MY LIFE AMONG THE SERIAL KILLERS

by Helen Morrison M.D

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helen_Morrison

Spontaneous Song

This may be completely unrelated to anything, but I thought it was pretty cool at the time. My family is awesome. And I think you guys deserve a sneak peek into my life at home. It was my Dad's 50th bday on the 26th, and after cake and ice cream, we were sitting around the dining room table just chatting. We all had cups for drinking, and once I got bored, I turned mine over and began banging on the table with it. This video I took captures a bit of what followed for about 20 minutes after that.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=FXvh7ywhxHc

Old Movie Magic

So since I’m headed to London next semester I’ve been trying to read up more on U.K. news, especially reading reviews on what shows are playing and what I’ll be able to see when I’m there. In the midst of my research I came across this article yesterday about that old movie magic and how it’s something we just don’t see anymore. For example, It’s a Wonderful Life is mentioned and being my father’s all-time favourite movie, it’s one I’ve seen countless times. For me that movie is powerful and you come out differently on the other side having watched it. The article talks a lot about how movies today don’t have that kind of passion anymore because movies are made instead to sell. Who could possibly disagree with that? But this writer also has hope for some new movies coming out: Spielberg’s War Horse, Scorsese’s Hugo, and Hazanavicius’ The Artist. He thinks these movies might be a step in the right direction towards getting back that old movie magic. So check out the article below, it pretty interesting.

The return of that old movie magic

Chinese Acrobats

So I’ve always been a big fan of cirque du soleil. I think the work is astounding and I love to watch and I’m sure many others would agree. So this summer when I had the opportunity to see Chinese acrobats perform, I jumped on it because they reminded me of cirque du soleil. I was very much in awe and really loved it despite my constant gasps of fear every time they tried something I deemed completely impossible. I had never even heard of Chinese acrobatics until this summer, but it’s actually a very important part of traditional Chinese performing arts dating back over 2000 years. They do all kinds of crazy balancing acts, impossible jumps, and move into such positions, I’m sure they must not have bones. They also used many instruments such as bowls, chairs, bikes, hoops, springboards, poles, and a few items I’ve never seen before so I couldn’t possibly tell you what they are. You should really look at the two videos I put below because my explanation doesn’t nearly do it justice. These performers are truly incredible and I don’t feel as though they get near enough recognition for it!

Video 1

Video 2

Stop Motion Animation

I found an amazing stop motion animation video under 3 min (3 min movies aren't a crazy idea!) and just thought it would be a fun thing to share. It utilizes google maps street view too which is pretty cool.

ADDRESS IS APPROXIMATE

Are we crazy?

A big problem that we have as creative people is that we are very harsh with ourselves. We like to bash our own work just because we feel we are not good enough. I found a TED talk with the author of Eat Pray Love, Elizabeth Gilbert talking on this very subject. The basis of her talk examines going back to the early ideas of creativity. Theatre during the Greek and Roman time was thought to be from a divine source. Supposedly there was a personal spirit guide to help with projects for each person. If someone someone made was not successful it was there for not all their fault, the god did not "show up" for his part of the job. That is not to say that we can place all success on this guide, but it takes some of the pressure off. Creativity and suffering do not have to go hand in hand. When work is surrounded by support and open-mindedness it is more successful. Something that Elizabeth Gilbert brings up is that it is not healthy to be so destructive while working on creative projects. I think it it a very good point and one I am going to try and keep in mind. The video is about 20 min., but it is so fascinating to listen to. Please listen to it, it really changed my view on things.

ELIZABETH GILBERT TED TALK

Painted People

http://www.woohome.com/art-design/painting-on-bodies/3608

I found these pictures of Alexa Meade's art that she calls "Living Still Lifes." It is fascinating to see the paintings half done because at first I couldn't tell that they were real people they look so much like paintings. I never see art projects like this out in public. It must be so cool to see first hand - a living, moving painting. It shows how easily our eyes can be fooled and gets people to take a second look when most people have their heads buried into something else and have their iPods in. It is certainly attention grabbing.

Naked with Pigs

http://www.emptykingdom.com/main/featured/empty-kingdom-interview-miru-kim/

Miru Kim is a photographer who created a series called The Pig That Therefore I Am. I think her desire to roll around with pigs is bizarre, however, I admire that she brings to light the similarities between pigs and humans. Kim talks about the dissection of a fetal pig that she had to perform which made her want to explore the equality of humans and pigs after seeing their similar anatomy. In seventh grade I too had to dissect a fetal pig and I never ate the meat of a pig again after that. Today I am a vegetarian and I think this piece of Kim's art speaks loudly about how close we are too what we slaughter, and I think that's something to take a look at.

