Saturday, June 30, 2012

Hey guys.. It's RK.. Long time no post huh? Hah! Well I am back!! With a new interest!!! DRUM ROLL PLEEEAASE!!!! *Drum roll* PHOTOGRAPHY!! I am going to start a new blog with photos I have taken. I hope you love it!! You should come check it out. I havent made the blog yet but I am going to make it in like... 5 minutes. :) Also, remember the drawings I posted last year? Well I have gotten so much better at drawing.. Im still an amature, but way better then before :D Well bye for now!!!

Keep it Nurby! ~RK

Sunday, June 24, 2012

Drama Camp

A couple weeks ago, I went to a drama camp at the Orlando REP! It was called 'How Do I Get That Part?' and it was instructions on how to do an audition. We learned a lot of stuff that I knew nothing about. What I learned was:

Slates:
   Introducing yourself. Slates consist of your full name (f and l), what you are performing, and (usually) what production, book, etc. it is from. Example: 'My name is Connor Doohicky and I am presenting a monologue from 'Romeo and Juliet.''

Monologue:
   Your monologue is what you would present. It is a paragraph or two from a play, book, movie, etc. that is only one person talking (you). Some auditions have a one-minute time-limit. To be prepared for that, make sure all of your monologues are a little under one minute.

   Make sure your monologue is not too common. 'To Be, or Not to Be' is probably the most-done monologue. Choose something that shows off your talents, fits your type, and is a bit uncommon. (e.g. I did a monologue from 'Holy Musical, B@man!'. How many of you have heard of that? Ah-ha. Thought so.)

   Be sure to ground yourself (or follow the stage-directions you have blocked for it), and DO NOT FIDGET. If you stand straight and confidently with your hands at your sides, you will look like the great performer you are!

   Don't bring any props. For some reason (which I TOTALLY don't get! ;P) props are a big no-no if you want to get the part.

Ending:
   Your 'outro' is just a simple 'thank you' and maybe you can state your name one more time.

Dress:
   Dress up, but not too fancy. Just look nice and professional. DO NOT WEAR A COSTUME!!! It just doesn't work.

Cutting a Monologue:
   What if your monologue is over one minute? Then you trim it down! Read through it several times, marking off sentences that are unnecessary.
   Example monologue (crossed out is red): 'I love cotton candy. It is very yummy. It is so good. Yum, yum, yum. I love the taste of it. And so many colors! Pink and blue and red and orange and green and purple and dark green! I love cotton candy so much! One[ce] day I was at the carnival and I saw some cotton candy for sale. Some guy was selling it. It looked good. I said I want some! A[a]nd I really wanted some. Yum yum yum! I love cotton candy!'
   So, bad monologue all together, right? Don't use that. But the point is that it repeated itself or gave useless information or information that we could already figure out. Like if you love cotton candy, then you probably like the taste of it. Anyway, unnecessary info, useless info, unnecessary sentences, repetitions. Those are a few of the things you can trim out of a monologue.

Types of Directors:
   These are a few kinds of casting directors:

Regular: Will pay attention to you, and be polite.

Welcoming: Very friendly. This can sometimes throw you off, but just keep going. They LIKE you!

Stone-Cold: No laughing at your jokes. No expressions. No feedback. No nothing.

Disrespectful: Texting, maybe. Just not paying attention. If they aren't going to pay attention to you, you don't want to be in their show! BUT STILL BE RESPECTFUL. They might know people that could get you further into the business. ;)

Audition Bag:
   A survival kit, basically. What might be in this bag:

Extra resumes, head-shots, etc.: You never know how many you'll need!
Tape, Staples, Stapler, etc.: What if you need to keep together some resumes and head-shots?
Repertoire binder: A binder that has all of your monologues, songs, etc. Maybe a journal to mark which monologues got you a part or went well, or a list of the auditions you attended.
Gum or mints: Garlic smells bad.
Things that help you memorize: If you learn by ear, a tape recorder on which you have recorded your song or monologue. If you learn by sight, make sure you have the paper with your presentation on it. If you learn by smell-- umm.... huh?


Callbacks:
   If the director liked your audition and wants to narrow down his choices for who the cast, he might hold callbacks (I am using 'he' generically). If you are given a callback, it is probably a good sign! Callbacks are usually a cold reading, where you are given a script you have never seen before and asked to perform it. You will be given maybe 10 minutes to look over the script. Sometimes you will have another auditioned reading the other lines with you. If so, be nice to them and laugh with them (you don't want to act in a scene with someone you don't like, so why not act in a scene with someone you DO like?)! Other times, the director might read the other lines, and he might read them stone cold. It gives your awesome acting a chance to shine!
   Just read it with emotion and make sure to pay attention so you don't lose your place. Even if you have memorized it, don't just not use the script. You don't want to risk realizing you really HAVEN'T memorized it, or even just losing your place.


So that's that! It was really fun and the teachers were amazingly nice!

Random + Writing,
CB

Thursday, June 7, 2012

To Artists That Don't Feel Like Artists (A post to help you feel as amazing as you are)

On my ukulele post, I got a comment from Anonymous. This was their comment:

Sup' I'm the guitarist she's talking about.
So far I'm still not to good but slowly getting somewhat better. :P
I wish I had a blog. But I don't think I'd be allowed. Plus, I doubt I'd get taken seriously. Maybe when I'm older.



I was not happy. You know why? Because they thought you had to be older and taken seriously to be an artist. That is definitely not true. Here was my comment back:



Taken seriously? Are you comparing yourself to us? We aren't taken seriously at all! Far from it! We just have a few people from around the world that either keep stumbling across our blog or maybe just enjoy our ideas and craziness. And no matter how old you are, people can take art seriously. One of the famous composers (Beethoven, I think) started when he was four. His dad and friends had a strings band or whatever you'd call it, and during practice they took a break and went into the kitchen. They heard beautiful violin music coming out of the room they had just left. When they came back in, it was Ludwig van Beethoven. How do you think they reacted? Half probably dismissed it. Didn't take him seriously. He went one to be one of the greatest musicians in history. Half of them did take him seriously and realized his work as music. So no matter how people react to you, taking you seriously or not, you can definitely go on to become a musician. What am I saying? You can definitely be a musician right now. Never give up your art, your feeling just because of how someone reacts to it. Art is not about the way people react to it. It is about the feelings behind it, the journey you took to create your work of art. And if art has that definition, everyone is an artist because life is about the journey, too. So everyone's life is a masterpiece. You better treat your life like one.

That commenter probably won't ever see this, but I want them to know that every single artist stands behind them. There are billions of artists that feel just like them somewhere out there. Every single artist supports them in their journey on finding their artwork. Every single artist gives their love to every other artist. Artists feel how connected one another are, so we give love and strength and wisdom to each other. If you ever need someone to lean on, any of you, not just this commenter, just look at a painting or listen to some music, or watch a play, read a book, anything! Just something artistic. Through our art, we can feel the feelings that the artist put into the art, the feelings they had on the journey to creating it. And one of those feelings is always love. So feel that love through the art. And please, please, please know that you are NOT ALONE. You have the entire world standing behind you and holding your hand. Because everyone is an artist creating their life's story. And they will help you on your journey. Because not only is your life journey art, but art is your life journey as well.
I want every artist to stay strong and never stop fighting. RK and I, and every single person in the whorl, give our love to each and every one of you.

Wishing you safe travels on your life journey,
CB