It's Not On The Paper

It’s not on the paper. A writer writes a story and a director interprets the story and hopefully has a vision for the piece, what does the actor bring primarily to the story? Himself, this means that the first concern for the wise actor is not the lines or the circumstances, but himself. How is he going to activate himself in front of the camera, what parts of himself is he going to bring to the forefront of his behavior, what’s in the part for him to discover? Why this part? Without this all the lines and all the direction in the world wont amount to anything. He must have something of himself to activate the writers static lines and circumstances. 

The actor doesn’t need to do the work of the writer, the writer already did it, his words are an outline for your behavior, he needs you to activate what has been written and if it was written well chances are that the relationships within the piece are the primary concern. That means that the only way a writer can see his piece come to life is if you invest yourself in the piece as much as the writer did. The big difference is that you need to bring it to life. The only thing that we have that the writer doesn’t is the ability to take action. If he had this ability chances are he wouldn’t have written the piece in the first place. 

We need to bring all that we are to the set and layer on the circumstances and the lines onto us then into us. If we show up on a set and we are in our essence but don’t have our lines or know our circumstances we are still in good shape because the writer can hand us some lines and the director can give us the circumstances, but if our bodies show up on the set but for one reason or another we are not present, no words and no direction is going to save you, unless of course I happen to be directing you, but if I have to lead you to you other things in the performance will be compromised and I will not appreciate that. The point being, a good director may be able to trick you back to yourself but in the majority of cases you will be alone with this responsibility and knowledge so don’t expect anyone to understand your dilemma. Most people including writers and directors don’t have a clue what your true responsibilities are as an actor, so don’t bother explaining yourself just get busy making it work. By making it work I mean grounding yourself in the relationships present in the room with you, your fellow actors, maybe the director, be aware and use whatever comes your way, it will come, it always does, if your courageously patient. 

Remember it’s film we can always get another take, we can always make adjustments, so relax connect and see what comes, get off on not knowing what might happen, anal actors are professional, meaning they have there lines down and know the other actors lines as well, has worked out everything down to the last syllable, which is all necessary in preparation but when action is called all must be released so we can see what’s really there. An anal actor is predictable, other forms of the medium needs this type of actor. 

A planed result oriented approach to acting is appreciated by insecure producers and directors, that for the most part have no idea how to tell a story or even care, they are more concerned with keeping there jobs than with telling a story. Which is understandable given the astronomical amounts of money on the line. The more money at stake the more cliché the performances are. Results need to be known ahead of time, because of investors, so producers start having a say so, this is death to the artistic drive of a film. I would rather see the moment discovered again and again in a unique personal way, this guarantee’s strong interesting relationships, which in the end equal box office. All the finest autuers have this ability. 

When humanity is captured on film, we have captured something of great value. A way the to do that is to discover basic truths about yourself while the camera is rolling, hence earning the title of actor/artist.

Creativity

Creativity is the fertile ground in which acting can take root. What we must remember about creativity is that it is extra, meaning that the energy needed to create is greater than the energy it takes to live an ordinary life, it is above ordinary existence, to live a creative life is extraordinary. A healthy creative life can help us persist to the point of realization, and revelation, the opening of doors long closed, doors which can breath air into an ailing society sick with in it’s own fears and prejudices. Creativity needs the proper environment to flourish in, initially fertile ground to lay the oak seed that will eventually take root and grow to a point at which it’s shadow will touch many things in the course of a day. To realize your maximum potential, as an artist requires the proper environment initially until understanding has been mastered. Let this space be that environment for you. The Japanese say about painting bamboo, study bamboo for ten years then forgets all about it and paint. Meaning that once the creative principals are understood go out and do it without any thought, just do it. These creative principals are the keys. This is an exploration to allow us to openly discover and define what these are in the months to come.

Actor

Actor - One who dares to do. Our courage in this precarious process is of the up most importance. We dare to stir up, reprocess, and display our inner most world for effect, to recreate our dreams and bring them into the present for all that are present to see. We are generally taught not to cross lines in terms of social behavior, the actor thrives on crossing lines in his behavior so as to know the limitations of his character, forever seeking out situations to test his level of understanding, ridding the line of rejection and acceptance. The motto to know thy self takes on an entirely new meaning, one of necessity and artistic survival. To view the world through the eyes of an actor means to live in a diverse ever changing world full of magic, activating observations from across the room, always wondering what it could be like to be in that human’s circumstance, if he could live it, breath it, be it. Ideally the truth of society be reflected in us, so as to be understood by all that see, so in the end, in acting’s purist form we become teachers.

Special Effects Environments

  Special effects environments can be devoid of scenery and tangible objects and sometimes people to work with. The movement of energy through these seemingly devoid, dead spaces sells the illusion being created.
  The practice of moving material objects with your mind strengthens initiative, initiates the creative mind preparing one for these environments.

A Free Person

A free person has earned it.

A free person is a catalyst for change.

A free person has discernment.

A free person can lead.

A free person lacks resistance.