Spray Paint Art

So, I was just introduced to something called spray paint art. So I don’t know if many people know what this is cause I definitely had never heard of it and it sounds like it could be graffiti art, but it's actually completely different because it’s not done on the side of buildings, but rather most often on poster boards. So what’s really cool about this is that it’s usually done as a performance often on street in large urban cities. So the artists will usually create landscapes like planets, comets, pyramids, city scenes, and things of the like. Often, a really important part of the art is the music that the artists will use to accompany the performance because it will not only affect the painting, but the experience for the spectators, as well. For me it was so cool because when I first started watching one of the videos below (not knowing what it was), I couldn’t help, but think it was bullshit, but then as he kept going and I could see the colors combining and it actually started turning into something. I was really in awe of it by the time it finished so I really wanted to share it with you guys. The first video is the first one I ever watched that introduced me to this and the one after it is just one of the paintings that I really love.

Video One

Video Two

So I read this article in the paper this morning and I tried to find it online so I could share it with you guys and I was able to find this link which allowed me to view the entire article so hopefully it works the same for you. Anyways, basically it’s an article talking about how Boston is becoming more of a place to forge a career rather than just being the early stepping-stones that jumpstart it. A lot of people talked about how they would much rather stay here in Boston than move on to New York City and it’s now really possible to make it their long-term professional home. Which is something they said you really didn’t see possible as early as just a decade ago. I thought it was really cool how one of the girls talked about how it’s become a special community of artists here doing great work even though they might not have the big budgets you’d see on Broadway. I just feel that it was always the general idea among the pubic (and maybe this is just where I grew up) that making it in theatre equals New York, but that’s not really the case anymore and it’s nice to know that others are taking notice too. So I really like this article and I hope you guys check it out.

Boston theater’s youth revival

Amazing Theaters Around the World

So, I’ve always really loved viewing and investigating architecture. I'm fascinated by all kinds of architecture, whether it is modern or classical or anything in between. I love looking at all different designs from all around the world. So I’ve been investigating different theaters from all around the world and the pictures that I found I really want to share because they are incredible. I’ve even had the pleasure to visit a bunch of the theaters from these pictures which made it even cooler to find them. You should really check out the links below because these Theaters are all incredibly different especially when you compare them from different parts of the world. Although I love to look at the modern theatres, mostly from the United States, I’m mostly drawn to the older theaters with more history. Most of them are from a time when going to the theater was a social event as much as it was a place to see a show. I’ve put a couple links below from different places. I highly suggest the first one because it has a few pictures from each theater plus it gives some info about them too, which I really enjoyed.

http://www.explorra.com/travel-guides/10-amazing-theaters-in-the-world_8931

http://incastreasures.hubpages.com/hub/Top-10-best-theaters-in-the-world

Web Series

After talking about how web series are a great venue for theatre, I looked around for some of the more popular web series and those that are new.  It turns out IFC has a website that is dedicated to IFC Original Web Series.  You can watch 'The Onion News Network' or 'Portlandia' web features and many different series on this website.  Even the advertisements on the site are hilarious!  Some of the series are funny, some are just entertaining...there's basically something for everyone!

IFC Web Series

Opera on the Lake Outdoor Stages

These have got to be the coolest stages I've ever seen. There is a new one built to every 2 years for the Bregenz Festival ‘Opera on the Lake’ to accommodate that season's production. In addition to having some of the coolest scenic effects I've ever seen, these stages also happen to be on a lake. Because of their situation, being outdoors, in a huge theatre and having to be anchored to the floor of a lake, they have to meet certain qualifications. They must be 2/3 larger than an average stage so that everyone in the audience can see but they also cannot be too heavy for the concrete core to support. They need to be able to withstand year round weather conditions as well as they are standing outdoors for 2 years each. The scenic elements in these designs would be pretty spectacular on any stage but add to that the fact that they are insanely large and against a gorgeous natural backdrop and they are awe inspiring. You have to see pictures of these stages, they're amazing.

http://twistedsifter.com/2011/08/outdoor-opera-on-the-lake-stages-of-bregenz/

Face Shift

I have to say, this is slightly creepy but really interesting.  Arthur Elsenaar created an entire facial dance piece called "Face Shift" in the Netherlands.  The whole piece has two different algorithims that control the different features of the face.  By focusing on the symmetry caused by the left/right mirror of the face, the entire piece is executed.  As the video progresses, the speeds in the algorithims leads to more severe faces being made.  I don't expect anyone to watch the whole video, it is rather long, but it is pretty interesting to see the science/theatre/technology influence. 

