BWW Blog: Stage v. Screen

Hi! Oh goodness I'm sure I start each of these posts the exact same way because I don't go back and read old ones after I'm done (I plan on reading them all together at the end of this semester). But today I went right back into the swing of things after a much-needed three-day break.

Last weekend, I was on my first ever film set for the junior thesis film, "The Furnishing". I had no preconceived notions going in about what film acting was like, and it was honestly kind of a shock. In live performance, there are so many rehearsals prior to the performance to work on blocking and acting choices, and the tech elements are usually not inserted until shortly before the performances. On set, the time spent adjusting lighting, camera focus, and sound took far more time than the time spent rolling. I knew this, but seeing it first hand was strange from the stage side of things, because I am a person who enjoys having control in most aspects of my life. Onstage, our in the moment decisions directly effect the audiences' reactions, whereas onscreen, it's not as much about us. Maybe that's an amateur way of looking at it, but I'm an amateur screen actor, and there is so much more to learn.

What was extremely impressive was the level of professionalism from the crew on The Furnishing. Even when things got pressed for time, everyone remained focused towards the collective goal of completing all the shots. I'm pumped to see the finished product, and hopefully the post production will be completed by the deadline for 'Controlled Chaos', WCU's annual film festival.

This weekend, I'm on set for the second film I was cast in, "Little Dark Age", which is the polar opposite from "The Furnishing". The latter is a comedy where I play a secret agent who busts boys who don't treat women well by seducing him and getting revenge, and the former has a "BLACK SWAN" vibe, and I play a girl who is in an abusive relationship and gets rescued by a feminist cult led by my favorite professor, who is played by one of my actual favorite professors, Ashlee Wasmund. We shot from 8:00AM-5:15PM today, and tomorrow night we have an overnight shoot from 7:30PM-possibly 6:00AM, which will likely be the death. As much as I love performing, I also love sleep haha. I hope everything goes smoothly so I can have at least a few hours of sleep before my 10:00AM voice lesson. Rest in peace.

Aside from all of that craziness, I am also well into rehearsals for Brilliant Traces. Our off book date is on Monday, and I'm roughly prepared. Luckily this week we only had two days of classes, so I could focus on lines significantly more. It's quite a tricky role, because many of the lines are repeated in slightly different variations, and a lot of it is in response to my scene partner, which makes rehearsing alone difficult. Bre has been great with helping me run lines, but she went home for break, so we'll see how this goes on its feet. Now that I'm basically off book, it's getting to be a lot of fun digging into the character, especially since she has a few mental breakdown rants that are easier to commit to when not looking at the page. Rosannah Deluce is my favorite acting challenge of my life so far, because she talks in a similar way that I naturally do, so the words flow nicely, and she has a lot of my same fears. I can't wait to show some serious acting chops to this program, and to myself.

In other random news: I got new headshots!! Yay! The old ones were from a few years ago, and I wanted some that represented where I am now, especially now that I'm getting more comfortable and self-aware of how to move my face (That's a weird thing to learn how to do, but necessary). Bre and I also took part in this girl we met through mutual friends' photoshoot for her art project on the feminist movement. I've never modeled before, and after that experience, I really love it. She got some great shots, and that's something I would love to do more of in the future. All in all, a crazy, hectic time, but full of good things, and as we're always reminded "If you're not exhausted, you're not doing it right".