select" in my approach.. I am creating an image, a representation of how I wished to be viewed in the professional arena.
Am I happy about this?
Not at all. I'm an actor, not a politician. Modern times demand I embrace web platforms or be left behind. I have molded a representation of myself, and in turn, by outside influences ie social etiquette  and   professional expectation, been molded.
Twitter, is a similar case, but I prefer this platform to any other currently available.
Once again, I use it as a networking tool. In fact, yesterday, I was in the company of an actor and a director , and whilst swapping twitter account addresses, the director remarked how years ago we would have handed out business cards, and now it's twitter details.
When I set up the account I simply wrote in the profile: Actor. Writer.
Within a week I had connected with casting web sites, fellow actors and directors. With that two word profile, my account had organically shaped itself into an arts community.  Such is the power of Web 2.0
Lastly. the blog. The blog as a platform is my biggest fear and is the one area of communication I will abandon after the course. Why? Because as a actor/writer I understand storytelling. I understand how to put it down on paper and how to get it across to an audience. But a blog requires me to be factually insightful and cerebral. Two things I feel I'm not fully qualified to do. Therefore at the risk of damaging my professional image, I will discard it.......can't have anything jeopardize by political career now, can I?

Another perspective.

Morag's first project behind the camera.entanglement.co.uk/projects/interview-joe-wip

Linked with kind permission of Morag Hickman.

Joe's BAPP video......well they said "your interpretation"....

Is there a (script) Doctor in the house?

A group of film makers I usually work with are about to make a short, based on a script they wrote. I was sent the script.
I read it, and to be honest I was not taken with it.
I could have left it there, however I thought I'd set myself a challenge.
As there was no role for me in the story, I took on the one of Script Doctor.
Now, I had written fully fledge scripts before, but this was a new creative discipline for me; to take somebody else's material and attempt to improve it, whilst retaining the tone, and through- line of the piece.
First, I took the overall pacing of the script and then broke it down into scenes, identifying clunky or superfluous dialogue. This often disrupts the flow/rhythm of the scene.
I re-wrote the beginning and gave the end a more satisfying conclusion.
I also gave examples of where the humour of the piece could be tighten.
Will any of it make the final cut? Only time will tell.

The Early Days

A selection of photos from my early days at Putney Arts Theatre. Joe MB@flicr.com

This is where I got my first taste of performing for a paying audience.

The theatre holds 150 people, and the stage is a good size.
I learnt to communicate a story and engage an audience on this stage.
Good memories. 

Commercial Casting

Yesterday I went for a commercial casting, in the west end of London. As I made my way down Oxford Street, having just completed my audition, I got to thinking about the audition process. Commercial auditions in particular. All auditions have a couple of fundamental requirements: 1. You must be able to act. 2. You must be able to convey the material given.
But the Commercial Casting is a tricky beast. You can confidently stride in, armed with the fundamentals, but if you don't fit the look they want, the most amazing performance, still will not get you the gig.
But that goes for any casting, I hear you say.
I personally do not think that is the case. I have auditioned for fringe productions, where I felt there was room to mould the performance, a chance to surprise the director.
But Commercial Castings rarely go on longer than 10 mins. Plus you have to remember you are not playing a role, you are selling a product. It's not a play, it's a presentation, and the look is everything.
However, as actors we must approach this with the same determination and inventiveness, as any other audition.
I went in to the audition room with three other men. This is a usual casting practice when they are looking for a group of performers ( we were to be a group of photographers) It's a "job lot" casting.
When this happens it's tempting to approach the performance with a sense of rivalry.
I defused this in my mind by reminding myself that in these kind of castings, the casting director has pretty much made up his or her mind as soon as they've seen you walk in.
So I psyched myself into the belief that I fitted the remit and ignored the performers around me (we were not here to interact).
Then the camera swept across the four of us and we were instructed to perform individually.
Individual camera time was 10 sec.
Then, with a smile (no matter how you felt it went, always leave with a smile) I hit the pavement.
Theorising, but at this stage, none the wiser.
I got "Pencil".
Still none the wiser.