Plastiques

After doing Grotowski's plastiques in class the other day I decided to do a little research to see what I could find.  I stumbled upon a video of Ryszard Cieslak from Grotowski's Laboratory talking about and demonstrating the plastiques.  He went through with two Danish students demonstrating some of the plastiques that we did in class as well as some other ones.  The video is pretty intense but very interesting to watch.

THE RIOTS

As Nancy always says, audiences are drawn to productions that spark something in them that is relateable.  I think that this article is a perfect example of turning what's going on in the world into live theater.  London's Tricycle Theatre created "The Riots" which recently debuted, based on the recent London Riots.  Tricycle Theatre has built a reputation around their productions of fact-based plays.  The two-hour play was well received by audience members who seemed to take away different things from the experience. 

The Riots

Why This Play Now... Speech & Debate

So I guess you could say this post is for Hayley or in connection with her post a while back about one of her favorite plays "Speech & Debate."  I happened across this blog post about a production of the play going on in St. Paul.  I was reminded about how Nancy always asks "why this play now?"  The blog describes this production of this play as "rough, but ready theater.  This is one of the first productions of "Speech & Debate" that I have heard of so it caught my attention-- looks like people are getting on your bandwagon Hayley!

Rough, but ready theater...

New Twists At Alvin Ailey

I don't know how many people have gotten the chance to watch the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater but they are amazing.  The company just recently added on to their repertoire.  They now have some hip-hop flair in there too.  They have chosen to include works by Harris, Naharin, and Taylor.  Harris, a renound pop and locker, was invited to create "Home" about the AIDS crisis for the company's new season.  Taylor's "Arden's Court" will be added to showcase the company's men and they will also premiere "Minus 16" by Israeli dance maker Naharin. This season is also marked by the introduction of a new artistic director Robert Battle.  He has chosen to honor the past, the present and the future this season.

New Season

Video: Battle talks about what's in store this season

Clarification of Terms.

I have seen some fellow students confused about the following terms, so I thought I could clear them out.


Monologue is a speech presented by a single character, most often to express their thoughts aloud, though sometimes also to directly address another character or the audience. 


Soliloquy, is where a character relates his or her thoughts and feelings to him/herself and to the audience without addressing any of the other characters. 


Apostrophe, is where the speaker or writer addresses an imaginary person, inanimate object, or idea.

Pros and Cons of going to Graduate School.

Getting Your MFA: The Pros and Cons of Going to Graduate School

November 18, 2011 by Lance Carter  

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Written by Sean Pratt

Here are some questions to ponder when considering whether to go back to school for your MFA.

Every winter a new group of actors, both young graduates and those who have been out for a while trying to make a go of it, grapple with the question, “Should I or should I not go to graduate school to get my MFA.” Often, they’ll consult with their more successful peers, former teachers, family and friends in order to gather up opinions. They’re looking for a direct “Yes” or “No” answer that they can then add to their collection, hoping that eventually the scale will tip one way or the other. If they’re lucky, they’ll have an older actor ask them, “Well, tell me why you want to go in the first place?” Their response will probably be a mixture of confusion, frustration, desperation and hope, all rolled into one.

Important Questions to Consider

Here are some thoughts, both pro and con, surrounding the issues that you’ll most likely be confronting. 

