Going to keep it brief cause I'm kind of lazy. My scene from The Big Short was recently released online, which left me with mixed feelings. On one end, my only scene in the movie is just free to watch so a lot of people have told me that they have no plans to see the movie or they message to ask me if I had more scenes only to be disappointed to hear that's it. But, it was easy to share and a lot of people saw it and specifically congratulated me on it, which is great. I'm not one to usually post things online, but a lot of people did it for me.
Other than that, making way on Handfart. I'm in post on two sketches, but those will take a little bit to still refine. Really just looking forward to the new year. Maybe next time I'll do more of a recap.
Thursday, December 17, 2015
Thursday, November 12, 2015
Whole bunch of stuff
Another monthish. A lot of stuff to cover.
So I did end up getting the Armed with a Camera Fellowship. It is for my script called Handfart so it was great to get a phone call one day asking for my thought process behind Handfart. Despite all of my friends saying that I was wasting my time submitting that particular script it actually ended up paying off. Even though last year I submitted my take on Asian Identity because I thought that's what they wanted, apparently I should have just submitted something really weird.
I recently just came back from a meeting where everyone explained their projects. Five of the eight fellows were women. Two were making something about their experience about being gay. Two were documentaries on their experiences in America as a foreigner. Etc etc etc.... Mine is about a guy who finds out he's going to die if he keeps making fart noises with his hands. Needless to say, I think everyone else there didn't seem too impressed with my proposal. But it's exciting! In the thoughts for casting now and I recently got a production coordinator from Collegehumor agree to help produce so things are on the way. This will be one of my biggest projects I've made in years.
I also decided to finish a film for the we own the 8th showcase that is happening at the end of the year. I also went to those meetings for the first time in a year and attended a screen fighting workshop with one of the current power rangers. So yeah, I have another weird video in the works. It'll involve dancing and false inspirational quotes. I commissioned my friend to do a cheesy 80's song for the video as well and he also did "Fight to the Top" for my video "The Tale of the Misfortune Cookie" and that was the bee's knees.
Never did an open mic yet. I guess I've been busy with other things lately. I did start this class that is kind of based around it and have been developing my skills on it. I just need to find the time to actually just go and do it. I'd still like to try it out, I just have to find the time.
I guess I forgot to mention I went to a private screening for The Big Short. My part is cut a little short, but thinking back on it after everything, I think it's my biggest role yet. It's also getting an awards push currently so it's getting a lot of good press. I personally found the movie to be ok. I think they should have taken more risks with the storytelling. They definitely don't try to dumb things down, which I appreciated, but it also made it drag a little bit. Definitely an interesting movie though. Unfortunately I can't go to the official premiere in NYC and I wasn't invited to the AFI Festival premiere so I guess that's my end of the run. I did get to talk to Ryan Gosling again and he congratulated me on the role as well as Hamish Linklater, Jeremy Strong, and Adam McKay. A lot of people went up and said they really enjoyed my part actually so that's cool. A lot of other times, people don't particularly recognize me. The director even made a point to say that it gets the biggest laughs in test screenings.
So yeah, the year is wrapping up, but I'm trying to go out with a bang. Maybe I'll write more. Feel like I might have forgotten something...
Here's a cool video in the meantime that'll be a preview of sorts for the next video
So I did end up getting the Armed with a Camera Fellowship. It is for my script called Handfart so it was great to get a phone call one day asking for my thought process behind Handfart. Despite all of my friends saying that I was wasting my time submitting that particular script it actually ended up paying off. Even though last year I submitted my take on Asian Identity because I thought that's what they wanted, apparently I should have just submitted something really weird.
I recently just came back from a meeting where everyone explained their projects. Five of the eight fellows were women. Two were making something about their experience about being gay. Two were documentaries on their experiences in America as a foreigner. Etc etc etc.... Mine is about a guy who finds out he's going to die if he keeps making fart noises with his hands. Needless to say, I think everyone else there didn't seem too impressed with my proposal. But it's exciting! In the thoughts for casting now and I recently got a production coordinator from Collegehumor agree to help produce so things are on the way. This will be one of my biggest projects I've made in years.
