Zombie-fying

Some pics from last week's life-casting session for Bloodstained Canvas:
















-- RedbeckaJP
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Good to myself

Productivity, exercise, adequate sleep, casual reading, career momentum - many things moving in the right direction here. And despite the random bouts of doubt and frustration, I've been proud of myself lately for pushing through and moving on.

I started two good reads this weekend. One, Infinite Jest, has been sitting on our bookshelf for over a year, ever since we saw a display about the author, who had recently killed himself, at New York's Strand. I also picked a new collection of plays with all women casts in hopes of finding some new monologue ideas. I've just started both, and am already eagerly wanting more time with each of them.

I collected almost all of my footage to date and am delving into them to pick material for my reel. It's been an adventure, both because it is an interesting experience to examine yourself, and because I have little knowledge about file types and programs and codecs and all sorts of other hurdles one must leap over to successfully view and edit video. But I'm making progress and am finding that, surprisingly, I can do more of it myself than I thought I could.

I've been prepping the role of Elena for the upcoming short Bloodstained Canvas and the male lead and I met with the director Friday for our first rehearsal. It's an intense script with little on-camera time for character development so it is especially important for us to develop our parts as fully as possible before we get on set. We spent the rehearsal improvising scenes that lead up to the beginning of the script and, I feel, really made progress in making our characters alive and connected to one another.

I'm especially looking forward to the special effects in this project. My character, who dies in the script, comes back to haunt her ex-lover. I spent all Friday afternoon with the FX gal making life casts of my face and neck. This involves a silicone under layer poured and dried and then a plaster layer on top of that. For the face mold everything was covered except for my nostrils, and as the process took about an hour and I am a bit claustrophobic, I practiced lots of deep breathing, meditation, and visualization. Panic creeped up in waves, but I put it aside. (All for the sake of art, right?)  It will all be worth it though, I'm sure.

So, I'm well-rested and recovered from my last blast of filming, and am moving forward on other career planning, including an extended visit to LA - soon!!!


-- RedbeckaJP
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Catching Up and Looking Up

I'm nearing the end of a long string of short film projects that I have been doing to flesh out my resume, expand my repertoire of role types, and get footage for my reel. Today I'm heading to the first rehearsal of the last of these projects for a while. It's time to do some catching up.

First, I need some rest. I can definitely feel the toll the long days have had on my mind and body - you know that haze that sets in. But that's easy enough to solve. A day or two of sleeping in and relaxing will do the trick.

What is more difficult is deciding where to go from here. Lots of decisions, including thoughts of whether or not it's time to check out the LA market, weigh on my mind. And as I begin to study the footage I've received, I go through a rollercoaster of emotions. I know I want it, but do I have what it takes? How do I play on film? What is really my type and how do I best capitalize on that? What is my on-screen age range? (can I still play a teenager;)???) Is there a place for me in the industry?

I think no matter how well I am trained and how hard I work, questioning will always creep in from time to time. Certainty, though, that this career is what feeds my soul, keeps me going today. And on days that are harder than the others, this will keep me chugging along.

-- RedbeckaJP
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Accessories

I'm on location today, shooting the final day of "The Coffee is Bitter" and I realized I have a funny, yet quintessential collection of items surrounding me as I wait for my scenes to be up.

And let me share them with you;)

1. Healthy Snacks








2. Books




3. Shoes




4. Crew



5. Crazy co-stars - thanks Zach Brown.






-- RedbeckaJP
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Not all, but Something

It feels like I've been creeping toward progress lately, picking at projects here and there, but crossing none off my list. A few boxes are unpacked, and while I finally found my stilettos, I have yet to locate the kitchen knives. Wedding planning is creeping forward, but as soon as I finalize something I realize there is a whole list of other things I didn't even know needed to be done. And after three really good days of working out and eating well in a row, I was side-railed by craft services (can you say peanut m&m's?)

A highlight of this week, however, has been working on a master's thesis film called The Coffee is Bitter, about a young woman dealing with her impending death and how best to prepare her lover. My friend Zach Brown and I are playing opposite of each other and I feel like we are really doing some good work. The crew is filming on a new red camera that promises some beautiful footage too.

I've also had three commercial auditions this week, and while I haven't heard back from any yet (one was just on Friday), it does indicate the industry is picking up and perhaps good things are on the way. I'm also SO CLOSE to having the right footage for my reel. I mean, so close I am all giddy with excitement. Chris and I have plans to sit down and map out the scheme for it very soon (keep your eyes out for updates!)

It's a lovely end of the week. It's raining outside, but I'm warm inside with the family, watching old episodes of The West Wing - a wonderful way to gear up for the week.

A Case of the Mondays

Somehow this week flew by with a whole hodgepodge of things accomplished, none of which felt very productive. The exception to this might be that I finally got the puppy groomed (it's been a REALLY long time) and the evidence is shown below.

I do have to give myself a little credit for getting anything done at all considering I am still mourning NYC;) and our life is still packed up in boxes from our recent move. Each day is an adventure to find a new pair of socks;)

I met Malcolm Jamal Warner (aka Theo Huxtable) while working background for the new ABC pilot "True Blue" and was completely awe struck. I managed to keep my composure while he made casual conversation with me, but all the while I was thinking, "Theo, I kinda miss the dreadlocks but I must say you haven't aged a bit since 1995." Lucky for me I kept my mouth shut and simply smiled and nodded.


Thursday marked my last day of shooting on "Robots" and Saturday I worked a crazy promotion for the new Iron Man movie at the Wondercon convention.  Those were some sights to see!


Today feels like the first day of the new reality - new house, new goals, new questions.  It's also really about time I got back to the gym...