Full Article Here: http://www.dailyactor.com/2011/11/getting-your-mfa-the-pros-and-cons-of-going-to-graduate-school/

Destino

I first saw this short animated film, Destino, a few years ago and loved it right away. It was begun in the 1940s as a collaboration between Walt Disney and Salvador Dali and was not finished until over 50 years later. What I love so much about this piece and much of Dali's work is that there are multiple ways to see things. For example, there is a shadow in this film that could be a bell or a woman, its all in how you choose to see it. There is also a lot of interesting use of negative space in Dali's work which I love seeing. You can look at something and see a totally different picture by focusing on the negative space. Seeing this in an animated film rather than a painting is cool because the artist can draw your eye to the negative space once you've had time to take in the original image so your perception is constantly changing. Another thing that I really enjoy about this piece is that there is no dialogue so you get the whole story through the music and watching the action play out. Even though no one is speaking I feel like I'm getting the whole story from what I see on the screen. I love watching the flow of this film and I think it reflects Dali's work very well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9eu-aKQ2dzA&feature=related

Humans into Art

So I happened to come across this online and I thought it was actually really cool. As the title of the article states, humans were transformed into art at the world meeting of body art. So this year, the annual meeting included body painting, tattoo art, performances, and workshops. One of the artists at the workshops talks about how the body is a canvas and it was infinite possibilities. Now, clearly I know it’s not exactly the same thing as what we do, but I think in a sense we, too, use our bodies as a canvas. But instead of creating paintings and images, we create people with stories and situations. We also use make and costumes to even further transform ourselves into the characters we create, just as they do with body paints and all kinds of interesting materials. The event even included presentations and performances, with one presentation even focusing on the mythology of the country’s Warao indigenous group showing us that this practice can be used to educate the people on their histories and legends. Plus, the pictures are really cool to look at so I highly suggest you check out the link below!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/21/world-meeting-of-body-art_0_n_1104862.html#undefined

Godspell revival on broadway

Yes, I know...everyone did Godspell in high school. I was one of them, and it was a really awesome show to be in. It is now back on broadway and it looks so cool. I have a watched a few youtube clips of some rehearsals and then the preview for the show and they utilize some really interesting techniques. First off, they have a water pit and about 10 trampolines on stage, which made me think of script analysis because we were talking about how to get certain elements on stage. Then, there is the fact that the theatre in in the round. I love theatre in the round. I think it is a very interesting way to keep both the audience and the actors engaged. I have acted on an in the round stage and it makes the experience so real because you don't have to worry AS MUCH about cheating out to the audience. The final thing that I saw that made me really want to go see this is that they make puppets on the spot out of newspaper and use them to help tell the parables. On top of this all I just like the music.

GODSPELL

The greatest movie ever sold

I am a fan of Morgan Spurlock's work (Supersize Me, 30 days, etc.). I just recently watched his new documentary "The Greatest Movie Ever Sold". The premises of this documentary is that it is filming the selling of the movie. It explores the world of product placement. What is so interesting is that it is everywhere. You see it all the time in television shows now. It has gotten to the point where it is blatantly obvious. I find this really annoying. The documentary sheds a very interesting light in to the world of movie production and the pros and cons that make up the advertising world.

THE GREATEST MOVIE EVER SOLD

Age Differences

We know how well makeup and lighting can make someone look older or younger than they really are but I'm still impressed any time I see someone do a really good job with that. I just came across this series of pictures taken of a 20 year old model that make her look ages 10-60 in 6 separate photographs just using lighting and makeup without any digital effects. I think what really makes these look realistic to the age she is portraying is her posture and her gestures in the different pictures. She doesn't hold herself the same way as a 60 year old as she does playing a 30 year old or a 10 year old. I think that the understanding of these nuances in movement and how to hold one's body are what sets apart good portrayals of a character with a large age difference from the actor. A 20 year old actor who doesn't understand the different movements of a 60 year old will not be able to portray the character realistically no matter how much makeup they wear. Check out the series of pictures a see some pretty great work both by the photographer and the model.

http://picdit.wordpress.com/2008/11/20/a-20-year-old-model-photographed-as-if-she-were-10-20-30-40-50-and-60-years-old/

The Brain and Movement

I just read this brief article about how the brain of a dancer or someone who is trained in a specific type of movement reacts differently when watching that movement than observers who are not trained to perform the same moves they are watching. In a dancer who is watching movement that they are capable of performing the same neurons fire that would if they were actually the ones doing the movement. This in itself is extremely interesting but they go on to discuss a related study. This other study has concluded that when anyone watches tasks that they know how to perform being physically performed, even simple ones, the same neurons fire that would if they themselves were physically engaged in the task. These studies are really interesting to me because they show how connected we are to physical gesture and how much we respond internally to the gestures and physical acts of someone else.