I also decided to finish a film for the we own the 8th showcase that is happening at the end of the year. I also went to those meetings for the first time in a year and attended a screen fighting workshop with one of the current power rangers. So yeah, I have another weird video in the works. It'll involve dancing and false inspirational quotes. I commissioned my friend to do a cheesy 80's song for the video as well and he also did "Fight to the Top" for my video "The Tale of the Misfortune Cookie" and that was the bee's knees.
Never did an open mic yet. I guess I've been busy with other things lately. I did start this class that is kind of based around it and have been developing my skills on it. I just need to find the time to actually just go and do it. I'd still like to try it out, I just have to find the time.
I guess I forgot to mention I went to a private screening for The Big Short. My part is cut a little short, but thinking back on it after everything, I think it's my biggest role yet. It's also getting an awards push currently so it's getting a lot of good press. I personally found the movie to be ok. I think they should have taken more risks with the storytelling. They definitely don't try to dumb things down, which I appreciated, but it also made it drag a little bit. Definitely an interesting movie though. Unfortunately I can't go to the official premiere in NYC and I wasn't invited to the AFI Festival premiere so I guess that's my end of the run. I did get to talk to Ryan Gosling again and he congratulated me on the role as well as Hamish Linklater, Jeremy Strong, and Adam McKay. A lot of people went up and said they really enjoyed my part actually so that's cool. A lot of other times, people don't particularly recognize me. The director even made a point to say that it gets the biggest laughs in test screenings.
So yeah, the year is wrapping up, but I'm trying to go out with a bang. Maybe I'll write more. Feel like I might have forgotten something...
Here's a cool video in the meantime that'll be a preview of sorts for the next video
Wednesday, October 14, 2015
New video and new goals
Came in just about in time for a monthly update. I finally finished the VFX for a weird video I did a few months ago. By finished the VFX, I mean I attempted to do the VFX myself, found out that it was too hard, delegated it to someone else, found out that they thought it was too hard too, then delegated finally to another person and they did it. It honestly didn't come out as great as I had wanted, even though I wanted it to look kind of simple, but it's fine! Enjoy it for what it is. An excuse to attempt to do VFX.
Had a talk with a friend about what to do career wise and I'm starting to hear the same advice that I pretty much heard when I first got out here, only now it's starting to make sense. I need to make more stuff. A lot more stuff. So I'm attempting that.
Been working on standup stuff, even though I still haven't tried it yet. I legitimately was going to sign up one night though, it's just that I got there too late and they wouldn't let me sign up. BUT THIS WEEK IT WILL HAPPEN FOR SURE.
Finished a grant proposal for the Armed with a Camera Fellowship. I submitted a very weird idea though, so I don't have high hopes that I'll get accepted. But at least I tried right?! I got rejected last year, but back then I was trying to write something that would cater to "Asian" sensibilities. This time I'm doing my own thing, so we'll see if that works out.
Which brings us to writing. I've been actively trying to write a TV pilot, my feature film (which has taken me years to even figure out), and a channel 101 short. These will be the larger scale projects that I have on the horizon that I hope to finish soon. All the while I'll still be making weird little shorts as well. Anyways, that's all for now.
Had a talk with a friend about what to do career wise and I'm starting to hear the same advice that I pretty much heard when I first got out here, only now it's starting to make sense. I need to make more stuff. A lot more stuff. So I'm attempting that.
Been working on standup stuff, even though I still haven't tried it yet. I legitimately was going to sign up one night though, it's just that I got there too late and they wouldn't let me sign up. BUT THIS WEEK IT WILL HAPPEN FOR SURE.
Finished a grant proposal for the Armed with a Camera Fellowship. I submitted a very weird idea though, so I don't have high hopes that I'll get accepted. But at least I tried right?! I got rejected last year, but back then I was trying to write something that would cater to "Asian" sensibilities. This time I'm doing my own thing, so we'll see if that works out.
Which brings us to writing. I've been actively trying to write a TV pilot, my feature film (which has taken me years to even figure out), and a channel 101 short. These will be the larger scale projects that I have on the horizon that I hope to finish soon. All the while I'll still be making weird little shorts as well. Anyways, that's all for now.
