Do you remember that sprinting spot I shot last year? In the commercial, I play a teacher dashing from classroom to classroom, teaching all subjects with varying degrees of success. This is it here:
I am pleased to announce it received a Silver Pollie Award this past weekend for the Best Use of Humor in a Ballot or Initiative Campaign as awarded by the American Association of Political Consultants. What is a Pollie Award? (I had never heard of the prize before and I think this is an unexpectedly good outcome for a commercial, don’t you?) The Pollies are the most prestigious awards in the political campaign and public affairs industries. To win a Pollie is to be recognized by the brightest in these industries as the best. The awards are often hailed as the “Oscars of Political Advertising”. So, a hearty congratulations to Squier Knapp Dunn Communications for producing such a creative spot! Thank you for selecting me to play the teacher. I really enjoyed … Read more »
The title of this post tells all. I have auditions coming up these next few days and much to prepare. First is some Shakespeare, which I love. I’ve no idea why, but understanding and memorizing the works of Shakespeare comes naturally to me. His writings are so witty, economical, illustrative and intelligent that they seem to stick easily in my brain. I’ve been walking around town for days muttering Shakespeare’s verse to myself and, no doubt, there are people who’ve seen me and thought me mad. And that’s fine. Though this be madness, yet there is method in’t.
There are also samples of industrial video text to interpret. These always seem tricky to me because they’re so heavily scripted, yet one must appear natural, engaging, professional and representative of the product in question. And sometimes it can be challenging to identify with said product, especially if it’s a durable or intangible good like a 3-in-1 printer, a series of refrigerators … Read more »
(n.b. Did you catch that misuse of the verb “perpetrate”?! Wow! Talk about a crime! That’s not how that verb should be used; legitimately working as an actor is not illegal. I could have used: portray; present; depict; characterize. Did I? No. Oh … Read more »
Yesterday I worked on another industrial video project with a production team I’ve come to know. We have a nice professional relationship now which has resulted in fun times on set and a semi-consistent flow of work for me. What made yesterday’s green screen work different from previous work was the type of role I had been given. Yes, I was still acting. Yes, I still had helmet-hair. Yes, I was still playing a character. Yes, I still had slightly stilted dialogue to deliver for instructional purposes. But, in this case I was not acting opposite another actor. Rather, I was delivering the copy directly to the end user via the camera lens, in effect making me a spokesperson. I have done such work once before, recording six informational videos for a national computer and IT service provider which shall remain nameless. It was fun to graduate to this type of service for the client and to learn–after the fact–that … Read more »
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