http://www.youramazingbrain.org/Brainbody/dancers.htm

Dance-Petersburg

I found this great collection of photographs by Vitaly Sokolovskiy of dancers and acrobats posed on the streets in Russia. The movement captured in a still picture is beautiful and really interesting to look at but what I'm most interested in is all of the passers-by and their reactions. In many of the pictures you can see other people walking in the background usually staring at the dancer/acrobat. It reminds me a bit of the reactions we got from people walking by while we set up our pageant wagon last year. Looking at these images I think that would be such a cool thing to see when you're just walking down the street. It makes me wonder what sort of things we would see if everyone who had a cool talent like that just did it every once in a while in public while going through their average day. Here's a link to the collection of pictures:

http://thesuiteworld.com/blog/vitalysokolovskiy-photography-dance-petersburg/

Hyperbole and a Half

I wanted to share with you all my favorite blog. I know some of you have already read hyperbole and a half but for those who haven't you should really check it out because its hilarious. I was just thinking about why its so funny and came to the realization that the humor comes from everything being incredibly high stakes. She tells anecdotes from her daily life now as well as when she was a child. In the stories she doesn't do anything halfway, everything is a matter of life and death. This creates a really interesting, though possibly insane, character that you want to keep reading about. I've attached a link below to a great story about her quest for cake.

http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/2010/10/god-of-cake.html

Photo Reincarnation

I've seen the work of Irina Werning a few times in her "Back to the Future" collections. She takes old photographs and re-stages them years later with the same people in the same pose and even wearing the same clothing just later in their lives. It's really interesting to see how much people have changed or stayed the same between pictures one and two. Of course there are changes in every picture but what is really remarkable are all of the similarities. Its really amazing the amount of work that must go into each picture to get the location and clothing exactly right as well as the pose itself. I think this is such an interesting idea and I'm glad there is a talented photographer exploring it. The link is below to a gallery of a few of my favorites.

http://yababoon.com/2011/11/16/photo-reincarnation-by-irina-werning/

Sand Art

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eo4pPQZ-0vM&feature=player_embedded

This is so cool. This video is of a woman using sand and a table with a backlight to create images with just the stroke of her hands as if her fingers were paintbrushes. Some people are just so inventive with what they do, and she is incredibly good at it too. I'm most impressed when she makes the image out of sprinkling the sand directly into place instead of using the negative space. The music is very appropriate for each image she goes through as well. I think this could be fascinating to use in live theatre.

Google Music

Apparently google is coming out with its own music store that can be used for android phones like itunes is used on an iphone or ipod. I think this may have been a good idea years ago but today pretty much everyone has itunes on their computer. I don't know about you, but I can't see myself moving all of my music over to another application which is essentially the same thing. I may also be bias because I'm a big fan of apple. I guess I could see how having an android phone may make someone interested in switching but I have to wonder how many people who have androids don't also own ipods. It will be interesting to see if google's new music store can succeed, maybe I'm wrong and it will become hugely popular. If you want to read a bit about it here is an article I found.

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/1uSFwA/edition.cnn.com/2011/11/17/tech/web/google-music/index.html

Responsive Art

I saw this TED talk a few days ago from artist Aparna Rao who works together with collaborator Soren Pors to create very interesting and somewhat interactive art using technology. When creating a piece thy think a lot about how they want the audience to feel or react and how to achieve that. There is one piece shown in the video of a stick figure on his head which they designed to almost fall over but never actually fall. They wanted audiences to want to help the figure so they created that response by the movement of falling. In addition to considering the audience's response to art they also think about how the art can respond to the audience. By having the art react to people they are able to create a really interesting relationship between the audience and the works of art themselves. The video is posted below I would definitely recommend checking it out.

http://www.ted.com/talks/aparna_rao_high_tech_art_with_a_sense_of_humor.html

Celebrities @ Occupy Movements

Something really amazing is happening. Celebrities are throwing their hat into the occupy movement ring. Now, it is not unlike celebrities to take a stand on a cause, but what is interesting is that they are using their talents to get a point across. Right now in script analysis I am focusing on music (protest songs) and how they can motivate a group of people to take action. Music has a powerful ability to get a point across. I have also heard that people in the Occupy Boston area want to start doing street performances to get people "in the know". No matter what your stance is on the occupy movement I think it is very impressive what some celebrities (and even us, regular people) are doing. Take a stand with art!

