Today is the final open presentation for my 2 year Meisner training program. I'm doing a scene from Oscar Wilde's "The Importance of Being Ernest." Not sure how I feel about my preparedness. But The others in my class, some featured here in this photo, will be doing some great work.
BBQ ribs is one dish I constantly get a craving for. Vigil's near Time Square has some mighty nice dry rub.
What can I say about the new Hearst Building? It's tall, smooth and shiny. This building rose up before my eyes... It features hard lines and rigid surfaces ... please note the two upright statues... I can't wait to get a closer look.
I've been doing a lot of sitting on park benches lately. Hence, I've come dangerously close to falling pidgeon poop on several occasions. I think birds use their poop to mark their territory. For some reason, they want to lay claim to my head.
I look a bit glum here because I was very hungry. My roomie was running late, again, and making me wait for brunch. Sheesh... and the park's resdent pidgeons (off-camera) were feasting on crumbs all around me.
Riding home after an audition. I like how my image is all distorted and yet the advert says "get closer." There's a metaphore in this, and it's trying to hit me over the head, but I'd rather not think about it. Just a cool photo op is all...
Saturday afternoon, just me, and a few of the wonderfully silly men from my acting class.
The past three days have been awful in NYC. The rain has been pounding on and off. And somehow, I've found myself out and about every single one of those days just as the deluge came down the hardest.
I love watching people and I'm not the only one. One can never be bored in NYC because in addition to the multitude of possible activities, there are also plenty of places to sit, observe and evesdrop.
Finally went to see Sweeny Todd the other night. No photos were allowed, so I placed my camera on my lap and got this shot of the theatre ceiling. I enjoyed the show immensely. This must be one of the hardest shows to cast since all the cast members had to not only sing well, act well but also play at least one instrument. Such talented people, I was amazed.
I never turn down a free meal, thus Friday night I accompanied the roomie to her company's annual dinner at the members-only Century Club. There was some very nice art around the place and this very cozy reading room. Although, in this picture we look rather ghostly, like in that movie "The Others." We could be Chinese maids from 200 years ago, they used to keep us in the attic and now our restless spirits haunt the place... boo!
This is Marla the cat. She has been making an extended stay at our apartment. The roomie is totally spoiling her. As for myself, i've come to realize it is nice to have a cuddly furry purring thing around the house. I've never had a single pet in my life (maybe there was a fish at some point, because I do recall the image of a belly-up gold fish being flushed down the toilet, but that's about it.)
Taken after my latest NYU thesis film audition. It's so difficult getting back to auditioning after completing a project, no matter how small or how brief. Auditioning for something when you're not in anything somehow always feel a bit different.
We wrapped today. I really will miss this project. There was a ton of hard work and lack of sleep but I really enjoyed working on this. The above lense is worth about 80Gs and takes something like 2 years to make. We used it on the final shot of the day, but hopefully those 30 feet of film won't make it into the final cut.
I only had 2 shots to do this day but some how one was planned for first thing in hte morning 10:30am and the other was the middle of the afternoon, which actually ended up being 8:30pm at night. So, there was lots of waiting, but was generally a easy day. Oh catering got a lot better since we moved into the soundstage, so that was cool. Despite the later than planned finish, I still was able to meet Marg and Mag Egbula for dinner.
We have moved into our final location for the production stage of "Paradise Regained." All green screen and nothing else.
Finally we moved out of the warehouse set. This is our one dday of exterior shooting. Tomorrow we're back inside again. It was a beautiful day in Warren, New Jersey. Spending a day in the sun almost made me forget I only had 7 hours of turnover time and 4 hours of sleep.
In the process of movie making, there's a ton of waiting involved. On the set of a student film, the waiting time tends to increase exponentially. To keep myself occupied I sometime read, make phone calls, chat with the crew and in this case I play with the art department's leftover fixtures and pretend I'm in a whole other movie, probably a comedy.
Another long day in the warehouse/movie set/outer space. Part of the what drew me to this project was that, 50% of it will be shot in front of "green screen." Today we did only four shots, but three of those shots involved something green and therefore non-existent.
This was taken around midnight on our first day of shooting. At that point we were a day and 3 hours behind schedule but spirits were high and speed was definitly picking up. No matter how difficult the project or how many obstacles one faces, the most important thing is heart. I know it sounds cheesy but it's true. This project is a labor of love for so many people, I only hope I can help them achieve their collective vision.
Despite the PATH trains, heading to New Jersey always seems like such a chore. But being an actor you often have to suck it up and do things you don't want to do. Thus, I've been heading out to Jersey, where the first portion of my next short film is being shot. At least the weather has been nice and the streets I pass are lined with blossoming trees.
Kim came up from DC. This photo is the result of a MSG packed lunch. It depicts 3 seriously bored Asians giving the rest of our kind a bad name. Represent yo!
Working on a scene from "Doubt" in my acting class. We were too cheap to book a practice room so... we took over a bench in Central Park. I took this picture just as the first rain drop fell.
Getting ready to shoot another student film. "Paradise Regained" will be my first SciFi flick. This may not look like much now, but it's going to be the space pod that whisks me to the International Space Station as earth explodes.