Tuesday, September 15, 2015
Dance audition and other stuff
Have another video pretty close to coming on the way. I made the video with the idea that I would teach myself some VFX, but it looks like I bit off more than I can chew so I had to ask someone else to finish it for me. More on that on a later date.
I helped a friend with the shooting and editing for the... prelude to a webseries or something that he has planned. I have that below. I also helped with the directing in a way in terms of helping the actors get a performance. It was kind of cool exercising those muscles again. I have that video posted below. Y'all can watch that if you'd like.
I recently went to a standup comedy show that my friend Johnny Pemberton was doing and it kind of inspired me to try stand up. I was also motivated because yet again I was told that I should definitely try it from two people at the show and have been told that numerous times before that as well. I've started compiling some ideas together and have looked at open mics so we'll see how that goes. If anything I think it'll be a good avenue to try and channel my voice and on hone my on stage/screen persona. More than likely I'll do a show solo, but maybe if I get confident enough (and don't quit) I'll actually give a date so people can go and check it out.
Anyways, on to the story of this dance audition. I got a breakdown for an audition recently that called for a 15-17 year old who's not a great dancer, but is part of a dance group anyways. For the audition they wanted me to prepare a one minute freestyle dance routine. Normally, I would have freaked out about having to play a 15 year old, but I was actually TERRIFIED about having to do a one minute dance routine of any kind. I guess a weird fact about me, I'm not really scared of stage fright. I've done stupid stuff on a handful of levels and don't really blink an eye at it. But, for whatever reason, dancing kind of sets off some kind of trigger in my mind that makes me more self conscious than anything else. So, doing any one minute dance of my own "free style" is one of the last things I would ever want to do for an audition. But, you can't really say no to an audition or an opportunity, plus I had the benefit that the character himself isn't necessarily supposed to be good anyways.
I went into the office and did my lines. Then came for me to do my freestyle dance. They asked if I had brought my music, which I did, and they said just do about a minute of whatever you think the character would do. Not sure what the character would do, but my plan was to play the song "Turn Down For What" and flail around like an idiot for as long as I could bear it. I gave them a heads up that I'm terrible at dancing and they told me it was fine. I then played the music and just did weird pelvic thrusts and arm flailing and probably looked more strange than anything. After probably only 20-30 seconds I kind of felt super self conscious again and stopped abruptly and turned off the music and told them that's all I could really handle. They just kind of chuckled and said thank you and I went on my way. I don't think I got that role.
I guess another story that was strange and interesting is I went into the wrong suite for an a casting office one day and walked in on a guy sitting naked on a couch. After half a second he calmly goes to cover himself then says to me "You are in the wrong office". At which point, I promptly left and closed the door behind me. Apparently I had gone to suite 3 rather than 6. Then I went to the right suite and did a pretty good job at the audition.
Anyways, here's that video I was referring to earlier.
I helped a friend with the shooting and editing for the... prelude to a webseries or something that he has planned. I have that below. I also helped with the directing in a way in terms of helping the actors get a performance. It was kind of cool exercising those muscles again. I have that video posted below. Y'all can watch that if you'd like.
I recently went to a standup comedy show that my friend Johnny Pemberton was doing and it kind of inspired me to try stand up. I was also motivated because yet again I was told that I should definitely try it from two people at the show and have been told that numerous times before that as well. I've started compiling some ideas together and have looked at open mics so we'll see how that goes. If anything I think it'll be a good avenue to try and channel my voice and on hone my on stage/screen persona. More than likely I'll do a show solo, but maybe if I get confident enough (and don't quit) I'll actually give a date so people can go and check it out.