AMANDA PALMER @ OCCUPY NY

Hack your Brain

Did you know you can convince you're brain that a fake hand is actually your hand? I didn't either, this article on Boston.com talks about all the weird things you can convince you're brain to think just by doing something simple. I think its really interesting to think about how much out imagination can be used to change our perception of something. Although in all of these examples you would be imagining that something is happening like your arm has been replaced or your nose has grown extremely long you would perceive it as if it were completely real. The link is below, the article is really short sufficiently weird/interesting to justify taking a few minutes to read.

http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/graphics/011109_hacking_your_brain/

Seattle Theatre Scene

I am thinking about working in Seattle this summer for co-op so I have been looking into places to apply to. While doing some research I came across this article about Seattle and it's booming theatre district. After reading this I am reassured that Seattle is an awesome option for job opportunities. The theatre district there is booming and has a bunch of theatres many with new programs. People from all over the U.S. are heading to Seattle to make new art. What I feel helps the situation is that it is not just theatre that is booming, it is all art forms. My next question is: does anyone want to come with me?

ARTICLE ABOUT SEATTLE

Cinemagraphs

I came across these images recently called cinemagraphs, at first I thought they were just average photography and then I realized that they all had some subtle motion in them. I'm not entirely sure if I like the effect but I did find them very interesting to look at. All of them have very small things in motion, things that could easily be overlooked. In one picture there is a train going past the edge of the subway platform, it is really interesting to actually see the train moving because it is something that my mind would imagine was moving when the picture was taken anyway. I enjoyed seeing the pictures where everything was very still but I could see the flickering of a candle or leaves blowing in the breeze but also found it to be unnecessary. These images fascinated me mostly because they got me thinking about how much my brain fills in about what is going on in a picture without having to see any movement at all. While its very cool that we can create images like these cinemagraphs I think its even cooler that our brains don't need to see the movement to know its there.

http://www.noupe.com/photography/photography-in-motion-the-creativity-of-cinemagraphs.html

Boston Theatre Marathon

I was just reading an article about Boston fringe theatre and saw something about the Boston Theatre Marathon which I had never heard of before. I don't know if this event is something any of you have heard about and maybe I've just been missing out on it because I've never lived in Boston in the summer. Its a full day of 10 minute plays from New England playwrights performed by various companies from the region which takes place every May produced by the Boston Playwrights' Theatre. Only 50 plays are chosen out of over 400 entries so the audience really gets to see the best that these playwrights collectively have to offer. There has also been a weekend of full length play readings added to the event. I think its really awesome that there is this opportunity for great playwrights to get their work out to the Boston audience and I'm hoping that I'll be around in Boston this year to check it out. The website is below if you want to read more about it or see which plays specifically have been performed at the event.

http://www.bu.edu/bpt/btm.html

Alfalfa

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yuOsB4psC9E

I came across this video and I got such a kick out of it. It's Alfalfa from The Little Rascals singing I'm in the Mood For Love. I think sometimes the best acting isn't even acting at all. The way he's singing and his facial expressions in reaction to the environment and what's going on in the scenario seem too real and subtle for a child actor, but because it's so honest it makes it so endearing. This shows us the importance of really being present in order to react truthfully on stage because it's better than anything that can be planned.

This American Life

This American Life, is a podcast that I listen to every now and then and that a number of our teachers recommend listening to. Due to a suggestion from Jonathan Carr I listened to this pod cast about a school performance of Peter Pan and how it all went wrong. It is absolutely hilarious. What is interesting is they talk about how this whole "fiasco" could have been starting out as greatness, because greatness is when we reach past our comfort zone and take risks...unfortunately this risk didn't quite work out.

This podcast is always very entertaining, and this one in particular always makes me laugh. It is a bit long, but you should listen to act 1. It is about 23 min long. It really is worth it.

FIASCO

Is It Better To Write for Hollywood?

I found this interesting article from 2009 in the L.A. Times archive. In it one of Stephen Belber, a playwright, and a recent screenwriter and directors discusses the pros and cons to writing for the stage and writing for the screen. He seemed to find validity and problems with both, however it seemed that his heart was truly in writing for theatre. There were a few key points in his article that I thought were really thought provoking, the first being: "Playwriting is difficult, lonely and vastly underpaid compared with screenwriting". I actually happen to disagree with this thought. I think that play writing can be a very collaborative process. Recently I have been working on writing with some of my friends and I have found, that while at times difficult it can be a very lucrative process. I do agree about the underpaid, but if writing alone isn't your style you can change that. Again, this might have been said just to make a point of contrast, but I think that this statement corners play writing into a box and doesn't allow readers (especially those who aren't involved in theatre) to know the possibilities of play writing. The second point in the article that struck me was when Belber was taking about why writing for the stage was more appealing than writing for the screen. He actually brought up something that we talked about in class. He said: "without theater as a breeding-ground, my characters tend to fall short of full development, for they lack specificity in their fundamental . . . unspecific-ness". He mentions that because film is able to get up so close and personal that a lot of the action and depth of characters are eliminated because the camera picks up the small details, leaving a character a little bland. With plays, the up close and personal aspects of film aren't always there so characters have to be fully developed and have substance.