A free person can choose.

A free person cant lose no matter what the score or the opportunity that has passed.

A free person has a constant learning curve.

A free person can heal himself.

A free person doesn’t need a reason.(To help, work, create, love.)

A free person conquers resistance.

A free person can act.

Acting Successfully In Life

“Acting successfully in life, as in front of the camera, requires one to realize that one has a choice, if present, to not only interpret a current situation as it unfolds and predict an outcome; to an objectively observe circumstance, but to also change oneself in order to achieved a desired outcome. This would be taking “action” in its truest sense.

 The person present enough to achieve such an act would be acting, and that person could be called an actor. This scenario is played out daily in survival situations by the most courageous, motivated actors on the planet who change the course of history through their current actions.

Adaptation is key to a species evolution, we are no different in that respect to any other sentient being.

The ability to act assures survival.”

Potential, as Related to Our Craft and the World

“Potential, as related to our craft and the world: In acting, we have to create within the time that the production has allotted. In life we all have a beginning and an end, only so much time in one location. The quality of what is captured in that location depends on the production (Government, community, family). You, the actor, need to realize your potential within the given time frame. Doing this allows the scene, that is being played out, to be realized fully, hence clarifying the on screen story for the audience.

Potential in and of it’s self is not a result, its more represented by a continuos effort through the present. To say one has realized his potential in a given space of time, is the same as saying one has existed through the present continually, up and through the said point in time, involved in creating and shaping moments of life, thus realizing his individual possibilities in that time frame. The same can be said about any group, team, organization or country. Freedom and the present go hand in hand. A free country is a present country that is realizing its potential as we speak, if such a country actually existed. An indicator of the type of freedom I speak of is the ability of the people to govern themselves; how many laws do they need to keep from killing each other? How many enforcement officer are needed to “keep the peace? How big and powerful is their army? How intrusive is their government in the peoples personal affairs? These are indicators as to wether they are realizing their potential or not, but most importantly, how present are they allowed to be? Thus giving the observer (Director) an overall assessment of the health of a world, nation, state, community, organization, family, relationship or production.”

The act of realizing ones potential is “action".

My Film Experience, Part 1

A brief journey through time:  “Idiots of Malibu” was the first of six films I worked on in the role of writer/actor and director.  The short thirty minute film was based on a conversation I had with a friend who was struggling with his relationships with women.  The result is a comedy which empowers men and sheds light on what it is to be responsible in a relationship.

     We decided to shoot on super sixteen as opposed to 35mm because the loads were larger and the camera was lighter.  Also, given the large amount of steady cam with long uncut takes, we thought it best not to kill our DP.  Plus the format is really nice, flexible and looks great.

     Next out of the gate was “Eden’s Mountain.”  Having gained the confidence from “Idiots”, I was feeling cocky and jumped right into a feature.  I was approached by a friend, who had family in Wyoming and owned a large ranch just outside Cody.  He showed me some pictures and asked if I had any scripts that could be shot on this location.

     The place was beautiful, it was September, the leaves would be changing soon and the snow would be coming by the third week of October, so we really had to hustle.  I didn’t even have a script ready, but I had twenty eight days to come up with something.

     I talked the idea over with a buddy, came up with a general direction for a story and started knocking it out.  The result was a mystical adventure centered around an Iraq war vet suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.  He was seeking solace in a friend that was MIA from the war, allegedly living in the mountains of Wyoming.  An ambitious tale, needless to say, with a rather large ensemble.

     The idea was to make a micro low budget film feel like an epic.  In order to do this, we had to open everything up:  story, location, character and lens choice.  In essence, the entire film is about opening oneself up and daring to stay open.  We utilized the beauty of Wyoming as much as we could by pulling back and chose whenever possible, a wider lens.

     We adhered to large conceptual ideas like “life after death”, and “our connection to nature”.  Much of this was embodied in the characters, in how they individually perceived life.  I used lots of symbols, a shape-shifting wolf, Celtic sweat lodge traditions, the Buddhist perception of life¹s journey up a mountain, etc.

     The Buddhists believe an individual achieves different levels of humanity at each stage of their journey.  We used a sacred ram, in a blood letting ceremony, a Christ-like character, that represents the missing friend the Lead was struggling to find.

     These concepts allow the film to breathe more than the usual three location micro-budgeted indie film.  Our choice in film stock reflected this as well, having to shoot 35mm.  Given the beauty of the location, this stressed our budget, but it was a must.  Taking in account the tough circumstances we were challenged with:  developing the script, eighteen day shooting schedule, limited budget, skeleton crew, large ensemble, snow threatening to turn us into the next “Donner” expedition, we came through with flying colors.  The film looks great and the story has many wonderful layers.

     Several months after “Eden”, I shot a series of short films at my home in West Hollywood.  We called them “Sun-setter shorts” because a few of the scenes were taken from a feature length film I had written by the same name.