Anyways, on to the story of this dance audition. I got a breakdown for an audition recently that called for a 15-17 year old who's not a great dancer, but is part of a dance group anyways. For the audition they wanted me to prepare a one minute freestyle dance routine. Normally, I would have freaked out about having to play a 15 year old, but I was actually TERRIFIED about having to do a one minute dance routine of any kind. I guess a weird fact about me, I'm not really scared of stage fright. I've done stupid stuff on a handful of levels and don't really blink an eye at it. But, for whatever reason, dancing kind of sets off some kind of trigger in my mind that makes me more self conscious than anything else. So, doing any one minute dance of my own "free style" is one of the last things I would ever want to do for an audition. But, you can't really say no to an audition or an opportunity, plus I had the benefit that the character himself isn't necessarily supposed to be good anyways.
I went into the office and did my lines. Then came for me to do my freestyle dance. They asked if I had brought my music, which I did, and they said just do about a minute of whatever you think the character would do. Not sure what the character would do, but my plan was to play the song "Turn Down For What" and flail around like an idiot for as long as I could bear it. I gave them a heads up that I'm terrible at dancing and they told me it was fine. I then played the music and just did weird pelvic thrusts and arm flailing and probably looked more strange than anything. After probably only 20-30 seconds I kind of felt super self conscious again and stopped abruptly and turned off the music and told them that's all I could really handle. They just kind of chuckled and said thank you and I went on my way. I don't think I got that role.
I guess another story that was strange and interesting is I went into the wrong suite for an a casting office one day and walked in on a guy sitting naked on a couch. After half a second he calmly goes to cover himself then says to me "You are in the wrong office". At which point, I promptly left and closed the door behind me. Apparently I had gone to suite 3 rather than 6. Then I went to the right suite and did a pretty good job at the audition.
Anyways, here's that video I was referring to earlier.
Sunday, August 9, 2015
New Video and other updates
Summer is over and things are getting busy again. I just finished a vacation filled July and I'm ready to start auditioning more and shoot more videos.
I recently booked a role in a new Netflix show called "Lady Dynamite". I played a Japanese man in a giant penis costume in a fake commerical for a product called Pussy Noodles. It'll be something so look for that whenever it drops!
I finished this video today. There was some construction going on behind our apartment building so me and my friend decided it was a good excuse to use the scenery to make something. This is the result of some loose planning and shooting and liberal use of sound effects. Enjoy.
Shooting another one tomorrow and I really plan on shooting on a more consistent schedule. I will hopefully get around to some bigger projects as well. I guess stay tuned...
I recently booked a role in a new Netflix show called "Lady Dynamite". I played a Japanese man in a giant penis costume in a fake commerical for a product called Pussy Noodles. It'll be something so look for that whenever it drops!
I finished this video today. There was some construction going on behind our apartment building so me and my friend decided it was a good excuse to use the scenery to make something. This is the result of some loose planning and shooting and liberal use of sound effects. Enjoy.
Shooting another one tomorrow and I really plan on shooting on a more consistent schedule. I will hopefully get around to some bigger projects as well. I guess stay tuned...
Tuesday, July 7, 2015
I was on a podcast!
I met a guy who runs his own movie blog at a friend's BBQ. He asked me to talk on his blog about movies and now it's posted. Come and check it out!
Monday, June 1, 2015
Youtubbbbbeee and other updates
Like four years ago I got banned from the youtube partner program because of invalid click activity. My girlfriend at the time would click on the ads on my videos, which was compromising the the advertisers or something. Anyways, literally 2-3 times a year since then I would try to dispute it and it only recently got overturned today. So I feel like this is a big step. I can make content now and post it on my page and get more visibility as well as getting paid for it. So definitely look forward to more content. I have two in the pipeline in the near future.
In other news, I finished shooting on a movie called "The Big Short" in New Orleans recently. It was probably one of the best shooting experienced that I've had. Really excited about that one. Don't want to say much more than that... I guess look for that in a year or something.
Anyways, I'll post the link to my main youtube page again here. Might be worth looking at it all again. I uploaded some videos that I had made on other channels and put them on my channel again.
https://www.youtube.com/user/stanman16
In other news, I finished shooting on a movie called "The Big Short" in New Orleans recently. It was probably one of the best shooting experienced that I've had. Really excited about that one. Don't want to say much more than that... I guess look for that in a year or something.