Over all I think this is a pretty good article. It made me think a lot about what type of writing is popular right now, and even the different ways of writing.

Here is the link to the article so that you can read the full thing.

PLAY WRITING V. SCREEN WRITING

Still Face Experiment

I saw a video of this experiment which was designed to show how responsive babies are called the Still Face Experiment. I thought what was the most interesting about it was that it shows how what we do is a response to what people around us are doing. In the experiment they have the mother stare blankly at the baby and the baby tries everything she can think of to get a response out of her mother. This is pretty much what we do in a scene, we want something from our scene partner and we do everything we can come up with to get that response. This is also why it is so difficult to get through a scene if you have a scene partner that isn't very responsive. It is really cool to see how natural this impulse is and how we used it regularly even as babies. Check out the video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apzXGEbZht0&feature=player_embedded

Jersey Shore Meets Oscar Wilde

macguffinandpuffin.wordpress.com/2011/04/22/jersey-shore-transcripts-in-the-style-of-oscar-wilde-performed-by-the-broadway-cast-of-the-importance-of-being-earnest/

I found these videos and they are a great example of contrast! The actors from Broadway's The Importance of Being Earnest did a series of videos using the transcripts of the Jersey Shore, said in the style of Oscar Wilde. It is hilarious and proves how many possibilities there are in creating a character no matter what the text is.

Crammed in Odd Places

http://weburbanist.com/2009/09/04/crazy-contortions-bodies-in-urban-spaces/

I found this article about artist Willie Dorner who created a new project consisting of living sculptures in 2009. The basis of the project was to have multiple contortionists cram into city spaces where people are normally not found. The idea was to get people to open their minds and start thinking in new ways. I think it must have been a fascinating, yet odd sight to see in person, definitely amusing and impressive. I'm not sure if public observers understood the purpose of the project, but it may definitely have inspired them to try something out of the box and unconventional. This is the first I've seen of it and I think it really makes a statement about pushing boundaries, or rather seeing how much you can do within them. The pictures are really cool so take a look.

Rhett & Link Commercial Kings

I came to this post in a very round about way. I like to watch "kids react to..." on youtube because I think it is interesting to see how kids from different age groups respond to certain videos online. Anyway, I was watching one called "Kids react to...Chuck Testa". So during this video the kids watch a commercial for a taxidermist named Chuck Testa. In this commercial Chuck's stuffed animals are so life-like people are amazed how an antelope could be driving a car, or a bear is in their bed. And then, the snappy catch phrase "nope, it's chuck testa" pops on the screen. What was intriguing to me was that one of the facts that popped up on the "kids react" video was that this commercial was made by two guys who are trying to support local business by promoting it through youtube. This has turned into a show on IFC called Rhett & Link Commercial Kings. It got me thinking about how business are successful now. It is all about making the biggest splash and being the most creative in selling yourself. As people interested in acting I feel this is relevant to us. However, in the midst of all this commercialism are two guys who are genuinely trying to help out small businesses. They are some of youtube's biggest stars and they are using their fame to help those who are less tech-savvy get their information out there.

From their website http://www.ifc.com/rhett-link/about/: "Rhett & Link: Commercial Kings chronicles the quest of life-long best friends Rhett McLaughlin & Link Neal as they travel the country making epic local commercials for some of the nation's most deserving local businesses. This reality series is based on the successful web series I Love Local Commercials and features Rhett & Link helping local businesses achieve their goals by creating eye-catching local commercials."

In a sense I feel this is the internet's way of giving back. I think it is such an awesome idea to help businesses get their name out there in a creative way.

Here are the links to the "Kids react..." video just because it's hilarious
KIDS REACT

Here is a link to the actual Chuck Testa video!!
NOPE, CHUCK TESTA!