     The actors involved were part of a group I had started a few years earlier, and these shorts were the proof of their practice.  Among the group was “LOST’S” Josh Holloway, appearing on film for the very first time, demonstrating his onscreen charm and kissing prowess.

    “Pot Luck People” was an opportunity to familiarize myself with the digital world.  I knew it was and is the future of juxtaposed story telling, so I wanted to give it a shot. This dark comedy was developed by interviewing a dozen or so actors on camera.  I asked them a series of questions which guided them into their characters.  Once the actor zeroed in on the character that had surfaced, more specific questions were asked that were geared towards story.  This process allowed me to pull the story from the imaginative interviews. The astute line of questioning gave the interviews structure, which allowed me to come up with a story that took three more months to develop.

     The story revolves around the mysterious death of a multimillionaire.  In his will, he had asked his motley crew of a family to come together for one last party on his behalf, that is, if they intended to collect their share of his hefty inheritance. This satire, set in LA, plays on human greed and pokes fun at the sloth that can define the worst of  LA.

      After “Pot Luck”, I went back to the stage and directed the Pulitzer Prize winning play “Short Eyes”, written by Miguel Pinero, for which I received a Best Director Award. A great play with so many layers and I had the fortune of having an incredibly wonderful and talented cast.

     Since I was in the theatre groove, I directed three more plays.  I had written these as well, “The Transcendent”, “Fe-lo-de-se”, and a romantic comedy called “Together”.

     My next film was a commentary on the Iraq war called “Check Point”.  It’s a heart wrenching look at our occupation of Iraq, dramatized through six fictional soldiers who share, from the grave, their last moments on earth.

     Shot “interview style” on DV, this was intended as an internet project.  I made it to be watched on the small screen, with all close-ups and ECU’s.  The positioning of their faces in particular, only partially in frame, was important for a number of reasons.  The stories are intertwined, so when the next character appeared, I wanted them in different parts of the frame.  This way, with the camera slowly tracking back and forth which not only positioned the character in a different part of the frame, it also fully dramatized the subject as well.

     I also had changing light values throughout each take, giving the image a unique feel each time we see a character appear in the story line. The ever changing frame gave the piece more visual dynamics, which was important, given the limited choice of camera angles.  Therefore, I compensated with simple pans and varying light values.

    

     Once again, I switched hats and went back to interviewing actors, taking the facts of their lives and mixing it with the fiction of the story, which turned out to be quite a powerful dramatic recipe.  

     I incorporated a green screen for the first time, whereas lighting the screen and the distance from the screen proved to be important variables.  Although the images we incorporated were few, the quality of the keyed-out green screen, which is black, activated the background, giving it a life of its own, a kind of electricity.  Technology is blossoming all around me, the green screen being a great tool and the future of the industry.

     The end result of “CHECK POINT” for me was one of the most rewarding, powerful cinematic experiences of my life to date.  The film speaks very much for itself. 

Wild and Free

Henry David Thoreau once said, "All good things are wild and free." And as actors this idea is very appealing especially when achieved in ones work. Actors, artists and athletes seem to embody this primitive, exciting energy that so attracts us to them. The words "wild and free" at first glance seem similar in meaning and sit nicely, almost next to each other, without making me think twice. But giving these words a closer look we will see the significant challenge to actually embodying what it means to become "wild and free".

The goal while giving the lectures and teaching and practicing the exercises is to embody this wild free condition myself. It gives a living example and helps my artists to understand and embody what it truly means to be wild and free. At first glance the word wild conjures up all kinds of out there, non conformist actions that present themselves as herky jerky, vulgar acts of random, non consequential expressions. An uncontrolled manic type behavior. This is not the "wild" that I reference, although, even at the base of actions like this is the need to shake up our current condition, which can be personally beneficial in a safe environment not under the influence of any drugs. What an action like this needs to make it socially palatable is freedom at its base. Wild without free is a unconscious explosion of undirected energy that typically gets us into a lot of trouble. Like rebel youth vandalizing or a frustrated worker going on a rampage. 

The kind of wild that I'm referencing is present in every living thing on earth, a natural wild that is required for survival, a wild that loves and kills discriminately to assure the propagation of its species. This energy is what the artist uses for his fuel. He directs it through his skill set and creates. All true creation needs this primal energy at its base.

So what differentiates one wild from the other? The condition of the mind while tapped into primitive energy. If the mind is muddled with negativity or over confident, with all the force of nature behind it, great destruction can occur. If the mind is free of obstruction with all the force of nature behind it then greatness can be achieved and useful goals can be met swiftly and effectively. 

Freedom between the ears is the proper catalyst to life bliss. Freedom mixed with "wild" equals bliss. So freedom needs to be understood, and I'm not writing about the freedom to go places, I'm writing about a freedom that can allow one to move through realtime, a simplified freedom though which all enjoyment manifests, a freedom that opens the heart and frees the spirit, a freedom that can only arrive with the past and the future stored away in their proper places. 

This freedom combined with our wild, primitive core energy is where "All good things are wild and free," emerge from.

Come get wild and free!