Anyways, I'll post the link to my main youtube page again here. Might be worth looking at it all again. I uploaded some videos that I had made on other channels and put them on my channel again.
https://www.youtube.com/user/stanman16
Sunday, April 5, 2015
Pilot season and new projects
Been a while again since I've posted last. It's been kind of busy though. The last few months have been what the industry calls "pilot season" when they try to fill in all the series regular roles for all of the new shows that will go out in the fall. This was my first pilot season and I actually went into a lot more series regular auditions than I thought I would. Like 5-6 total. I didn't actually get anything out of them, but it was cool meeting in new offices and getting a sense of how the whole process in general works. It was kind of strange; more often than not it wasn't necessarily that I wasn't right for the role as much as it was they changed the character to a different race or a different age range. I'm hopeful that I still made good impressions for a lot of them and I can get called into those offices for later roles, which is all you can really hope for when auditioning.
I did book another movie role in New Orleans. It was also another interesting experience because it was the first time that I flew out of state for a callback audition. It presented the interesting situation of having to pay ~$600 for just a chance at a job. At first I felt like it really didn't make sense, but I hear it's actually fairly common. I also felt like I had a good chance for the role and it really looks like it will be a great movie. Thankfully, after flying through my 4 hour flight and getting through my 3 minute audition, I found out that I booked it. So, be on the lookout for that (provided they don't cut it out).
Other than that, I have been working a lot on writing a lot. I finally got into the practice of actually writing stuff instead of just saying I will and (non surprisingly) it's producing results. I have a series of shorts that I'm making headway on and will get done soon and I'm actually getting pretty far with the feature that I've had planned for a while. There's some good momentum for the year. Hopefully it will keep up.
In the meantime, I'll leave this video hear that I saw at a screening that I thought was pretty amazing. It's part of this monthly screening for comedic fake tv shows that I hope to participate in fairly soon.
I did book another movie role in New Orleans. It was also another interesting experience because it was the first time that I flew out of state for a callback audition. It presented the interesting situation of having to pay ~$600 for just a chance at a job. At first I felt like it really didn't make sense, but I hear it's actually fairly common. I also felt like I had a good chance for the role and it really looks like it will be a great movie. Thankfully, after flying through my 4 hour flight and getting through my 3 minute audition, I found out that I booked it. So, be on the lookout for that (provided they don't cut it out).
Other than that, I have been working a lot on writing a lot. I finally got into the practice of actually writing stuff instead of just saying I will and (non surprisingly) it's producing results. I have a series of shorts that I'm making headway on and will get done soon and I'm actually getting pretty far with the feature that I've had planned for a while. There's some good momentum for the year. Hopefully it will keep up.
In the meantime, I'll leave this video hear that I saw at a screening that I thought was pretty amazing. It's part of this monthly screening for comedic fake tv shows that I hope to participate in fairly soon.
Monday, March 9, 2015
Bedman
I'll just leave this here and preface by saying it is literally the strangest thing I've ever made. It's essentially just inspired by the fact that I lived in my new roommate's living room for about a month because our new apartment wasn't ready yet and it was just really strange. Not sure how this came out of it, but that's creative for ya!
Monday, February 9, 2015
New short posted
I have the short I filmed at the end of last year posted now. It took a while cause we actually went and got music done for it and did a lot of work on color correction and VFX. We also re-shot the final shot because the original ending was off putting for a lot of people.
We shot this on the blackmagic 4k, which was a new camera to work with. Thanks to Wes Kemp for that. Anyways, here it is. Make sure to check back soon for the other weird short I made.
We shot this on the blackmagic 4k, which was a new camera to work with. Thanks to Wes Kemp for that. Anyways, here it is. Make sure to check back soon for the other weird short I made.
Sunday, February 8, 2015
Finished filming another short film
It's been a while since an update. Things have been fairly quiet so I took the time to make a new short film. It's based around the fact that I'm living in my friend's living room temporarily and it's super awkward at times. It's a super strange video, but I think it's a callback to some of my earlier strange videos. I think. It's not done just yet, but I'll post it when it is. For reference, here's a link to one of the first things I made. It's also very strange, but I think it's probably one of the best.
Thursday, January 15, 2015
Not sixteen enough and martial arts
So the first few weeks of the new year have passed and I've already has
some big opportunities. One was for a series regular role in a pilot
and the other was for a small role in a really established TV show. The
only problem was that the first one asked for someone 18-20 years old
and the second was asked for someone 16.
It's no real secret... but I'm not an actual teenager. I have been able to play teenaged roles despite being older and I mostly go for auditions as the 18-21 year old. Sixteen is pushing it a little though. I actually thought I did really well in the first audition, but I found out later that they changed the breakdown to looking for 16-18 year olds so I guess I wasn't going to get it regardless of how well I did. Still, they say to book the room, not necessarily the role. So I feel like they'll probably call me in for something else once there's something right. As I left, she asked me "Do you know Martial Arts? We're casting for something and I think you might be a good fit for it." Everyone tells me I should have said yes, but I said no. This was maybe the 3rd time I was asked if I know martial arts, probably because I'm Asian. Unfortunately, as far as Asians go, I'm not that Asian. At least not in the knowing a fighting style department. Should I pick something up for the future? I'll.... think about it.
The second audition was especially tough because it was also for a well established casting director. I remember looking around at the other actors in the waiting room and thinking... I bet a lot of these guys are actual teenagers and these kids are wondering what the hell I'm even doing here... I don't usually get nervous for auditions, but I could feel my heart beating already. When I finally got called in, the casting director looked at me and immediately asked "So how old are you?" Now, I'm told that they can never actually ask this question and yet this was the second time I was straight up asked about my age. This time I was prepared with the answer I was taught by my teachers "I'm over 18." After hearing that, I feel like I could tell that he knew it was an understatement. About halfway through my read he just stopped looking at me and nerves started setting in even more and I just started falling apart. Long story short... I don't think I'm getting that role either.
It's only a few weeks in so we'll see where we go from here, but it's pretty interesting/exciting already so far!
It's no real secret... but I'm not an actual teenager. I have been able to play teenaged roles despite being older and I mostly go for auditions as the 18-21 year old. Sixteen is pushing it a little though. I actually thought I did really well in the first audition, but I found out later that they changed the breakdown to looking for 16-18 year olds so I guess I wasn't going to get it regardless of how well I did. Still, they say to book the room, not necessarily the role. So I feel like they'll probably call me in for something else once there's something right. As I left, she asked me "Do you know Martial Arts? We're casting for something and I think you might be a good fit for it." Everyone tells me I should have said yes, but I said no. This was maybe the 3rd time I was asked if I know martial arts, probably because I'm Asian. Unfortunately, as far as Asians go, I'm not that Asian. At least not in the knowing a fighting style department. Should I pick something up for the future? I'll.... think about it.
The second audition was especially tough because it was also for a well established casting director. I remember looking around at the other actors in the waiting room and thinking... I bet a lot of these guys are actual teenagers and these kids are wondering what the hell I'm even doing here... I don't usually get nervous for auditions, but I could feel my heart beating already. When I finally got called in, the casting director looked at me and immediately asked "So how old are you?" Now, I'm told that they can never actually ask this question and yet this was the second time I was straight up asked about my age. This time I was prepared with the answer I was taught by my teachers "I'm over 18." After hearing that, I feel like I could tell that he knew it was an understatement. About halfway through my read he just stopped looking at me and nerves started setting in even more and I just started falling apart. Long story short... I don't think I'm getting that role either.
It's only a few weeks in so we'll see where we go from here, but it's pretty interesting/exciting already so far!
Saturday, January 10, 2015
Year in review 2014
I might be a little late on this post, but better late than never!
It's been a good year for sure I feel. Overall I feel like I've been progressing despite some other hickups. Workwise, I found a consistent way to create income by freelance assistant editing/editing for Collegehumor. This provided me the schedule leniency to still go out on auditions and such. On that note, I was also able to sign with a manager, commercial agent, and theatrical agent this year. I've auditioned more times this year than I probably have my entire life combined. That said, I didn't book anything this year (I did book a commercial, but I got cut out). I did get to go on bigger auditions and have gotten close numerous times though so it's not all a loss. So yeah, I now have my worklife figured out and I'm in a comfortable position on the acting front.
Creative wise, I created a couple of web shorts (Braggy Snitch stuff) that I was pretty proud of. Near the end of the year I did a short film (Five Minutes) that I think is really cool and was something I had always wanted to shoot. When I came out to Los Angeles, I had to find my network of people to work with and what resources I would have available to me and I think now I'm pretty much at a comfortable level for that as well. I attempted to write my feature length script with a partner and that went through a couple of hickups. It's likely I'll have to finish that on my own, but I definitely developed the idea a lot more and I'm really excited about working on that. Hopefully next year I get it written and take the steps to get it made.
To end things I guess I've give my mini version of my favorite movies of the year (though I still have to catch a couple)
1. Whiplash - This Sundance hit just had a great energy to it and was funny and had some genuine surprises in it (a feat that rarely happens for me these days). J.K. Simmons should win best supporting actor for sure and someone I'll definitely be watching for in the future.
2. Lego Movie - I might be a little biased since it's made by the guys who made Jump Street, but I found the comedy to just be so on point and, to top it all off, it actually had a very deep message behind it. While watching this movie, I couldn't help but feel jealousy because it was the exact kind of movie that I would want to make.
3. Birdman - This movie was just so cool. It's not a movie that blew me away from the story necessarily, but the way it told was just so unique... As you may know it's made to look like one shot, but it's not a gimmick at all and it actually gives the movie a really cool energy and makes the performances really dynamic. Kudos to the decision to have the entire soundtrack be a crazy cool drum soundtrack throughout. A great example of how you go about a story is as important if not more important than what it's about.
I've still yet to see Inherent Vice, Boyhood, Selma, and a host of others so maybe I'll revise in the future.
It's been a good year for sure I feel. Overall I feel like I've been progressing despite some other hickups. Workwise, I found a consistent way to create income by freelance assistant editing/editing for Collegehumor. This provided me the schedule leniency to still go out on auditions and such. On that note, I was also able to sign with a manager, commercial agent, and theatrical agent this year. I've auditioned more times this year than I probably have my entire life combined. That said, I didn't book anything this year (I did book a commercial, but I got cut out). I did get to go on bigger auditions and have gotten close numerous times though so it's not all a loss. So yeah, I now have my worklife figured out and I'm in a comfortable position on the acting front.
Creative wise, I created a couple of web shorts (Braggy Snitch stuff) that I was pretty proud of. Near the end of the year I did a short film (Five Minutes) that I think is really cool and was something I had always wanted to shoot. When I came out to Los Angeles, I had to find my network of people to work with and what resources I would have available to me and I think now I'm pretty much at a comfortable level for that as well. I attempted to write my feature length script with a partner and that went through a couple of hickups. It's likely I'll have to finish that on my own, but I definitely developed the idea a lot more and I'm really excited about working on that. Hopefully next year I get it written and take the steps to get it made.
To end things I guess I've give my mini version of my favorite movies of the year (though I still have to catch a couple)
1. Whiplash - This Sundance hit just had a great energy to it and was funny and had some genuine surprises in it (a feat that rarely happens for me these days). J.K. Simmons should win best supporting actor for sure and someone I'll definitely be watching for in the future.
2. Lego Movie - I might be a little biased since it's made by the guys who made Jump Street, but I found the comedy to just be so on point and, to top it all off, it actually had a very deep message behind it. While watching this movie, I couldn't help but feel jealousy because it was the exact kind of movie that I would want to make.
3. Birdman - This movie was just so cool. It's not a movie that blew me away from the story necessarily, but the way it told was just so unique... As you may know it's made to look like one shot, but it's not a gimmick at all and it actually gives the movie a really cool energy and makes the performances really dynamic. Kudos to the decision to have the entire soundtrack be a crazy cool drum soundtrack throughout. A great example of how you go about a story is as important if not more important than what it's about.
I've still yet to see Inherent Vice, Boyhood, Selma, and a host of others so maybe I'll revise in the future.
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